Matthew Chapter 17
Matt 15-18 have come sequentially, along with Mark 7-9. This is a pretty long run chronologically.
After 6 days. Very specific. Last thing in previous chapter was to take up their crosses. Last line, though, is "...there are some standing here..."
After 6 days Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a high mountain by themselves. His face became like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. Moses and Elijah appear, and talk with Jesus. Does not say what they looked like - whether they were glorified. Perhaps this is how we'll know who lived as God willed, and who didn't. Those who did better will shine brighter, literally.
2026 - Here, Mark clearly connects Jesus' saying that "...some standing here will not taste death until..." to the transfiguration a few days later. This was not about Jesus' final return, and the gospel writers all knew that. There is no room left here to question that interpretation.
2023 - We also have to say here that Moses and Elijah - who is to come! - were still spirits. There has been no bodily resurrection. I think the best way to think of it is that their appearance was in human form, not spirit form, so that Peter, James and John could see and recognize them. This is confirmed in vs 9 where Jesus tells them to keep "the vision" a secret.
Also...maybe John the Baptist is one "like" Elijah, but here, after the death of John, Elijah himself does appear. And that seems to go well with the two witnesses who appear in Jerusalem at the end. That is Elijah coming before the Messiah...but it is the second coming at that time. BUT, there is no getting around vs 12: "But I tell you that Elijah has already come...", followed by vs. 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. The ONLY way that I can see to get around this is to say that they understood it wrong. And that is by no means unprecedented with these guys! Like the bread in the boat after the 4000, and all that talk about leaven.
God speaks, and tells them Jesus is His beloved Son, and that they are to listen to him. They are prostrate with fear.
After something like this, on the way back down the mountain, Jesus tells them to keep this incident a secret until after he is raised from the dead. Again with keeping things quiet. MSB note again refers back to 8:4 and 12:16. These are about the people trying to make Jesus a political leader - by declaring him King or something along that line - which is not his purpose in this advent. So Jesus constantly reminds them to keep the "spectacular" secret from the crowds in general, because most who would make him King would do so expecting him to kick out the Romans and ease their burdens. They care nothing for who he really is.
The disciples ask how it is that the scribes say Elijah must come before all these things. Jesus' answer is interesting:
11 He answered, "Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. [Mat 17:11 ESV] This looks to me like a prediction. That Elijah is still to come. Jesus continues that Elijah has already come, and was not recognized, referring to John the Baptist. I should look up the tense of "does" in Elijah does come.
2023 - Looked up the tense. It is present middle indicative. It is usually translated in the present tense. Maybe something like "Elijah comes" rather than Elijah does come. The "will restore" is in future active indicative. So...what does this tell us? If, in English, we were trying to say that in the future, someone is going to come and fix the broken washing machine, how would we say that - if we had current knowledge that this was absolutely going to happen. This question is "is the repairman coming?" The answer is Yes he is, and he will fix the machine. I don't know....maybe I have been too bogged down with this for years. But if I was an unbeliever, I would really jump on this. The prophets said Elijah had to come before Messiah. Here is that one passage where that happens: 5 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction." [Mal 4:5-6 ESV]. He comes before the Day of the Lord. I think that is the second coming...My head is not working. I am too obsessed with this. Reading on out...
And what will be restored when Elijah comes? I don't see that John restored anything. Unless we consider anticipation of Messiah a restoration.
The MSB note refers us back to Mt 11:14. There, it points out that John himself said he was not Elijah, and Luke tells us that John came in the spirit and power of Elijah. Elijah never died, but was taken away. Frankly, we aren't sure about Moses either, and these two appeared with Jesus at his transfiguration, and two witnesses will come in the end times...that's another study though. To continue, the MSB note in 11:14 goes on to say that if Israel had repented at the preaching of John, "then" he would have been the fulfillment of the Elijah prophecies. Clearly, what would have been restored was the sincere belief of Israel as a nation in their God. He would have been their God, they would have been His people. The covenant relationship of God and Israel is what would/will be restored!!! And still will be, at the end times, when the preaching of the two witnesses will convert countless Jews! MSB also references Rev 11:5, 6, which describes the two witnesses.
