Luke 9:23

A Call to Discipleship

9:23 Then ¹  he said to them all, ²  “If anyone wants to become my follower, ³  he must deny ⁴  himself, take up his cross daily, ⁵  and follow me.

Luke 10:1

The Mission of the Seventy-Two

10:1 After this ⁶  the Lord appointed seventy-two ⁷  others and sent them on ahead of him two by two into every town ⁸  and place where he himself was about to go.

Luke 12:45

12:45 But if ⁹  that ¹⁰  slave should say to himself, ¹¹  ‘My master is delayed ¹²  in returning,’ and he begins to beat ¹³  the other ¹⁴  slaves, both men and women, ¹⁵  and to eat, drink, and get drunk,

Luke 18:16

18:16 But Jesus called for the children, ¹⁶  saying, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God ¹⁷  belongs to such as these. ¹⁸ 

[9:23]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:23]  ² sn Here them all could be limited to the disciples, since Jesus was alone with them in v. 18. It could also be that by this time the crowd had followed and found him, and he addressed them, or this could be construed as a separate occasion from the discussion with the disciples in 9:18-22. The cost of discipleship is something Jesus was willing to tell both insiders and outsiders about. The rejection he felt would also fall on his followers.

[9:23]  ³ tn Grk “to come after me.”

[9:23]  ⁴ tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.

[9:23]  ⁵ sn Only Luke mentions taking up one’s cross daily. To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.

[10:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “And after these things.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:1]  ⁷ tc There is a difficult textual problem here and in v. 17, where the number is either “seventy” (א A C L W Θ Ξ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï and several church fathers and early versions) or “seventy-two” (Ì⁷⁵ B D 0181 pc lat as well as other versions and fathers). The more difficult reading is “seventy-two,” since scribes would be prone to assimilate this passage to several OT passages that refer to groups of seventy people (Num 11:13-17; Deut 10:22; Judg 8:30; 2 Kgs 10:1 et al.); this reading also has slightly better ms support. “Seventy” could be the preferred reading if scribes drew from the tradition of the number of translators of the LXX, which the Letter of Aristeas puts at seventy-two (TCGNT 127), although this is far less likely. All things considered, “seventy-two” is a much more difficult reading and accounts for the rise of the other. Only Luke notes a second larger mission like the one in 9:1-6.

[10:1]  ⁸ tn Or “city.”

[12:45]  ¹¹ tn In the Greek text this is a third class condition that for all practical purposes is a hypothetical condition (note the translation of the following verb “should say”).

[12:45]  ¹² tn The term “that” (ἐκεῖνος, ekeino") is used as a catchword to list out, in the form of a number of hypothetical circumstances, what the possible responses of “that” servant could be. He could be faithful (vv. 43-44) or totally unfaithful (vv. 45-46). He does not complete his master’s will with knowledge (v. 47) or from ignorance (v 48). These differences are indicated by the different levels of punishment in vv. 46-48.

[12:45]  ¹³ tn Grk “should say in his heart.”

[12:45]  ¹⁴ tn Or “is taking a long time.”

[12:45]  ¹⁵ sn The slave’s action in beginning to beat the other slaves was not only a failure to carry out what was commanded but involved doing the exact reverse.

[12:45]  ¹⁶ tn The word “other” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[12:45]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the menservants and the maidservants.” The term here, used in both masculine and feminine grammatical forms, is παῖς (pais), which can refer to a slave, but also to a slave who is a personal servant, and thus regarded kindly (L&N 87.77).

[18:16]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “summoned them”; the referent (the children) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:16]  ¹⁷ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

[18:16]  ¹⁸ sn The kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Children are a picture of those whose simple trust illustrates what faith is all about. The remark illustrates how everyone is important to God, even those whom others regard as insignificant.