Author: Bill Hall

Luke 9:46 “Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.”

   Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record debates of this kind. Indeed it seems there was likely several instances of such a discussion, even if they are not recorded. It is strange to us that these men would have made their ambition so obvious to each other. But we must not forget that they were expecting Jesus to shortly set up a physical kingdom. Though this does not excuse their behavior, it does explain the cause. They were not only assuming to be greater than one another. But, as the close confidants of Christ, they expected to be greater than all the rest of their countrymen.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your goodness! Sometimes it is a wonder Your don’t trash the whole world and start over. But this story is not about us, it is about You, and that is exactly why You do not do that. Thank You for loving us by Your Son Jesus Christ. Thank You for giving Him to us. You are so wonderful! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:45 “But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.”

   There are several things going on here. The disciples did not perceive Christ’s meaning in what He said to them. But, then, the Father also prevented them from complete understanding so as to fall in with fulfilled prophecy. Added to that, their own pride prevented them from exploring the matter further.

Heavenly Father, remind us of Your greatness! There are so many things that we do not understand. Though we know we will have much more knowledge in heaven, we must remember You will still be the One with ALL knowledge and understanding. We will forever look to You for Truth and find it always. Thank You so much for what we are given by Your Spirit! You are the One Who opens to us the secrets. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:44 “Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.”

   Jesus wanted His disciples to try and understand what He was telling them. They had, up to that point, not yet understood His purposes. Indeed, they surely knew that He had been at risk of being captured by the authorities before and had escaped the danger. So they may have expected that He would never allow Himself to be taken.

   But, He also reveals that it would be by betrayal that this would occur. This was a fulfillment of prophecy. The Messiah would be betrayed, mistreated, and killed.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the Lord Jesus! Thank You for His sacrifice for us! Never can I ever thank You enough Father. Please help us to live to Your glory. May we constantly bring praise to You. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:43 “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,”

   Peter, James, and John were still in awe because of what they saw on the mount. Though they did not speak of it at this time, they may have had more of a reaction to the situation before them than normal. Jesus was about to speak to them about the coming days. The disciples and the people still expected the kingdom just any minute. Jesus on the other hand, was preparing for the consummation of His ministry.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Who You are and that we can be certain of that no matter what happens from day to day. We are totally dependent upon You, and that is a good place to be. I will praise you forever and give You the glory for the great things You have done! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:42 “And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.”

   The behavior we see here is consistent with the demonic world. The power of Christ was terrifying to the powers of darkness, which operate only on the basis of fear. Where it says here that Jesus ‘healed the child’ the scriptures are indicating that the demonic presence had injured the boy. This is the way it is with the devil, he is a sore loser and will create havoc any way he can.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the power of Christ in our lives. We cannot ever thank You enough! The unlimited access that we are given to Your working in our hearts and lives is so wonderful. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen. 

Luke 9:41 “Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.”

   The gospels are very authentic because they report all that Jesus said. They don’t skip or gloss over things that are difficult for us to understand. We see this man and his great need because of his son being constantly tormented. We would expect Jesus to respond differently to him. But, we find that Jesus was not only disappointed with the faith of His disciples, but also of this man and the people of Israel in general.

   Beyond this Jesus calls the people among whom He was ministering ‘perverse’ or corrupt. What does He mean by this? The Jewish community in that day had a feeling that they were very godly and that the Lord would surely bless them and give them power over their enemies the Romans. But, they had instead built a whole religious system devoid of the true faith. They felt themselves so very close to God, and yet they had strayed far away. Their teachers had led them down a dangerous path and they had followed blindly.

Heavenly Father, we are so mistaken, so sinful, and so confused. Thank You for your clarity, mercy, and truth! You love us and give us what we need for our minds and our hearts. We are after all so very fragile and weak. But, we can depend upon Your faithfulness. You are so wonderful! You are so much more than we understand, so much more than we know. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:40 “So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”

   Why? Oh the question we love to ask! Why could the disciples not do this? Well, before we rush to judge the followers of Christ let’s remember that some who came to Christ for help had more faith than others. The Gentiles often freely believed that Jesus could heal over a long distance. Whereas the Jews tended to think His physical presence was required. In any case, there can be little doubt that it was not only the weak faith of the disciples that led to this failure.

Heavenly Father, we are so limited! When we fully understand our frame, and how small and insignificant we are, it is so eye-opening. We are but dust! How can we hope to attain to anything? All of our ambitions are nothing in the grand scheme of things. But You oh Lord, You are altogether MORE than we could ever imagine. You are not limited in any way. All praise and glory and honor be to You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:39 “And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.”

   It has been observed that this boy may have simply had seizures. But, as we know, seizures can also be caused by other problems. It is never a good idea to begin explaining the Bible scientifically, while also using that as an excuse to rewrite it. It is fine to apply science. It is very possible that seizures were involved here. But, that need not require that we negate the existence of the evil spirit, or its role in this malady.

   The point here is not that an evil spirit is involved in seizure-type sickness. Instead the point is that it was involved in this case. If we explain away the spirit, we explain away the plain meaning of Scripture. This leads us to a dangerous precedent, where we will try to explain away any word or phrase that we do not like. We must constantly be on guard because, as humans, we tend to be biased.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word. We love You so much and are so glad to have Your Truth available to us. Both general and special revelation show Your amazing handiwork. We praise You for it all! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:38 “Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.”

Luke 9:37 “Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.”