Matthew 17:1-23: “Jesus Is Transfigured, Then Discourses About Elijah’s Coming Again / Jesus Casts Demon Out After The Disciples Attempt Is Unsuccessful”
by
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In this next section of the gospel of Matthew, we see
that Jesus reveals His glory to His disciples
1.1.1.
In order for them to understand His resurrection and
that He is to be raised from the dead and one day glorified and reign with the
Father for eternity, Jesus gives them a prelude to that day He will be
glorified
1.1.2.
Peter, James, and John alone get to see this event,
and then afterwards they are told by Jesus to tell the vision to no one, but
one day when they are the key leaders amongst the church they are to relay this
event and its importance to the rest of the disciples
1.1.3.
Jesus seeks to build the faith of these disciples
through His transfiguration before them
1.1.4.
Notice that Jesus’ transfiguration followed and
thereby confirmed Peter’s Great Confession of Christ
2.
VS 17:1-3 -
“17:1 And six days later Jesus *took with Him Peter and James and John his
brother, and *brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. 2 And He was
transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments
became as white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
talking with Him”” - Jesus takes His
disciples up to a high mountain and is transfigured into His glory before them
2.1.
Here again we see that it is Peter, James, and John who are allowed into
that unique subset of the 12 that has special privileges in seeing Jesus doing
things that the others do not get to see
2.2.
The purpose for the Lord becoming glorified in the disciples midst is so
that they will one day be prepared to understand the purpose for His
resurrection as well as the subsequent glory which He shall have for all
eternity
2.2.1.
As future leaders of the apostolic band and the church itself, these men
were given this vision so that they might be able to strengthen the faith of
the others after Jesus had risen from the dead
2.3.
This transformation by the Lord before His disciples resembles the two
other visions which men had of the glorified Lord
2.3.1.
In Daniel 7:9 Daniel had a vision of the Ancient of Days sitting upon His throne, “9 “I
kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His
seat; His vesture was like white snow,
And the hair of His head like pure wool.
His throne was ablaze with flames,
Its wheels were a burning fire””
2.3.2.
In Rev. 1:12-15 the apostle John saw the glorified Lord on the
2.4.
In Philippians chapter 2 we see that Jesus humbled Himself and took on
human flesh, even the form of a bondslave to God, and for the purpose of
relating to mankind and becoming the means for all men to be able to be drawn
to God for salvation Jesus always appeared in the humblest of circumstances as
a man, yet His glory could not forever be veiled from human site, for He was
destined one day to appear again raised up in glory, and thus the Lord allowed
these disciples to get just a glimpse of what that glory would appear as
2.5.
It is interesting that two of the greatest men under the first covenant
appear unto Jesus in this incident, and in Luke 9:31-32 we learn a couple of other
details concerning what occurred, “31 who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His
departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his
companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they
saw His glory and the two men standing with Him”
2.5.1.
We learn that Peter, James, and John had been sleeping instead of
spending time in prayer to the Father as Jesus had been doing, and that they
were awakened after this began occurring and Moses and Elijah appeared and were
talking with Jesus
2.5.1.1.Here we see again another
apostolic blunder for when they should have been praying they were sleeping
(see also the similar incident in the
2.5.2.
The topic of the discussion between Moses and Elijah and Jesus was Jesus’
soon departure from the earth at His crucifixion and resurrection from the dead
3.
VS 17:4-6 - “4 And
Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You
wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and
one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, “This is My
beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” 6 And when the
disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were much afraid” - Peter suggests to Jesus that they make three
tabernacles, one each for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah so that they might stay around
or prolong their meeting
3.1.
This must have been quite a conversation that was going on between Jesus,
Moses and Elijah, and the disciples must have really been intrigued by all
aspects of what they were seeing and hearing
3.2.
Before we fault Peter for once again speaking out of turn and not being
in-line with the Lord’s purposes in this incident, we first ought to realize
that Peter was truly seeking what he thought was of the utmost importance for
he and the other disciples as well as God’s program, and I’m afraid that many
times we Christians don’t place the priority that we should on seeking the Lord
and His voice and leading in our lives and thus many times we cut short or miss
entirely those precious times with the Lord we ought to be having
3.3.
What Peter failed to understand is essentially that a disciple cannot
always stay in those mountain top experiences with God, as blessed and joyous
as they may be. There is a time for
everything to occur
3.3.1.
