“Down from the Mountain”

Luke 9:37–51

In this section of his gospel, Luke strings a series of short encounters with Jesus together to clarify the path by which Jesus will glory God and restore God’s reign. Each of these events or encounters highlights the majesty of Jesus and is contrasted with the failures of his disciples.

First we are told that Jesus, Peter, James and John come down from their mountaintop experience. The three were given a glimpse of Jesus’ majesty. Jesus’ face had changed so that it shined like the sun and his clothes became bright like lightning (Mt.17:2, Lk 9:29). Moses and Elijah had appeared talking to Jesus about his 'departure or Exodus’ that would be fulfilled in Jerusalem. A cloud covered them and a voice confirmed that Jesus was God’s unique son to whom they were listen.

At the foot of the mountain a large crowd meets Jesus. From the crowd a man cries out, “Teacher, I beg you to help my only son. A spirit seizes him; he screams, then he shakes and foams at the mouth. The spirit rarely leaves him and it is destroying him.” The man had begged Jesus’ disciples, but they had failed to drive the demon out. We get a sense of the ‘powerlessness’ of the disciples which is contrasted with the power of the demon who seizes the boy, it rarely leaves him and its destroying the life of this man’s ‘one and only’ son.  

Surprisingly, Jesus renounces that present generation as ‘unbelieving and perverse’ (See Deut. 32:20). He appears 'weary and even frustrated with them' when he says, “How long must I put up with you? Bring me your son.” The demon throws the boy to the ground, but Jesus rebukes spirit, heals the boy and restores him to his father.  Now the destructive power of the demon is contrasted with the far greater power of Jesus to liberate the boy and restore him to his father. The crowd is amazed at the ‘majesty or greatness’ of God. The demonic power is overcome by the power of Jesus which depicts the ‘greatness or majesty of God’. Peter, James and John had seen in Jesus on the mountain something of the 'majesty of God' and now that same 'majesty' is witnessed by the crowd in Jesus’ healing of the boy and restoring him to his father (Luke 9:43, 2 Peter 1:16-18).

As the crowd marveled at what Jesus did, which far surpassed the power of the demon, Jesus instructed his disciples. Peter, James and John had been told by the ‘Voice’ from heaven to listen to God’s Son, Jesus. Now Jesus tells them to listen carefully as he tells them that, “the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the human hands” (Lk.9:35-36, 44-45). Yet again, they hear his words at one level but fail to understand at another. Having failed to deliver the demonized boy, the disciples now fail to comprehend the meaning of Jesus’ statement about his betrayal. The meaning remained hidden from them. Evidently, they were thought they would look ‘small and foolish’ because they were afraid to ask Jesus to help them understand what he meant.

In Luke's gospel after their failures to understand Jesus' statement about his betrayal we find the disciples 'caught up' in an argument. Even after their failures they are, of all things, arguing over which of them would be the greatest. Who will be the 'big man’ among them and Jesus is clearing aware of what they arguing about (9:46-47). In contrast Jesus confronts them with what he considers the ‘true path of greatness’ in God's kingdom! To make his point Jesus takes a little child and has the little child stand beside him. Jesus tells them that to welcome a ‘little child’ in Jesus’ name is to welcome Jesus and to welcome Jesus is to welcome the one who sent Jesus. According to Jesus this is the way of greatness. The 'least will be the greatest' and to be big you have to 'treat the small and insignificant' as 'big and important'. To welcome those otherwise considered insignificant is 'welcome Jesus and the Father who sent him' and this is the path of greatness. Greatness is evidenced in our care and concern for those who can never repay or elevate us in the eyes of others. In other words if we want to be ‘big’ we must become ‘small’ (9:48).

Their failure to understand Jesus’ way of greatness blinds them to the ‘way of the cross’ and therefore the resurrection.  They have been hand selected by Jesus, but they want to be superior to their own brothers. Then the ‘Apostle John’ speaks to Jesus about someone outside their group who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name. This man was doing what the disciples had been doing, but were incapable of doing in the incident with the father's only son (9:1, 40). Because this person wasn’t ‘one of them’ the disciples had tried unsuccessfully to stop him. They failed to comprehend the Jesus’ death. They had failed to understand 'the way of greatness' Jesus had laid out for them and now we are told that the disciples had opposed someone who was successfully driving out demons in Jesus’ name. Jesus tells them, “Do not stop him,” and went on to say, “Whoever is not against you is for you.” They needed to delight in those doing the work of liberating the oppressed in Jesus’ name’. They were to glory in the fact that people were being 'set free' in the name of Jesus! Again they are more concerned for their own status and power than the glory of Jesus and the good of others. 

