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Luke 9Here we will find Luke has a thread through it which identifies the main purpose of all the sub themes of Luke9. That thread is the question: Who do people say Jesus is? Indeed it is the purpose of all the gospels to show you that Jesus is the Christ and that by having faith in Him you can have eternal life. The question of who Jesus is, is first brought up by King Herod, then later the question is brought up again after Jesus had fed the 5000. Here Jesus asks the disciples what the crowds say about who he is.Jesus then asks Peter who he thinks he is.Peter answers that he is the Christ, whereas none of the multitude had said this. Next we see that Moses and Elijah appear and are seen by the disciples. The two greatest prophets in Israels history, come to Jesus to speak to Jesus of his death in Jerusalem. In the context of the book,they are expanding on the hope of the consolation of Israel and the redemption of Jerusalem. They are pointing to Jesus as the one who will bring this about by Jesus death at Jerusalem.Then finally as if it weren't enough for the two greatest prophets in Israel to point to Jesus as the Christ, we then hear the testimony of the Father in heaven speaking in the cloud saying "This is my beloved son,listen to him!! If you have read the introduction to Jesus ministry we would see that God is using the title Son of God to describe that Jesus is His chosen King of Israel. So then this is the main gist of what Luke wants us to understand here in chapter 9.
The sending out of the disciples is a very unique event. Up to now only Jesus had preached the gospel and had demonstrated it in power, by healings and deliverance from the devil and sins power. Now we see that Jesus delegates this supernatural authority to his messengers. They are to preach the Kingdom of God, for the time of the Kingdom was about to appear. Israel were been called upon to make right with their God, Yhwh. They were to be totally dependant upon God to look after them. They were to express this dependance by having only one set of clothes,one staff and taking no food or money with them. They were to go into all the towns and only to stay in one house and if they were not received they were to shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against that place. It would be the evidence produced against them on that last and terrible day, that God visited them but they wanted to know nothing of Him. So what we are to know is that we are called to trust in God to provide for us in doing the work of His Kingdom. What is more is that the Kingdom of God would be demonstrated in power, by healings and deliverances. The powers of the Kingdom would be demonstrated with the preaching of Gods Kingdom. These are the messengers of the true king of Israel and all the earth, calling them to prepare to meet their God in Jesus Christ. It must be noted up to this time ,they didn't understand the gospel in terms of Jesus cross and resurrection. They preached the consolation of Israel and the imminance of the last day.The time of Israels restoration to God had nowcome.How this is worked out is not exactly as they pictured it. In vs 27 we already see that Jesus says many standing there would not see death before the Kingdom came. Understanding what Jesus meant by this will help many to understand that the Kingdom of God has indeed begun in Jesus work. This was the great mystery that was now been revealed, the Kingdom was indeed comiming and been made manifest in the ministry of Jesus. The Kingdom was indeed coming. The powers of the great future event, were being manifested and people were being restored to their God like never before. So then you ask, why does Jesus say, many standing here today will not die before they saw the Kingdom. Here jesus is indeed affirming to the people that they would see Gods Kingdom come in their lifetime. This all happened after Jesus was put to death by means of the cross and raised to life again, to ascend to the right hand of God. There at Gods right hand he took the throne of his father David and so was declared to be the Christ and King of Israel. Once Jesus was enthroned he poured out the promised Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God began as all the promises of the Psalms had come to pass and especially the promise of Psalm 110 which says "The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." So then since Jesus received the promised Davidic throne and Kingdom which would have no end as promised in 2 Samull7. His throne and Kingdom have been established forever and so the Kingdom of God has begun in the midst of this evil age. Jesus is indeed reigning now, as even the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 says that Jesus must reign until he has put all Gods enemies beneath Gods foot. The bible puts forth clear evidence that Jesus is now reigning. Of course in 1 Corinthians 15 Paul speaks of the final and visible victory of God over all godless rulers, a great and final coup d'etat over evil. Then the Kingdom of God will be over all the earth and there will be no other King except Jesus. Next we hear of Herod the tetrach asking who Jesus is. He is told he could be John the baptist come back from the dead, others said Elijah and others said he was a prophet from old. Now we are told that Herod was indeed perplexed because he'd beheaded John the Baptist. All we are told is that Herod sought to see Jesus. It is interesting that none replied that Jesus is the Christ, for then Herod would certainly have sought his immediate execution.This account of Herod asking who Jesus is, is sandwiched inbetween the comissioning of Jesus disciples and them returning and declaring all that had happened. They are the Kings servants reporting back to their King. The reason the account of Herod is sandwiched inbetween the commisioning and return of Jesus disciples is to communicate that Jesus is the Christ. If the Kingdom of God was been preached then the King of Israel was soon to take up Davids throne. Hence why the question is raised about who Jesus is, because the Kingdom of God is at hand. The Christ was expected to redeem Israel just before the Kingdom came according to the scriptures and the hope of Israel. |
