QUESTION 1.Why did Jesus suddenly ask his disciples what the people were saying about him in Luke 9:1-27?

Jesus used this as a lead-in to a conversation with Simon Peter Barjona. To understand the real purpose for this passage, you'll need to read Matt. 16: 13-19.

In Matt., Christ prophecy the Church to be built upon Peter and Peter's descendents, as was with Jacob and Israel. Luke avoided the truth of this passage which proves a counterfeit church established by Luke, Paul, and Theophilus.

HE WANTED TO AND DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK.

Not so much did he want to find out what the people thought, but more that he wanted to test his disciples to see what they knew about him.

As a prelude to what He asked them next ... "Who do YOU say I am?"

Because He wanted to know

The answer may appear once the parallel account by Matthew is read. It adds one critical bit of information - the location. When Jesus asked the disciples who the people thought He was, those people were citizens of the town of Caeserea Philippi. Originally it was called Paneas in honor of the Greek god Pan, whose shrine was located there. The region was especially pagan. This means that their views about Jesus would be very different to Jewish views. A matter of interest, no?

To see how effective his hints had been.  Consider the passage in question.

Lk 9:18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”


20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”


Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

I think the answer is found in Matthew's parallel passage.

Mt 16:17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.

IMHO, it appears that Jesus wanted his disciples to figure out who he was on their own.  He tried to avoid spoon-feeding them everything.  He did give them several hints.  Below are a couple.

Lk 5:21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

The Pharisees were right, no one can forgive a person of their sins except God alone.  Then Jesus forgave the man his sins, which was an implicit way of saying, "You're right, I'm God and therefore I can forgive sins".  Here's another example.

Luke 18:19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.

Jesus was right that in the absolute sense of the word, only God is good.  Everyone else has done wrongs.  We're filthy rags compared to God (Isa 64:6).  But Jesus never did anything wrong; he  was sinless (Heb 4:15).  Only God can be described like that.  Jesus was hinting to those around him that he was God.

It's your Sunday school homework, not mine.

Jesus knew that the scriptures foretold of the promised Messiah and wanted to know from his disciples who the people were saying he was. Those like the disciples who believed in the Bible prophecies about the coming Messiah believed that Jesus was he. jw.org

Because he didn't know