I am using a fresh installation of TeX Live 2009 (installed via MacTex on a MacBook running Mac OS X 10.6)
ConTeXt doesn't work in TeX Live 2009 (it will in the 2010 release that is being finalized). The culprit is that, as you have read, the LuaTeX binary (the program that is actually being run) doesn't match the version of the ConTeXt files. You have the choice between, either: 1. Replacing the LuaTeX program with a more recent version which you can download from http://www.luatex.org/download.html or 2. Installing the “Minimals” distribution (http://wiki.contextgarden.net/ConTeXt_Minimals). Option 1 may seem simpler, but you will need a few steps to get started, and it can have side effects on the rest of your TeX Live installation, which is why I'd recommend you install the Minimals. Arthur