English: Jesus Christ – detail from Deesis mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

¹⁸ Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” ¹⁹ They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” ²⁰ Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.” ²¹ He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.  ²² He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”  ²³ Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:18-24)

The entire section of Luke’s gospel (9:18-27) consists of a conversation in three parts. The first two parts (vv. 18-20) contain questions about Jesus’ identity:  who do the crowds say that I am and then who do you disciples say that I am.  The final part of the conversation (vv.23-27) concerns Jesus’ teaching on the meaning  of discipleship.  All of this has followed Luke’s indirect revelation about Jesus as the one who fulfills the prophetic tradition of Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha, and Moses in the exodus.

Matthew and Mark locate this incident in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi, near the foot of Mount Hermon. This was gentile territory, away from Herod’s dominion and from the crowds that had been thronging him. Here he could talk quietly with the disciples and have opportunity for undistracted prayer. Luke does not mention the location specifically, perhaps wanting to link it to the feeding of the 5,000.  Or perhaps, rather than locate Peter’s confession of Jesus as Messiah in the place named for a Roman emperor, Luke locates the confession in the place where Jesus meets his heavenly Father – in prayer.

Jesus’ enquiry seeks to draw out the disciples’ understanding of his person. The crowds have their opinions, but what do the disciples believe?

Jesus’ absorption in prayer signals the approach of a decisive moment (see 3:21; 6:12). He is ready to confront his followers with the question that has been tantalizing audiences since the beginning of his ministry: “Who is this?” (8:25). In all three Synoptic gospels Jesus’ “you” is emphatic. In distinction from others, he is asking, what do you think? In the end, aided by the testimony of others and the grace of God, knowing Christ is a personal discovery.

The apostles give the standard response about public opinion: John, Elijah, a prophet (vv. 7–8) – their answer is much the same as the reports that reached Herod. Peter’s leadership role is highlighted as he answers this crucial question in the name of the other disciples (see Acts 2:14): “The Christ of God.” Peter is saying that Jesus is the Deliverer for whom the people of God had been looking for so long. But what “Christ,” or the anointed one (“Messiah”) really meant they did not fully know. The readers of Luke’s gospel have known since Jesus’ infancy narrative (2:11,26), but for the apostles and the people in general, such a revelation had the potential to be misunderstood (23:35), so Jesus imposes silence until he has a chance to instruct them in the true meaning of his Messiahship.

Jesus’ response to Peter’s words is a very firm injunction to silence. The reason is likely the near certainty of misunderstanding if it were spread abroad. The Jews loathed their state of subjection to the Romans and longed for deliverance. They were ready to follow almost anyone who claimed to be Messiah and in fact there had been many petty revolts. If Jesus been widely hailed as “Messiah,” people would have understood it as a political and military claim – completely missing Jesus’ proclamation of the true meaning of the Reign of God.

Immediately Jesus gives the first of three predictions of his passion (see Luke 9:44; 18:31–33), using the title “Son of Man,” which he preferred and which in this context seems interchangeable with “Messiah.” There should be no mistaken identity: Jesus will not be the Messiah of popular expectation, capitalizing on national patriotism to remove the yoke of Rome and restore Davidic rule. He will suffer, be rejected by the leaders God’s people, and be killed. Only then will he be vindicated.

Matthew and Mark speak of Peter’s rebuke of Jesus, but Luke concentrates on his Lord’s suffering. That is what being Messiah meant. Suffering, for Jesus, was no accident, but a compelling divine necessity. And of the many things he would suffer Jesus speaks only of the final rejection. The word rejected seems to be a technical term for rejection after a careful legal scrutiny to see whether a candidate for office was qualified. It implies here that the hierarchy would consider Jesus’ claims but decide against him.

His followers must follow in his steps, taking up the cross (the Lukan version adds “daily”). To deny one’s very self and to lose one’s life does not mean an ego-suppression that would be psychologically harmful; it means giving up control over one’s destiny and opening oneself to true self-knowledge by laying aside the image constructed from worldly illusions about the meaning of life. The stakes are high: one’s response now will determine the outcome of the great judgment (v. 26). William Barclay well says, “The Christian must realize that he is given life, not to keep it for himself, but to spend it for others; not to husband its flame, but to burn himself out for Christ and for men.”

Luke 9:18 when Jesus was praying in solitude: Luke regularly presents Jesus at prayer at important points in his ministry: at his baptism (3:21); at the choice of the Twelve (6:12); before Peter’s confession (9:18); at the transfiguration (9:28); when he teaches his disciples to pray (11:1); at the Last Supper (22:32); on the Mount of Olives (22:41); on the cross (23:46).

Crowds: Luke does not repeat the Markan or Matthean “people” but uses the word for “crowds.” Used previously (7:24 and 9:11,12,16) the use seems to indicated people who are not understanding or are motivated by reasons other than salvific.

Luke 9:19 One of the ancient prophets has arisen: The other gospel writers use the phrase “one of the prophets.” The change here is slight, but it does match the expression used in Herod’s “testimony” in Luke 9:8.

