Lesson

#9
Jesus Revealed
(9: 150)

Jesus Revealed

In Lesson #7 we saw Luke recast Ma2hews Sermon on the

Mount, redirec<ng it from Ma2hews Jewish audience to
Lukes gen<le audience, and in doing so he emphasized the
universality of Jesus message. Lesson #7 then moved on to
a series of healings, and amidst these healings, John the
Bap<st ques<oned Jesus ac<ons and iden<ty.
In Lesson #8 Jesus ac<vi<es escalated: women joined his
band of disciples; parable piled on parable; Jesus calmed a
storm on the Sea of Galilee; he cast out demons; and again,
he raised the dead. Each movement not only emphasized
the inclusive nature of Jesus message, but it also further
dened Jesus iden<ty.
Jesus Revealed

In Lesson #9 Jesus scales his ministry, sending out his inner circle of twelve to
teach and to preach, giving them power and authority over demons, and the
ability to heal. Meanwhile, Jesus lands on Herod An<pas radar, causing him to
ask who Jesus is, and we learnin a brief men<onthat Herod had beheaded
John the Bap<st. Johns murderthe catalyst in Mark, galvanizing Jesus and
driving him relentlessly to the crosshas only passing men<on here in Luke.
Although Luke draws directly from Mark for his source material, Luke eliminates
the drama and tension we witnessed in Mark, and we see a decided calm, with
Jesus in full control of events: in Luke, Peter doesnt object to Jesus
announcement of his impending crucixion; Jesus doesnt say to Peter, Get
behind me Satan; the disciples are not conicted and confused. Indeed, aWer the
stunning revela<on at the Transgura<on that Jesus is the Son of God and that he
will be arrested, tried crucied, buried and raised, all we read is that the disciples
did not understand this saying . . . (9: 45).
What is Luke doing here?
Jesus Revealed

Chapter 9 begins with Jesus

sending out his twelve disciples:
He summoned the twelve and gave them
power and authority over all demons and to
cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim
the kingdom of God and to heal [the sick]. He
said to them: Take nothing for the journey,
neither walking sKck, nor sack, nor food, nor
money, and let no one take a second tunic.
Whatever house you enter, stay there and
leave from there. And as for those who do not
welcome you, when you leave that town,
shake the dust from your feet in tesKmony
against them. Then they set out and went
from village to village proclaiming the good
news and curing diseases everywhere.





(9: 1-6)

Jesus Revealed

He summoned the twelve and gave them

power and authority over all demons and to
cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim
the kingdom of God and to heal [the sick].

Only God can perform miracles. In Daniel 7:

13-14, the Ancient of Days gives the son of
man dominion, splendor, and kingship,
and in St. Peters sermon on Pentecost,
reported in Acts 2: 22 he says: Jesus the
Nazorean was a man commended to you by
God with mighty deeds, wonders and signs,
which God worked through him in your
midst.
It is this power and authority given to Jesus
that he delegates to his Apostles.

Jesus Revealed

He said to them: Take nothing for the

journey, neither walking sKck, nor sack, nor
food, nor money, and let no one take a
second tunic. Whatever house you enter,
stay there and leave from there.
Jesus instruc<ons stress an absolute
commitment to the mission and to a
profound dependence upon God, recalling
the radical simplicity of Jesus command in
the Sermon on the Mount: Let your Yes
mean Yes, and your No mean No.
Anything more is from the evil one.

Jesus Revealed

And as for those who do not welcome you,

when you leave that town, shake the dust
from your feet in tesKmony against them.
Shaking the dust from ones feet certainly
presents a vivid metaphor of total
disassocia<on. It only occurs one other <me
in Scripture, when the Jews of Pisidian
An<och reject Paul and Barnabas:
The Jews, however, incited the women of
prominence who were worshipers and the leading
men of the city, sKrred up a persecuKon against
Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their
territory. So they shook the dust from their feet in
protest against them and went to Iconium.

Jesus Revealed

(Acts 13: 50-51)

Then they set out and went from village to

village proclaiming the good news and curing
diseases everywhere.

