51 And it came about that when the days were near for him to be taken up, his face was turned to go to Jerusalem,
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had said these words to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.
And when he had said this, he went on in front of them, going up to Jerusalem.
And it came about that when they were on the way to Jerusalem he went through Samaria and Galilee.
And he went on his way, through towns and country places, teaching and journeying to Jerusalem.
And now, as you see, I am going to Jerusalem, a prisoner in spirit, having no knowledge of what will come to me there: Only that the Holy Spirit makes clear to me in every town that prison and pains are waiting for me. But I put no value on my life, if only at the end of it I may see the work complete which was given to me by the Lord Jesus, to be a witness of the good news of the grace of God.
Having our eyes fixed on Jesus, the guide and end of our faith, who went through the pains of the cross, not caring for the shame, because of the joy which was before him, and who has now taken his place at the right hand of God's seat of power.
Where Jesus has gone before us, as a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
And without argument, great is the secret of religion: He who was seen in the flesh, who was given God's approval in the spirit, was seen by the angels, of whom the good news was given among the nations, in whom the world had faith, who was taken up in glory.
I go forward to the mark, even the reward of the high purpose of God in Christ Jesus.
For this reason he says, He went up on high, taking his prisoners with him, and gave freely to men. (Now this, He went up, what is it but that he first went down into the lower parts of the earth? He who went down is the same who went up far over all the heavens so that he might make all things complete.) And he gave some as Apostles, and some, prophets; and some, preachers of the good news; and some to give care and teaching;
And he came to us, and took the band of Paul's clothing, and putting it round his feet and hands, said, The Holy Spirit says these words, So will the Jews do to the man who is the owner of this band, and they will give him up into the hands of the Gentiles. And hearing these things, we and those who were living in that place made request to him not to go to Jerusalem. Then Paul said, What are you doing, weeping and wounding my heart? for I am ready, not only to be a prisoner, but to be put to death at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And as he might not be moved we did no more, saying, Let the purpose of God be done.
Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a great wind, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said to Elisha, Come no farther for the Lord has sent me to Beth-el. But Elisha said, As the Lord is living and as your soul is living, I will not be parted from you. So they went down to Beth-el. And at Beth-el the sons of the prophets came out to Elisha and said, Has it been made clear to you that the Lord is going to take away your master from over you today? And he said, Yes, I have knowledge of it: say no more.
Till the day when he was taken up to heaven after he had given his orders, through the Holy Spirit, to the Apostles of whom he had made selection:
And now I will be no longer in the world, but they are in the world and I come to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name which you have given to me, so that they may be one even as we are one.
But now I am going to him who sent me; and not one of you says to me, Where are you going?
Now before the feast of the Passover, it was clear to Jesus that the time had come for him to go away from this world to the Father. Having once had love for those in the world who were his, his love for them went on to the end.
And while he was doing so, he went from them and was taken up into heaven.
And while they were giving ear to these words, he made another story for them, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they were of the opinion that the kingdom of God was coming straight away.
And I have not put myself against him, or let my heart be turned back from him. I was offering my back to those who gave me blows, and my face to those who were pulling out my hair: I did not keep my face covered from marks of shame. For the Lord God is my helper; I will not be put to shame: so I have made my face like a rock, and I am certain that he will give me my right. He who takes up my cause is near; who will go to law with me? let us come together before the judge: who is against me? let him come near to me. See, the Lord God is my helper; who will give a decision against me? truly, all of them will become old like a robe; they will be food for the worm.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Luke 9
Commentary on Luke 9 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 9
In this chapter we have,
Luk 9:1-9
We have here,
Luk 9:10-17
We have here,
Luk 9:18-27
In these verses, we have Christ discoursing with his disciples about the great things that pertained to the kingdom of God; and one circumstance of this discourse is taken notice of here which we had not in the other evangelists-that Christ was alone praying, and his disciples with him, when he entered into this discourse, v. 18. Observe,
Luk 9:28-36
We have here the narrative of Christ's transfiguration, which was designed for a specimen of that glory of his in which he will come to judge the world, of which he had lately been speaking, and, consequently, an encouragement to his disciples to suffer for him, and never to be ashamed of him. We had this account before in Matthew and Mark, and it is well worthy to be repeated to us, and reconsidered by us, for the confirmation of our faith in the Lord Jesus, as the brightness of his Father's glory and the light of the world, for the filling of our minds with high and honourable thoughts of him, notwithstanding his being clothed with a body, and giving us some idea of the glory which he entered into at his ascension, and in which he now appears within the veil, and for the raising and encouraging of our hopes and expectations concerning the glory reserved for all believers in the future state.
Luk 9:37-42
This passage of story in Matthew and Mark follows immediately upon that of Christ's transfiguration, and his discourse with his disciples after it; but here it is said to be on the next day, as they were coming down from the hill, which confirms the conjecture that Christ was transfigured in the night, and, it should seem, though they did not make tabernacles as Peter proposed, yet they found some shelter to repose themselves in all night, for it was not till next day that they came down from the hill, and then he found things in some disorder among his disciples, though not so bad as Moses did when he came down from the mount. When wise and good men are in their beloved retirements, they would do well to consider whether they are not wanted in their public stations.
In this narrative here, observe,
Luk 9:43-50
We may observe here,
Luk 9:51-56
This passage of story we have not in any other of the evangelists, and it seems to come in here for the sake of its affinity with that next before, for in this also Christ rebuked his disciples, because they envied for his sake. There, under colour of zeal for Christ, they were for silencing and restraining separatists: here, under the same colour, they were for putting infidels to death; and, as for that, so for this also, Christ reprimanded them, for a spirit of bigotry and persecution is directly contrary to the spirit of Christ and Christianity. Observe here,
Luk 9:57-62
We have here an account of three several persons that offered themselves to follow Christ, and the answers that Christ gave to each of them. The two former we had an account of in Mt. 19:21.
We may look upon this,
Observe,