Luke 9:20 the Messiah of God: Luke is the only synoptic gospel writer to use the title savior for Jesus (Luke 2:11; Acts 5:31; 13:23; see also Luke 1:69; 19:9; Acts 4:12). As savior, Jesus is looked upon by Luke as the one who rescues humanity from sin and delivers humanity from the condition of alienation from God. The title christos, “Christ,” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew masiah, “Messiah,” “anointed one.” Among certain groups in first-century Palestinian Judaism, the title was applied to an expected royal leader from the line of David who would restore the kingdom to Israel (see Acts 1:6). The political overtones of the title are played down in Luke and instead the Messiah of the Lord (Luke 2:26) or the Lord’s anointed is the one who now brings salvation to all humanity, Jew and Gentile (Luke 2:29-32). Lord is the most frequently used title for Jesus in Luke and Acts. In the New Testament it is also applied to Yahweh, as it is in the Old Testament. When used of Jesus it points to his transcendence and dominion over humanity.

Luke 9:21 not to tell this to anyone: In Mark’ account, Jesus enjoins the apostles to “tell no one about him” (emphasis added).  Luke’s account places the emphasis on “this” (touto – this thing) referring to the role of Messiah

Luke 9:22 Son of Man: The expression ho huios tou anthrōpou (“Son of Man”) first appears in 5:24. Here it is used to explicate the messianic ministry of Jesus (cf. 17:24–25). This suffering Son of Man serves to qualify the Jewish expectation of a messiah who is defined by political power and might (cf. Pss. Sol. 17). Jesus’ rejection has been noted (cf. 4:24; 7:31–35), but this is the first explicit note that he would suffer death as the Messiah of God (cf. 9:43b–45; 18:31–34). The precise background for this combination of ideas and titles is unclear. The “Son of Man” title, of course, recalls Dan. 7:13–14, but the connection between suffering and this Son of Man is weak in its context. A more likely candidate is Isa. 53, where one finds the combination of the motifs of prophetic necessity and a new exodus towards God.

be rejected: the use of the word apodokimasthēnai (“be rejected”) in 9:22 (cf. Mark 8:31) may have been taken from Ps. 118:22 (117:22 LXX): lithon ho apedokimasan hoi oikodomountes (“the stone that the builders rejected”).

the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes: the rejection is specifically by these three parties. They make up the Sanhedrin which was the courts of the Jewish people sitting in Jerusalem and enacting religious authority at Rome’s leave.  In Luke 24:20 they will actively oppose Jesus and are blamed for his death.

Luke 9:23 deny himself: the verb arneomai  has a wide range of meanings, all amounting to saying “no” to something, whether a truth (cf. 1 John 2:22) or a person (1 John 2:23).  Compare Luke 8:45, 12:9, 22:57; Acts 3:13-14, 4:16 and 7:35

take up his cross: Ted Noffs (an Australian minister) comments in By What Authority?: “The tragedy of Christianity has been that Christians have left it all to Jesus. There have been a few exceptions, of course. In the main, however, Christians have never tired of seeing the spectacle of Christ Himself upon the Cross — in some mysterious way He is our stand-in or proxy representative in every age. We love to sing about the Cross, to pray about the Cross, to preach about the Cross. As long as we are so fascinated and mesmerized, humanity troops on to its doom. …The Cross of Christ becomes the most important event in the world only when it is the inspiration for a journey every Christian must make. In the sense that He was not spared, so we will not be spared. Thus it is a salutary reminder that the reward of Christian discipleship is not a peaceful mind, freedom from anxiety in personal living, but the very opposite.”

daily: this is a Lucan addition to a saying of Jesus, removing the saying from a context that envisioned the imminent suffering and death of the disciple of Jesus (as does the saying in Mark 8:34-35) to one that focuses on the demands of daily Christian existence by following the Messiah.  The way of the disciple continues the path walked by the teacher: first suffering, then glory (19:10). Luke emphasizes this point from here on (9:44; 11:29-32; 12:50; 13:31-35; 17:25; 18:31-33; 20:9-18; 22:19-20, 28; 24:7, 46-47).

Luke 9:24 for my sake: heneken emou (“for my sake”) ensures that the focus is not the loss of life or self-denial, but rather, witness.

• R. Alan Culpepper, Luke in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. IX (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995) 198-205.
• Luke Timothy Johnson, The Gospel of Luke, vol. 3 of Sacra Pagina, ed. Daniel J. Harrington (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1991) 336-85.
• Jerome Kodell, “Luke” in The Collegeville Bible Commentary, eds. Dianne Bergant and Robert J. Karris, (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1989). 975-78.
• Eugene LaVerdiere, Luke, vol. 5 of the New Testament Message (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1990) 129-33
• Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich and Geoffrey William Bromiley, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans, 1995)
• Scripture quotes from New American Bible by Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. © 1991, 1986, 1970