9
Jesus sends out the Twelve
1 Then He called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all the demons,* and to cure diseases; 2 and He sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 And He said to them: “Take nothing for the journey—neither staffs† nor knapsack nor bread nor money, neither have two tunics apiece. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there, and depart from there. 5 But as many as do not receive you, when you depart from that town, shake off even the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went around, village by village, evangelizing and healing everywhere.
Herod is troubled
7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all the things being done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, 8 and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen. 9 But Herod said, “John I beheaded; so who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he started trying to see Him.‡
Jesus feeds about 5,000 men
10 When the Apostles returned they reported to Him all that they had done. Then He took them and withdrew privately to a deserted place belonging to a town called Bethsaida.§
11 But the crowds, being aware, followed Him. So He received them and started speaking to them about the Kingdom of God, and He cured those who needed healing.
12 Now when the day began to decline, the Twelve approached and said to Him, “Dismiss the crowd, so that they may go to the surrounding villages and their farms, lodge and find food; because we are in a deserted place here.” 13 But He said to them, “You feed them!”* So they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd” 14 (there were about five thousand men). But He said to His disciples, “Make them recline in groups of fifty!” 15 They did so, making them all recline. 16 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17 So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the pieces they left were taken up.†
Jesus ministers on the basis of His impending death
“You are the Christ!”
18 Now it happened, as He was alone praying, that the disciples joined Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the crowds say I am?” 19 In answer they said, “John the Baptizer, but others say ‘Elijah,’ while others that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.” 20 Then He said to them, “But you, who do you say that I am?” In answer Peter said, “The Christ‡ of God!” 21 But He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of the Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.”
To gain is to lose, to lose is to gain
23 Then He said to everyone: “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross,§ and follow me. 24 Because whoever desires to ‘save’ his life will waste it, but whoever ‘wastes’ his life for my sake, he will save it.* 25 Further, what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, yet wastes or forfeits his very self? 26 Yes, whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of the Man will be ashamed of Him, whenever He comes in the glory—His, and the Father's, and of the holy angels.† 27 However, I tell you truly: there are some standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the Kingdom of God!”
Peter, John and James see the ‘Kingdom’
28 Now about eight days after these words, it happened that He took along Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as He prayed, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing dazzling white. 30 And then, two men started talking with Him, who were Moses and Elijah; 31 they appeared in glory and were explaining His ‘departure’, that He was about to bring to fruition in Jerusalem.‡
32 Now Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; but becoming fully awake, they saw His glory, and the two men who stood with Him. 33 Then it happened: as they were parting from Him, Peter said to Jesus: “Master, it is good for us to be here” and “Should we make three shelters: one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah?”§—not knowing what he was saying. 34 But as he was saying this a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they became afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And a Voice* came out of the cloud, saying: “This is my beloved† Son. Listen to Him!” 36 When the Voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. (They kept quiet and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.)‡
A violent demon
37 Now it happened on the next day, when they came down from the mountain,§ that a large crowd met Him. 38 And then, a man from the crowd called out, saying: “Teacher, I beg you, look upon my son, for he is my only begotten. 39 And oh, a spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams, and it convulses him with foaming, and it hardly departs from him, destroying him! 40 And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” 41 Then in answer Jesus said: “O unbelieving and perverse* generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you (pl)? Bring your (sg) son here!” 42 But while he was still coming the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father. 43 Everyone was amazed at the majesty† of God.
Jesus foretells His death, again
But while all were marveling at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, 44 “Let these words sink into your ears, because the Son of the Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.”‡ 45 But they did not understand this saying; indeed it was concealed from them,§ in order that they should not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
He who is least will be great
46 Then an argument started among them as to which of them would be the greatest. 47 So Jesus, perceiving the reasoning of their heart, took a little child and had him stand beside Him, 48 and said to them: “Whoever receives this little child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me receives Him who sent me. Further, he who is least among all of you, he will be great.”
John changes the subject
49 Then John reacted by saying, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.” 50 So Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid, because he who is not against us is for us.”*
A Samaritan village
51 Now it happened, as the days for His Ascension approached,† that He set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and He sent messengers ahead of Him. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, so as to prepare for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, because He was heading for Jerusalem. 54 Well, when His disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and consume them, just like Elijah did?”‡ 55 But He turned and rebuked them saying: “You do not know of what sort of spirit you are. 56 Further, the Son of the Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save.”§ And they went to another village.
