Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 9:32
But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.
32. were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake ] Rather, had been heavy with sleep; but on fully awaking. The word diagregoresanies does not here mean ‘having kept awake,’ but (to give the full force of the compound and aorist) suddenly starting into full wakefulness. They started up, wide awake after heavy sleep, in the middle of the vision.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Luk 9:30; Luk 9:32
Moses and Elias: who appeared in glory, and spake of His decease
The decease at Jerusalem
I. IN THE DECEASE AT JERUSALEM, THERE IS THE DEATH OF THE SINLESS CHRIST.
II. THIS DECEASE AT JERUSALEM WAS A DEATH PURELY AND PERFECTLY VOLUNTARY.
III. IN THE DECEASE AT JERUSALEM WE HAVE A DEATH WHICH APPEARS TO BE MORE IMPORTANT AND PRECIOUS THAN EVEN LIFE.
IV. IN THIS DECEASE AT JERUSALEM, WE HAVE THE ONLY INSTANCE OF A MAN BEING A SACRIFICE FOR SIN.
V. IN THIS DECEASE AT JERUSALEM, WE HAVE A DEATH THAT IS TO BE REMEMBERED AND COMMEMORATED FOR EVER. (H. J. Bevis.)
The conference on the Mount
1. What they spake of none could Divine, unless it had been told us, and the Evangelist Luke telleth us, that it was of His death. This argument was chosen–
(1) Because it was at hand. The next solemn mediatory action after this was His death and bloody sufferings; after He was transfigured in the Mount, He went down to suffer at Jerusalem.
(2) This was an offence to the apostles that their Master should die Mat 16:22-23).
(3) This was the Jews stumbling-block (1Co 1:23).
(4) This was prefigured in the rites of the Law, foretold in the writings of the Prophets.
(5) It was necessary that by death He should come to His glory, of which now some glimpse and foretaste was given to Him.
(6) The redemption of the Church by Christ is the talk and discourse we shall have in heaven. The angels and glorified saints are blessing and praising Him for this (Rev 5:9; Rev 5:12).
(7) It is an instructive pattern to us, that Christ in the midst of His Transfiguration, and the glory which was then put upon Him, forgat not His death. In the greatest advancement we should think of our dissolution. If Christ, in all His glory, discoursed of His death, surely it more becometh us, as necessary for us to prevent the surfeit of worldly pleasures; we should think of the change that is coming, for Surely every man at his best estate is vanity (Psa 39:5). In some places they were wont to present a deaths head at their solemn feasts; merry days will not always last, death will soon put an end to the vain pleasures we enjoy here, and the most shining glory will be burnt out to a snuff.
2. The notion by which His death is expressed, His decease , which signifies the going out of this life into another, which is to be noted.
(1) In respect unto Christ His death was an exodus, for He went out of this mortal life into glory, and so it implieth both His suffering death, and also His resurrection (Act 2:24).
(2) With respect to us; Peter (2Pe 1:15) calls His death an exodus. The death of the godly is a going out, but from sin and sorrow, to glory and immortality. The soul dwelleth in the body as a man in a house, and death is but a departure out of one house into another; not an extinction, but a going from house to house.
3. The necessity of undergoing it. Accomplishing.
(1) His mediatorial duty, with a respect to Gods ordination and decree declared in the prophecies of the Old Testament, which, when they are fulfilled, are said to be accomplished. Whatsoever Christ did in the work of redemption was with respect to Gods will and eternal decree (Act 4:28).
(2) His voluntary submission which He should accomplish, noteth His active and voluntary concurrence; it is an active word Dot passive, not to be fulfilled upon Him, but by Him.
(3) That it was the eminent act of His humiliation; for this cause He assumed human nature. His humiliation began at His birth, continued in His life, and was accomplished in dying; all was nothing without this, therefore there is a consummation or perfection attributed to the death of Christ Heb 10:14). (T. Manton, D. D.)
A revelation of the heavenly life
Moses and Elias are standing humbly in the presence of Jesus Christ (as He had once sat at the feet of the Rabbi in the Temple), holding converse with Him, acknowledging all their ignorance, telling Him all their perplexities, responding to Him with the response of perfect assent to His every utterance. Of what did they speak! They spoke of His decease, which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. This word decease should, in my opinion, have a larger application; it is the same word as St. Peter used when he spoke of the death which he was about to die, which is also translated as decease; it should be rather exodus. We may be certain of this; it was not merely of the historic fact of Christs death of which they spoke, they wanted to know the deep meaning underlying that fact, and this could only be understood when His death was studied in connection with the many mysteries before and after. Of this, of all those mysteries which found their centre in the Cross of Calvary, did they speak on the Mount of Transfiguration, and thus revealed to the apostles and to us what is the heavenly life of which our life here is the prelude, what is that eternal state to which we are all rapidly journeying. First, then, it is of primary importance to consider that heaven is a state rather than a locality. Dont misunderstand me. I do not say there is no space which we call heaven to-day, no space where that sacred humanity still exists which the Incarnate Saviour took upon Himself, and which has since been in some sense subject to laws of creaturely existence, and therefore subject to space. Wherever Jesus Christ is there is heaven, and yet if you ask where this heavenly life will be lived, in what locality the heavenly life will be lived, then I shall answer that probably, though of this no one can be certain, probably the sphere of that life will be mainly this earth. The last vision in the Apocalypse is not the vision of the Church ascending, but her advent on the new earth. I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Insignificant as this planet is in the wonderful cosmos, yet it has been chosen among Gods creations as the scene in which the great mystery of love should be carried out, in which the incarnate life of the Son of God should be lived; out of the dust of this earth His sacred body was formed, on this earth He lived His life, on this earth He died His death, and from this earth He ascended into heaven, and carried into the presence of the Father, to be for ever there, the body formed of the dust of this earth. This earth is the scene of the humiliation of Jesus Christ, of the humiliation of His Church, of the whole family of mankind; is it not likely to be the centre of that plan in which the glory of Jesus Christ, the glory of His Church and of mankind, shall be consummated? I state, then, as a pious opinion, that this earth will be the centre of that life of bliss which the glorified Church will live. And where more fitting? We have no reason to believe that the great work of Redemption has been carried out in any of the other worlds in Gods great plan of creation, nor do we even know that those worlds