Immediately after the account of the feeding of the five thousand, we are told that the Lord was praying and then asked the disciples a question: “And it came about that as He was praying alone the disciples were with Him; and He questioned them, saying, Who do the crowds say that I am?” (v. 18). The disciples answered, “John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and others that one of the ancient prophets has risen” (v. 19). Here we see that most people can realize only that Christ is a prophet. Apart from heavenly revelation, no one can know that He is the Christ.
In verse 20 the Lord went on to say, “But you, who do you say that I am?” At this point Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
The realization that Jesus is the Christ is also related to the jubilee. There could not be a jubilee without Christ, without the One appointed and anointed by God. In order for the jubilee to be carried out, there is the need of the Christ.
In the Old Testament we have the matter of the jubilee. In the Old Testament we also have words concerning the coming Messiah, the coming anointed One of God. The real jubilee cannot come apart from God’s anointed One. When this One came, He brought the jubilee with Him. Actually, His coming is itself the jubilee.
Have you ever thought that the events recorded in 9:1-26 are related to the jubilee? Although I have been studying the Gospels for many years, I never heard of anyone pointing out that the feeding of the five thousand in Luke 9 is related to the jubilee that was proclaimed by the Lord Jesus in Luke 4. Now I see that the feeding of the five thousand is an application of the jubilee. The declaration of the jubilee in chapter four should cover all that takes place in the following chapters. This means that whatever takes place in chapters five through twenty-four should be considered part of the jubilee.
Luke 9:1 and 2 say, “And having called together the twelve, He gave them power and authority over all the demons, and to heal diseases. And He sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to cure the sick.” Here we see that when the Man-Savior sent out the twelve to spread His ministry, He gave them power and authority over demons and disease. He also sent them to preach, to announce, the kingdom of God. Can there be poverty or hunger in the kingdom of God? To be sure there is neither poverty nor hunger in God’s kingdom. What, then, do we have in the kingdom of God? In God’s kingdom we have the jubilee, and in the jubilee there is satisfaction but no hunger, fullness but no lack. In the jubilee everyone is satisfied, and there is an abundance of food left over. This is portrayed by the account of the feeding of the five thousand.
After the Lord fed the five thousand, the disciples might have been excited. The Lord, however, was calm. Verse 18 tells us that He was praying alone. Often when people are excited, the Lord Jesus will calmly remove Himself and pray. In His praying the Lord questioned the disciples, asking them who the crowds said that He was. They told Him of the various nonsensical answers. Then Peter took the lead to say, “You are the Christ.”
The record here is somewhat different from that in Matthew 16. The record concerning the recognizing of Christ in Matthew 16 involves the establishment of the kingdom and the building up of the church. Here in 9:18-26 Luke has a different point of view. Luke’s view is not that of the establishment of the kingdom and the building up of the church. Rather, Luke’s view is that of the jubilee. Therefore, Luke’s intention is to show us that for the jubilee there is the need of the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed One. This is the reason Luke emphasizes that Jesus is the Christ and does not include the details. We need to be impressed with the fact that Luke’s purpose is to point out that for the application of the jubilee, we need Christ, the anointed One of God.
Immediately after the Lord was recognized as the Christ, He spoke to His disciples concerning His death and resurrection. In verse 22 He said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
For years I did not understand the meaning of the sequence in chapter nine. Why after the feeding of the five thousand did the Lord question the disciples concerning Himself? Then why, immediately after they recognized Him as the Christ, did He tell them that He was about to be crucified and resurrected? The answer to these questions is that there cannot be a jubilee without Christ and without His death and resurrection. We have already pointed out that we cannot have the jubilee without Christ. Now we need to see that we cannot have the jubilee without Christ’s death and resurrection. Apart from the death of Christ, there would be no way for sinners to be released. Apart from the resurrection of Christ, there could not be the recovery of the lost right to enjoy God.
Christ’s death has released us from sin and from Satan. According to Hebrews 2:14, Christ destroyed Satan through His death. If He had not destroyed Satan, how could He release us from Satan’s usurping hand? If the Lord had not destroyed Satan through death, He could not have released us from him. Our release from bondage is absolutely due to the all-inclusive death of Christ, a death that has released us from sin and Satan.
It is only through the resurrection of Christ that our right to the enjoyment of God is recovered. When we believe in the all-inclusive, victorious death of Christ, we are released from sin, Satan, and ourselves. When we remain and live in the resurrection of Christ, we have the recovery of the right to enjoy God. This is the jubilee. Christ with His death and resurrection has brought in the jubilee.