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Scripture Reading: Luke 9:27-50
In this message we come to 9:27-50. This portion of the Gospel of Luke also is related to the jubilee. Here we see that it was necessary for the Lord Jesus to be transfigured. According to the entire revelation of the New Testament, we need transfiguration in order to enjoy the jubilee.
The Greek word rendered “transfigured” in Matt. 17:2 is the same as that translated “transformed” in Mark 9:2; 2 Cor. 3:18 and Rom. 12:2. The same Greek word is used also in Phil. 3:21. The point here is that for the enjoyment of the jubilee we need transfiguration, transformation.
The Man-Savior in the flesh needed transfiguration because He was in the likeness of the flesh of sin, the likeness of the flesh of fallen man (Rom. 8:3). Just as the brass serpent on the pole had the form of a serpent but not the poisonous nature of a serpent (Num. 21:8-9), so the Lord Jesus in the flesh had the likeness of the flesh of sin but not the nature of the flesh of sin (John 3:14). When He became flesh, He took on the form of the old man. Man had already become fallen when the Lord Jesus became flesh. He became flesh long after man’s fall, coming in the likeness of the flesh of sin. John 1:1, 14 indicate that the Word, which was God, became flesh. In Paul’s words in 1 Tim. 3:16, this was a matter of God manifested in the flesh. Because the Lord Jesus, God incarnate, came in the flesh, even He was in need of transfiguration.
The New Testament age is the age of the jubilee. However, this is not yet the time of the full application of the jubilee. The full application of the jubilee involves transfiguration. Do you know when the Savior was transfigured in full? He was fully transfigured in His resurrection. The transfiguration on the mountain was on a small scale. But when the Lord was resurrected from among the dead, He was fully transfigured. He now remains in this state of transfiguration. According to Phil. 3:21, when He comes back, we all shall be transfigured.
Presently our transformation, or transfiguration, is taking place in our soul. Our spirit has been regenerated, and our soul is being transformed. A matured believer is one who has been fully transformed in his soul, that is, transformed in his mind, will, and emotion. Such a believer only needs his physical body to be transfigured at the coming of the transfigured Savior. This transfiguration of the body is called the redemption of the body by Paul in Rom. 8:23. The redemption of the body is also the entering into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. Paul’s word in Rom. 8 indicates that although we are in the jubilee today, we are not yet in the jubilee in a full way. When our body has been fully redeemed, fully transfigured and transformed, then we shall be brought into the freedom of the glory of the children of God, and that will be the jubilee in full.
Here we need to see a basic principle: When we are in our old man, we cannot participate in the jubilee. Even though we are in the year of jubilee, the acceptable year of the Lord, which is actually the entire New Testament age, if we remain in the old creation we have nothing to do with participating in the enjoyment of the jubilee. This is the reason the situation among Christians today is pitiful. Many believers know only that their sins have been forgiven, but they do not know that their spirit has been regenerated. However, a forgiven person who does not know that he has been regenerated still remains in the old creation and cannot participate in the enjoyment of the jubilee.
In order that we may enjoy the jubilee, our spirit has been regenerated. God has regenerated our spirit as the beginning of our participation in the enjoyment of the jubilee. This means that we began to enter into the enjoyment of the jubilee when our spirit was regenerated. When we called on the name of the Lord for salvation and experienced the forgiveness of sins, our spirit was regenerated. Even though we did not have the knowledge of what had taken place, within us there was rejoicing. The joy within us was a sign of the beginning of our participation in the enjoyment of the jubilee. A proper conversion and experience of salvation always bring in such an enjoyment.
Many believers, after being regenerated, have been misled into caring for doctrine merely in a mental way. As a result, they have lost their enjoyment of the jubilee. However, we in the Lord’s recovery have been brought back from theology and from mere doctrinal, mental understanding to our regenerated spirit. The more the Lord spreads from our spirit into our soul, saturating our mind, will, and emotion, the more we participate in the enjoyment of the jubilee. As we experience 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Romans 12:2, that is, as we are being transformed in our soul, we enjoy the jubilee.
