Luke 9:18

Following Christ

18 Once when Jesus was praying by himself, the disciples joined him, and he asked them, " Who do the crowds say that I am?"

Luke 9:18 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 9:18

And it came to pass, as he was alone praying
To his God and Father, for himself as man, and mediator; for the success of his Gospel, and the increase of his interest; and for his disciples, that they might have a clearer revelation of him; and which they had, as appears in their after confession of him by Peter, as the mouth of them all. The place where he now retired for private devotion, was somewhere in the coasts of Caesarea Philippi; for he was now gone from the desert of Bethsaida, as appears from ( Matthew 16:13 ) and when he is said to be alone, the meaning is, that he was retired from the multitude, but not from his disciples; for it follows,

his disciples were with him,
in this solitary place:

and he asked them,
being with them alone;

saying, Whom say the people that I am?
what are the sentiments of the common people, or of the people in general concerning me? The Alexandrian copy, and the Arabic version read, "men", as in ( Matthew 16:13 ) . (See Gill on Matthew 16:13).

Luke 9:18 In-Context

16 He took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them, and broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

17 Everyone ate until they were full, and the disciples filled twelve baskets with the leftovers.

18 Once when Jesus was praying by himself, the disciples joined him, and he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"

19 They answered, "John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others that one of the ancient prophets has come back to life."

20 He asked them, "And what about you? Who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ sent from God."