are inhabited by living souls. And yet the great question is, not where shall that heavenly life be spent, but what is that life? And the answer is plainly and distinctly given in the Revelation which we are studying, that the heavenly life is a state of conformity to God. Church life is revealed to us as lived under three conditions, of which two are present conditions and one future: the first is the militant life on earth; the second is the waiting life in paradise–the life of souls waiting in that dear place of rest for the coming of their Lord in glory–and the third is the life of perfect conformity to Jesus Christ. Here we are ever reaching forward to that conformity, and yet none of us can ever be perfect; in paradise I venture to believe that there will be growth for those waiting souls, an ever-increasing conformity with Jesus; for the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. That perfect day is the coming of our Lord, when we shall see Him as He is, when we shall be wholly conformed to God, when, waking up after His likeness, we shall be satisfied. By the heavenly life we understand that state of glory which is entered on by the resurrection–for as baptism is our birth into the Church militant, so death is our birth into the Church expectant, and the resurrection our birth into the Church glorified. The state of expectation is only over when He, whom we look for, shall appear, and we shall enter into the state of conformity. What is this conformity? I answer, that my perfect conformity is my attainment of my perfect individuality; no one can be perfectly conformed to God in the sense that they can express in themselves every beauty that is in Him; for is it not true that He is the Sun and we are only the stars, and we know that one star differeth from another star in glory? Conformity to Christ is this, my perfect realization of the Divine thought for me; God is not mirrored in each member of the Church, but in the whole Church; one ray of His beauty is mirrored in one, and one in another; I was created to reflect one ray; He who created me telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by their names, and, as one star differeth from another, so one man from another man. If I may say it, the great Creator never uses the same mould twice; having used it once He throws it away, and so the characteristics of one are not the same as another. God has placed me in this world with an individual purpose of life to develop, and any system which takes Gods creations, on whom is stamped individuality, and forces them into the same pattern, is immoral, is a marring of Gods plan. There must be space in His Church: Thou has set my feet in a large room. So, when I am truly myself when I can fulfil my highest aspirations, when I can live out my fullest resolves when I can perfectly express the idea of my individual being which God has revealed to me, then at last I have gained conformity to Christ, then I know what it is to rest in the heaven of God. Oh! joy to be my ideal self! joy when conduct shall square with conviction, when conviction shall square with aspiration, and aspiration shall square with resolve! Oh! the utter rest to lie at the feet of Jesus, true to Him because utterly true to myself! Moses will be Moses there, Elias will be Elias there, each before Jesus Christ in His own individuality and personality. But what is the life which awaits me there? The answer comes clearly and distinctly–a life lived in the power of Jesus Christ. The first great hunger of each human creature is heart-hunger, the first great thirst is heart-thirst; if love, then, is our greatest need, be sure of this, God created us to beloved, and, therefore, He created us to possess and to be possessed by Himself, who is absolute Beauty and perfect Love; and so, whether our love flows out first to those dear ones whom He has given us to love, whether our first love is given to Him or only indirectly to Him, of this be sure, we cannot know heart-rest until we rest wholly in His love.
The time will come when we shall have not only an intellectual but an actual apprehension of His love, when we shall live by sight and not by faith, and as we gaze on the Word Incarnate, the sight of Gods beauty mirrored there will draw up to us His embrace, and the joy of Gods love will attract us to Him eternally. This, then, is heaven, to rest in the love of God. Then if our first great longing is for love, our second is for knowledge. The heart longs for love, the mind for knowledge: and here, in time, we cannot satisfy this longing. The more we know, the more we become conscious of our ignorance; the more we feed the mind, the more it hungers for that which it has not. Here we know in part. But there, in the heavenly life, the partial knowledge shall be made complete; and I shall study the truth, not only as it has been revealed, but with the aid of the great First Cause, of God Himself; and as I see God I shall know the rest that comes with the perfect knowledge of the truth as it is in Him. And how shall we study to know God? As we can see the Father only as He is mirrored in the Son, so we can only hear His voice as revealed to us through the Incarnate Word. And our study will surely be the study of those mysteries which gather round His sacred form–the mystery of His Incarnation, the mystery of His Death, the infinite mystery of His Resurrection and of His Ascension (for in each is a manifestation of the Infinite). And so, through all the ages of eternity, there will be an eternal festival–an eternal Christmas, an eternal Lady Day, an eternal Easter, and an eternal Ascension–that I may receive into my mind the meaning of these mysteries, and give back to God my mental satisfaction by uttering heavens eternal creed and offering heavens ceaseless worship. Then, thirdly, if in heaven the cravings of our heart for love and of our intellects for knowledge will be satisfied, so, too, will our desire for unity. To some the thought of individuality is not attractive; it is not personal isolation they long for, but corporate union. The two ideas are not antagonistic. True, the Kings daughter is all glorious within, her clothing is of wrought gold. But why? Because each separate thread is of wrought gold. We see in the Revelation how every precious stone was used in the completion of the heavenly city, which could not be perfect without the perfection of each stone; and so here a life of perfected individuality may be the same as a life of perfected unity. Moses and Elias stood side by side, they knew one another, they shared a common study, they asked common questions, they received the common truth, though Peter and James and John, with their own individual characteristics of zeal and love and patience, as they stood there with them, and heard the Voice out of the cloud, This is My beloved Son, knew Moses to be Moses, and Elias Elias; so in heaven ours will be no mere life of individual isolation, in which the enjoyment of personal love, the tasting of personal truth, the offering of personal worship, will be our one thought. No; the perfection of the lives of the saints blends in one perfect communion: there saint with saint holds converse, lives a common life, offers a common worship. (Canon Body.)
Christ crucified
Such words never were, never could with truth and fitness, be applied to any but the one death.
