---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Luke 9"
description: "CHAPTER 9   :-. MISSION OF THE
TWELVE APOSTLES. (See on  :-). 1. power and authority—He both
qualified and authorized them.  :-. HEROD TROUBLED
AT WHAT HE"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/luke/9"
---

CHAPTER 9

. MISSION OF THE
TWELVE APOSTLES.
(See on ).

**1. power and authority**—He both
*qualified* and *authorized* them.
. HEROD TROUBLED
AT WHAT HE
HEARS OF CHRIST
DESIRES TO SEE
HIM.
(See on ).

**7. perplexed**—at a loss,
embarrassed.
**said of some, that John was
risen**—Among many opinions, this was the one which Herod himself
adopted, for the reason, no doubt, mentioned on .

**9. desired to see him**—but did
not, till as a prisoner He was sent to him by Pilate just before His
death, as we learn from [Luke 23:8](../../../kjv/luke/23/8).
[Luke 23:8](../../../kjv/luke/23/8). ON THE RETURN
OF THE TWELVE JESUS
RETIRES WITH THEM
TO BETHSAIDA, AND
THERE MIRACULOUSLY
FEEDS FIVE
THOUSAND.
(See on [Luke 23:8](../../../kjv/luke/23/8)).
[Luke 23:8](../../../kjv/luke/23/8). PETER'S
CONFESSION OF CHRIST—OUR
LORD'S FIRST
EXPLICIT ANNOUNCEMENT
OF HIS APPROACHING
DEATH, AND WARNINGS
ARISING OUT
OF IT.
(See on [Luke 23:8](../../../kjv/luke/23/8); and [Mark 8:34](../../../kjv/mark/8/34)).

**24. will save**—"Is minded
to save," bent on saving. The pith of this maxim depends—as
often in such weighty sayings (for example, "Let the *dead*
bury the *dead,*" ) —on the double sense attached to the word "life,"
a lower and a higher, the natural and the spiritual, temporal and
eternal. An entire sacrifice of the lower, or a willingness to make
it, is indispensable to the preservation of the higher life; and he
who cannot bring himself to surrender the one for the sake of the
other shall eventually lose both.

**26. ashamed of me, and of my
words**—The sense of *shame* is one of the strongest in our
nature, one of the social affections founded on our love of
*reputation,* which causes instinctive aversion to what is
fitted to lower it, and was given us as a preservative from all that
is properly *shameful.* When one is, in this sense of it, *lost
to shame,* he is nearly past hope ([Zechariah 3:5](../../../kjv/zechariah/3/5);
[Jeremiah 6:15](../../../kjv/jeremiah/6/15); [Jeremiah 3:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/3/3)).
But when Christ and "His words"—Christianity, especially
in its more spiritual and uncompromising features—are unpopular,
the same instinctive desire to *stand well with others* begets
the temptation to be ashamed of Him, which only the 'expulsive power'
of a higher affection can effectually counteract.
**Son of man be ashamed, when
he cometh,** c.—He will render to that man his own treatment He
will disown him before the most august of all assemblies, and put him
to "*shame* and everlasting *contempt*" ([Jeremiah 3:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/3/3)). "Oh shame, to be put to shame before God, Christ, and
angels!" [BENGEL].

**27. not taste of death fill they see
the kingdom of God**—"see it come with power" (); or see "the Son of man coming in His kingdom" (). The reference, beyond doubt, is to the firm establishment
and victorious progress, in the lifetime of some then present, of
that new Kingdom of Christ, which was destined to work the greatest
of all changes on this earth, and be the grand pledge of His final
coming in glory.
. JESUS
TRANSFIGURED.

