Sunday School Lessons: Luke 9

Luke Chapter 9

Matthew 9:35-38; Matthew 10:1, 5-42; Mark 6:6-13

9:1And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. 3And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. 4And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” 6And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Complete list of apostles in Matthew 10:2

The gift of healing was a sign gift; it proves that they were apostles—that they were who they claimed to be. After the Epistles were written, healing faded as a sign gift. When Scripture arrived on the scene, miracles and healings began to fade. Authority moved to the Word of God. Correct doctrine became the mark of a true disciple of Christ. (2 John 10; Galatians 1:8)

Shake off the dust from you feet

Matthew 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-29

7Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, 8by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. 9Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him.

Herod was the man who had put John the Baptist to death. He was afraid that John had come back.

The Feeding of the 5000

Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:33-44; John 6:2-14

10On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. 11When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. 12Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” 13But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” 14For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15And they did so, and had them all sit down. 16And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

The disciples began to give Jesus advice about how to take care of the crowds. He told THEM to feed the crowds! That was an impossible task for them. But Jesus was about to do a miracle; both for the benefit of the crowd and for the teaching of the disciples. The miracle was Christ’s but He involved the disciples directly by having them pass the food to the multitudes. There were 12 baskets of food leftover. What did He teach His disciples in this event? Read Luke 6:38

Peter Confesses Jesus as Son of God

Matthew 16:13-20; Mark 8:27-30

18Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” 20Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

21And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

23And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

Why did Jesus ask them this? (to get them thinking about who He is; He is about to be revealed to them in glory) He is also preparing them for His coming death. Notice that He never mentions His death without also mentioning His resurrection. Verse 27 is the transition into the transfiguration. . .(2 Peter 1:16-18)

The Transfiguration

Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13

28Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. 34As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” 36And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

His Departure: Gk word means exodus. Includes the crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and ascension.

Transfiguration; metamorphosis/butterfly. The light came from within Him, not shining on Him. Shikinah glory.

Moses represents the Law; Elijah represents the Prophets (Hebrews 1) Moses and Elijah were speaking to Him of His upcoming death (which He was about to accomplish—purposed beforehand)

When was the other time the voice of God came from heaven and declared that Jesus was God’s Son?

Matthew 17:14-20; Mark 9:14-29

37On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. 40And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” 41Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 43And all were astonished at the majesty of God.

Compare the transfiguration with the disciples inability to heal—they had been able to heal before. . .

The boy’s father had faith, though weak. The faithless and twisted generation was the crowd of those who did not have faith or believe that Jesus could heal him even though the disciples could not.

Matthew 17:22,23; Mark 9:30-32

But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesussaid to his disciples, 44“Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” 45But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Jesus was speaking to the disciples and directing his words to them, but they did not understand. Why not? Why do you think they were afraid to ask him?

The failure of the apostles emphasizes the power of Jesus.

Matthew 18:1-14; Mark 9:33-50

46An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. 47But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side 48and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

49John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” 50But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.”

The disciples were concerned with their own power, but Jesus had concern for others, even a small child—“the least among you.” Small children were considered unimportant, but they were important to Jesus. He was willing to be the “least” (Mark 10:25)

John tried to stop someone who was casting out demons (which they were unable to do, remember). Why did he try to stop him? What was Jesus’ answer?

John 7:10

51When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55But he turned and rebuked them. 56And they went on to another village.

This passage begins a long passage (9:51-19:44) in which Luke describes Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. In this section, Jesus is teaching the disciples what they will need to know after his death, resurrection, and ascension. As we can tell from their reaction in vs. 54, the disciples had zeal but they did not have understanding. Jesus rebuked them.

“taken up” refers to Jesus’ ascension into heaven and includes His entire “passion.”

‘Set His face to go to Jerusalem’ six months still until His crucifixion but from this time forward, His headquarters is in Jerusalem.

‘ the people did not receive Him’ refusing to receive a religious leader is the same as rejecting His claims

57As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

The man said he wanted to follow him after he had buried his father. Most commentators think that means stay until his father died, not that his father was already dead and he wanted to stay for the funeral. Another one wanted to go home and say goodbye to his family. But even that showed an unwillingness to ‘take up the cross and follow Jesus.’ As Christians, following Christ must be the first thing in our lives, the most important aspect of our lives. Nothing in this world or this life is more important than following Christ! Discuss ‘hand to plow and looking back’ and fitness for Kingdom.

*These lessons are written for use with elementary aged students. You can find lessons for previous chapters here . All scriptures are taken from the ESV.