Luke 9

I'd like to share with you a neat little bit of cultural context I found in the Bible commentary I consult first (JNT Commentary). In 9:5, Jesus tells his talmidim that if people in a town do not welcome them, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town as a testimony against them. In the first century, as it turns out, "Jews would often shake the ritually impure dust of a Gentile city from their feet upon leaving it and returning to the land of Israel." The secondary, symbolic effect was to demonstrate to those in the Gentile city that they had no fellowship with Israel. You can imagine the shock that a first century Jew might have if someone did that outside their city because the message is: because you refuse the Kingdom of God, you have refused to be a part of the true Israel.
Also, look at 9:14. I had read over this verse many, many times before I grasped some more significance in there. Why is Luke telling us specifically that Jesus is dividing the people into groups of 50? Well, the answer is that someone else in the Bible divided people into groups of 50. Who was it? Moses! So again, because of the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15, if Jesus really is the Messiah, then he ought to remind us of Moses occasionally.
9:35 -- When the Messiah comes, it was said, all three parts of the Tanakh (Old Testament) will testify to His coming. The voice from heaven says, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen, listen to Him." Psalm 2:7, Isaiah 42:1, Deuteronomy 18:15. Game. Set. Match. (That's for you, Cristina.)
9:54 -- Just kind of a funny observation here...notice that it's James and John who ask Jesus if they can call down fire on this city to destroy it. What nickname had Jesus given them, do you remember? Sons of Thunder! (Calling down fire from heaven?! Sons of Thunder, indeed.) Although here it's misplaced, these guys must have had some intense passion.