29 And G2532 as G1722 he G846 prayed, G4336 the fashion G1491 of his G846 countenance G4383 was G1096 altered, G2087 and G2532 his G846 raiment G2441 was white G3022 and glistering. G1823
And it came to pass, when Moses H4872 came down H3381 from mount H2022 Sinai H5514 with the two H8147 tables H3871 of testimony H5715 in Moses' H4872 hand, H3027 when he came down H3381 from the mount, H2022 that Moses H4872 wist H3045 not that the skin H5785 of his face H6440 shone H7160 while he talked H1696 with him. And when Aaron H175 and all the children H1121 of Israel H3478 saw H7200 Moses, H4872 behold, the skin H5785 of his face H6440 shone; H7160 and they were afraid H3372 to come nigh H5066 him. And Moses H4872 called H7121 unto them; and Aaron H175 and all the rulers H5387 of the congregation H5712 returned H7725 unto him: and Moses H4872 talked H1696 with them. And afterward H310 all the children H1121 of Israel H3478 came nigh: H5066 and he gave them in commandment H6680 all that the LORD H3068 had spoken H1696 with him in mount H2022 Sinai. H5514 And till Moses H4872 had done H3615 speaking H1696 with them, he put H5414 a vail H4533 on his face. H6440 But when Moses H4872 went in H935 before H6440 the LORD H3068 to speak H1696 with him, he took H5493 the vail H4533 off, H5493 until he came out. H3318 And he came out, H3318 and spake H1696 unto the children H1121 of Israel H3478 that which he was commanded. H6680 And the children H1121 of Israel H3478 saw H7200 the face H6440 of Moses, H4872 that the skin H5785 of Moses' H4872 face H6440 shone: H7160 and Moses H4872 put H7725 the vail H4533 upon his face H6440 again, H7725 until he went H935 in to speak H1696 with him.
And G2532 after G3326 six G1803 days G2250 Jesus G2424 taketh G3880 with him Peter, G4074 and G2532 James, G2385 and G2532 John, G2491 and G2532 leadeth G399 them G846 up G399 into G1519 an high G5308 mountain G3735 apart G2596 G2398 by themselves: G3441 and G2532 he was transfigured G3339 before G1715 them. G846 And G2532 his G846 raiment G2440 became G1096 shining, G4744 exceeding G3029 white G3022 as G5613 snow; G5510 so as G3634 no G3756 fuller G1102 on G1909 earth G1093 can G1410 white G3021 them.
But G235 what things G3748 were G2258 gain G2771 to me, G3427 those G5023 I counted G2233 loss G2209 for G1223 Christ. G5547 Yea G235 doubtless, G3304 and G2532 I count G2233 all things G3956 but loss G2209 for G1511 G1223 the excellency G5242 of the knowledge G1108 of Christ G5547 Jesus G2424 my G3450 Lord: G2962 for G1223 whom G3739 I have suffered the loss G2210 of all things, G3956 and G2532 do count G2233 them G1511 but dung, G4657 that G2443 I may win G2770 Christ, G5547
For G1063 we have G1811 not G3756 followed G1811 cunningly devised G4679 fables, G3454 when we made known G1107 unto you G5213 the power G1411 and G2532 coming G3952 of our G2257 Lord G2962 Jesus G2424 Christ, G5547 but G235 were G1096 eyewitnesses G2030 of his G1565 majesty. G3168 For G1063 he received G2983 from G3844 God G2316 the Father G3962 honour G5092 and G2532 glory, G1391 when there came G5342 such G5107 a voice G5456 to him G846 from G5259 the excellent G3169 glory, G1391 This G3778 is G2076 my G3450 beloved G27 Son, G5207 in G1519 whom G3739 I G1473 am well pleased. G2106 And G2532 this G5026 voice G5456 which came G5342 from G1537 heaven G3772 we G2249 heard, G191 when we were G5607 with G4862 him G846 in G1722 the holy G40 mount. G3735
And G2532 in G1722 the midst G3319 of the seven G2033 candlesticks G3087 one like G3664 unto the Son G5207 of man, G444 clothed with a garment G1746 down to the foot, G4158 and G2532 girt G4024 about G4314 the paps G3149 with a golden G5552 girdle. G2223 G1161 His G846 head G2776 and G2532 his hairs G2359 were white G3022 like G5616 wool, G2053 as white G3022 as G5613 snow; G5510 and G2532 his G846 eyes G3788 were as G5613 a flame G5395 of fire; G4442 And G2532 his G846 feet G4228 like G3664 unto fine brass, G5474 as G5613 if they burned G4448 in G1722 a furnace; G2575 and G2532 his G846 voice G5456 as G5613 the sound G5456 of many G4183 waters. G5204 And G2532 he had G2192 in G1722 his G846 right G1188 hand G5495 seven G2033 stars: G792 and G2532 out of G1537 his G846 mouth G4750 went G1607 a sharp G3691 twoedged G1366 sword: G4501 and G2532 his G846 countenance G3799 was as G5613 the sun G2246 shineth G5316 in G1722 his G846 strength. G1411
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Luke 9
Commentary on Luke 9 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 9
Lu 9:1-6. Mission of the Twelve Apostles.