I. The first point to be noted here is, THE VOLUNTARY CHARACTER OF THIS DEATH. There was no power, no law of nature that made death a necessity to the Lord Jesus. That pilgrimage into the regions of the tomb He could undertake or decline, according to His own pleasure. He died simply because He willed to die. He might have left the world in a very different way. Like His own servant Elias, with whom He conversed of this decease, He might have returned to heaven in a chariot of fire; or, if He must taste death in order that He might be perfectly like unto His brethren, His departure might have been calm and tranquil, in the stillness of home, amid the sympathies and tears of loving friends. Such a death would surely have been sufficient, if the end of His ministry had been simply the manifestation of God in the flesh. Instead of a close so fitting to a life of purity, He chose to accomplish a decease, in which He should be numbered with the transgressors. Surely for this there must have been wise and sufficient reason. The fact that He died thus, is the proof that the great design of His advent could be fulfilled only by such a death. With Him it was the centre-fact of His whole history.
II. THE IMPORTANCE ATTACHED TO THIS DEATH. He had work to do in the world beside, a bright example to give; the true ideal of a human life to set before man; a perfect righteousness to win; a thousand blessings to scatter; His own deep love and sympathy with human sorrows to discover: but His great work was this–to die.
III. THE TRUE MEANING OF THIS DEATH. The New Testament speaks in various ways–sometimes it employs the language of type and symbol–sometimes it gives us distinct and explicit statements but all its representations of this death converge to one point, and enforce one grand idea. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Here is an expressive metaphor–one whose signification it cannot be hard to discover. What is the meaning of the apostle? The Paschal Lamb died for the deliverance of the nation–through his death the nation escaped the sword of the destroying angel–the animal was slain, the blood was sprinkled, and the people were saved. So was Christ our Passover sacrificed, that we might be delivered–His death is our life–in virtue of His blood of sprinkling we are purified and accepted. The decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. Thus, then, did the man Christ Jesus ever keep before Him that goal of suffering and humiliation to which His steps were tending. Not ignorantly did He rush on perils and death, entering on a path whose end He did not discern until retreat had become impossible. Knowing what the work was, He had deliberately undertaken it, and throughout all its stages, the issue was ever present to His eye. Very early in His ministry did He indicate that He was set apart to this service–was anointed unto sacrifice. (J. G. Rogers, B. A.)
Two divisions in the glorified Church
Why were these two men with Jesus in the vision? Is it not because when at length the Church shall reach her state of glory there will be within her two distinct classes? We are told, that when our Lord comes, the dead in Christ shall rise first, and at the sound of the trump, and at the call of His voice, the fields of Paradise shall be deserted, and they shall all be caught up to meet their Lord in the air, henceforth to seek Him in His beauty and to be His daily delight. But what of those who are not in the fields of Paradise at the time of the coming of our Lord? Shall they die? Shall they know that mysterious experience which we call death, the separation of the soul from the body? No, for then it would be a purposeless experience. They shall not die, but shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, and shall be ever with the Lord. Therefore the glorified Church shall be the assembly of those who, some from life and some from Paradise, are gathered into the presence of Christ. And do we not see these two classes represented in the ancient saints who talked with our Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration? Moses, we know, died; and we remember the cause of his death there in the wilderness, and the mysterious conflict over his body between Michael the archangel and Satan. Elijah died not; he never experienced this crisis of existence, but, we are told, went up by a whirlwind into heaven. So the two great divisions of the glorified Church are fittingly represented by these two Old Testament characters, one of whom died the most arresting death there recorded, and the other died not. (Canon Body.)
Death an exodus
1. It is strange how much we can find in that great scene on the Holy Mount, to illustrate this conception, and to impress it on our minds. Look at the speakers–Moses, Elijah, Christ. Was not the death of Moses an exodus? A sacred mystery hangs over the decease of the Man of God. He who died by the kiss of the Eternal is a not infrequent synonym for Moses in the Rabbinical schools. Elijah, again, was rapt, we are told, and carried up into heaven, as by a whirling cloud of fiery chariots. If, therefore, any of the sons of men should be permitted to pass from the spiritual world to hold converse with Christ in the moment of His glory, these were the two men. They had already and fully achieved the exodus or journey of death, and had passed into the large fair land beyond. They talked with Him of the exodus He should accomplish at Jerusalem. If we love and follow Him, we need not doubt that we shall be made partakers of His death in this high sense–that for us, as for Him, death will be an exodus, a journey home.
2. The more we study this conception of death the more instructive and suggestive we shall find it to be. The illustration which the figure suggests, and was intended to suggest, is the exodus of Israel from Egypt. If we consider what that exodus was and implies, if we then proceed to infer that death will be to us very much what their exodus was to the captive Hebrew race, we shall reach some thoughts of death, and of the life that follows death, which can hardly fail to be new and helpful to us. The exodus was a transition from bondage to freedom, from grinding and unrequited toil to comparative rest, from ignorance to knowledge, from shame to honour, from a life distracted by care and pain and fear to a life in which men were fed by the immediate bounty of God, guided by His wisdom, guarded by His omnipotence, consecrated to His service. And if death be an exodus, we may say that, by the gate and avenue of death, we shall pass from bondage to freedom, &c. (S. Cox, D. D.)
The central truth of the Transfiguration
I. CHRIST GLORIFIED IN CONNECTION WITH HIS DEATH. There are two transfigurations–that of the Mount and that of the Cross; and it is impossible to understand either, save in the light of the other. He who was on the Mount was still the Man of Sorrows, and He who was on the Cross was still the Divine Son. The death on the Cross gave its glory to the mountain-scene; the declaration on the Mount makes the death all-radiant with triumph.
II. CHRIST GLORIFIED THROUGH HIS DEATH, REFLECTS BACK A RADIANCE ON MOSES AND ELIJAH.
III. AS MOSES AND ELIJAH ARE THUS GLORIFIED BY CHRIST, THEY RETIRE FROM VIEW AND GIVE PLACE TO HIM. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Celestial visitors
When we read of the reappearance of Moses and Elias after their long absence, our first feeling is that of wonder; it is to us a miracle, a strange thing, for the dead do not return. But why view it thus? The wonder is, not that Moses and Elias were seen in the holy Mount, but that the separation between us and the blessed dead should be so complete. Their long unbroken silence is the strange thing when you think of it. We long to know more of them and of the world in which they dwell. We know from this narrative–
1. That human spirits are not annihilated when they disappear from this world.
2. That human spirits have a personal existence after death.
3. We see in Moses and Elias what all faithful souls shall be, when the great redemption is completed–as like unto God as possible. (Thomas Jones.)
