Community Bible Study -- LUKE
Text of Luke 9:1-56 Presentation, Lesson 9
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The Apostles Missionary Tour; Feeding 5000; Jesus’ Transfiguration
This lesson represents a watershed in Jesus’ ministry. It includes awesome demonstrations of Jesus’ power and authority as the Messiah of God—climaxed by a voice from heaven confirming Jesus and his ministry. But juxtaposed with this show of power is Jesus’ revelation to his disciples that the Messiah will not overthrow the Romans as the Jews believe. Instead, the Messiah will be crucified.
So far Jesus has preached and healed . . . and done miracles to show he is the Messiah, with the power and authority of God. Now Jesus shows he even has the authority to give some of that power to his apostles. The lesson opens like this: "Jesus called the Twelve together (and) gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases" (9:1). Mathematicians call this a "subset" of the Messiah’s power . . . but it’s an important subset. Equipped with these powers, Jesus sends his apostles out preaching and healing on their own.
Why does Jesus do this? The purpose of the Jewish rabbi-disciple thing is to teach; in modern academic terminology, we call it a "practicum." Disciples are expected to learn from the rabbi, and now it’s time for an exam; it’s time for the apostles to show what they have learned. The apostles are to go "from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people" (9:6). They are to travel light, and rely on the charity of grateful hearers for food and shelter. They are to "shake the dust off your feet . . . as a testimony against" a town which "do(es) not welcome you" (9:5)—as Phraisees did when leaving Gentile areas to demonstrate rejection of Gentile culture; Jesus turns this symbolic act on people like the Pharisees who reject his gospel.
Sometime later, when the apostles return from their missionary journey, Jesus takes them away for a debriefing to a "remote place" (9:12) near the village of Bethsaida (9:10). But the crowds won’t let him alone . . . so he preaches and heals (9:11). This goes on all day without a break, and when late afternoon comes (9:12), his disciples anticipate a big problem: where can all these people find food and lodging for the evening? They mention this to Jesus; and as usual, he has a solution: "You give them something to eat" (9:13).
To the disciples, this must sound like Marie Antoinette’s famous the remark; when told the children of Paris had no bread, she said: "Let them eat cake." The disciples are flabbergasted. They have only 5 loaves of pita bread and 2 sardines (cf Jn 6:9), and Philip estimates it will take 8 months wages to buy enough food to feed the people (cf Jn 6:7). The disciples don’t have that much money. What are they going to do?
Let’s remember why they are here. The apostles have just finished an "exam." They have completed a mission trip, in which they preached and healed . . . and trusted God to provide food and lodging. But now they are back with Jesus. The pressure is off, and they can revert to form: confronted with a problem, they seek a "human" solution.
We need to cut them a break, of course. It’s one thing for one or two Jewish "holy men" to walk into a village and rely on strangers for food and lodging. It’s an entirely different matter to expect food will miraculously appear to feed 5000 men (9:14) and uncounted women and children. But, of course, that’s exactly what Jesus does: he takes the 5 loaves and 2 sardines and performs a miracle to feed everyone . . . and still have leftovers.
According to John’s gospel, Jesus uses this feeding miracle as a lead in to his "Bread of Life" discourse, foreshadowing Holy Communion (or Eucharist), and in which Jesus claims he has come from heaven and is greater than Moses. This greatly confuses Jesus’ weaker followers, and many leave (cf Jn 6:66), which leads in to the next scene in Luke, focusing on Jesus’ Messianic credentials. It seems Jesus the teacher hasn’t finished debriefing his apostles; he wants a sample of public opinion:
"He asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say I am?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life’" (9:18-19).
This is very interesting. We have said before that Jesus’ fundamental claim is that he is the Messiah, the Son of God, with the power and authority of God. During his ministry thus far, he has frequently claimed to be the Messiah using prophetic scriptural language, and he has done God-like miracles to prove his power and authority. Jesus wants to know if that message is getting through to the Jewish "man in the street."
Apparently, it’s not. The people think Jesus is John the Baptist, raised from the dead; or Elijah, the forerunner of the Messiah; or another Old Testament prophet, raised from the dead (which may be based on Jesus’ repetition in Nain of one of Elisha’s miracles (7:15-16), or this feeding miracle, recalling Moses’ miracle of manna during the Exodus).
Why don’t the common people recognize Jesus as Messiah? Probably it’s because the Jews expect the Messiah will be a military leader who will overthrow Rome; that’s what false Messiahs like Judas of Gamla (cf Acts 5) tried to do. Jesus is not raising an army to overthrow Rome . . . so how can he be the Messiah? Secondary issues may be opposition of the Jewish religious leaders—how can he be the true Messiah if they oppose him?—and/or Jesus’ Galilean hometown, which obscures the fact that Jesus is descended from David and was born in Bethlehem.
But the big question is: have Jesus’ apostles gotten the message? "’But what about you?’ (Jesus) asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’" (9:20) This may be the last part of the exam . . . one final question determining who passes and who fails.
Speaking for the group, Peter answers: "(You are) the Messiah of God" (9:20). Good show; passing grade! Whatever the apostles—in their humanity—may have failed to understand about Jesus, they have this right!
Now it’s time to begin the 2nd half of the practicum: to teach the apostles to understand what being the Messiah is really all about. But first "Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone" (9:21). Why? Jesus is going to redefine what it means to be the Messiah; but everyone else—both Jews and Gentiles—still believes the Messiah will be a Jewish military leader. So if Jesus’ closest associates now quote Jesus as directly saying he is Messiah, it will confuse things. Best to keep quiet!
