Chapter 9:1-13 The Transfiguration

9:1 And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power - When Jesus was declared both Lord and Christ, by the wonderful effusion of the Holy Spirit; the Gospel spread in the world both among Jews and Gentiles, in spite of all opposition, under the power and influence of the grace of God, to the conversion of thousands of souls; and that branch of Christ's regal power exerted in the destruction of the Jewish nation.

9:2 And after six days Jesus taketh with Him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and He was transfigured before them.

By themselves - That is, separate from the multitude.

9:3 And His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.

White as snow, such as no fuller can whiten - Such as could not be equalled either by nature or art.

9:4 And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.

And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses - Or Moses and Elijah.

9:5 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias - Luke adds, "not knowing what he said";.....he spoke as a mistaken man, being ignorant of the design of this appearance; which was, not that this glory should continue, only that should be an emblem and pledge of what was future; and besides, he was wrong in putting these two men upon an equal foot with Christ.

9:6 For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.

For he wist not what to say - He did not know what he should say, or what was proper to be said by him, at such a time, in such circumstances.

9:7 And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son: hear Him.

There was a cloud that overshadowed them, and was a shelter to them. And a voice came out the cloud, saying, this is My beloved Son, hear Him. - This was the voice of God the Father, bearing a testimony to the sonship of Christ.

9:8 And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.

The vision, being designed only to introduce the voice, when that was delivered, disappeared; Suddenly when they had looked round about, as men amazed to see where they were, all was gone, they saw no man any more. Elias and Moses were vanished out of sight, and Jesus only remained with them, and He not transfigured, but as He used to be.

9:9 And as they came down from the mountain, He charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.

He charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen; on the mount, as the transfiguration of Himself, the persons of Moses and Elias, and the bright cloud from whence the voice came, which bore testimony of Christ's sonship: He ordered to keep the whole of this a secret from every man, even from their fellow disciples till the Son of man were risen from the dead.

9:10 And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.

questioning with one other what the rising from the dead should mean - they inquired, disputed, and reasoned with one another, what should be the meaning of such an expression: not that they were ignorant of the general resurrection of the dead; for this was the hope of Israel, and the general sense of the Jewish nation: but they did not know what he meant by His particular rising from the dead: whether He meant it in a literal sense, which supposed His death; and that though He had lately told them of, they knew not how to reconcile to the notions they had of a long and flourishing temporal kingdom of the Messiah.

9:11 And they asked Him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come?

And they asked Him, saying - Being put in mind of it, by seeing Elias on the mount, or else by what Christ had said concerning His resurrection, or both: why say the Scribes, the Vulgate Latin adds, "and Pharisees", that Elias must first come? before the Messiah comes;

9:12 And He answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that He must suffer many things, and be set at nought.

and how it is written of the son of man, that He must suffer many things, and be set at nought -  The sense of Christ is, that John the Baptist, whom he means by Elias, comes first, and restores all things: and among the rest of the things he sets right, this is one, and not of the least; namely, that He gives the true sense of such passages of the sacred writings, which related to the contemptuous usage, rejection, and sufferings of the Messiah; as that in these He was the Lamb of God typified in the sacrifices of the law, who by His sufferings and death takes away the sin of the world; and therefore He exhorted and directed those to whom He ministered, to look unto Him, and believe in Him.

9:13 But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.

But I say unto you, that Elias is indeed come - Meaning John the Baptist.

Chapter 8:27-38 Peter's Confession of Christ

8:27 And Jesus went out, and His disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way He asked His disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am?

It was Christ’s usual way, when He took a walk with His disciples, to beguile the time with holy conversation. It would be well if we always did the same. saying unto them; whom do men say that I am? - not that He needed any information of this; but He put this question, in order to bring out their sense of, and faith in Him.

8:28 And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.

John the Baptist; which was the opinion of Herod, and others:
but some say Elias; whom the Jews in general expected in person before the coming of the Messiah and imagined that Jesus was he: and others one of the prophets; as Jeremiah or Isaiah or some other.

8:29 And He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto Him, Thou art the Christ.

That is the main point. It matters little to you what other men say about me;-whether they are right, or wrong, may not concern you; but what is your own opinion? What do you know about me? ‘Whom say ye that I am?

8:30 And He charged them that they should tell no man of Him.

*He enjoined them silence for the present, That He might not encourage the people to set Him up for a temporal king; 

*That He might not provoke the scribes and Pharisees to destroy Him before the time.

8:31 And He began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

He said it freely and plainly, and did not wrap it up in ambiguous expressions.

8:32 And He spake that saying openly. And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him.

Peter opposed it; He took Him, and began to rebuke Him - Here Peter showed more love than discretion, a zeal for Christ and His safety, but not according to knowledge. 

8:33 But when He had turned about and looked on His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind Me, Satan: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

He turned about, as one offended, and looked on His disciples, to see if the rest of them were of the same mind, and concurred with Peter in this, that, if they did, they might take the reproof to themselves, which He was now about to give to Peter; and He said, Get thee behind Me, Satan. Peter little thought to have had such a sharp rebuke for such a kind dissuasive, but perhaps expected as much commendation now for his love as he had lately for his faith.

Peter spoke as one that did not rightly understand, 

nor had duly considered, the purposes and counsels of God.

8:34 And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

And when He called the people - To hear a truth of the last importance, and one that equally concerned them all. Let him deny himself - His own will, in all things small and great, however pleasing, and that continually: And take up his cross - Embrace the will of God, however painful, daily, hourly, continually.

8:35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

For whosoever will save his life - Life is a valuable thing, and all that a man has he will give for it; self preservation is a principle in nature; but whoever is willing to save it, when it is called for to be laid down for Christ's sake; and rather than lay it down, will deny Christ, and give up a profession of Him, and His Gospel,
shall lose it: but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel's; that is, shall willingly part with it when He is called to it, rather than deny Christ and His Gospel, the same shall save it: 

8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

For what shall it profit a man, if he should gain the whole world, and all the wealth, honor, and pleasure, in it, by denying Christ, and lose his own soul? True it is that life is sweet, and death is bitter, but eternal death is more bitter, and eternal life is more sweet.

8:37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? - To deliver it out of its miserable state and condition; all the riches of the world, and the whole world itself, are not an equivalent to it, or a sufficient ransom for it.

8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.

Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words - That is, avowing whatever I have said both by word and action. of him also shall the son of man be ashamed - will not own such an one.