Now with this in mind, Luke’s gospel now takes a dramatic shift towards the advancement of Jesus’ kingdom purpose. Jesus resolutely sets out now for Jerusalem. Having revealed to his disciples his true identity as the ‘Son of God’ and after their experience on the ‘Mount of Transfiguration’ Jesus now sets his path towards Jerusalem and the cross. It is the path of glorification for Jesus will come through the humiliation of the cross. This is the path by which Jesus will bring to fulfillment the ‘New Exodus’ in Jerusalem.  

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.  (Luke 9:51)

 

The Cloud and the Voice (LK 9:28-37)!

The Story of Jesus: The people of Israel were living under Roman rule and they were crying out and longing for God to send an 'anointed king' to rescue them. Jesus, not what they had expected, who was announced by John the Baptist, anointed by the Spirit and confirmed to be the ‘Son of God’ by the voice from heaven at his baptism (Luke 3:22). Jesus was led into the wilderness where he overcame the devil’s temptations and he came back in the power of the Spirit proclaiming the ‘kingdom of God’. He gathered a new twelve around himself. Jesus demonstrated his power and authority over demons, over sin, sickness and even death itself. In the previous story in Luke, Peter confessed that Jesus was the ‘Christ of God’. Jesus told them to keep quiet about this and further confused them by saying that the, “Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” He also told them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (9:22-23).

The story of the ‘Transfiguration of Jesus’ follows the story of ‘Peter’s confession’ in each synoptic gospel. Mark and Matthew say it happened six days after Jesus spoke of the ‘coming kingdom’. Yet, Luke says it was “about eight days” later, so they may have set out six or seven days after the saying and they may have started to climb the mountain on the eighth day. The six-day reference may be to draw a parallel between the transfiguration and Moses preparing to receive the law on Mount Sinai.

So in the ‘transfiguration story’ Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and went up onto a mountain. This was a significant climb since Matthew and Mark say it was a ‘high mountain’ (Mt.17:1, Mk.9:2). Luke’s exclusively emphasizes Jesus taking Peter, James and John up the mountain to pray and that Jesus was praying when ‘his glory’ was revealed (Luke 9:28, 32). As he prayed the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning (Luke 9:29). Matthew says Jesus’ face shone like the sun. Both Matthew and Mark tell us Jesus was ‘transfigured’; a word from which we get the word ‘metamorphoses’.  Peter and John testify elsewhere (2 Pet. 1:16–18; John 1:14) of the ‘transfiguration’ as a revealing of Jesus' divine nature which was concealed during his earthly ministry. Here his disciples get a glimpse of the “brightness of His glory” (Heb. 1:3) to be revealed when he would come in Father’s glory and of the holy angels (Luke 9:26, 29, 21:27).

Luke then tells us of two men, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glorious splendor.  They spoke about Jesus' departure, or his ‘Exodus’, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Peter and his companions ‘awake’ from their sleep to see Jesus’ glory and Moses and Elijah standing with Jesus. They see Jesus’ glory in continuity with Moses, Israel’s great deliverer and law-giver, and Elijah, Israel’s great prophet. God used Moses to form Abraham’s children into a nation and Elijah was at the beginning of a series of prophets calling for Israel’s renewal. The far greater Jesus brings bring these traditions together in a ‘New Exodus’ to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. So they get their eyes opened to God’s true King who will bring God’s reign into realization in his death, resurrection, and ascension all of which will be fulfilled in Jerusalem (9:31).

As the men, Moses and Elijah were leaving Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Luke tells us that Peter didn’t know what he was saying. Jesus had told them how Jesus must suffer many things, be rejected and be killed. Jesus also said that his followers must ‘take up their cross daily’ and follow Jesus. That was heavy and almost incomprehensible message for the disciples. Now Peter was with Jesus, Moses and Elijah and he didn’t want them to prolong the wonder of the moment and so he wanted to build three shelters. However, Jesus was not equal among Moses and Elijah, but that Jesus stood alone in unique relationship with God. Jesus was the one to restore God's reign and bring a reconstituted Israel formed around him to fulfillment. The 'Shekinah Glory’ witnessed by Moses and manifested in the tabernacle and in Solomon’s temple was clearly present in Jesus (9:32, Ex.40:34-35, 1Kings 8:10-11)!

Then while Peter was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. Then a voice from the cloud, said, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” They tremble like Israel at Sinai and the voice from heaven affirms what was previously said at Jesus’ baptism. Luke emphasizes that Jesus is God’s Son, God’s chosen one and that the disciples must must listen to Jesus! Then after the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. This corresponds with the previous story but here what Peter and his companions failed to comprehend from their dialogue with Jesus, they are now learning by experience. Now as previously instructed (9:21), the disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen. The story concludes when the next day they came down from the mountain, and the met a large crowd (9:37).