The thought of death amid the raptures of the Transfiguration
Jesus was lifted by His rapture above the fear of death. He spoke calmly of His decease with the messengers from the unseen world, whose very presence testified of death conquered and the grave despoiled. His acutest pain was transformed into His highest joy, as the body of His humiliation was transfigured by the glory of heaven; and at that supreme moment, when His life was at the brightest, He could have willingly lain it down, and passed into the dark shadow feared of man. This true to human experience. Jacob on seeing Joseph again–Now let me die; Simeon, with the infant Saviour in his aged arms–Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace. And outside the domain of Scripture we find numerous examples of the same strange intermingling of the highest glory of life with the thought of sorrow and death. It is indeed on mounts of transfiguration, when our nature is irradiated by some great joy, that we love to speak of our decease. We fear not to enter into the cloud of death when we are transfigured by the passionate intensity of our feelings. Our joy transforms the pain of dying into its own splendour, as the sun changes the very cloud into sunshine. All thoughtful writers have described this remarkable human experience, AEschylus, in his Agamemnon , pictures the herald returning from the Trojan War as so overjoyed at revisiting his native land that he was willing to die. Goethe represents one of his most beautiful creations–the loved and loving Clara–as wishing to die in the hour of her purest joy; for earth had nothing beyond the rapture of that experience. Shakespeare puts into the lips of Othello, at his joyful meeting with Desdemona, after the perils of his voyage to Cyprus were over, the passionate exclamation:–
If it were now to die
Twere now to be most happy: for I fear
My soul hath her content so absolute,
That not another comfort like to this
Succeeds in unknown fate.
It is said of Benjamin Franklin that his exultation was so great when he succeeded in attracting the lightning from the clouds by means of his kite, and thus proving its identity with the electricity of the earth, that he could willingly have died that very moment. Miss Martineau, in her Retrospect of Western Travel, describes the grandeur of a storm which she encountered on the Atlantic, as producing a similar triumph over the fear of death. In the excitement of such an hour, she says, one feels as if one would as soon go down in those magnificent waters as die any other death. I remember, on one occasion, having something of the same feeling. I was travelling at night in a mountain region, when a terrible storm came on. The rain poured in torrents; the thunder pealed among the rocks; flash after flash of lightning linked the hills together, as with chains of fire. A pall of blackness covered the sky from end to end. Hundreds of torrents poured down the heights into a lake, as if direct from the clouds; the sheen of their foam looked weird and ghastly in the illumination of the lightning, and their roar drowning the crash of the thunder; the sound of many waters, here, there, and everywhere, filling earth and sky. Amid all this appalling elemental war, I felt a strange excitement and uplifting of soul, which made me indifferent to danger, careless what became of me. Such moments reveal to us the greatness of our nature, and fill us with the intoxication of immortality. Death in such glorious circumstances seems an apotheosis. He comes to us as it were with the whirlwind and the chariot of fire, to lift us above the slow pain of dying, in the rapture of translation. (H. Macmillan, LL. D.)
The conference during the transfiguration
In this discourse I shall first direct your attention to the account given of the persons who conversed with our Lord, and then to the subject of their conference.
I. THE PERSONS WHO CONVERSED WITH OUR LORD WERE TWO MEN.
1. It may be thought that two angels would have rendered the scene more splendid, but there was a peculiar propriety in employing men.
2. They were men of high eminence under the former dispensation.
3. We are told that these visitants appeared in glory. They came from heaven, and though their honour and felicity there were very high, they felt no reluctance to descend to this mountain. They were not called to relinquish their splendour or to cover it with a veil, as our Lord is said to have emptied Himself, when he appeared in our world. The glory which invested them must have been very great, since it was visible amidst the brightness spread around our Lord.
4. They talked with Jesus. It is not said that they talked with one another. They descended, not to hold intercourse with the disciples, but with their Master.
II. Let us now attend to THE SUBJECT OF THEIR CONFERENCE. It was the decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem.
1. They spake of the moral glory which Jesus should exhibit in His departure. Great was the glory of Moses in the going forth from Egypt.
2. They spoke of the important ends to be gained by His death. It reconciles the mind to labours and sufferings, when we are assured that valuable ends will be gained by them. Let me specify some of these ends. They talked of the glory which would result from His death to all the Divine perfections. The expiation to be made for sin was another end. I must mention further, the salvation to be gained by His death for millions of human beings.
3. We may consider them as speaking of the influence of His death.
4. They spoke of the rewards which would be conferred on Him for His obedience to the death.
Let me now state shortly, some of the reasons why this theme was chosen for conference on the Mount.
1. It was done to animate and invigorate the Son of Man for the scene before Him.
2. We may find another reason for the choice of the topic in its peculiar importance.
3. They talked of this subject for the sake of the disciples.
4. They did it for the benefit of the Church in all ages.
1. Let Christians live more under the influence of this death than ever.
2. Let good men prepare for their departure.
3. Let me call on the disciples of Jesus, with kindred feelings to those of Moses and Elias, to commemorate their Saviours decease. And let those who never approach the Lords table consider that, were their conduct general, the death of Christ might sink into oblivion on earth. (H. Belfrage.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
32. and when they were awakeso,certainly, the most commentators: but if we translate literally, itshould be “but having kept awake” [MEYER,ALFORD]. Perhaps “havingroused themselves up” [OLSHAUSEN]may come near enough to the literal sense; but from the word used wecan gather no more than that they shook off their drowsiness.It was night, and the Lord seems to have spent the whole night on themountain (Lu 9:37).
saw his glory, &c.Theemphasis lies on “saw,” qualifying them to become”eye-witnesses of His majesty” (2Pe1:16).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But Peter, and they that were with him,…. The other two disciples, James and John;
were heavy with sleep; as they afterwards were in the garden, while Christ was praying, as he had been now; being weary with the labours of the day past, and it being now night, as is very probable, since that was an usual time Christ spent in prayer:
and when they were awake, The Syriac version reads, “scarcely awake”; they were so heavy with sleep, that it was with difficulty they were awaked out of it, even by the rays of light and glory that were about them. The Ethiopic version adds, “suddenly”; such a lustre darted from these glorious forms, especially from the body of Christ, as at once surprised them out of their sleep; and being thoroughly awake,
they saw his glory; the brightness of his countenance, and the whiteness of his raiment: and the two men that stood with him: Moses and Elias, and the glory in which they appeared.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Were heavy with sleep ( ). Periphrastic past perfect of , a late form for the ancient (not in N.T. save Textus Receptus in Lu 21:34). This form, rare and only in passive (present, aorist, perfect) in the N.T., is like , from , and that from , weight, burden (Ga 6:2). H is in the instrumental case. They had apparently climbed the mountain in the early part of the night and were now overcome with sleep as Jesus prolonged his prayer. Luke alone tells of their sleep. The same word is used of the eyes of these three disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mt 26:43) and of the hearts of many (Lu 21:34).
