It must be obvious, for those who've read my recent studies, that I've wandered somewhat afield of the topic of parables. Indeed, that was my original point of embarkation, but I feel we must maintain our focus wherever we turn our attention, for definition is essential to any scripture that is normally raced past without due contemplation.
And so, I continue, arriving now at the ninth chapter of Luke. If a man recites the numbers one through three and having just finished the first number of the three, we may not apply the word 'then' to his recitation of the last numeral. If we say, “He said one, then he said . . .”, we must apply the word then to the next numeral in line.
'Then' is defined thus: next in order of time; next in order of place. Chapter nine of Luke begins with the word 'then'. We must stop long enough to ask ourselves what this beginning follows. Jesus had just returned from the Decapolis to find the crowd patiently awaiting his return. This should indicate to us that Jesus sailed back to the place from which he had departed – the place where he healed the woman with the issue of blood and raised the only daughter Jairus.
From the city of Nain in the lower Galilee, Jesus had set about to go, as it says in Luke 8:1, “throughout every city and village.” His journey took him from the lower Galilee to a place on the coast of the lake from which he could sail across to the Decapolis and then back again. Most have Jesus sailing north to south and back again. I rather think the narrative keeps him in the lower Galilee. My own thought is that Jesus sailed across from Tiberius, or that general area, and back again.
We come to the word 'then' at the beginning of chapter nine. What better place to bring up Herod than in his own capitol city. It seems altogether reasonable that if Jesus and his disciples were in Tiberius, and people were being healed, word would get around quickly. Luke 9:9 seems very much like a clue, “And Herod said, John I have beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him.” Tiberius was closer to John's stomping grounds along the Jordan than was Capernaum.
It is in this ninth chapter that we find Jesus sending out the twelve to preach and heal in the surrounding cities and towns. One thing we do not often stop to think is this: those twelve disciples were out there doing the same sort of things as Jesus had been doing. They were healing people – performing miracles. And they must have done well for when they returned, in verse 10, they were pleased enough with their first solo flight to tell their Master “all that they had done.”
Very little information is given to the seeker. We are told nothing of where the disciples went or what they did. We can infer from their manner of return that Jesus did not go with them. But, how long were they gone, and what did Jesus do in their absence? If, as I am inclined to think, Jesus was still in the lower Galilee, then he was just a hop, skip and a jump away from Magdala, the home of Mary – which was not that far from the town of Cana, where Jesus attended a certain wedding.
He was not that far from where his family lived. He could have visited home for awhile. So little information – so much imagination. It was alluded to that Herod wanted to meet him. What if he did? Herod certainly had the pull to have a man brought to his palace. Herod had listened to John. Perhaps he wanted to hear what Jesus had to say. Or, perhaps Herod perceived a threat. A conversation between the two would have developed the opinions of each for the other. We find that later, in chapter 13 of Luke, Jesus has, in fact, quite a negative opinion of Herod, calling him a 'fox'.
Fox, as an expression, implies wiliness, trickery, and deceit. These are traits one might determine of another through conversation and interaction. Consider the exchange found in Luke 13:31-32. “Certain” of the Pharisees came to warn Jesus that Herod was plotting to kill him. That was nice of them, but it also brings up the question of Jesus' relationship to the order of the Pharisees. Jesus told them to go back to the Tetrarch and tell him that on the third day he would be “perfected”. One has to stop and wonder what Jesus intended to convey with that word – and why. Herod was Jewish, therefore moved by Jewish custom and religious thought. Although Herod had John killed, we perceive from scripture that Herod, reluctant to execute the prophet, respected and feared the man.
For a Jewish leader, alone between Rome and his own people, yet still connected to his Jewish heritage and culture, what pertinence might the concept of a prophet being 'perfected', or reaching his goal, have. How might have Herod learned of Jesus' goal but through conversation? It is said that when Jesus was sent to Herod by Pilate, Herod desired to see a miracle. Had Herod tried to get a miracle out Jesus way back in chapter nine – perhaps by craft or trickery?
So, was Jesus brave enough to enter Tiberius, the home of Herod, who murdered his cousin John? After his disciples told him all that they had done, Jesus took them to a desert place that belonged to the city called Bethsaida, possibly Bethsaida Julias. Seems rather like a former city gone to ruin, a place where animals grazed. Many argue that it is a location near where the Jordan flows into the lake, and it may be where the baptisms took place. Many also think this is where the five thousand were fed.
As to that, when I explore that number in my next study, I will look also at all the numbers of this chapter.
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