bible-studys.org

E-Mail us Donate Now

Luke Chapter 9 Second Continued

Luke 9:37 “And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met him."

In the last lesson, you remember Peter, James, and John had been on the mount with Jesus and had seen Moses and Elijah with Jesus.

Now this is the next day and Jesus and the three disciples come down and join the others.

Many people have gathered at the foot of the mountain to see Jesus.

Luke 9:38 "And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child."

“Mine only child”: 7:12; 8:4;.

The son of the widow of Nain was her only child; and Jairus’ daughter was his only child. Luke alone mentions these details.

We see here, the great love of a father for his only son.

He has brought his son to Jesus for help.

He cries out loud to get Jesus' attention.

Luke 9:39 "And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him."

“A spirit taketh him”:

This was no mere case of epilepsy; it was plainly demon possession.

There’s no reason to think Luke, a physician, was merely accommodating the understanding of his readers.

Besides, Jesus healed the boy by rebuking the demon (verse 42; Mark 9:25).

Luke 9:40 "And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not."

“And they could not”

(Read Matthew 17:19-21).

We remember, in a previous lesson, where Jesus empowered the disciples to preach and heal and cast out devils.

This is a very severe case here, and the disciples for some reason have not been able to cast him out of the boy.

This father will not give up easily.

And he has brought his son to Jesus.

Luke 9:41 "And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither."

Jesus is speaking not only to this man, but to the disciples and to others standing around as well.

Jesus cannot believe how little faith they really have.

Even though He is so disappointed in the amount of faith they have, He still has compassion on the boy and the father and says bring him to me.

Luke 9:42 "And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare [him]. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father."

Immediately, Jesus rebukes the devil in the boy.

It comes out and he is totally healed.

In (Mark 9:29), we see that this type comes out only by much prayer and fasting.

Luke 9:43 “And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples,"

We see here, at the very moment when they can hardly believe the fantastic miracles He does.

Luke 9:44 "Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men."

Jesus said unto them, “the son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men”. Some copies read, "sinful men"; and so, the angels report the words (in Luke 24:7).

By whom may be meant the Gentiles, who by the Jews, were reckoned very wicked men, and called sinners of the Gentiles.

Then He abruptly changes the subject and tells them of the terrible things that are about to happen to Him.

On the one hand, they feel as if they are in the presence of the Messiah, but would the Messiah be destroyed?

Luke 9:45 "But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying."

“They understood not”:

I.e., in accord with God’s sovereign design (24:45).

Not only did they not understand, they did not want to hear of these terrible things. If this is Messiah, He must not suffer.

He must overthrow Rome and reign.

They never believed that He would conquer through death.

Luke 9:46 “Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest."

Probably playing off the words of Jesus (in Matthew 19:28), James and John had enlisted their mother to convey their proud, self-seeking request to Jesus.

This was a recurring matter among the disciples (Matt. 18:1, 4; 23:11; Mark 9:34; Luke 22:24, 26), right up to the table at the Last Supper.

We see here, that the disciples were not perfect men.

Jealousy has arisen among the twelve.

They have not really understood what the Master had tried to tell them, that the life of those who are truly followers of Jesus is a life of self-sacrifice.

Luke 9:47-48 "And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him," "And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great."

“Whosoever shall receive this child”:

This speaks not of literal children, but children in the sense described (in verses Matthew 18:3- 4), those who have humbled themselves like children, i.e., true believers.

Here we see by this that Jesus is trying to explain to them that jealousy really has no place among His ministers.

A little child is humble and receives God with a humble heart, never questioning. He is saying to the disciples; get your eyes off yourselves.

Those who are good to those who cannot help themselves are great in the Master's eyes.

The one who is willing to work in whatever lowly job that there is to do, will be the greatest in God's sight.

God does not view a situation as the world does (from the outside), but looks on the heart.

Luke 9:49 “And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us."

“Because he followeth not with us”:

It is ironic that John, who came to be known as “the apostle of love,” would be the one to raise this objection.

John came to see that only legitimate tests of another person’s ministry are the test of doctrine (1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 7:11), and the test of fruit (1 John 2:4-6, 29; 3:4-12; 4:5, 20; Matt. 7:16).

This man would have passed both tests, but John was inclined to reject him because of this group affiliation.

That is the error of sectarianism.

John is asking the Master a question that has really raged until now.

Can this other denomination be of God?

They are not of our inner circle of members.

Look at exactly what he said.

The man was casting out devils which is one of the things the Master had told the disciples to do. So really, there is no error in that.

He was doing good instead of evil, which also cannot be looked down upon. Last but certainly not least, he was doing this in the name of Jesus.

Truly, there was no error at all in what he was doing.

John, like so many closed denominations today, thought if he were not of the 12, something had to be wrong with him.

And he and others of the disciples rebuked him for doing good because he was not a disciple. These disciples had missed the message of Jesus.

This man probably, had been one of the multitudes who had both followed Jesus and had heard His messages.

He had taken to heart Jesus' teachings and was going around doing good.

Let us see in the next verse what Jesus has to say of this.

Luke 9:50 "And Jesus said unto him, Forbid [him] not: for he that is not against us is for us."

“He who is not against us is for us”: Contrast this with (11:23).

There is no middle ground and no neutrality.

Here Christ gave a test of outward conduct to use for measuring others.

In (11:23), He gave a test of the inward life that is to be applied to oneself. We see here, that this man is not against Jesus.

In fact, he is elevating the name of Jesus every time he ministers.

I think we see again in this a little jealousy on the part of the disciples.

They believe that they are the only ones that Jesus has endued with this power.

Jesus tells them here, that there are only two sides to be on, those that are for Jesus and those that are against Jesus.

One thing in favor of the disciples here, they are still in the learning process. They have not been filled with the Holy Ghost yet.

This will come 50 days after Jesus' resurrection on the day of Pentecost, and will guide them to all truth.

Their selfish ideas will fade away after Jesus is crucified and they begin to understand what He had been teaching them.

Luke Chapter 9 Second Continued Questions

1.When Jesus came down from the Mount of Transfiguration, who was there?

2.Who had met with Jesus on the mount?

3.Who cried out to Jesus?

4.What was wrong with the son?

5.Name some of the things this devil spirit did to him.

6.Who had tried to cast this demon out and couldn't?

7.What kind of generation did Jesus call them?

8.Who was He speaking to?

9.When did Jesus heal the boy?

10.In the 9th chapter of Mark, we find that this type comes out by what?

11.What were the people amazed at?

12.Just at the moment they are realizing His deity. What does Jesus tell them?

13.Why did they not understand in verse 45?

14.What question arose among the disciples?

15.The life of those who truly love Jesus is a life of what?

16.Who did Jesus use to show them who would be greatest?

17.Who in verse 48 receiveth Jesus?

18.How does a little child receive Jesus?

19.Who are great in God's sight?

20.God does not view as the world does. He looks in the __________.

21.Which disciple came to Jesus and told of someone ministering in Jesus' name that was not of them?

22.What was he doing?

23.What had the disciples done to this man?

24.What did Jesus reply to this?

25.Name 3 things the man did correctly?

26.What question in our day does this remind us of?

27.What do we see in these disciples by this?

28.At what time will the disciples better understand?

An unhandled error has occurred. Reload 🗙