But when they were fully awake ( ). First aorist active participle of this late (Herodian) and rare compound verb (here alone in the N.T.), (Luke is fond of compounds with ). The simple verb (from the second perfect active ) is also late, but common in the LXX and the N.T. The effect of can be either to remain awake in spite of desire to sleep (margin of Revised Version) or to become thoroughly awake (ingressive aorist tense also) as Revised Version has it. This is most likely correct. The Syriac Sinaitic has it “When they awoke.” Certainly they had been through a strain.
His glory ( ). See also verse 26 in the words of Jesus.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Heavy [] . The perfect participle. Lit., burdened or oppressed. “It was but natural for these men of simple habits, at night, and after the long ascent, and in the strong mountain air, to be heavy with sleep; and we also know it as a psychological fact, that, in quick reaction, after the overpowering influence of the strongest emotions, drowsiness would creep over their limbs and senses” (Edersheim).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But Peter and they that were with him,” (ho de Petros kai hoi sun auto) “Then Peter and those in colleague with him,” James and John, Luk 9:28.
2) “Were heavy with sleep,” (esan bebaremenoi hupno) “Were burdened with sleep,” Luk 22:45, or a physical and emotional need for sleep, as they also were later in Gethsemane on another occasion, Luk 22:44-45; Or the idea may be that they struggled to avoid failing asleep.
3) “And when they were awake, they saw his glory,” (diagregoresantes de eidan ten doksan autou) “Then when they were thoroughly awake they perceived his glory,” the glory of Jesus. It appears that this transfiguration happened at night, since Luk 9:37 states “and the next day when they were come down from the hill,” etc.; described by Peter, 2Pe 1:16.
4) “And the two men that stood with him,” (kai tous duo andras tous sunestotas auto) “And the glory of the two men who were standing in colleague with him,” Moses and Elias, Luk 9:30.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(32) But Peter . . . and when they were awake.The relations of the two clauses would be better expressed by, And Peter . . . but awaked . . .
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake (or ‘having remained awake’), they saw his glory, and the two men who stood with him.’
But meanwhile Peter and the others were heavy with sleep, as they would also be in Gethsemane (Luk 22:45-46; Mar 14:37; Mar 14:40-41), a deliberate pointer to their weakness as mere men in the face of the revelation of the divine. They were learning their insufficiency in the things of God. But at what was happening they were awakened, and once they were fully awake they saw the glory of Jesus and the two who stood with Him. Their eyes were opened to see His glory (2Co 4:4-6).
Or the verb may signify that somehow they managed to stay awake, which is the usual meaning of the verb. The idea is probably that, while they saw all, their senses were dulled. It is possibly an attempt to explain Peter’s rather foolish statement.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 9:32-33. And when they were awake Probably the streams of light which issued from Christ’s body, especially his countenance, and penetrated through the gloom of night, together with the voices of Moses and Elias, made such an impression on their senses, as to raise them from their slumber. The apostles, both before and after the transfiguration, were with their Master in many delightful spots of the country, heard many most blessed sermons, and saw many wonderful works; yet in no place, and on no occasion, but this, were they ever heard to say, It is good for us to be here. Peter fancied, no doubt, that Jesus had now assumed his proper dignity; that Elias was come, according to Malachi’s prediction; and that the kingdom was at length begun: wherefore, in the first hurry of his thoughts, he proposed to provide some accommodation for Jesus and his august assistants, intending perhaps to bring the rest of the disciples, with the multitude, from the plain before them, to behold his matchless glory. He thought this was better for his Master than to be killed at Jerusalem; concerning which he had not only conversed with his disciples, (see Luk 9:22.) but also with the messengers from heaven; and the design of which Peter could not comprehend. Though St. Peter’s proposal was, as St. Mark observes, Mar 9:6 improper enough; yet, perhaps, few in such astonishing circumstances could have been perfectly masters of themselves. The tents which he proposed to build, must have been only slight bowers, like those made use of at the feast of tabernacle
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
32. ] ., not ‘ when they were awake ,’ as E. V. but having kept awake through the whole. The word occurs in this sense in Herodian iii. 4, . It seems to be expressly used here to shew that it was not merely a vision , seen in sleep.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 9:32 . . : this particular, in Lk. only, implies that it was a night scene; so also the expression , Luk 9:37 . The celestial visitants are supposed to arrive while the disciples are asleep. They fell asleep while their Master prayed, as at Gethsemane. , having thoroughly wakened up, so as to be able to see distinctly what passed (here only in N.T.).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
with. Greek sun. App-104. Not the same word as in Luk 9:41.
heavy = oppressed.
when they were awake = on fully waking up. Greek diagregoreo. Occurs only here.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
32.] ., not when they were awake, as E. V.-but having kept awake through the whole. The word occurs in this sense in Herodian iii. 4, . It seems to be expressly used here to shew that it was not merely a vision, seen in sleep.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 9:32. , with him) By this formula Peter is given the precedency over James and John.-, with sleep) Comp. Gen 2:21. [By the mediation of that sleep an oblivion of all earthly thoughts and images whatever took possession of them.-V. g.]-) when they had recovered themselves from sleep. [By the sleep they were now become more alert.-V. g.] It is probable that it was night: Luk 9:37 [the next day] seems to imply this.- , they saw His glory) Peter, who was present at the scene, has described it in the same words, 2Pe 1:16-17 : so also Joh 1:14.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
were heavy: Luk 22:45, Luk 22:46, Dan 8:18, Dan 10:9, Mat 26:40-43
they saw: Exo 33:18-23, Isa 60:1-3, Isa 60:19, Joh 1:14, Joh 17:24, 2Pe 1:16, 1Jo 3:2, Rev 22:4, Rev 22:5
Reciprocal: Son 5:2 – sleep Zec 4:1 – waked Mat 26:43 – for Mar 14:37 – and findeth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE MOUNT AND THE PLAIN
But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw His glory, and the two men that stood with Him.
