Luke 9
The twelve are sent out, five thousand are fed on five loaves, a mountain glows with light, and the journey south begins.
Summary
Jesus sends the twelve out two by two with authority over all demons and power to heal diseases, instructing them to take nothing for the journey — no staff, bag, bread, money, or extra tunic — and to stay in whatever house receives them. Herod the tetrarch, hearing of all these things, is perplexed because some say John has been raised and others say Elijah has appeared and others say one of the ancient prophets has risen. He asks who this is and seeks to see him. The feeding of five thousand follows, in a deserted place near Bethsaida: the twelve report that the crowds need to be sent to find food, Jesus tells them to give the crowd something to eat, they bring five loaves and two fish, he blesses and breaks them and the disciples distribute them to all, and all eat and are satisfied, with twelve baskets of leftovers. The scene precedes the crucial dialogue about identity: Jesus prays alone, then asks who the crowds say he is (various prophets), then who the disciples say he is. Peter answers: the Messiah of God. Jesus charges them to tell no one and immediately predicts for the first time that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, be killed, and on the third day rise.
The transfiguration occurs eight days after the dialogue about identity. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a mountain to pray. As he prays his face changes and his clothes become dazzling white; Moses and Elijah appear talking with him about his departure, which he is about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Peter proposes building three shelters. A cloud overshadows them and a voice from the cloud says this is my Son, my Chosen — listen to him. The disciples are silent. The following day, a father brings his only son, tormented by an unclean spirit, to the disciples who could not cast it out; Jesus casts out the spirit and returns the boy to his father, and all are amazed at the greatness of God. Jesus gives a second passion prediction, but the disciples do not understand and are afraid to ask. After a dispute about greatness is settled by Jesus placing a child at his side — whoever receives this child in my name receives me — the chapter ends with the hinge verse of the entire gospel: when the days drew near for him to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
- Luke 1Chapter 1 opens with a formal literary preface — Luke addresses a certain Theophilus and claims to have investigated everything carefully, setting himself apart as a self-conscious historian among the gospel writers.
- Luke 2Chapter 2 contains the nativity scene that dominates Western cultural memory of the gospels: the census under Quirinius, the journey to Bethlehem, the birth, the manger, the swaddling cloths, the angels appearing to shepherds in the fields at night.
- Luke 3Luke situates John's ministry with extraordinary chronological precision — the fifteenth year of Tiberius, the governorship of Pilate, the tetrarchies of Herod and Philip and Lysanias, the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas.
- Luke 4The Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness for forty days, where the devil offers him bread, political authority over all the kingdoms of the world, and divine protection — and is refused at each turn with a quotation from Deuteronomy.
- Luke 5By the Lake of Gennesaret, the crowds press against Jesus and he steps into Simon's empty boat to teach.
- Luke 6The chapter opens with two Sabbath controversies: the disciples pluck grain as they walk through fields, and Jesus defends them by citing David's eating the showbread when his men were hungry.
- Luke 7Three distinct episodes give chapter 7 its range.
- Luke 8Chapter 8 moves quickly across a range of narrative modes.
- Luke 9Chapter 9 is a turning-point chapter.
- Luke 10Jesus sends out seventy (some manuscripts say seventy-two) in pairs ahead of him into every town and place he intends to visit, with instructions similar to the twelve's but addressed to a larger group and a longer journey.
- Luke 11The chapter opens with Jesus praying in a certain place; when he stops, a disciple asks him to teach them to pray as John taught his disciples.
- Luke 12With ten thousand pressing around him, Jesus addresses the disciples first: beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
- Luke 13Some report to Jesus about Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
- Luke 14Jesus goes to eat at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees on the Sabbath, watched carefully by those present.
- Luke 15The Pharisees and scribes grumble that this man receives sinners and eats with them.
- Luke 16Chapter 16 contains two of Luke's most difficult parables.
- Luke 17The chapter opens with warnings about causing stumbling — better to have a millstone around your neck and be thrown into the sea — and the obligation to rebuke and forgive a brother who sins seven times in a day and repents each time.
- Luke 18Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow to teach that they ought always to pray and not lose heart: a widow in a city where a judge neither fears God nor respects people keeps coming to him demanding justice against her adversary; he eventually grants it not because of justice but because she is wearing him out.
- Luke 19Jericho contains the Zacchaeus scene, unique to Luke: a chief tax collector who is wealthy and short climbs a sycamore tree to see Jesus over the crowd.
- Luke 20Chapter 20 is a series of confrontations in the temple.
- Luke 21Looking up at those putting gifts into the treasury, Jesus observes that a poor widow puts in two small copper coins — the smallest unit of currency — and says she has put in more than all of them, because they gave from their abundance and she from her poverty gave everything she had.
- Luke 22Satan enters Judas Iscariot and he goes to the chief priests to discuss how to betray Jesus.
- Luke 23The assembly brings Jesus to Pilate, accusing him of perverting the nation, forbidding tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be king.
- Luke 24Very early on the first day of the week, the women — Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and others — bring spices to the tomb and find the stone rolled away.