Jesus begins teaching about the true nature of the Messiah with these words:
"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" (9:22).
This is Jesus’ first prophesy of his death . . . and his resurrection. Luke does not say how the apostles react to these words; we get the impression later it all goes over their heads. We should be charitable: this is an entirely new paradigm, and it’s the first time Jesus has taught this way. Jesus continues:
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. . . . If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels" (9:23-26).
What does this mean? Not only will the Messiah be killed . . . but his followers will be persecuted—daily—and many will lose their lives. But they must persevere, because the Messiah will return in glory to reward believers . . . and to punish those who deny him.
This is really heavy stuff to lay onto 12 average guys with peasant backgrounds. There is no way they can comprehend it now . . . and they really don’t understand it until Jesus’ resurrection. But to soften all this bad news, God seems to feel it’s an appropriate time to reaffirm Jesus and "build up" his followers; and that’s what happens next.
"About eight days (later), (Jesus) took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem" (9:28-31).
This is what’s called the Transfiguration. Jesus goes to a high mountain—probably Mt. Hermon, the highest mountain in Israel. There, before the eyes of Peter, John, and James, Jesus takes on heavenly glory. Peter, John, and James are very sleepy, but this wakes them up! Jesus is joined by Moses and Elijah, and the three speak about his rejection, crucifixion, and resurrection in Jerusalem. Why Moses and Elijah? Most likely Moses represents the law and Elijah, the prophets; and their conversation is in the context of Jesus’ fulfilling law and prophesy. Then comes the main event:
"A cloud appeared and enveloped them, and . . . a voice came from the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him’" (9:34-35).
This is Jesus’ 2nd affirmation by a voice from heaven before witnesses. The first, we remember, was at Jesus’ baptism, when God said: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased" (3:22). Note the similarities and the differences:
Peter, John, and James "kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen" (9:36). But they only keep this a secret until Jesus’ resurrection; in Peter’s second letter, he confirms the event:
We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. . . . We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain (2 Pet 1:16-18).
The Transfiguration marks a watershed in Jesus ministry. In geographic terms, a "watershed" is at the top of a mountain . . . so it’s symbolic that this takes place on a high mountain—probably the highest mountain in Israel. Therefore, as Jesus, Peter, John, and James return to the other 9 disciples, they go down the mountain—both literally and symbolically; 9:51 marks this transition:
"As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem" (9:51).
As Jesus moves down the mountain, he deliberately moves toward his crucifixion . . . and his resurrection, the ultimate proof he is the Messiah and Son of God.
What has been going on while Jesus and three apostles are on the mountain? A man has brought his only son to be cured by the remaining nine apostles; the boy is possessed by a demon, which causes him to exhibit epileptic symptoms. The apostles have been unable to cast out the demon, but Jesus does this as soon as he arrives (9:37-43). Then he expresses his annoyance with the unsuccessful apostles:
"O unbelieving and perverse generation, . . . how long shall I stay with you and put up with you?" (9:41)
This rather harsh indictment is best understood in the context of Jesus’ debriefing of his apostles following their missionary tour. He gave them the power to cast out demons. While they were on their own, they did this job well; but now they are back with Jesus, they lean on him as a crutch again. This causes Jesus to reiterate what’s going to happen—with special emphasis: "Listen carefully . . . The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men" (9:44). In other words: "You guys will need to learn how to do all this yourselves, because I’m gonna leave; I can’t always be bailing you out."
"But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, . . . and they were afraid to ask him about it" (9:45).
The apostles don’t get it yet . . . and to show how clueless they are, they argue which of them is the greatest (9:46). Why are they doing this now? Is it related to the fact that Peter, John, and James went up the mountain with Jesus and 9 disciples stayed below? A "pecking order" for the apostles is needed because seating at banquets was determined by rank of importance (cf 14:7-11), and they each need to know where to sit. But to bring up this topic now . . . ?! Jesus sets them straight. Using a child as an example, he says:
"He who is least among you . . . is the greatest" (9:48).
Why is this teaching especially important at this time? At the beginning of this lesson, Jesus gave the apostles awesome power and authority . . . to use to do good. Jesus has just criticized them for not using that power to cast out a demon. Now he emphasizes that—although followers of Jesus have awesome power through him—a principle characteristic of a Christian is humility, just as Jesus is humble despite his God-like power. It should raise "red flags" when we encounter people who claim to be Christians but are full of pride—including pride about being a Christian. Jesus elaborates on humility later.
This lesson concludes with two little stories . . . one about a man who is not an "official disciple" but casts out demons in Jesus’ name (9:49-50), and the other about rejection of Jesus’ entourage by a Samaritan village, because they are Jews en route to worship in Jerusalem (9:52-56). Both these stories may be best understood in the context of this lesson: illustrations of improper use of the apostles’ authority and power.
Next week’s lesson—as usual—builds on this week’s. Jesus gives teachings about what it means to be a disciple. Then—flushed with the success of the missionary tour of the 12 apostles—Jesus sends another group of 72 disciples out to act as "advance men," preparing towns and villages for a visit by Jesus. And the heart of this lesson is the memorable parable of the Good Samaritan—a commentary on Jewish law which seems especially significant after the incident with the Samaritan village. The web site will have photos of the road where the Parable of the Good Samaritan occurred. And lastly we will discuss that often-quoted incident when Jesus has dinner in Bethany at the home of his friend Lazarus . . . and the sisters Martha and Mary argue about logistics vs learning.