Luk 9:32
A glorious scene lost because they were heavy with sleep. The same men lost, not long after, in the Garden, an opportunity of comforting their Master which could never return, because they were heavy with sleep. And here the sights and sounds of glory were missed because they were heavy with sleep. And many a similar loss has been yours and mine because we have been heavy with sleep. Your morning watch, that quiet hour when you might have had your Lord all to yourself undisturbed by domestic or outside soundbut you were heavy with sleep. Add up the amount of time in which you have missed seeing your Master on the mountain of prayer because you were heavy with sleep, and see what a total it makes. And then, of course, if you were heavy with sleep when you ought to have been at prayer you will just have made all the mistakes that Peter made. If you do not know the happy power of rising early in the morning for prayer, what befell him will befall you.
I. On the mount.Listen to him: Master, it is good for us to be here. Of course it is. This is vastly better and easier than the life of struggle and calumny and hardship we have hitherto had. Let us make three tabernacles, etc. Yes, Christian, if you have lost your time for prayer because you were heavy with sleep, you will, like Peter, not feel the needs of the plain below. The other nine are down there, and they are Christians without power; and there, too, are the broken-hearted parents, and the devil-maddened child uncured, and the crowd who scoff at the impotence of your Masters disciples. It is in prayer that you and I, as Peter did, see our visions. We live, thank God, in a time when the Mount of Transfiguration is found in many a hallowed gathering of Gods intimate ones. We know now that a deeper life and a higher life are possible to the believer than he used to think possible. We are learning that victory, not failure, is the thing which God gives us through Jesus Christ our Lord.
II. In the plain.This transfiguration mount is the place where the Lord wants you to hear the voice, and learn the lesson, and see the glory which will brace and equip you for the life of the plain. You want to do something heroic. He wants you to take down this transfiguration power and use it below. It is for the home, the workshop, the office, the drawing-room, the unsympathetic sisters, the jesting brothers, the worldly associates who knew you before you learned the way up the mountit is here the Lord wants you to be. No, you must not make three tabernacles up there. You must come down from the mountain. Every one wants to be doing something heroic nowadays. We are beginning to think life quite a commonplace thing if we do not look for the North Pole or explore a new glacier. But what is really needed is that you and I should come down with our transfigured faces into the trivial round and the common task of every-day life. Be often on the mount, but do not let it make you discontented with the life of the plain.
Rev. R. C. Joynt.
Illustration
It is clear, from the narrative of Luke, that the three Apostles did not witness the beginning of this marvellous transfiguration. An Oriental, when his prayers are over, wraps himself in his abba, and, lying down on the grass in the open air, sinks in a moment into profound sleep. And the Apostles, as afterwards they slept at Gethsemane, so now they slept on Hermon. They were weighed down with sleep, when suddenly starting into full wakefulness of spirit, they saw and heard. In the darkness of the night, shedding an intense gleam over the mountain herbage, shone the glorified form of their Lord.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
What Kind of a Christian Am I?
Luk 9:32-54
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
In the ninth chapter of Luke, we have at least nine marks of carnality displayed by the disciples. We will introduce the study by noting two of these, leaving seven to be brought out later.
As these nine marks of carnality are brought out, let each one endeavor to answer the question which we have used as the subject of this study. The objective is to discover not what the disciples did, so much as to discover what we are doing.
The Christians of today, after two thousand years of observation and spiritual guidance should be far more spiritual than were the rugged men of the first century who left their all to follow Christ.
The ninth chapter of Luke describes how Jesus Christ with His twelve Apostles went aside privately into a desert place. As soon as the people knew where He had gone, they followed Him. He cordially received them, and began to speak unto them the things of the Kingdom of God. It was not long until the day wore away and night came on. “And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto Him, Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place” (Luk 9:12).
1. The first mark of carnality which we see, is the effort on the part of the disciples to give direction to their Lord. They told Jesus what they thought He should do. How often is this true today? The “Tator” family are still members of the church. Miss Agi-Tator is always present in church assemblies. Miss Agi is always stirring up a fuss. She is a veritable cyclone of disturbance. No matter how calm the water, she can raise a storm from most unexpected sources.
Mr. Dick-Tator is also an always present member. He does not hesitate to tell everybody else what they should do. He is a self-appointed lord and master of assemblies. He gives his advice upon every occasion. He always knows the way in and the way out.
The trouble with Mr. Dick-Tator is that he is quite as ready to dictate to his Lord, as he is to his brethren. He knows just how God should run His affairs, and he is very quick to tell Him so.
The disciple who voiced the thought of the twelve and told Christ to send the multitude away, failed utterly to grasp the Lord’s purposes and plans. He and the other disciples were shortsighted, on the one hand, and doubtful of Christ’s ability to meet the issue, on the other hand.
2. The second mark of carnality was the disciples’ unbelief as to how Christ could feed the multitude. “But He said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people” (Luk 9:13).
Five thousand men presented a tremendous problem to the disciples who knew nothing of more than five loaves, and two fishes. What were they among so many. In their eyes, even God could not feed so great a crowd with so little.
How often there are those who circumscribe and limit the Almighty. Is anything too hard for Him? Is there any exigency which He cannot meet? The Apostles did not say, “What are five loaves and two fishes, except God undertake.” They said, What are “five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat.”
They knew of no way to meet the situation except by their own strength. Alas, that is the difficulty in church life today. We think everything will fall to pieces except we do this, or we do that. Instead of counting God in, we count Him out. We lean upon the arm of flesh, instead of the arm Divine. We all know the story of how Christ met the exigency of that hour, and of how the multitude were fed and of how twelve baskets full were left over.
