He sends twelve ordinary men out with nothing — no money, no supplies, no backup plan — and they come back able to do things they had never done before. Peter finally says out loud, on a mountainside, what nobody else in the group had dared to say. Three men volunteer to follow Jesus, and each one gets an answer that talks him out of exactly what he thought was already decided. And a Samaritan village that will not even let Jesus pass through for the night draws a request from two of His own disciples that shows how far they still have left to go — on the very same page where Luke marks the turn toward everything still to come.
A study in Luke 9 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 26 min read
Give Ye Them To Eat
This site’s own studies of Matthew 10, Matthew 14, and Mark’s own sixth chapter already told these three scenes in full — the sending of the twelve, Herod’s uneasy conscience, and the feeding of the five thousand.
“Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.”
Luke 9:1-2
“Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him: and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead… And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him.”
Luke 9:7, 9
“But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat.… Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. And they did eat, and were all filled.”
Luke 9:13, 16-17
Herod’s guilty curiosity to “see him” will finally be granted, near the very end of this Gospel, in a scene Luke alone among the four Gospel writers records — and when it comes, it will bring Herod no peace at all.
Whom Say Ye That I Am
This site’s own studies of Matthew 16 and Mark’s own eighth chapter already told Peter’s confession and the first prediction of the cross in full.
“He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God.”
Luke 9:20
“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and 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.”
Luke 9:23-24
Luke’s own version adds one word Matthew’s and Mark’s do not include — the cross is to be taken up “daily.” Not once, as a dramatic decision made a single time, but as a posture renewed every morning.
This Is My Beloved Son: Hear Him
This site’s own studies of Matthew 17, Matthew 18, and Mark’s own ninth chapter already told these next scenes in full — the Transfiguration, the healing of the demon-possessed boy, the second prediction of the cross, the dispute over who would be greatest, and the disciples’ complaint about a stranger casting out devils in Jesus’s name.
“And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias.”
Luke 9:29-30
Only Luke tells us what Moses and Elijah were actually discussing on the mountain — not the glory of the kingdom the disciples still hoped for, but “his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem” (v.31), the very cross He had just finished predicting.
“And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.”
Luke 9:35
“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… for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.”
Luke 9:47-48
“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. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.”
Luke 9:49-50
Twice in the space of a few verses, John and his companions are corrected for the same underlying mistake — measuring greatness, and now measuring loyalty, by nearness to themselves rather than nearness to Christ.
He Steadfastly Set His Face To Go To Jerusalem
“And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into 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 to Jerusalem.”
Luke 9:51-53
This single verse marks the real turning point of the entire Gospel of Luke. Everything before this has been Galilean ministry. Everything from here to chapter nineteen is the long road to Jerusalem — and to the cross Moses and Elijah had just discussed on the mountain.
“His steps are turned toward Jerusalem, where His foes have long plotted to take His life; now He will lay it down. He set His face steadfastly to go to persecution, denial, rejection, condemnation, and death.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 486
The Samaritans refused Him lodging for a purely political reason — He was heading to Jerusalem rather than to their own rival worship site on Mount Gerizim.
“And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.”
Luke 9:54-55
“They had recently been with Him on the mount of transfiguration, and had seen Him glorified by God, and honored by Moses and Elijah. This manifest dishonor on the part of the Samaritans, should not, they thought, be passed over without marked punishment.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 487
James and John had just watched Moses and Elijah discuss the cross with Jesus on a mountaintop of glory. Coming straight down from that mountain into a village that refuses even a night’s lodging, their instinct is not humility but retaliation — and they reach for the very prophet, Elijah, they had just seen standing beside Jesus in glory, to justify it.
“For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.”
Luke 9:56
“It is no part of Christ’s mission to compel men to receive Him. … Christ is ever showing mercy, ever seeking to win by the revealing of His love. He can admit no rival in the soul, nor accept of partial service; but He desires only voluntary service, the willing surrender of the heart under the constraint of love.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 487
No fire falls. No village is punished. Jesus simply moves on to the next one — and it is worth remembering, later in this same Gospel, that the next time Luke tells a story about a Samaritan, it will not be one of rejection, but the story of the one man from that despised region who does the right thing when everyone else walks past.
No Man, Having Put His Hand To The Plough
“And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”
Luke 9:57-58
This site’s own study of Matthew 8 already covers this exchange in full, including Ellen White’s striking identification of the volunteer as Judas Iscariot himself, testing the road before committing his allegiance to it.
“And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:59-60
But Luke alone records a third exchange, found in no other Gospel.
“And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:61-62
Of the three, this man’s request sounds the most reasonable — not burying a father, only saying goodbye. But a plow requires a hand that stays forward and eyes that stay on the furrow ahead; a single backward glance is enough to send the line crooked. Luke closes this hinge chapter — the sending of the twelve, the mountain of glory, the road now “steadfastly” turned toward Jerusalem — on exactly that image: a plow that cannot be worked well by anyone still looking over his shoulder at what he left behind.