(See on Mt 10:1-15).
1. power and authority—He both qualified and authorized them.
Lu 9:7-9. Herod Troubled at What He Hears of Christ Desires to See Him.
(See on Mr 6:14-30).
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 Mr 6:14.
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 Lu 23:8.
Lu 9:10-17. On the Return of the Twelve Jesus Retires with Them to Bethsaida, and There Miraculously Feeds Five Thousand.
(See on Mr 6:31-44).
Lu 9:18-27. Peter's Confession of Christ—Our Lord's First Explicit Announcement of His Approaching Death, and Warnings Arising Out of It.
(See on Mt 16:13-28; and Mr 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," Mt 8:22)—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 (Zec 3:5; Jer 6:15; 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" (Da 12:2). "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" (Mr 9:1); or see "the Son of man coming in His kingdom" (Mt 16:28). 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.
Lu 9:28-36. 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 (Mt 17:1; Mr 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 (Mr 5:37), the transfiguration, and the agony in the garden (Mr 14:33).
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 Mt 16:13). 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 (2Co 3:18, with Ex 34:29-35).
raiment white, &c.—Matthew says, "His face did shine as the sun" (Mt 17:2), and Mark says (Mr 9:3), "His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them" (Mr 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!" (Isa 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 Ac 1:10; Mr 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 2Pe 1:15-18.
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 Lu 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 (Lu 9:37).
saw his glory, &c.—The emphasis lies on "saw," qualifying them to become "eye-witnesses of His majesty" (2Pe 1:16).
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 Mt 23:39), the pavilion of the manifested presence of God with His people, what Peter calls "the excellent" of "magnificent glory" (2Pe 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" (2Pe 1:17, 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.
Lu 9:37-45. Demoniac and Lunatic Boy Healed—Christ's Second Explicit Announcement of his Death and Resurrection.
(See on Mr 9:14-32.)
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 Mt 17:22, and Mr 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 Mt 17:22, and Mr 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.
Lu 9:46-48. Strife among the Twelve Who Should Be Greatest—John Rebuked for Exclusiveness.
46-48. (See on Mt 18:1-5).
49, 50. John answered, &c.—The link of connection here with the foregoing context lies in the words "in My name" (Lu 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' [Mr 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, Ac 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 (Nu 11:24-29).
Lu 9:51-56. 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" (Isa 50:7).
go to Jerusalem—as His goal, but including His preparatory visits to it at the feasts of tabernacles and of dedication (Joh 7:2, 10; 10:22, 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 Joh 4:20).
54. James and John—not Peter, as we should have expected, but those "sons of thunder" (Mr 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 (Lu 9:49, 50). Yet this was "the disciple whom Jesus loved," while the other willingly drank of His Lord's bitter cup. (See on Mr 10:38-40; and Ac 12:2). That same fiery zeal, in a mellowed and hallowed form, in the beloved disciple, we find in 2Jo 5:10; 3Jo 10.
fire … as Elias—a plausible case, occurring also in Samaria (2Ki 1:10-12).
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 unholy indignation would seize readily enough on this example of Elias, though our Lord's rebuke (as is plain from Lu 9:56) 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 (Mt 10:23).
Lu 9:57-62. Incidents Illustrative of Discipleship.
The Precipitate Disciple (Lu 9:57, 58).
(See on Mt 8:19, 20.)
The Procrastinating Disciple (Lu 9:59, 60).
(See on Mt 8:21).
The Irresolute Disciple (Lu 9:61, 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 (1Ki 19:19-21), 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 Mt 8:21.)
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" (Ge 19:26; and see on Lu 17:32). It is not actual return to the world, but a reluctance to break with it. (Also see on Mt 8:21.)