I. HEAVY WITH SLEEP (Luk 9:32)
1. The supremacy of the physical over the spiritual. The carnal Christian still sleeps when he should be watching. He is weak through the flesh. He has the will, but he knows not how to accomplish. Like Paul he cries out, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
Are there not many Christians who are heavy with sleep? From the pulpit we have, ourself, observed many doing their best to keep their eyes open, as they tried to listen to the message. In spite of themselves, however, their heads would drop over, as their eyes closed. They were dead to everything we were saying.
2. The extent of their spiritual loss. That day upon the mountain top was the Utopia of the three disciples’ experiences, thus far, with Christ. Nothing so full of glory and of meaningful vision had ever happened to them. In spite of their peculiar privileges and opportunities, they were heavy with sleep.
No verse of Scripture seems to us to have a sadder tinge than one which reads: “But Thomas, * * was not with them.” The Lord appeared in His resurrection power and might disclosing Himself unto His disciples as the resurrection and the life. The Lord appeared unto them as the fulfillment of all which had been written of Him. The Lord appeared unto them as the dispeller of all their fears and doubts, but Thomas was not there.
Thus, on this occasion, it was too bad that the three disciples were so heavy with sleep that they could not catch the fashion of His countenance when it was altered; and that they could not see the glory of His raiment which was white and glistening. It was too bad that they were so heavy with sleep and that they could not hear the conversation which took place between Christ and Moses and Elias as they talked of His decease.
3. When they were awake. It was not when they slept, but when they came out of sleep that they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.
It is only when we come out of our sleep; when the spiritual is supreme over the carnal, that we will catch the visions of glory. Then, with unclouded vision we will see Him and be conformed to His glory.
II. A QUEST FOR THREE TABERNACLES (Luk 9:33)
Our verse says “And it came to pass, as they departed from Him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: let us make three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.”
1. Peter’s desire was to immortalize the Transfiguration scene. He had a little, perhaps, of that spirit which prompted Job when he said: “Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever!” Job wanted to emblazon the confession of his faith in the sight of all men. Peter wanted to emblazon the wonders of the transfiguration in the sight of all men.
2. Peter’s mistake was his desire to equalize the glory of the three characters-Christ, Moses, and Elias. This is no small matter. We wonder if this same thing is not manifest in our day in an ever enlarged measure.
There are some who would give honor to Jesus, but, at the same time, they would honor Buddha or Confucius with similar monumental words. To them, Christ was a mighty Man, but no more than a man. They would, with one breath, call Him Divine, and with another breath, they would seek to deify other men. The spirit of the age is even going beyond the mistake of Peter. The spirit of the age even dares to humanize Christ, while deifying man. There are many who would not only rob Christ of His glory by placing Him in the back line of human achievement, but they would glory in men beyond any glory they give to Christ.
3. The Divine rebuke. Peter had scarcely finished his words, until down through the blue came the voice of God saying, “This is My beloved Son: hear Him.” God will not for one moment allow anyone to debase His Son, or to lift up any man to the exalted position of His Son. Concerning the angels, God said: “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” Concerning Moses, God said: “[Christ] was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he which buildeth the house hath more honour than the house.” “Unto the Son [God] saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.”
III. A FEAR OF THE GLORY (Luk 9:34)
Our verse says: “While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them and they feared as they entered into the cloud.”
1. Fear is a mark of carnality. Where there is perfect love and undaunted faith, there is no fear. May we ask, therefore, who is it who is afraid of God. To this question we answer:
(1) The one who disobeys God is afraid of Him. As soon as Adam had sinned he hid himself in the trees of the Garden. As soon as Achan had sinned, he thought to hide himself by hiding his sin. When Saul had sinned he thought to cover his sin, under the pretense of Divine service. Sin always separates from God and fills the heart with fear.
(2) The one who fails to understand God is afraid of Him. The three disciples had been with the Lord during many days of travel. They had heard Him preach, had seen Him work miracles, and had watched Him pray. The full sweep, however, of His might and glory had never broken upon them. They had acclaimed Him God, and yet, somehow, they had never recognized the glory of His Godhead. Now, as they entered into the cloud, they were afraid.
2. Will saints fear as they enter His glory at the Coming of the Lord? We are all ready to grant that there are many today who are afraid to get too close in at a real, spiritual, Holy Ghost revival. They like to know Christ at a distance, but they do not like to know Him in the intimacy of His exalted Person.
What will such saints do when the Lord descends from Heaven with a shout and with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God? What will they do when He comes in the glory of His Father, with the Holy angels? What will they do when He comes with clouds, and they enter into the cloud? The Epistle of John tells us of certain ones who will draw back from Him at His Coming.
IV. THEY COULD NOT CAST HIM OUT (Luk 9:40)
Following the glories of the transfiguration the disciples came down from the hill, and much people were there.
1. We should leave the glory of His presence on the mountain top to serve in the valley below. If God has given us revelations of Himself and visions of His glory we should not hold them with the spirit of a miser. We should tell them abroad. What He tells us in secret, we should herald on the mountain tops. What He tells us on the mountain top, we should herald in the dale. We get, in order to give. We receive that we may impart.
2. Valley scenes. Down in the valley there was a man with a demoniac son. Oh, that we knew by personal contact more of the sobs and the cries of the underworld. Many of us live in an atmosphere of spiritual vision while we utterly fail to touch the demonized, devil-driven multitudes which flock in the lower atmosphere of sinful life. To be sure, we should never leave the glory behind, but we should take the glory down to the sobbing crowds. Our Lord did this. He came forth from Heaven to sit with sinners and to eat with them. He did not enter into their sins, but He brought His light to shine away their darkness.
3. The disciples’ failure. As soon as they came down from the mountain, a man said unto Jesus: “I besought Thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not.” With what sorrow did Christ address the nine disciples who had been left while He took Peter, James, and John into the mount. In addressing them, He also addressed the religious leaders of their day, and said: “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you?”
