Luke 9 Footnotes

9:28-36 The historicity of the transfiguration is doubted by some because of its supernatural elements. It is often thought to be a postresurrection story read back into the life of Jesus. But the story bears no real resemblance to other resurrection appearances (Moses, Elijah, and the glory of Jesus do not appear in any resurrection story). And reference to it in 2Pt 1:16-18 indicates that the transfiguration was always seen as occurring before Jesus’s passion and not after.

9:60-61 The burial of the dead, especially of one’s close kin, was a sacred duty in first-century Judaism; it took precedence over virtually all other religious obligations. Jesus’s response was intended to shock his audience. He was pressing the radical claims of the kingdom above even the most fundamental obligations of kinship. In effect he was saying response to God’s call is the most fundamental obligation of all (v. 23; 8:21; 14:26). Those unresponsive to the call (“the dead”) may bury the dead. That the NT does not advocate the renunciation of all family ties by Christians is made clear by such passages as 1Co 7:12-13, 1Tm 5:8, and 1Pt 3:1-2. Jesus’s point was about people’s priorities. He didn’t set aside the commandment to honor father and mother (Mk 7:7-13).