Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Luke 9:33
33. they departed—Ah! bright manifestations in this vale of tears are always "departing" manifestations. read more
33. they departed—Ah! bright manifestations in this vale of tears are always "departing" manifestations. read more
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). 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; 2 Peter 1:18). read more
35. my beloved Son . . . hear him—reverentially, implicitly, alone. read more
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... read more
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 Mark 9:30, we gather that this had been the subject of conversation between the Twelve and their Master as they journeyed along. read more
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... read more
G. Jesus’ preparation of the Twelve 9:1-50In this last major section describing Jesus’ ministry in and around Galilee (Luke 4:14 to Luke 9:50), Luke stressed Jesus’ preparation of His disciples for the opposition that lay before them. This was the climax of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, and these events formed a bridge to Luke’s unique major section on Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51 to Luke 19:10).Previously Luke recorded Jesus teaching and authenticating His teaching with miracles mainly... read more
IV. JESUS’ MINISTRY IN AND AROUND GALILEE 4:14-9:50Luke commenced his account of Jesus’ public ministry with His return to Galilee following His temptation. This section of his Gospel ends with Jesus’ decision to leave Galilee for Jerusalem and the Cross (Luke 9:51). Luke did not give as much information about Jesus’ Galilean ministry as the other synoptic writers did (cf. Matthew 4:12 to Matthew 16:12; Mark 1:14 to Mark 8:26). He chose, rather, to emphasize Jesus’ ministry as He traveled from... read more
5. The Transfiguration 9:28-36 (cf. Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8)This event is a climax of the "identity of Jesus" motif in all the Synoptics. Here three disciples saw and heard who Jesus really was. Luke’s particular emphasis was the sufferings of Jesus that were coming. This comes through in his description of Jesus’ conversation with Moses and Elijah (Luke 9:30-31) and his interpretation of what the heavenly voice said (Luke 9:35). The whole scene recalls God’s appearance to Moses on Mt. Sinai... read more
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Luke 9:32
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). saw his glory, &c.—The emphasis lies on "saw," qualifying them to... read more