Beloved, are we less helpless than they? Do we rise in a chariot of victory, or do we walk in the maze of defeat? Is it not written of us, as well as of them, “They could not”? How sadly do we misrepresent the power and the glory of our Lord. The world brings to us her unclean and Satan-driven sons, and we stand helpless to deliver them. Would that the Church might once more receive a baptism of fire. Would that once more the Spirit would find believing hearts who would undertake for God.
V. HUMAN REASONINGS (Luk 9:45-46)
1. They understood not. Nothing could have been plainer. Christ said: “Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of Man shall be delivered into the hands of men.” The fact that the Words of the Lord Jesus were simple and plain did not in the least affect them, for we read, “They understood not this saying.”
The natural man cannot understand the things of God for they are spiritually discerned. On another occasion, Christ plainly said that He would rise again on the third day. Yet, not one of them understood it, and not one of them was either expecting or awaiting His resurrection. Until this day the eyes of men are blinded lest the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ should shine in upon them and convert them. Christ plainly said: “I will come again”; yet, the majority of Christians know but little of His Coming.
2. They were afraid to ask Him. Perhaps they did not want the light of His coming decease to break upon them. Had Peter, James and John stayed awake they would, at least, have heard Christ speaking with Moses and Elias about His decease. Now they did not understand and they feared to ask. Their fear, perhaps, was augmented by a dread lest He should again say such words as, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?”
3. They reasoned among themselves. Instead of inquiring into the depths of Christ’s death, they began to argue about the honor which would be accorded them in His Kingdom. Each one seemed to want the chief place. The Lord kindly rebuked them by taking a child and setting him near by, while He said: “Whosoever shall receive this child in My Name receiveth Me,” then He added, “He that is least among you all, the same shall be great.”
How carnal it is to be seeking our own glory and particularly a greater glory than that accorded our brethren.
VI. USURPING AUTHORITY (Luk 9:49-50)
1. The spirit of self-exaltation. John said: “Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy Name; and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us.”
This spirit of centering authority in one’s own group and of condemning those who serve outside our own circle is very prominent in this hour. Denominations foster this kind of a spirit. The Word says: we should have the same care one for another.
Are we ready to back a revival held by some one outside of our particular following? Do we rejoice in their successes, and their victories, as much as we rejoice in our own?
John must have thought that anyone who would not follow under their leadership could not serve the Lord. He wanted to stop the activities of all who did not walk under his banner. Would that we might forever cease from that spirit which says: “I am of Paul,” or, “I am of Apollos,” or, I am of “Cephas.” Why not be all of us of Christ?
2. The Master’s rebuke. The Lord Jesus said unto John: “Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.” The Lord must have spoken prophetically. He certainly looked down into our own day, knowing that we, as well as John, would walk after the flesh and in carnality. We take it therefore that His Words are applicable to us as well as to John. He who says: “God bless me, and my wife; my son John, and his wife; us four, and no more” is certainly not walking after the Spirit.
Let us remember that one is our Master, even Christ, and all we be brethren. The foot has no right to say to the hand, because it is not the foot, therefore it is not of the body. Our earnest prayer is the prayer of our Lord, “That they all may be one.”
VII. ASSUMING JUDGESHIP (Luk 9:52; Luk 9:54)
1. Those who repulse the Saviour. The disciples had gone ahead of Christ to make ready for Him. They entered into a village of the Samaritans, but the Samaritans would not receive Him. We would not condone at all the action on the part of the Samaritans. They were, no doubt, to be blamed.
2. James and John requested the privilege of bringing fire down from Heaven to consume the recalcitrant Samaritans.
(1) They must have experienced a bitter resentment. This was entirely foreign to the Spirit of their Lord. He taught us to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, and despitefully use us. Carnality, however, knows nothing of spiritual life. It knows nothing of turning the other cheek to the smiter. It has never been able to heap coals of fire by deeds of kindness upon the heads of its enemies.
(2) They overstated the matter of the fire. James and John said: “Wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from Heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?” The fact is that Elias did not do any such a thing. He brought the fire from Heaven down to consume the sacrifice, but not the men.
In any event all judgment is given over unto the Son, and we are not to avenge ourselves, but rather to give place to wrath. Who made us the judge? Our Lord told us plainly: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”
3. The Lord’s rebuke. Unto the disciples Christ said, as He turned toward them: “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”
How sad it was that throughout the whole three and a half years in which the disciples were constant companions of the Lord Jesus that it was necessary so frequently for Him to rebuke them. It is no better today. We too are filled with mistakes and we know not what manner of men we are. Let us therefore think soberly lest we speak in our own conceits.
AN ILLUSTRATION
Benjamin Franklin discovered that plaster sown in a field made things grow. Early in the spring he traced letters on his ground and put plaster into them. When the seed sprang up his neighbors saw that where the letters were sown there was a deeper green than in the rest of the field. The letters read: “This has been plastered.” Franklin did not need to argue with his neighbors about the benefit of plaster for fields. For as the season went on and the grain grew, those bright green letters rose above all the rest until they were a kind of relief plate in the field: “This has been plastered.”
I think that Jesus wants to write on our hearts the words: “These people are Christians.” A good many people profess to believe that there is no virtue in the teachings of Christ, but if they see that we are patient and gentle and unselfish, kind and thoughtful and pure, that we never speak words of untruth or ungraciousness, that we do not live to please ourselves chiefly they will notice the great difference between the rest of the human field and our lives, and they will say: “These people are truly Christians.” They will never find any argument against Christianity when it is shown in our lives, you may be sure.
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
2
Peter and his group were under an oppressed feeling during the conversation between Jesus and his distinguished visitors. But upon being aroused they saw the trio of glorified beings.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Luk 9:32. Heavy with sleep. It was probably at night, and their drowsiness was natural: but they did not go to sleep, for the next phrase means, yet having remained awake, sleeplessly watching. It was not a vision of half sleeping men.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
This information is also unique to the third Gospel. Evidently the three disciples had been sleeping or had almost fallen asleep while Jesus was praying (Luk 9:29; cf. Luk 22:45). Thus they were not ready spiritually for what they experienced. If Jesus found it necessary to pray then, they should have followed His example. Their improper response comes out in the next verse. They apparently did not understand the significance of the discussion about Jesus’ exodus. The vision before them, however, awakened them fully.