Have you seen what the jubilee is? The jubilee is a release from bondage and the entering into the enjoyment of the Triune God. We began to experience this jubilee when we were regenerated. Through regeneration we were released from bondage and entered into the enjoyment of the Triune God. But soon after we were regenerated, many of us were misled by blind teachers, and we lost the enjoyment of the jubilee. Now in the Lord’s recovery we have come back to our regenerated spirit, and we have begun to experience transformation in our soul.
According to Paul’s word in 2 Corinthians 3:18, we are being transformed into the same image, the image of the Lord, from one degree of glory to another. As we go on from one degree of glory to another degree, we are excited because as we progress we participate more in the release from bondage and enter more fully into the enjoyment of the Triune God. This is transformation for the enjoyment of the jubilee. This transformation is depicted by the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus on Mount Hermon.
In 9:23 and 24 the Lord says, “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his soul life will lose it, but whoever loses his soul life for My sake, this one shall save it.” To bear our cross to follow the Lord and to deny our soul life is to identify ourselves with His death. The Lord’s death crosses off the natural life and the old creation so that we may enter into the new creation, into a transfigured condition. Here, in a transfigured state, we participate in the enjoyment of the jubilee. Hence, for the enjoyment of the jubilee there is the need of transfiguration.
After speaking to His disciples about being identified with His death, the Lord went on to say, “But I tell you truly, there are some of those standing here who shall by no means taste death until they see the kingdom of God” (9:27). This was fulfilled by the Lord’s transfiguration on the mountain. This means that His transfiguration was the coming of the kingdom of God.
Luke 9:28 and 29 say, “And about eight days after these words, it came about that He took with Him Peter and John and James, and went up into the mountain to pray. And it came about that as He prayed the appearance of His face became different, and His garment dazzling white.” Literally, the Greek words rendered “dazzling white” mean flashing like lightning. Unlike Matthew 17 and Mark 9, these verses do not use the word “transfigured.” Nevertheless, in these verses we certainly can see the Lord’s transfiguration. His transfiguration was the coming, the appearing, of the kingdom of God.
We have emphasized the fact that the kingdom of God is the Savior (17:21) as the seed of life, sown into His believers, God’s chosen people (Mark 4:3,26), and developing into a realm which God may rule as His kingdom in His divine life. The Man-Savior’s transfiguration actually was the appearing of this kingdom. When Peter, John, and James were in the atmosphere of the Lord’s transfiguration, they were in the kingdom of God. This was the reason Peter said to the Lord, “Master, it is good for us to be here” (Luke 9:33). At that juncture, Peter, John, and James certainly participated in the enjoyment of the jubilee. They were released and were in the enjoyment of the Triune God.
Not many Christians have seen that the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus was the appearing of the kingdom of God and was also the jubilee. It is very important for us to see this.
The Lord Jesus Christ now lives in us. We may say that He has again become incarnated, this time in us. Therefore, in a sense, as the One who lives in us, He is once again in the flesh, in our flesh. We are all the flesh in which the Lord Jesus lives. Therefore, there is the need of another transfiguration.
Most Christians know something about the Lord’s transfiguration. But they know this merely in a doctrinal way. If we have a bird’s-eye view of the entire Gospel of Luke and view it according to the principle of the jubilee declared in chapter four, we shall see that the transfiguration in chapter nine is related to the jubilee.
Who in 9:27-36 had the full enjoyment of the jubilee? Only three of the disciples had this full enjoyment — Peter, John, and James. However, although these three participated in the jubilee and enjoyed it, they were still very natural. The Lord Jesus was transfigured, but Peter, John, and James were not transfigured. Thus, although they were in the jubilee, they did not actually know anything about it, because they had not yet been transfigured.
We need to be impressed that the transfiguration of the Man-Savior is related to the jubilee and is also the appearing of the kingdom of God. Because Peter, John, and James had not yet been transformed, they could participate in the jubilee without having the proper realization concerning it. These three disciples were still in the old creation, still in the natural life.
While the transfiguration was taking place on the mountaintop, down in the valley the disciples were trying to cast out a demon. Although they did what they could to cast out the demon, they were not able to cast it out. Only three of the disciples — Peter, John, and James — were on the mountain with the Lord to participate in the jubilee. The others remained in the valley. This was the situation the Savior faced when He came down from the mountaintop.
