Luke 9 Bible study: He set his face

Who Jesus is runs through this chapter. First Herod: "Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him; and he was very perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again" (9:7-8) (tap perplexed). "Herod said, “I beheaded John, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” He sought to see him." (9:9). Then Jesus asks it himself. "As he was praying alone, the disciples were near him, and he asked them, “Who do the multitudes say that I am?”" (9:18). Their answer names the same three that Herod heard: "‘John the Baptizer,’ but others say, ‘Elijah,’ and others, that one of the old prophets has risen again" (9:19). "He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”" (9:20). Then on the mountain, "A voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!”" (9:35). Here is what almost everyone misses: Herod asks, "who is this" (9:9), and the voice out of the cloud says, "This is my beloved Son" (9:35). In the Greek, the words for this and is are the same in both verses. Mark gives Herod's own words this way: "John the Baptizer has risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him" (Mark 6:14), and "This is John, whom I beheaded. He has risen from the dead." (Mark 6:16). In Luke, it "was said by some" that John had risen (9:7), and Herod asks, "who is this" (9:9). These notes set the two tellings side by side and don't explain the difference. Luke tells, much later, that when Herod saw Jesus, "he had wanted to see him for a long time" (23:8).

Luke 9:22→leads toLuke 24:6-7

Jesus says, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up" (Luke 9:22). At the empty tomb, two men say to the women (Luke 24:4-5), "He isn’t here, but is risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again?" (Luke 24:6-7).

πρόσωπονprosoponsay PROS-o-pon

Thayer: "the face, i. e. the anterior part of the human head". Strong's: "the countenance, aspect, appearance, surface". On the mountain, "As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered" (9:29). Then on the road: "he intently set his face to go to Jerusalem" (9:51), he "sent messengers before his face" (9:52), and "They didn’t receive him, because he was traveling with his face set toward Jerusalem" (9:53). The WEB has face in all four verses, and the Greek has this word in each. Luke's Greek has it 15 times (counted in RP2018). Matthew's telling of the mountain has it too: "His face shone like the sun" (Matthew 17:2).