Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:
(Luke 9:37) And it came to pass that on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, many people met Him.
At the end of the last post, in the first part of chapter 9, Jesus had taken Peter, James, and John, with Him up into a mountain to pray, and there was transfigured before them. The next day they came down from the mountain and many people were there to meet Jesus.
(38) And behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, "Master, I beseech You, look upon my son, for he is my only child."
A man among the crowd of people called out to Jesus, asking Him to look at his son, his only child.
(39) "And lo, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; and it convulses him that he foams at the mouth, and bruising him, hardly departing from him."
The man went on telling Jesus about his son. A spirit would often seize him, making him cry out suddenly, convulsing him and causing him to foam at the mouth, and bruising him, hardly ever leaving him, or perhaps hardly ever leaving him alone, rarely allowing him peace, might be the better sense, as I don't believe the spirit left him until Jesus commanded it to leave.
(40) "And I besought Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not."
The man told Jesus he had asked the disciples to cast the demon spirit out of his son, but they were unable to do so.
(41) And Jesus answering, said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here."
In answering him, Jesus first lamented the fact that He was dealing with a faithless and perverse generation. He had, after all, given His disciples power to cast out demons, but they had been unable to do so in this case, because they did not have faith enough in their ability to do so, even though Jesus had told them He had given it to them. He then told the man to bring his son to Him.
(42) And as he was coming, the devil threw him down and convulsed him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him back to his father.
As the boy was coming to Jesus, the demon spirit threw him down and convulsed him. Regarding Jesus's action against the demon spirit, the original word "epitimao" that was translated as "rebuked" here can have a stronger meaning, "forbade" which I believe is the better sense here, as we know that Jesus healed the child, so He didn't just rebuke the spirit, but cast it out and forbade it from ever coming back. The child was surely healed of any wounds the demon had caused in bruising him.
The accounts in Matthew and Mark said that the disciples asked Jesus why it was that they could not cast the demon out themselves. He said it was because of their unbelief and added that that kind of spirit was only cast out with prayer and fasting. I don't believe that He was giving them an exact formula for how to cast out such spirits, but that the point was that they needed to be strengthened by prayer and their constant communion with God with no distractions in order to have power over such powerful spirits as that one.
(43) And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, (44) "Let these sayings sink down into your ears, for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men."
Everyone who witnessed the healing was amazed at the mighty power of God demonstrated in Jesus. Although they were all marveling over Him now, Jesus privately told His disciples that He would eventually be delivered into the hands of some of those same people. He urged them to let what He was telling them really sink in.
(45) But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden that they did not perceive it, and they feared to ask Him about that saying.
However, the disciples did not understand what Jesus had said; the true meaning of what Jesus had said was hidden from them because of their perception of Jesus as a worldly king; it seemed a paradox. They were afraid to ask Jesus what He had meant, perhaps fearing another rebuke from Jesus. However, Jesus had planted a seed, telling them to let it sink in, and they would begin to understand His purpose as time went on.
(46) Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them would be greatest.
I find it a bit ironic that although the disciples had so recently not understood Jesus and were even afraid to ask Him, that they should think that they should each be the greatest in the kingdom of God, but that is what they were deliberating.
(47) And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child and set him by Him.
Not only did Jesus hear or know what they were discussing, but He knew the thoughts of their hearts. He took aside a child from among the people who had gathered to meet Him.
(48) And said to them, "Whoever shall receive this child in My name receives Me, and whoever shall receive Me receives Him who sent Me; for he who is least among you all shall be great."
Jesus then spoke to the disciples, using the child as an example of lowliness and humility, one who was not seeking high honor and praise. Whoever received such a one in Christ's name actually received Christ Himself, as He said in Matthew 25:40, "Inasmuch as you have done to one of the least of these My brethren, you have done to Me." Furthermore, those who received Christ received Father God in heaven who had sent Christ. Those who were least among them according to worldly standards, not seeking high praise and honor, would be the greatest among them because they served Christ and not worldly ambitions.
(49) And John answered and said, "Master, we saw one casting out devils in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."
John then told Jesus that they had seen someone casting out devils in Jesus's name, and they had forbidden him to do so because he was not one of Jesus's followers with them.
(50) And Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is for us."
Jesus, however, told John not to forbid such a one, because if he wasn't specifically working against Christ, then he was for Him, meaning that he, too, was desiring to promote the kingdom of God on earth, and should be encouraged, not discouraged. That answers for me the question about how we should treat denominations other than our own, even if we perceive their church doctrines to be inaccurate; if they are doing the work of Christ, they are not against us, but for us, and we can rest assured the Holy Spirit will direct either or both of us in the truth of what matters most.