Luke depicts that through prayer Jesus' glory is revealed and the eyes of his disciples’ were opened to see Jesus’ glory. His appearance and his garments were illuminated and Moses and Elijah, representing the law and the prophets, appear with Jesus. They speak about Jesus' departure (exodus). What Jesus had previously told his disciples would be fulfilled in Jerusalem (Luke 9:22). While Peter wanted to construct shelters and prolong the visit, the story comes to a climax when the cloud (God’s presence) covers them and the voice affirms what had previously been said at Jesus’ baptism (3:22). That Jesus is God's Son is here directed to Jesus’ disciples who had confessed Jesus to be Messiah. The voice confirms Jesus' unique Sonship who ends up alone in the disciples sight. Jesus is God’s Son—and while the way the kingdom would come (cross, resurrection) and the disciples own kingdom role (self-denial, cross-bearing) still didn’t make sense to them, what was clear was that they were to listen to God’s Son, Jesus! 

The 'Christ must Suffer...'

Luke 9:18–27

Here Jesus is praying in private with his disciples. Then Jesus engages them with this question, “who do the crowds say I am?” Luke has already told us how Herod Antipas was perplexed when he heard some saying that Jesus was John raised from the dead, or that Elijah had returned and others that an old prophet had returned from the dead. The disciples confirm that that the crowds were saying what Herod had heard. So the consensus was that Jesus was an extraordinary miracle-working prophet, that had some mysterious and miraculous origin. But Jesus wanted to know just exactly who his own disciples thought he was. Peter steps up and confesses that Jesus is the ‘Christ of God’; the Jewish Messianic king. In first century expectations the Messiah or Christ would be a ‘anointed king’ who would throw off Roman rule, renew the temple worship and restore God’s just rule to Israel (9:18-20).  

In response to Peter’s confession Jesus forbid that they should tell anyone about this. He e explained that the ‘Son of Man’ must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law. He went on saying “he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”(9:21)

Jesus tells them he must suffer, be rejected and killed, then be raised. Matthew’s gospel highlights their failure to understand the ‘necessity of his death’ and how they missed that he would ‘rise again in three days’. Here Jesus tells them that all who follow him ‘must deny themselves and take up their cross daily’. They would have been shocked by Jesus telling them that he ‘must suffer and die’ and shocking as well would be that they 'must deny themselves’ and be prepared to be executed on a day to day basis (9:22-23).

He went on saying, ‘whoever wants to save their life will lose their life’. On the other hand, 'whoever loses his life for Jesus would save their life’. Jesus disciples were to forsake any commitment to self-preservation, and be prepared daily to embrace the implement of their own public execution. The cross was Rome’s weapon that instilled fear and intimidated people into a passive submission to Rome. So self-denial is at the heart of following ‘King Jesus’ and his ‘way of salvation in Christ’.  In fact, it would be of no value to gain the whole world and lose one’s soul or their very self (9:24-25).

In addition, Jesus exhorts them to be ‘unashamed of him his words’. When the 'Son of Man’ would come in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels he would be unashamed of thase who were unashamed of Jesus. The would include being unashamed of Jesus' sufferings and his death on a Roman cross that would precede his ‘resurrection' on the third day.  Jesus concludes by assuring them that ‘some standing there’ would see the kingdom of God before they tasted death! Not all of them, but some of his disciples there before him not die before seeing the ‘kingdom of God’ (9:26-27).

Jesus was concerned about their understanding of his identity and role in God’s kingdom purpose. Jesus had a sense of his unique identity when at 12 years old he was at the temple with the Jewish elders. His ‘Messianic identity’ was later confirmed by the voice from heaven at his baptism. But, he didn’t go around saying, ‘I’m the Messiah’. His role as Messiah was so different from common expectations that even John the Baptist was confused about Jesus. Jesus needed time to impart the true messianic role and the meaning of his life to his chosen disciples would would carry his message. 

Now, to Herod and to the crowds Jesus was a prophet, whose miracles far exceeded any other prophet. To them Jesus was a prophet somewhere on the continuum from Elijah to John the Baptist and had likely come back from death. Some said he was Elijah, who according to Malachi 4:5 would return before ‘the great and terrible day of the Lord’. Either way, Jesus would usher in some great act of God to radically alter Israelite society and overthrown the rule of Herod and the Romans.  Furthermore, Jesus was proclaiming God’s kingdom would come in dramatic way in his own near future.

