Luke 9 Part 3: Son

And lastly, Son.

Now on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. Then a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son – he is my only child! A spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions and causes him to foam at the mouth. It hardly ever leaves him alone, torturing him severely. I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.” Jesus answered, “You unbelieving and perverse generation! How much longer must I be with you and endure you? Bring your son here.” As the boy was approaching, the demon threw him to the ground and shook him with convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. Then they were all astonished at the mighty power of God. But while the entire crowd was amazed at everything Jesus was doing, he said to his disciples, “Take these words to heart, for the Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this statement; its meaning had been concealed from them, so that they could not grasp it. Yet they were afraid to ask him about this statement.

I have referenced this story in each of my last two points as a sort of central story to revolve around. I’m sure others have noticed this and it isn’t anything new, but this is probably the central point in Luke’s gospel. We gather that after this chapter, with the transfiguration, the feeding of the five thousand, the sending of the disciples, Jesus suddenly changes everything He does.

Now when the days drew near for him to be taken up, Jesus set out resolutely to go to Jerusalem.

Jesus now sets out for Jerusalem where He will die. His modus operandi changes. From this chapter on everything takes a new turn. This is Luke’s turning point, and in this central chapter Luke tells the story of the boy who is possessed by an unclean spirit and is thrown to the ground. But what is so interesting about the story is that a father comes to Jesus and says, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son – he is my only child!” The man brings to Jesus his only child. Being good readers we would remember that just before this God said of Jesus, “This is my Son, my Chosen One.” So a man’s only son is brought to Jesus and as he is coming towards Jesus the unclean spirit throws the only child to the ground. “But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.” This is pretty much the story of the gospel acted out in physical manifestation. An only son/Jesus is thrown to the ground and Jesus/God rebukes the spirit and raises him back up and gives him to his father/the Father. What is so cool about this too is that this story is surrounded by two important narratives. First is the transfiguration where God tells the disciples “This is my Son,” the only son is brought to Jesus, and then Jesus says, “Take these words to heart, for the Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.” And the disciples don’t get what Jesus means. But we get to see this manifestation of what is going to happen, a foreshadow of how the book will end. And from this point on Jesus goes towards this end. These events are the central point in Luke.

Son.