Luke 9:43 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And all were astonished at the majesty of God. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples,

NIV: And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples,

NASB: And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. But while everyone was astonished at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples,

CSB: And they were all astonished at the greatness of God. While everyone was amazed at all the things he was doing, he told his disciples,

NLT: Awe gripped the people as they saw this majestic display of God’s power. While everyone was marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples,

KJV: 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,

NKJV: And they were all amazed at the majesty of God. But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples,

Luke's narrative in this section is very brisk: Peter, James, and John see Jesus' transfiguration and hear God's voice tell them to listen to Jesus (Luke 9:28–36). Jesus easily casts out a demon the other nine disciples couldn't (Luke 9:37–42). The crowd is astonished at God's majesty through Jesus. The disciples reject Jesus' words that He is going to lose His autonomy to men (Luke 9:44–45).

By condensing the events, Luke shows how the prior events influence this reaction. Having witnessed Jesus' power and heard God's words to listen to Him, the disciples should have trusted Jesus' words about His future. And yet, considering those same signs, His words make no sense. He shone with the glory of God and conversed with Moses and Elijah! How could men defeat Him?

"All" probably refers to more than the crowd who saw Jesus rescue the possessed boy. The astonishment most likely started when Jesus healed the centurion's servant (Luke 7:1–10) or raised the widow's son (Luke 7:11–17). After the latter, "this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country" (Luke 7:17). All the people who had witnessed what Jesus could do marveled and were astonished—although Luke does not explicitly say they had faith as a result.

Like the events, Luke condenses Jesus' teaching. Mark says that as they passed through Galilee Jesus led an ongoing conversation about His coming death (Mark 9:30–31). Unfortunately, the repetition doesn't help the disciples accept His words.

Luke connects Jesus' works with God's majesty. At another time, Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise" (John 5:19). Jesus is clear that He does the works the father gives Him (John 5:36). Within the relationships of the Persons in the Trinity, the Son glorifies the Father (John 17:1, 4). That's why He told the man possessed by Legion to "declare how much God has done for you" (Luke 8:39), not how much He, Jesus, had done.

The disciples don't understand any of it. Not only can they not fathom what Jesus is saying about His death, they're now too afraid to ask (Luke 9:45), adding yet another failure to a chapter filled with them.

Luke 9:43–45 presents the fifth story in which Jesus tests His disciples' willingness to follow Him. Three of the disciples have seen Jesus shine with glory and heard God call Him His Son (Luke 9:28–36). The Twelve have watched while Jesus defeated a powerful demon (Luke 9:37–43). Now He repeats the warning that He is going to suffer, face rejection by the religious leaders, be killed, and raise again (Luke 9:21–22). Luke notes that the meaning of Jesus' words "was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it" (Luke 9:45). Matthew 17:22–23 and Mark 9:30–32 also recorded this event.

Luke 9 completes Jesus' Galilean ministry and begins describing His journey towards Jerusalem. Jesus gives His disciples miraculous power and commissions them to preach. The empowerment thrills the disciples but confuses Herod Antipas. A hungry crowd of thousands and hard teachings about following Jesus, however, shows the disciples' faith is short-lived. The transfiguration and the demonized boy precede stories of the disciples' continued confusion. They still struggle to accurately represent Jesus. Luke 9:51–62 begins the "travelogue" (Luke 9:51—19:27) with examples of the patience and sacrifice needed to represent Jesus as His followers.

Luke 9 straddles the two major sections biblical scholars call "Jesus' Galilean Ministry" (Luke 4:14—9:50) and "The Travelogue to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51—19:27). The Galilean ministry alternates calls to discipleship with stories on Jesus' authority and teachings. The travelogue records what Jesus did and taught to prepare the disciples for His crucifixion. After a final group of stories on how to respond to Jesus (Luke 9:51—11:13) and several examples of how the Jewish religious leaders reject Jesus (Luke 11:14–54), Luke presents Jesus' teaching on the kingdom of God (Luke 12:1—19:27).

Luke was a traveling companion of Paul (Acts 16:10) and a physician (Colossians 4:14). Unlike Matthew, Mark, and John, Luke writes his gospel as an historian, rather than as a first-hand eyewitness. His extensive writings also include the book of Acts (Acts 1:1–3). These are deliberately organized, carefully researched accounts of those events. The gospel of Luke focuses on the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Luke's Gentile perspective presents Christ as a Savior for all people, offering both forgiveness and direction to those who follow Him.