(51) And it came to pass when the time had come that He should be received up, He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.
When the time was nearing that Jesus should be lifted up on a cross and crucified, He set His face steadfastly toward Jerusalem, going toward His death without fear or shame and not shirking from it.
(52) And sent messengers before His face; and they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to prepare for Him.
Jesus sent messengers ahead of Him, and they went into a village of the Samaritans to prepare for Him.
(53) And they did not receive Him because His face was set to go to Jerusalem.
Apparently, the messengers told the people in the Samaritan village that they were requesting lodging on their way to Jerusalem. There had long been a dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans about which was the right place of worship, the temple in Jerusalem or the Samaritans' temple on Mount Gerizzim. Because Jesus seemed to them to prefer the temple at Jerusalem, they refused Him to temporarily lodge in their village, considering it an insult to them.
(54) And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"
James and John may have been the messengers, and when they witnessed the refusal of the Samaritan village to let them lodge there, they asked Jesus if He wanted them to command fire to come down from heaven and consume the village as Elijah had done in 2 Kings 1:10-12.
(55) But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of."
However, Jesus rebuked them and told them they did not realize what manner of spirit they were acting out of. They may have thought they were acting out of love for their Lord and wished to defend His honor, but it was more likely desiring to exact revenge on the Samaritans. Jesus had taught to love your enemies, so they were acting out with the wrong spirit. Jesus had nicknamed James and John "Sons of Thunder," perhaps because of rash outbursts like this.
(56) "For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save." And they went to another village.
Jesus continued speaking to James and John and told them that He had not come into the world to destroy men, but to save them. So they just went to another village.
(57) And it came to pass that as they went on the way, a certain man said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."
As they were walking on the way to another village, a man came up to Jesus and told Him he would follow Him wherever He went.
(58) And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head."
Jesus was saying to the man in effect that he should first understand under what conditions he must follow Jesus before making such a huge promise. He told him that he had no home, and it would not be easy following Him.
(59) And He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."
Apparently, another man had asked to follow Him, and Jesus told him to come and follow Him, but he said he wanted to first go and bury his father.
(60) Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."
However, Jesus told the man to let the dead bury the dead, but he should go and preach the kingdom of God, which was life for all men who accepted it. It's not as though Jesus would have His followers deny all familial kindness and duty, but when Jesus calls one to a mission, he should not make excuses as to why he can't do it. Jesus knows the heart. Consider the reasons why this man may not have been ready to immediately follow Christ and why many people are not ready to immediately follow Him; he may have wished to "follow" Him at a safe distance, not having to give up familiar comforts for the unknown; he may have been delaying, wishing to put it off to another time; he may have honestly thought that his familial responsibilities should come first and then he would serve Christ, but we must realize that Christ comes first, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).
(61) And another also said, "Lord, I will follow you, but let me first go bid them farewell who are at home at my house."
Another person told Jesus he would follow Him, but he first wanted time to tell everyone at his home good-bye. It seems a reasonable request to let them know where he had gone.
(62) And Jesus said to him, "No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
However, Jesus knew his heart and knew what would have happened if this man went back. He told him that no man, once he had taken on a mission and then looked backward, was fit to serve the kingdom of God. I believe Jesus was teaching us how we must approach Him:
1) The first man vowed he would follow Jesus anywhere; however, when he learned there would be difficulties, he found he was not ready. When we fully accept Jesus and His gift of salvation, we wholeheartedly should be willing to live for Him wherever that may take us.
2) The second man wanted to first go home and bury his father. It was probably not the case that his father was already dead and he just needed to bury him, but rather that his father was old and he wanted to wait until he had died and was buried before he followed Jesus. He was delaying for a considerable bit of time. I believe the lesson here is that we should not wait for another time to come to Jesus. We may wait too late. Additionally, we must not let family stand in the way of our coming to Christ.
3) The third man wanted to go back and talk to his family first before he followed Christ. I believe the lesson here is that we should not look back to family and friends to discuss our decision to follow Christ. Once we have submitted to Christ, we should not look back to the world; once we have begun the work of God, we must resolve to go on with it.
"Seek first the kingdom of God..." Seeking God first and not worldly honor or desiring to be the greatest, and denying all worldly desires and concerns to follow Christ, are very much one and the same thing. Seek God first, trust Him with all your heart, acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will direct your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6). You will find that it really is much easier to cast your concerns on Him and just follow Him. "Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you..." (Psalm 55:22) "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:30)
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