As our 1st century historian Josephus writes,

in arranging a mee<ng with his poli<cal
enemies:
If you seriously desire me to come to you,
there are two hundred and four ciKes and
villages in Galilee. I will come to whichever
of these you may select . . ..
The Life of Flavius Josephus, [235]

Jesus Revealed

When Jesus sends out his twelve

on their mission in Galilee, Herod
An<pas takes no<ce:
Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was
happening and he was greatly perplexed
because some were saying, John has been
raised from the dead; others were saying,
Elijah has appeared; sKll others, One of the
ancient prophets has arisen. But Herod said,
John I beheaded. Who then is this about
whom I hear such things? And he kept trying
to see him.





(9: 7-9)

Jesus Revealed

This is the rst instance of Herods intense

interest in Jesus. Here, Herod hears
about Jesus, and his curiosity is piqued;
in Luke 13: 31-33 Herod is hun<ng Jesus
in order to kill him; and in Luke 23: 8-12
Jesus nally appears before Herod:
Herod was very glad to see Jesus; he had
been wanKng to see him for a long Kme, for
he had heard about him and had been hoping
to see him perform some sign. He quesKoned
him at length, but he gave no answer. The
chief priests and scribes, meanwhile, stood by
accusing him harshly. [Even] Herod and his
soldiers treated him contemptuously and
mocked him, and a_er clothing him in
resplendent garb, he sent him back to Pilate.

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10

Luke weaves the rela<onship between Jesus

and Herod with masterful subtly, a thin but
shimmering, gossamer thread in the fabric of
his gospel:
In 9: 7-9 Luke tells us that Herod had murdered
John the Bap<st, and that he has now turned his
a2en<on to Jesus;
When Jesus is told in 13: 31-33 to go away,
leave this area because Herod wants to kill you,
Jesus replies Go and tell that fox . . .. Jesus
speaks Aramaic, of course, but Lukes Greek
renders fox as ajlwpeki [al-O-paki], a feminine,
singular noun (in the da<ve)perhaps be2er
translated as vixen, a scathing insult.
And when Jesus nally appears before Herod in
23: 8-12, Jesus refuses even to speak to him.
Herod is the only person in Scripture to whom
Jesus has absolutely nothing to say.
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11

Recall that there are four Herods in

Scripture:
1. Herod the Great (37 - 4 B.C.)

King during the birth of Jesus; slaughters the

Innocents of Bethlehem (Ma2hew 2: 1-19)

2. Herod An<pas (4 B.C. A.D. 39)

Murders John the Bap<st (Luke 9: 9)

Pilate sends Jesus to him (Luke 23: 7-12)

3. Herod Agrippa 1 (A.D. 37 44)

Executes James; imprisons Peter; he is eaten by

worms and dies (Acts 12: 1-24)

4. Herod Agrippa 2 (A.D. 50 93)

Paul makes a legal defense before him (Acts 25: 13

26: 32)

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12

Our historian Josephus writes in

his Jewish AnKquiKes:
Many people came in crowds to him [John
the Bap<st], for they were greatly moved by
his words. Herod, who feared that the great
inuence John had over the masses might put
them into his power and enable him to raise
a rebellion . . . thought it best to put him to
death . . .. Accordingly, John was sent as a
prisoner, out of Herods suspicious temper, to
Machaerus . . . and was put to death.

Jesus Revealed

(18. 109)

13

Herod the Great (37 4 B.C.) built

three major fortresses to safeguard
his territories and to serve as safe
houses for himself:
1. Herodium
2. Masada
3. Machaerus

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14

Herodium !
Masada !
Jesus Revealed

!Machaerus
15

Archaeological excava<ons on the top of

Machaerus.

Tel of Machaerus, located in Jordan,

15 miles southeast of the Jordan River,
as it emp<es into the Dead Sea.
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16

Caravaggio, The Beheading of St. John the BapKst (oil on canvas), 1608.
St. Johns Co-Cathedral (Altarpiece in the Oratory), Valle2a, Malta.
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17

Caravaggio, Salome with the Head of John the BapKst

(oil on canvas), c. 1607-1610.
Na<onal Gallery, London.
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18

Yikes!