**28. an eight days after these
sayings**—including the day on which this was spoken and that of
the Transfiguration. Matthew and Mark say ([Matthew 17:1](../../../kjv/matthew/17/1);
[Mark 9:2](../../../kjv/mark/9/2)) "after six days,"
*excluding* these two days. As the "sayings" so
definitely connected with the transfiguration scene are those
announcing His *death*—at which Peter and all the Twelve were
so startled and scandalized—so this scene was designed to show to
the eyes as well as the heart how *glorious* that death was in
the view of Heaven.
**Peter, James, and
John**—partners before in secular business; now sole witnesses of
the resurrection of Jairus' daughter ([Mark 9:2](../../../kjv/mark/9/2)), the transfiguration, and the agony in the garden ([Mark 9:2](../../../kjv/mark/9/2)).
**a mountain**—not *Tabor,*
according to long tradition, with which the facts ill comport, but
some one near the lake.
**to pray**—for the period
He had now reached was a critical and anxious one. (See on [Mark 9:2](../../../kjv/mark/9/2)). But who can adequately translate those "strong
cryings and tears?" Methinks, as I steal by His side, I hear
from Him these plaintive sounds, "Lord, who hath believed Our
report? I am come unto Mine own and Mine own receive Me not; I am
become a stranger unto My brethren, an alien to My mother's children:
Consider Mine enemies, for they are many, and they hate Me with cruel
hatred. Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Thou that dwellest
between the cherubim, shine forth: Show Me a token for good: Father,
glorify Thy name."

**29. as he prayed, the fashion,**
c.—Before He cried He was answered, and while He was yet speaking
He was heard. Blessed interruption to prayer this! Thanks to God,
transfiguring manifestations are not quite strangers here. Ofttimes
in the deepest depths, out of groanings which cannot be uttered,
God's dear children are suddenly transported to a kind of heaven upon
earth, and their soul is made as the chariots of Amminadab. Their
prayers fetch down such light, strength, holy gladness, as make their
face to shine, putting a kind of celestial radiance upon it ([2 Corinthians 3:18](../../../kjv/2-corinthians/3/18)
[Exodus 34:29-35](../../../kjv/exodus/34/29-35)).
**raiment white,** c.—Matthew
says, "His face did shine as the sun" ([Exodus 34:29-2](../../../kjv/exodus/34/29-2)), and Mark says ([Mark 9:3](../../../kjv/mark/9/3)),
"His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as no
fuller on earth can white them" ([Mark 9:3](../../../kjv/mark/9/3)). The light, then, it would seem, shone not *upon* Him
*from without,* but *out of* Him *from within* He was
all irradiated, was in one blaze of celestial glory. What a contrast
to that "visage more marred than men, and His form than the sons
of men!" ([Isaiah 52:14](../../../kjv/isaiah/52/14)).

**30, 31. there talked with him two
men . . . Moses and Elias . . . appeared in glory**—"Who
would have believed these were not *angels* had not their *human*
names been subjoined?" [BENGEL].
(Compare [Acts 1:10](../../../kjv/acts/1/10); [Mark 16:5](../../../kjv/mark/16/5)).
Moses represented "the law," Elijah "the prophets,"
and both together the whole testimony of the Old Testament
Scriptures, and the Old Testament saints, to Christ; now not borne in
a *book,* but by *living men,* not to a *coming,* but
a *come* Messiah, *visibly,* for they "appeared,"
and *audibly,* for they "spake."