Jesus was very different than his disciples’ expectations, but they did recognize him as the Messiah. Not only had Jesus manifested his authority and power over everything seen and unseen, but he had even enabled his disciples to experience that power working through them. This was a revolutionary taste of the sovereign rule of God that Jesus was bringing about. Jesus tells the twelve of his pending death, and that they must be prepared to face their own humiliating demise as well. This wouldn't have confused the twelve and wouldn't seem to them to be 'good news'. When God’s kingdom breaks into the present they were not to seek to save their own lives, but be prepared to lose their lives. 

Jesus had asked who they thought he was and as soon as they acknowledge him to be the Messiah he tells them of the necessity of his death. Jesus then challenged them to consider that following him would be an all or nothing proposition. These were such surprising truths that Jesus made them known to his disciples in the context of prayer!

Power and Partnership (Luke 9:1-17)

In this story Jesus gives his twelve hand-selected disciples his power and authority over demons and diseases.  Jesus sends them out equipped with his power to preach the kingdom and heal the sick (9:1-2).  They were to trust God because Jesus instructed them to take no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, and no extra shirt on their journey. They were to find a house and stay there until they left that town. If a town failed to welcome them, they were to shake the dust from their feet as a testimony against them. This is what Jews were known to do when returning from Gentile areas. Jesus was pushing them to exercise his authority and to trust God’s provisions. God would provide for them through the generosity of those to whom they were bringing their kingdom gospel. So off they went from village to village, preaching the kingdom and healing the people (9:4-6). Jesus wouldn't be physically with them, but his authority and power would be operating through them.

Herod Antipas, who ruled Galilee, heard about the exorcisms and the healings and he was perplexed. Jesus had avoided Herod, but now with his disciples expanding Jesus’ mission Herod must have been feeling threatened. Herod was curious and perplexed. Who was causing this commotion? Was this John the Baptist returned from the dead as some said? Was this Elijah reappeared or an old prophet raised from the dead? Herod had beheaded John, so he wanted to know what was up and he tried to see Jesus (9:7-9).

When the apostles returned from their trip they were anxious to tell Jesus what they had done. So they withdrew to the town of Bethsaida. Both atthew and Mark tell us they went by boat and that the crowd found out about this and they were waiting for Jesus when they arrived. Jesus welcomed the crowd and preached to them. He also healed all those who were in need of healing. Jesus wanted time with his disciples, but he was happy to minister to the crowd and this continued until late in the afternoon (9:10-12).

Then the twelve tell Jesus, a bit overconfident after their journey, send the crowd away to find food and lodging. They were in a remote place and they couldn’t accommodate the crowd or feed them considering they only had five loaves of bread and two fish. But Jesus tells the twelve to give the crowd food to eat. They know they don’t have enough food for the crowd unless they buy some food and John tells us that it would have taken eight months wages to buy enough for everyone in the crowd just have a bite (John 6:7).    

Jesus tells his disciples to feed the 5000 plus people. This sounds like Elisha telling his servant to feed 100 men with 20 small loaves of bread (2 Kings 4:42-44). Gehazi didn't think it was enough, but they all ate and were satisfied. Now this crowd was at least 50 times larger and they only had five loaves. Jesus tells his disciples to seat the crowd in groups of fifty. So there were 5000 men plus organized into 100 plus groups of 50 each. Jesus simply takes what they had, thanks God, blessed and broke it. He gives it to his disciples to give to the people and miraculously they all had enough and were satisfied. There were even twelve baskets of leftovers for the disciples. Some of the terms here remind me of when when Moses’ father-in-law told Moses to select capable men and divide the people into groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens (Exodus 18). The capable men were given oversight to elevate some of the work that was weighing on Moses. Clearly, in this story we find Jesus beginning to transition responsibility for his ministry to his own chosen disciples.  

Jesus’ disciples were to engage in Jesus’ kingdom building work. So we find Jesus empowering his closest followers to participate in proclaiming God’s kingdom and healing the sick. They were to rely entirely on the provision of others, although this particular trip wasn’t necessarily the only New Testament model. In Acts we find the early church selling property, pooling their resources, and carrying provisions. What we can learn from this is that all of Jesus’ followers everywhere need to trust God to provide for and empower their kingdom work.  

They lacked the food or the money to buy enough food for the crowd. But Jesus wanted them to trust God just as they had trusted God on their mission trip. They give Jesus the food they had and Jesus thanked God, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples to distribute to the crowd. Moreover, Jesus multiplied what they had so that crowd received their fill and were satisfied! Then at the end of the day there were even twelve baskets of leftovers for the disciples. Luke describes this feeding in the words normally associated with the Lord’s Supper. So in the story Jesus empowers his disciples and enables them to meet the needs of people as part of Jesus' kingdom work (9:12-17).