As a sidebar, John the Bap<sts purported

head is enshrined as a relic in Rome at
San Silvestro in Capite!
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19

And Johns right arm is displayed at the

Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul, Turkey.
RIP = Rest in Pieces!
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20

 We all know the story of John

the Bap<st being beheaded. Its
an intense scene in Mark, the
subject of countless pain<ngs and
of Richard Strausss opera,
Salome. But why is it only
men<oned
Not
me. briey in Luke?

That is strange!

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21

Indeed, in the Gospel according to Mark,

Herod killing John the Bap<st marks a
turning point for Jesus; it is the catalyst that
drives Jesus inexorably forward to his
crucixion in Jerusalem.
Although Luke uses Mark as his primary
source, Lukes purpose and narra<ve
strategy dier en<rely from Marks. Mark
very deliberately creates enormous tension
as his narra<ve builds to a stunning climax:
Marks gospel is an urgent call to ac<on
addressed to a persecuted church in Rome,
a call to take a stand for the gospel, even if
it means suering and death.

Jesus Revealed

22

Luke presents a more measured

message, as he tells us in his
prologue to Theophilus:
In as much as many have undertaken to
draw up an account of the things that have
been fullled among us, just as they were
handed down to us by those who from the
rst were eyewitnesses and servants of the
word, it seemed good to me also, having
carefully invesKgated everything from the
beginning, to write an orderly account for
you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you
may know the certainty of the things you
have been taught.

Jesus Revealed

(Luke 1:1-4, my transla<on)

23

There is no drama here; rather, Luke presents

a carefully-researched, me<culously ordered
account addressed by a gen<le (Luke) to a
gen<le audience (Theophilus), presen<ng the
gospel as a universal call to extremely high
moral and ethical standards, proclaimed and
validated by Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
In Luke, order and control are paramount,
with each element of Lukes gospel (along
with his Acts of the Apostles) me<culously
woven into a balanced thema<c and
composi<onal whole.
In one sense, Lukes gospel demonstrates the
planning, control and discipline of a Bach
fugue from The Well-Tempered Clavier, while
Marks gospel oers the wild ride of Berliozs
Symphonie FantasKque.
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24

Wow! Thats quite the

dierence between Mark and
Luke. If we understand Mark to
be Lukes source, Lukes
reshaping of Marks material
for his own purpose is very
Not me. and quite well done.
deliberate

I bet well see it

again!

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25

We sure will! As we con<nue with Lukes

gospel, we move from Herod wondering who
Jesus is to Luke presen<ng a set of deni<ve
answers with their inevitable consequences.
Once again, Luke takes his material directly
from Mark, forming and shaping it for his own
purpose. In Mark, Jesus has been told that
Herod has murdered John, and the twelve
return from their mission, eager to tell Jesus
the results. Needing private <me to confer
with God and to come to terms with Johns
murder, Jesus takes the twelve across the Sea
of Galilee to the other side, but he is met by
a crowd of 5,000 who had seen him leave, so
he teaches them and feeds them. AWerward
he goes into the hills to pray, dismissing his
disciples and sending them back across the
lake to Capernaum.
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26

Sea of Galilee (Google Earth)

Capernaum !

" Crowds

Jesus & Disciples !

The other side

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27

Eric Feather, Christ Feeding 5,000 (mixed media), 2012.

Reproduced by permission. See the ar<sts excellent work at: ericfeather.com.
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28

Sea of Galilee (Google Earth)

Capernaum !

Gennesaret !
Migdal !

" Jesus & Disciples

Tiberias !

The other side

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29

Amde Varin, Christ Walking on the Sea (etching and engraving), 1866.
Bri<sh Museum, London.
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30

Once back home, Jesus encounters

increasing opposi<on, and he leaves,
seething with anger, heading north to
Tyre and Sidon where he encounters
the Syrophoenician womana gen<le
and tells her that it is not right to
take the food of the children and throw
it to the dogsa scathing insul2o the
woman (Mark 7: 24-30).
Coming back home through the
Decapolis ci<es (on the east side of the
Sea of Galilee), Jesus feeds the 4,000,
gathers his disciples and heads for
Caesarea Philippi, where we have
Peters confession of faith and the
Transgura<on, ending with Jesus
healing the boy with a demon.
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31