**31. spake**—"were
speaking."
**of his decease**—"departure";
beautiful euphemism (softened term) for *death,* which Peter,
who witnessed the scene, uses to express his own expected death, and
the use of which single term seems to have recalled the whole by a
sudden rush of recollection, and occasioned that delightful allusion
to this scene which we find in .
**which he should
accomplish**—"was to fulfil."
**at Jerusalem**—Mark the
*historical character* and *local features* which Christ's
death assumed to these glorified men—as important as it is
charming—and see on [Luke 2:11](../../../kjv/luke/2/11).
What now may be gathered from this statement? (1) *That a dying
Messiah is the great article of the true Jewish theology.* For a
long time the Church had fallen clean away from the faith of this
article, and even from a preparedness to receive it. But here we have
that jewel raked out of the dunghill of Jewish traditions, and by the
true representatives of the Church of old made the one subject of
talk with Christ Himself. (2) *The adoring gratitude of glorified
men for His undertaking to accomplish such a decease; their felt
dependence upon it for the glory in which they appeared; their
profound interest in the progress of it, their humble solaces and
encouragements to go through with it; and their sense of its peerless
and overwhelming glory.* "Go, matchless, adored One, a Lamb
to the slaughter! rejected of men, but chosen of God and precious;
dishonored, abhorred, and soon to be slain by men, but worshipped by
cherubim, ready to be greeted by all heaven. In virtue of that
decease we are here; our all is suspended on it and wrapped up in it.
Thine every step is watched by us with ineffable interest; and though
it were too high an honor to us to be permitted to drop a word of
cheer into that precious but now clouded spirit, yet, as the
first-fruits of harvest; the very joy set before Him, we cannot
choose but tell Him that what is the depth of shame to Him is covered
with glory in the eyes of Heaven, that the Cross to Him is the Crown
to us, that that 'decease' is all our salvation and all our desire."
And who can doubt that such a scene *did* minister deep cheer to
that spirit? It is said they "talked" not *to Him,*
but "*with Him*"; and if they told *Him* how
glorious His decease was, might He not fitly reply, "I know it,
but your voice, as messengers from heaven come down to tell it Me, is
music in Mine ears."

**32. and when they were awake**—so,
certainly, the most commentators: but if we translate literally, it
should be "*but having kept awake*" [MEYER,
ALFORD]. Perhaps "*having
roused themselves up*" [OLSHAUSEN]
may come near enough to the literal sense; but from the word used we
can gather no more than that they *shook off their drowsiness.*
It was night, and the Lord seems to have spent the whole night on the
mountain ([Luke 9:37](../../../kjv/luke/9/37)).
**saw his glory,** &c.—The
emphasis lies on "*saw,*" qualifying them to become
"*eye-witnesses* of His majesty" ([Luke 9:37](../../../kjv/luke/9/37)).

**33. they departed**—Ah! bright
manifestations in this vale of tears are always "departing"
manifestations.

**34, 35. a cloud**—not one of our
watery clouds, but the Shekinah-cloud (see on ), the pavilion of the manifested presence of God with His
people, what Peter calls "the excellent" of "magnificent
glory" ([2 Peter 1:17](../../../kjv/2-peter/1/17)).
**a voice**—"*such*
a voice," says Peter emphatically; "and this voice [he
adds] we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount"
([2 Peter 1:17](../../../kjv/2-peter/1/17); [2 Peter 1:18](../../../kjv/2-peter/1/18)).

**35. my beloved Son . . . hear
him**—*reverentially, implicitly, alone.*

**36. Jesus was found alone**—Moses
and Elias are gone. Their work is done, and they have disappeared
from the scene, feeling no doubt with their fellow servant the
Baptist, "He must increase, but I must decrease." The cloud
too is gone, and the naked majestic Christ, braced in spirit, and
enshrined in the reverent affection of His disciples, is left—to
suffer!
**kept it close**—feeling,
for once at least, that such things were unmeet as yet for the
general gaze.
. DEMONIAC AND
LUNATIC BOY
HEALED—CHRIST'S
SECOND EXPLICIT
ANNOUNCEMENT OF HIS DEATH
AND RESURRECTION.
(See on .)

**43-45. the mighty power of God**—"the
majesty" or "mightiness" of God in this last miracle,
the transfiguration, c.: the *divine grandeur* of Christ rising
upon them daily. By comparing [Matthew 17:22](../../../kjv/matthew/17/22)
[Mark 9:30](../../../kjv/mark/9/30), we gather that this had
been the subject of conversation between the Twelve and their Master
as they journeyed along.

