CHAPTER IX. The Transfiguration, Miracles, and Teachings of Christ. THEN he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And 2 he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, 3 neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. And whatsoever house ye enter into, 4 there abide, and thence depart. And whosoever will not receive 5 you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. And they departed, and 6 went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where. Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him: 7 and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead; and of some, that Elias had appeared; 8 and of others, that one of the old prophets was risen again. And 9 Herod said, John have I beheaded; but who is this of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him. And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that 10 they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place, belonging to the city called Bethsaida. And 11 the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. And when the day began to 12 wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place. But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And 13 they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. (For they were 14 about five thousand men.) And he said to his disciples, Make CHAPTER IX. 1-5. Refer to Mat. x. 1, 5-15, and Mark vi. 7 – 10. 6. Mark vi. 12, 13. 7-10. Compare notes on Mat. xiv. 1, 2; Mark vi. 14-16. 10-17. Notes on Mat. xiv. 13-21; see also Mark vi. 31-44, and John vi. 1-13. 10. Bethsaida. This place was situated in Lower Gaulonitis, on the east side of the Jordan, before its entrance into the Sea of Galilee, and is not to be confounded with Bethsaida in Galilee, on the west side of the sea. 15 them sit down by fifties in a company. And they did so, and 16 made them all sit down. Then he took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, 17 and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. And they 18 did eat, and were all filled and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets. And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him; and he asked them, saying, Who say the people 19 that I am? They answering, said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, That one of the old prophets is risen 20 again. He said unto them, But who say ye that I am? Peter 21 answering, said, The Christ of God. And he straitly charged 22 them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing, saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and be slain, and be raised 23 the third day. And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and 24 follow me. For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and 26 lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of 27 the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God. 28 And it came to pass, about an eight days after these sayings, 17. Was taken up. Good grammar requires, "were taken up." 18-27. See Mat. xvi. 13–28, and Mark viii. 27-38, ix. 1. 22, 23. Since Jesus avows himself to be the Messiah, his disciples would at once, with their erroneous views of his office, deem themselves the candidates for high honors and great riches. But, to correct their false hopes, he proceeds to describe his true character and coming decease. His conduct on this occasion is beautifully in harmony with the 10 VOL. II. rest of his life, and furnishes intrinsic evidences of his sincerity and truth, which come to us with the greater power, since they are given by the evangelists undesignedly, and without their seeming to have thought of the use that might be made of them, in vindicating and illustrating the truthful character of their Master.- Daily. This word is of doubtful authority in the original. 28-45. Comments on Mat. xvii. 1-23, and Mark ix. 2-32. he took Peter, and John, and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance 29 was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. And be- 30 hold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which 31 he should accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and they that 32 were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto 33 Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said. While he thus spake, there came 34 a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, 35 saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. And when the 36 voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen. And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were 37 come down from the hill, much people met him. And behold, a 38 man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee look upon my son: for he is mine only child. And lo, a spirit 39 taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him, hardly departeth from him. And I besought thy disciples to cast him out, and they could not. 40 And Jesus answering, said, O faithless and perverse generation, 41 how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither. And as he was yet a-coming, the devil threw him down, 42 and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father. And they were 43 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, Let these sayings sink down into 44 your ears for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands 31. Decease. Literally, exodus, departure. 32. When they were awake. Rendered by Newcome, "when they awoke." 34. They feared as they entered into the cloud, i. e. according to the pro nouns in Greek, they, the disciples, feared as they, Jesus and the others, entered the cloud. 39. A case of aggravated epilepsy. 44. For the Son of man, &c. He still adverts, as in ver. 22, to his ap 45 of men. 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. 46 Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them 47 should be greatest. And Jesus perceiving the thought of their 48 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 49 he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. — - And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbade him, because he followeth not with 50 us. 51 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us, is for us. And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should 52 be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before his face: and they went and entered into 53 a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go 54 to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw 45. Understood not. It was hidden from them, because they could not bring their minds to give it credence, after seeing his wonderful works. 46-50. Parallel to Mat. xviii. 1-5, and Mark ix. 33-41. 49. Saw one. Some have conjectured, that this individual was one of the disciples of Jesus, perhaps belonging to the Seventy, and who did not feel under obligation to yield to the dictation of any one, but the Master himself. 51. What is called the gnomology of the Gospel of Luke commences here, and extends to chap. xviii. 14. This is a miscellaneous collection of occurrences and discourses, drawn, as is supposed, from the records or relations of some one of the Seventy, and grouped together here, with time was come that he should be re ceived up. Understood by some to mean his departure, or the time of his being received up at his ascension, and by others, to signify, that the time of his withdrawing himself into the retirement of Galilee, was completed, John vii. 1, and that he was now fully determined to go to Jerusalem, though danger and death awaited him there. 53. His face was as though, &c.. Here was an outburst of the old jealousy between the Samaritans and Jews, John iv. 9, heightened, perhaps, as has been suggested, by some degree of disappointment, that he did not espouse their side in the national quarrel, as they had been led to hope, from his previous conduct in their country, from his persecution by the Jews, and decided opposition to their leading sects. this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But 55 he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy 56 men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. And it came to pass, that as they went in the way, a certain 57 man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whither soever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of 58 the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, 59 54. Command fire to come down from heaven, &c. "What Elias once did to those of Samaria, the sons of Zebedee had an ambition to imitate in this place, dreaming (as it should seem) that there were those thunders and lightnings in their very name, Boanerges, that should break out at pleasure for the death and destruction of those that provoked them!"-As Elias did. 2 Kings i. 10-12. 55. Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. Jesus, as we should expect, rebuked them for their hasty and revengeful temper; but he did it kindly, without manifesting himself the spirit he would condemn in his disciples. He tells them that they are ignorant of the spirit they ought to possess, as the preachers of his merciful religion. It is interesting to notice the change which James and John afterwards underwent by the regenerating power of the gospel. Instead of ambition, Mark x. 35, jealousy, ver. 49, and revenge, as in the present connexion, an entirely new class of sentiments, love, mercy, and self-renunciation, -rule in the hearts of these Sons of Thunder. James was the first martyr of the Twelve, Acts xii. 1; and we are told, that he said to his accuser, at the place of execution, when he had repented of what he had done, and solicited forgiveness for his crime, "Peace be to thee, my son, and the pardon of thy faults;" whereupon the guilty man confessed himself to be a Christian, and was beheaded with him. John was the disciple whom Jesus loved; his Gospel and Epistles peculiarly overflow with that sentiment, and the burden of his exhortation to his Ephesian converts, in his old age, was, "My children, love one another." Such is the power of true religion to transform the human soul. Who would not rejoice to undergo such a change, so glorious, so happy, as from death to life, from the life of brute existence to the "life of God in the soul of man"! "Temper the fervors of my frame; Be charity their constant spring." 56. Jesus declares their spirit to be inconsistent with the great object for which he came into the world, which was not to run the career of vulgar, bloody ambition, but to be the Saviour of mankind, to heal their diseases, and to save their souls. And they went to another village. Which simply and beautifully porof our Lord. To shun further strife trays the gentleness and forbearance with the Samaritans, he is supposed to have turned aside his course, and crossed the Jordan into the Perea. 57-60. Compare Mat. viii. 1922, and the notes thereon.- Hath not where to lay his head. "Such was the lot he freely chose, To bless, to save the human race; |