Luke performs major surgery on this

sequence from Mark, focusing not on the
dynamics of Jesus ac<ons and the
conic<ng emo<ons roiling within him, but
on establishing Jesus iden<ty, answering
the ques<on posed by Herod: Who then
is this about whom I hear such things?
In Luke the twelve return and Jesus takes
them to Bethsaida, where he feeds the
5,000 (not across the Sea of Galilee to the
other side). Luke omits in this sequence
Jesus night on the mountain and his
walking on the water. Rather, we move
immediately to Peters confession of faith,
a discussion of the cost of discipleship, and
the Transgura<on, valida<ng Peters
iden<ca<on of Jesus the Messiah of
God.
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32

We know from our studies of

Ma2hew and Mark, that Jesus
takes his disciples north to
Caesarea Philippi where Peters
confession of faith takes place,
and then he leads them further
Not
mte.
t. Hermon for the
north
o M
Transgura<on.

Id like to go on
that walk!

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33

Ok, here we go!

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34

Caesarea Philippi !
(30 miles north of Capernaum)

Capernaum !

Jesus Revealed

35

Caesarea Philippi
The pagan Greek city of Panias
dated back to the 2nd century B.C.
Panias was renovated by Herod
the Greats son Phillip II in A.D. 14,
and he renamed the city Caesarea
Philippi in honor of Caesar
Augustus.

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36

Caesarea Philippi
In Greek <mes Panias was the center of
worship for the god, Pan, the god of the
elds, groves and wooded glens.
Consequently, Pan was associated with
spring<me and fer<lity.
The English words panic and
pandemonium derive from his name.
With the hindquarters, legs and horns of
a goat and the upper body of a man, Pan
is famous for his sexual prowess, oWen
appearing with a huge phallus.
Pan is the original party animal!

Jesus Revealed

37

William Bouguereau. Nymphs and Satyr [Pan] (oil on canvas), 1873.

Clark Art Ins<tute, Williamstown, Massachuse2s.

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38

Trail to the cave and the Temple of Pan at Caesarea Philippi.

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Jesus Revealed

39

Caesarea Philippi and the Banias River, owing out from beneath the cave.
In Jesus day it gushed out of the cave itself.
Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

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40

Archaeological remains of the Temple of Pan

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

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41

More archaeological remains of the Temple of Pan

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Jesus Revealed

42

At Caesarea Philippi Jesus

asks his disciples Who do
people say that I am? in
direct contrast to what they
see before them: the pagan
gods of the Greco-Roman
world.

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43

Mt. Hermon !
9,232 W.
(30 miles north of CCaesarea
apernaum)
Philippi !

1,150 W.

Capernaum !

Mt. Tabor !
1,880 W.
Jesus Revealed

Mt. Tabor

44

Mt. Hermon on the Israel/Lebanon border, 43 miles north of the Sea of Galilee.
The mountain range stretches 50 miles!
Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

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45

Giovanni Bellini. TransguraKon of Christ (oil on wood), 1487-1495.

Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples.

Jesus Revealed

46

Now, watch how Luke reshapes this

sequence from Mark, focusing on Jesus
iden<ty and the implica<ons of his
iden<ty for himself, for his disciples and
for us.

Read Luke 9: 10-50.

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47

As we move through Luke 9 we

see Luke once again taking raw
material from Mark and reshaping
it to accomplish his purpose of
giving an orderly account,
presen<ng the gospel message for
a gen<le audience, backed by the
power and authority of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God.

Jesus Revealed

48

1. When Jesus sends out his core group of twelve

disciples, what does he expect them to do?
2. Why do you think Luke omits the juicy details of Johns
beheading at Herods birthday party, the back story of
Herod arres<ng John for insul<ng Herods wife,
Salomes Dance of the 7 Veils, and Herods conicted
emo<ons at Salomes request for Johns head on a
silver pla2er?
3. How do we know that Peter answers for the group,
and not just himself, when Jesus asks: Who do the
crowds say I am?
4. What are the consequences of Jesus iden<ty for
himself?
5. What are the consequences of Jesus iden<ty for his
disciples and for us?

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49

Copyright 2015 by William C. Creasy

All rights reserved. No part of this courseaudio, video,

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