Jesus heals a boy with a demon that his disciples (doesn't specifically say apostles) could not cast out. Upon hearing that they couldn't, Jesus says this:
17 And Jesus answered, "O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me." [Mat 17:17 ESV]
He is upset at the whole "generation" over this. And when the disciples ask Jesus in private why they were unable to cast out this demon, Jesus answers that it was because they had so little faith.
2025 - This verse: 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. [Mat 17:18 ESV]. This implies that in this case, Jesus spoke aloud to the demon, commanding it to leave. Note also that in NASB95 at least, the father of the boy calls him a lunatic, not demon possessed. Isn't this interesting. The disciples couldn't cure the boy. I wonder if it was because they didn't recognize the difference between mental illness and demonic influence? No...looking at vs 19, when they ask Jesus about this, what they ask is why they could not "drive it out". So they knew it was a demon. And we learn it was a difficult kind of demon.
Then he talks about having faith like a grain of mustard seed moving mountains. This seems to be where the whole story was leading - the reason it is recorded. Why was he upset with them, though? MSB says it is because they were putting faith in their gifts, given them a year earlier to cast out demons. They had confidence in their own ability to cast out demons instead of looking to God and His will to cast out demons. This is not a very satisfying explanation to me. What does any of that have to do with "how long am I to be with you and bear with you?"
2020 - When Jesus sent out the 12 he had specifically given them power to cast out demons. They readily applied this on their "mission trip". But here, they could not. So we're saying that they had more faith earlier? Or that they hadn't encountered this kind of demon before? Or these were different people - disciples and not apostles - that couldn't throw this one out? If this last, then there is power to throw them out, perhaps delegated by the ultimate authority, and in which faith has minimal influence on the outcome, or they can be thrown out by those with powerful faith, true faith, real faith, even without the power delegated by Jesus to the Apostles. Jesus' rebuke of the whole generation implies that anyone with faith should have been able to cast out a demon. Anyone, that is, with even a tiny amount of faith. Note that ESV leaves out vs 21, the verse about prayer and fasting being required, because it does not show up in all manuscripts. My guess is that it is the older manuscripts where it is missing, and maybe was someone along the line trying to figure out why this demon was different. It would be a good study...maybe...to look at all the demons that are cast out, who did it, and how - even through Acts, and see if anything can be learned by comparing and contrasting. It would also be interesting to note the activity of various demons. Was the fact that this demon could make the person he controlled throw himself in fire an identifying characteristic? What other activities tell us what kind of demon we're dealing with? Are they even here anymore? Are they allowed to do such things anymore - since the resurrection? The Unger book seems think they're still around but they do magic tricks, a little foretelling, and things like that. His book has not mentioned them making people do things they don't want to do except in the area of hypnotism. Certainly there been nothing in his book like "The Exorcist". He did talk in the last chapter about prayer and fasting sometimes being required to free someone of the influence of a demon keeping them from church and Bible study and prayer, but I can't remember if he quoted a verse.
When they get to Capernaum again, Peter is asked to pay the temple tax. Jesus asks him this:
25 He said, "Yes." And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?" [Mat 17:25 ESV]
Peter answers that it is from others. They exempt their own? Romans taxed those in occupied territory, but not Roman citizens themselves, perhaps. I would have thought they also taxed sons, just at a lower rate, but perhaps not.
Jesus seems to be making the point that he and his disciples are not sons of those collecting for the temple. These were the Scribes and Pharisees. Jesus is setting himself well apart from them at this time.
Even so, he tells Peter to pay the tax, so those in power will not be offended. (He has not yet talked about rendering unto Caesar, but this seems to be along the same lines.) Pay your taxes not because it is right to do so, but because Christian's don't offend others over the things of this world.
2021 - The sons referred to are actual sons. Not citizens of Rome portrayed as sons. Actual, physical sons. Kings don't tax their own sons. Sons are free. Jesus pays the tax, Jesus is not a free son of the Pharisees. They see him as outsider. Or the point may be that those collecting this tax are in fact not the real sons.