The cost of discipleship
57 Now as they journeyed on the road, it happened that someone said to Him, “Lord,* I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 So Jesus said to him, “The foxes have dens and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of the Man has no place to lay His head.”†
59 Then He said to another, “Follow me!” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”‡
61 And another also said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first allow me to bid farewell to those who are at my house.”§ 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to ‘the plow’ and looks back is suitable for the Kingdom of God.”*
* 9:1 “Over all the demons”—evidently, during their tour no demon resisted them, which contrasts with Luke 9:40. † 9:3 Perhaps 15% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘staffs’ as singular, to be followed by most modern versions. In Matthew 10:10 it is 5%. But to put the singular here and in Matthew contradicts Mark 6:8, where all texts have “only a staff”. In Luke and Matthew the vast majority of the Greek manuscripts read “neither staffs”, which does not contradict Mark—the case of the staffs is analogous to that of the tunics; they were to take only one, not several. ‡ 9:9 But apparently he never succeeded until the very end, and even then only thanks to Pilate (Luke 23:6-12). § 9:10 Instead of “a deserted place belonging to a town called Bethsaida”, 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, have “a town called Bethsaida” (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). Problem: the eclectic text currently in vogue, along with the modern versions that follow it, has Jesus and company going into the town of Bethsaida, but in verse 12 the disciples say they are in a deserted area; thus a contradiction is introduced. The eclectic text here is also at variance with itself in the parallel passages. In Matthew 14:13 all texts have Jesus going to a deserted place, and in verse 15 the disciples say, “the place is deserted… send the crowd away to the towns.” In Mark 6:31-32 all texts have Him going to a deserted place, and in verse 35 the disciples say it is a deserted place, etc. So the eclectic text not only makes Luke contradict himself, but sets him against Matthew and Mark—and this on the basis of only half a percent of the manuscripts! But there is more to the story. From the parallel accounts it appears that He embarked at Capernaum. From John 6:23 we learn that the destination was near Tiberias. Capernaum and Tiberias are both on the western side of the Sea of Galilee, but there is a large bay between them; so they went over several miles of water. The crowd was not about to let Jesus get away. Mark makes clear that they ran along the shore—the faster runners stayed even with the boat and were waiting on the shore when the boat put in. The others were spread out behind for several miles (like in a marathon) and kept arriving. Any late starters would see the stragglers and could easily follow the action. Apparently He immediately started to heal the sick and went on to teach (Matthew 14:14, Mark 6:34). But just where was it? John says it was near Tiberias, but Luke 9:10 says it was “a deserted place belonging to a town called Bethsaida”. I assume that the place was indeed near Tiberias but did indeed belong to Bethsaida—either it had been deeded to the town somehow or the family that owned it was based in Bethsaida. Any near neighbors could not use it, so it was basically untouched—a great place for a picnic. After the feeding, Mark 6:45 says that “He made His disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida”. So why did Jesus send the disciples to Bethsaida? Perhaps it was to give an accounting to the owner of the place where the multitude was fed—15,000 people can make quite a mess. (I suspect that Jesus had permission to use the place when He wanted to get away, but no one had foreseen such a crowd as that.) From Matthew and Mark I gather that from Bethsaida Jesus went directly to Genesaret, spending the minimum time necessary in Bethsaida. * 9:13 Please, with what?! The only way the disciples could have obeyed this command would be by a miracle similar to what Jesus proceeded to perform. But they were not up to it. Are we? † 9:17 The collecting was probably done by others, and in any case that leftover bread was used by others. ‡ 9:20 Since they were speaking Hebrew, he said ‘Messiah’. § 9:23 Some 13% of the Greek manuscripts add ‘daily’, as in most versions. * 9:24 What the Lord is talking about is the potential one's life represents. The only way not to throw away or waste your life is to live for the Kingdom. † 9:26 Revelation 21:8 says that a coward does not enter the Kingdom. In Matthew 10:33 Jesus said that He will deny before the Father whoever denies Him before men. To cave in under pressure is definitely not to be recommended. ‡ 9:31 Evidently they communicated the details of the game plan. § 9:33 So how did Peter know who they were? * 9:35 Peter never forgot that VOICE (2 Peter 1:16). In effect, the Father was rebuking Peter for speaking out of turn. The Voice was not happy! † 9:35 Instead of ‘beloved’, perhaps 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, have ‘chosen’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). ‡ 9:36 Jesus commanded them not to mention anything until after the resurrection (Mark 9:9). § 9:37 They spent a night up there. * 9:41 Why “perverse”? To reject the truth and the evidence is to be perverse. This word was presumably directed to the disciples, who should have known better by now. So how about us—are we living on the basis of the truth and the evidence? Really? † 9:43 Why ‘the majesty’? I don't know. ‡ 9:44 Moses and Elijah had delivered the game plan, and Jesus immediately starts warning the disciples. § 9:45 Concealed by whom? Presumably not by God, as attested by the immediately following argument. * 9:50 Instead of ‘us is for us’, perhaps 20% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘you is for you’. † 9:51 Why did Luke put “ascension” rather than ‘death’ or ‘resurrection’? I don't know, but I find it interesting. Hebrews 12:2 says that He endured the cross because of the joy that was set before Him. ‡ 9:54 About 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “just like Elijah did” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). No wonder Jesus called them ‘sons of thunder’ (Mark 3:17). § 9:56 Some 27% of the Greek manuscripts omit “saying: ‘You do not know of what sort of spirit you are. Further, the Son of the Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save’ ”, to be followed by most modern versions. The 73% includes the best line of transmission, which I follow. * 9:57 Perhaps 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “Lord” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). † 9:58 Jesus does not offer comfort and a ‘good time’. ‡ 9:60 Dear me, how unfeeling! Those who are not committed to Christ and His Kingdom are as good as dead, and a true disciple of Jesus must not allow himself to be held back by such. Of course such an attitude will not be understood by the ‘dead’, but the disciple needs to side with the Kingdom. What if that father had lived for another ten years? If you put off doing God's will for things like that, you may wind up never doing it. § 9:61 If you go back to say goodbye, they will cry and carry on and do all they can to make you change your mind. * 9:62 Again, the Lord is calling for total commitment.