**44. these sayings**—not what was
passing between them about His grandeur [MEYER,
c.], but what He was now to repeat for the second time about His
sufferings [DE WETTE,
STIER, ALFORD,
&c.] that is, "Be not carried off your feet by all this
grandeur of Mine, but bear in mind what I have already told you, and
now distinctly repeat, that that Sun in whose beams ye now rejoice is
soon to set in midnight gloom." "The Son of *man,*"
says Christ, "into the hands of *men*"—a remarkable
antithesis (also in [Matthew 17:22](../../../kjv/matthew/17/22);
[Mark 9:31](../../../kjv/mark/9/31)).

**45. and they feared**—"insomuch
that they feared." Their most cherished ideas were so completely
dashed by such announcements, that they were afraid of laying
themselves open to rebuke by asking Him any questions.
. STRIFE AMONG THE
TWELVE WHO
SHOULD BE
GREATEST—JOHN
REBUKED FOR EXCLUSIVENESS.

**46-48.** (See on ).

**49, 50. John answered,** &c.—The
link of connection here with the foregoing context lies in the words
"in My name" ([Luke 9:48](../../../kjv/luke/9/48)).
"Oh, as to that," said John, young, warm, but not
sufficiently apprehending Christ's teaching in these things, "we
saw one casting out devils in Thy name, and we forbade him: Were we
wrong?" "Ye were wrong." "But we did because he
followeth not us,'" "No matter. For (1) There is no man
which shall do a miracle in My name that can lightly [soon] speak
evil of Me' [[Mark 9:39](../../../kjv/mark/9/39)]. And (2)
If such a person cannot be supposed to be '*against* us,' you
are to consider him '*for* us.'" Two principles of immense
importance. Christ does not say this man should *not* have
followed "with them," but simply teaches how he was to be
regarded *though he did not*—as a reverer of His name and a
promoter of His cause. Surely this condemns not only those horrible
attempts *by force* to shut up all within one visible pale of
discipleship, which have deluged Christendom with blood in Christ's
name, but the same spirit in its milder form of proud ecclesiastic
scowl upon all who "after the form which they call *a sect*
(as the word signifies, [Acts 24:14](../../../kjv/acts/24/14)),
do so worship the God of their fathers." Visible unity in
Christ's Church is devoutly to be sought, but this is not the way to
it. *See the noble spirit of Moses* ([Acts 24:14](../../../kjv/acts/24/14)).
[Acts 24:14](../../../kjv/acts/24/14). THE PERIOD
OF HIS ASSUMPTION
APPROACHING CHRIST
TAKES HIS
LAST LEAVE
OF GALILEE—THE
SAMARITANS REFUSE
TO RECEIVE HIM.

**51. the time was come**—rather,
"the days were being fulfilled," or approaching their
fulfilment.
**that he should be received
up**—"of His assumption," meaning His exaltation to the
Father; a sublime expression, taking the sweep of His whole career,
as if at one bound He was about to vault into glory. The work of
Christ in the flesh is here divided into *two great stages;* all
that preceded this belonging to the one, and all that follows it to
the other. During the one, He formally "*came to His own,*"
and "*would have gathered them*"; during the other,
the awful consequences of "*His own receiving Him not*"
rapidly revealed themselves.
**he steadfastly set his
face**—the "He" here is emphatic—"He Himself
then." See His own prophetic language, "I have set my face
like a flint" ([Isaiah 50:7](../../../kjv/isaiah/50/7)).
**go to Jerusalem**—as His
*goal,* but including His preparatory visits to it at the feasts
of tabernacles and of dedication ([John 7:2](../../../kjv/john/7/2);
[John 7:10](../../../kjv/john/7/10); [John 10:22](../../../kjv/john/10/22);
[John 10:23](../../../kjv/john/10/23)), and all the
intermediate movements and events.

**52. messengers before his face . . .
to make ready for him**—He had not done this before; but now,
instead of avoiding, He seems to court publicity—all now hastening
to maturity.

