Luke 9:38

Luke 9:38, in plain English

A man in the crowd cried out, 'Teacher, please look at my son. He is my only child.' A father's desperate love drove him to Jesus.

Why it's here

There is nothing more urgent than a parent's cry for their child. This father had exhausted every option and Jesus was his last hope. Desperation is often the birthplace of faith.

Who's speaking

A desperate father pleads with Jesus from the crowd.

Where it sits in the story

From the crowd, a father's voice rang out with raw desperation: Teacher, please help my boy. He is my only son. Every parent understands that kind of love and that kind of fear.

The scholarly reading

A man from the crowd cries out (eboēsen) with the title didaskale ('Teacher') and begs Jesus epiblepsai ('to look upon/attend to') his son, described as monogenēs ('only-begotten/only child'). The term monogenēs heightens the pathos, as in the cases of Jairus' daughter and the widow of Nain's son.

Language and setting

This is the third monogenēs ('only child') miracle in Luke, following the widow's son (7:12) and Jairus' daughter (8:42). Luke's repeated use of this term emphasizes Jesus' compassion for parents facing the loss of their only child.

Voice

A desperate father from the crowd cries out to Jesus.

Significance

A father's anguished voice rose above the crowd, begging Jesus to help his only son. The desperate plea of a parent for an only child was a scene Luke recorded three times, each time met with Jesus' compassion.

36After the voice had spoken, only Jesus was present with them. The disciples kept this to themselves, and in those days they did not tell anyone what they had seen.

37The next day, when they came down from the mountain, Jesus was met by a large crowd.

38Suddenly a man in the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only child.

39A spirit keeps seizing him, and he screams abruptly. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It keeps mauling him and rarely departs from him.

40I begged Your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable.”

Read all of Luke 9 — Peter confesses, the Transfiguration blazes, and Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem. Everything from here moves toward the cross.