Luke 9:37 says that when the Lord and the three disciples came down from the mountain, a great crowd met Him. Then “a man from the crowd called out, saying, Teacher, I beg You to look upon my son, for he is my only child; and behold, a spirit takes him, and suddenly he cries out, and it convulses him with foaming; and crushing him, with difficulty it departs from him. And I begged Your disciples that they would cast it out, and they could not” (vv. 38-40). Here we see that the disciples did not have the ability to cast out the demon. This was true not only of the nine who remained in the valley, but also of Peter, John, and James who were with the Lord on the mountaintop. The fact that John and James took the lead to argue who was greater indicates that they themselves were occupied by the Devil and thus were unable to cast out the demon.
The jubilee was present with the Lord Jesus. However, because the disciples were still in the old creation, still in the natural life, they could not participate in the jubilee. This indicates that as long as we remain in the natural life and live in the old creation, we cannot share in the jubilee. The jubilee has nothing to do with the natural life.
According to 9:41 the Lord Jesus said, “O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” Then He rebuked the unclean spirit, cured the boy, and gave him back to his father (v. 42). Concerning this, verse 43 says, “And all were astounded at the majesty of God.”
While “all were marveling at all the things which He did He said to His disciples, Put these words into your ears; for the Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men” (vv. 43b, 44). Here the Lord unveils His death the second time. However, the disciples “did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them that they should not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him concerning this saying” (v. 45). Immediately afterward, we are told that “a reasoning came in among them as to which of them would be greater” (v. 46). This certainly indicates that the disciples did not know where they were. They certainly were not in the jubilee, for they were still very natural.
The Lord Jesus had indicated that He was about to die. He also indicated that it was necessary for the disciples to die with Him. Here the Lord seemed to be saying, “I must die in order to accomplish the jubilee, and you need to die in order to participate in the jubilee. Without My death there will not be a jubilee, and without your death with Me you cannot participate in the jubilee.”
Although the Lord had told the disciples to “put these words” into their ears, they did not have the ability to hear what He was saying. They could not understand His word; they could not perceive it. Their inability to understand what the Lord was saying is indicated by the fact that they were reasoning among themselves concerning which of them would be greater (v. 46).
Luke 9:47-48 says, “And Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their heart, took hold of a little child and stood it beside Himself, and said to them, Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for he who is littler among you all, this one is great.” As soon as the Lord spoke these words, John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him, because he does not follow with us” (v. 49). John’s word indicates that the disciples could not receive the Lord’s word. We may say that they could not appreciate the “music” He was playing. The reason they could not take in the Lord’s word was that they were natural and still in the old creation. With them there was no jubilee. They were not yet qualified to participate in the enjoyment of the jubilee.
The jubilee can be carried out only through Christ’s death and resurrection. Furthermore, only through our identification with Christ in His death can we share in the enjoyment of the jubilee. For the jubilee and the experience of the jubilee, it was necessary for the Lord to die and for us to die with Him. He died for the accomplishment of the jubilee, and we died with Him in order to participate in the enjoyment of the jubilee.
In reading the Gospel of Luke, we need to have the view that the jubilee declared in chapter four is the key to interpreting the entire book. In the past I saw the matter of jubilee in this Gospel; however, I did not see that the jubilee in chapter four was the key to interpreting all the following chapters.
At the time of 9:50 the Lord’s ministry in Galilee was completed. As we shall see, beginning in 9:51, He left Galilee for Jerusalem. Do you think that when the Lord completed the section of His ministry in Galilee, Peter, John, James, and the other disciples were in the enjoyment of the jubilee? They were not at all in this enjoyment. They could not understand the Lord’s word concerning His death. It was necessary for the Lord to go with them to Jerusalem where He would die to accomplish the jubilee and where the disciples would die with Him in order to participate in the enjoyment of the jubilee.
In chapter nine we have seen that although the disciples were in the jubilee, they did not have any participation in the enjoyment of the jubilee. Actually, the jubilee had not yet been accomplished, for it could only be accomplished by the death of Christ and in His resurrection. Therefore, eventually the Lord decided to go from Galilee to Jerusalem with His disciples. He went to Jerusalem to die, but He did not go there to die alone. Rather, He brought His disciples with Him so that they would realize that it was necessary for Him to die for the accomplishment of the jubilee and also necessary for them to die to participate in the enjoyment of the jubilee.