**53. did not receive him, because,**
&c.—The Galileans, in going to the festivals at Jerusalem,
usually took the Samaritan route [JOSEPHUS,
*Antiquities,* 20.6.1], and yet seem to have met with no such
inhospitality. But if they were asked to prepare quarters *for the
Messiah,* in the person of one whose "face was as though He
would go *to Jerusalem,*" their national prejudices would
be raised at so marked a slight upon their claims. (See on ).

**54. James and John**—not *Peter,*
as we should have expected, but those "*sons of thunder*"
([Mark 3:17](../../../kjv/mark/3/17)), who afterwards
wanted to have all the highest honors of the Kingdom to themselves,
and the younger of whom had been rebuked already for his
exclusiveness ([Luke 9:49](../../../kjv/luke/9/49); [Luke 9:50](../../../kjv/luke/9/50)).
Yet this was "the disciple whom Jesus loved," while the
other willingly drank of His Lord's bitter cup. (See on [Luke 9:50](../../../kjv/luke/9/50); and [Luke 9:50](../../../kjv/luke/9/50)). That
same fiery zeal, in a mellowed and hallowed form, in the beloved
disciple, we find in [2 John 5:10](../../../kjv/2-john/5/10);
[3 John 1:10](../../../kjv/3-john/1/10).
**fire . . . as Elias**—a
plausible case, occurring also in *Samaria* ([3 John 1:10](../../../kjv/3-john/1/10)).

**55, 56. know not what . . .
spirit**—The thing ye demand, though in keeping with the *legal,*
is unsuited to the genius of the *evangelical* dispensation. The
sparks of *un*holy indignation would seize readily enough on
this example of Elias, though our Lord's rebuke (as is plain from ) is directed to the *principle* involved rather than
the animal heat which doubtless prompted the reference. "It is a
golden sentence of Tillotson, Let us never do anything for religion
which is contrary to religion" [WEBSTER
and WILKINSON].

**56. For the Son of man,** c.—a
saying truly divine, of which all His miracles—for salvation, never
destruction—were one continued illustration.
**went to another**—illustrating
His own precept ([Matthew 10:23](../../../kjv/matthew/10/23)).
[Matthew 10:23](../../../kjv/matthew/10/23). INCIDENTS
ILLUSTRATIVE OF
DISCIPLESHIP.
*The Precipitate Disciple*
([Luke 9:57](../../../kjv/luke/9/57) [Luke 9:58](../../../kjv/luke/9/58)).
(See on [Luke 9:58](../../../kjv/luke/9/58).)
*The Procrastinating Disciple*
([Luke 9:59](../../../kjv/luke/9/59); [Luke 9:60](../../../kjv/luke/9/60)).
(See on [Luke 9:60](../../../kjv/luke/9/60)).
*The Irresolute Disciple*
([Luke 9:61](../../../kjv/luke/9/61); [Luke 9:62](../../../kjv/luke/9/62)).

**61. I will follow . . . but**—The
second disciple had a "but" too—a difficulty in the way
just then. Yet the different *treatment* of the two cases shows
how different was the *spirit* of the two, and to that our Lord
addressed Himself. The case of Elisha (), though *apparently* similar to this, will be
found quite different from the "looking back" of this case,
the best illustration of which is that of *those Hindu converts of
our day who, when once persuaded to leave their spiritual fathers in
order to "bid them farewell which are at home at their house,"
very rarely return to them.* (Also see on .)

**62. No man,** c.—As ploughing
requires an eye intent on the furrow to be made, and is marred the
instant one turns about, so will they come short of salvation who
prosecute the work of God with a distracted attention, a divided
heart. Though the reference seems chiefly to ministers, the
application is general. The expression "looking back" has a
manifest reference to "Lot's wife" ( and see on [Luke 9:1](../../../kjv/luke/9/1)).
It is not *actual return* to the world, but a *reluctance to
break with it.* (Also see on [Luke 9:1](../../../kjv/luke/9/1).)

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