Lukas 4:41

4:41 Demons also came out ¹  of many, crying out, ²  “You are the Son of God!” ³  But he rebuked ⁴  them, and would not allow them to speak, ⁵  because they knew that he was the Christ. ⁶ 

Lukas 7:19

7:19 and sent them to Jesus ⁷  to ask, ⁸  “Are you the one who is to come, ⁹  or should we look for another?”

Lukas 21:8

21:8 He ¹⁰  said, “Watch out ¹¹  that you are not misled. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ ¹²  and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them!

Lukas 22:67

22:67 and said, “If ¹³  you are the Christ, ¹⁴  tell us.” But he said to them, “If ¹⁵  I tell you, you will not ¹⁶  believe,

Lukas 23:39

23:39 One of the criminals who was hanging there railed at him, saying, “Aren’t ¹⁷  you the Christ? ¹⁸  Save yourself and us!”

Lukas 24:46

24:46 and said to them, “Thus it stands written that the Christ ¹⁹  would suffer ²⁰  and would rise from the dead on the third day,

¹ sn Demons also came out. Note how Luke distinguishes healing from exorcism here, implying that the two are not identical.

² tn Grk “crying out and saying.” The participle λέγοντα (legonta) is redundant in English and has not been translated here.

³ tc Most mss (A Q Θ Ψ 0102 Ë^1,13 Ï) read “the Christ, the Son of God.” But the earliest and best mss, along with several other witnesses (א B C D L W Ξ 33 579 700 1241 2542 lat sa), lack “the Christ” here. It is likely that later scribes wished to bring the demons’ confession in line with what Luke says they knew later in the verse.

⁴ tn Or “commanded,” but “rebuke” implies strong disapproval, which seems to be more in keeping with the context here (L&N 33.419).

⁵ sn Jesus would not allow the demons to speak because the time for such disclosure was not yet at hand, and such a revelation would have certainly been misunderstood by the people. In all likelihood, if the people had understood him early on to be the Son of God, or Messiah, they would have reduced his mission to one of political deliverance from Roman oppression (cf. John 6:15). Jesus wanted to avoid, as much as possible, any premature misunderstanding about who he was and what he was doing. However, at the end of his ministry, he did not deny such a title when the high priest asked him (22:66-71).

⁶ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

sn Note how Luke associates Son of God with Messiah (Christ) in this context, a regal connection with OT roots (Ps 2:7). Also, see the note on Christ in 2:11.

⁷ tc ‡ Although most mss (א A W Θ Ψ Ë¹ Ï it sy bo) read πρὸς τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν (pro" ton Ihsoun, “to Jesus”), other important witnesses (B L Ξ Ë¹³ 33 pc sa) read πρὸς τὸν κύριον (pro" ton kurion, “to the Lord”). A decision is difficult in this instance, as there are good witnesses on both sides. In light of this, that “Jesus” is more widespread than “the Lord” with almost equally important witnesses argues for its authenticity.

⁸ tn Grk “to Jesus, saying,” but since this takes the form of a question, it is preferable to use the phrase “to ask” in English.

⁹ sn Aspects of Jesus’ ministry may have led John to question whether Jesus was the promised stronger and greater one who is to come that he had preached about in Luke 3:15-17.

¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹¹ tn Or “Be on guard.”

¹² tn That is, “I am the Messiah.”

¹³ tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text.

¹⁴ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

sn See the note on Christ in 2:11.

¹⁵ tn This is a third class condition in the Greek text. Jesus had this experience already in 20:1-8.

¹⁶ tn The negation in the Greek text is the strongest possible (οὐ μή, ou mh).

¹⁷ tc Most mss (A C³ W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat) read εἰ σὺ εἶ (ei su ei, “If you are”) here, while οὐχὶ σὺ εἶ (ouci su ei, “Are you not”) is found in overall better and earlier witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א B C* L 070 1241 pc it). The “if” clause reading creates a parallel with the earlier taunts (vv. 35, 37), and thus is most likely a motivated reading.

sn The question in Greek expects a positive reply and is also phrased with irony.

¹⁸ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

sn See the note on Christ in 2:11.

¹⁹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

²⁰ tn Three Greek infinitives are the key to this summary: (1) to suffer, (2) to rise, and (3) to be preached. The Christ (Messiah) would be slain, would be raised, and a message about repentance would go out into all the world as a result. All of this was recorded in the scripture. The remark shows the continuity between Jesus’ ministry, the scripture, and what disciples would be doing as they declared the Lord risen.