A song that was popular in the 60’s came from Ecclessiastes 3:1-8 which tells us how there is
a time for everything to occur in our lives on earth, “3:1
There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event
under heaven— 2 A time to give birth,
and a time to die; A time to plant, and
a time to uproot what is planted. 3 A
time to kill, and a time to heal; A time
to tear down, and a time to build up. 4
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A
time to mourn, and a time to dance. 5 A
time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, and a time to shun
embracing. 6 A time to search, and a
time to give up as lost; A time to keep,
and a time to throw away. 7 A time to
tear apart, and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent, and a time to speak. 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; A time for war, and a time for peace””
3.4.
While Peter was uttering his request of Jesus the Father spoke from
heaven that phrase of admiration for His Son which was also uttered at Jesus’
baptism and at Gethsemane (John 12:28), ‘This is My beloved Son’
3.4.1.
In 2 Peter 1:17-19 Peter writes in his epistle giving testimony to his having been there on
the Mount of Transfiguration when this utterance was made, “17 For
when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this
was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am
well-pleased”— 18 and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when
we were with Him on the holy mountain. 19 And so we have the prophetic word
made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a
dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts”
3.5.
Seeing the shekinah glory of the cloud and hearing the audible voice of
Almighty God testifying about His own Son was enough to scare the disciples out
of their wits so in fear they fell straight to the ground
3.5.1.
The Old Testament scriptures tell us that if anyone saw the Lord that he
would die, so these disciples had reason to be afraid at this moment
3.6.
As I have mentioned earlier in this study, when Moses prophesied of the
prophet that was to come after him, he said that the people were to listen to
everything that He said, and thus the Father tells the disciples that they were
now to listen to Jesus
4.
VS 17:7-8 - “7 And
Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” 8
And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Jesus Himself alone”
- Jesus comes to them and tells them not
to be afraid
4.1.
This cloud and voice from heaven disappear almost as fast as they appear,
and when it is gone Jesus is there alone with His disciples
4.2.
The Lord did not want the disciples to be afraid, for though He is holy,
awesome, and mighty He does not want His people to be scared to death of Him,
but merely to give Him proper reverence.
5.
VS 17:9 - “9 And
as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell
the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”” - Jesus commands Peter, James, and John to not
tell anyone about the vision until He has risen from the dead
5.1.
By giving this warning in this way to these disciples we can easily see
that the purpose that the Lord had for this vision was to give enlightenment to
His disciples of His future glory and the fact of His resurrection
5.2.
If Jesus hadn’t taken these disciples to the mountain top and revealed
His glory in this way the apostles might never have come to understand what
happened when He was resurrected
5.3.
In our lives as Christians occasionally there are times when the Lord
does something in our lives which He intends to be personal just between us and
Him, and He does not intend us to go around telling everyone what has happened
6.
INTRO:
6.1.
In this next section of the book of Matthew we see
that Jesus’ disciples are now curious about Elijah’s place in future events
6.1.1.
Their question arose as a result of Moses and Elijah
appearing to Jesus on the Mt. Of Transfiguration as well as the common Jewish
believe that Elijah would appear before the coming of their Messiah
6.1.2.
Jesus’ answer is two-part since there is a dual
fulfillment of prophesy concerning Elijah
6.2.
When Jesus’ disciples finally get down from the
mountain Jesus is confronted with a situation that causes Him much
frustration: the remaining 9 disciples
are not able to cast a demon out of a boy
6.2.1.
The reason they can’t do this is because of their lack
of faith
7.
VS 17:10-13 -
“10 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah
must come first?” 11 And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will
restore all things; 12 but I say to you, that Elijah already came, and they did
not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man
is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that He
had spoken to them about John the Baptist” - Jesus’ disciples ask Him a question
concerning the appearance of Elijah before the coming of the Messiah
7.1.
The disciples well knew the teachings of the scribes and Pharisees who
believed from the Old Testament scriptures (primarily the book of Malachi) that
Elijah would have to come to prepare the way for the Messiah
7.2.
This question came about as a result of curiosity generated because of
the appearance of Elijah and Moses to Jesus upon the Mount of Transfiguration
7.3.
Jesus tells the disciples that there is a dual fulfillment of the Old
Testament prophesies for He tells them that Elijah had come and that Elijah is
still going to come
7.3.1.
John the Baptist was a fulfillment of the scriptures in Isaiah of Elijah
coming to prepare the way for the Messiah
7.3.1.1.In Isaiah
40:3-5,
there is a voice that is prophesied to come and prepare the way for the
Messiah, and this voice was the ministry of John the Baptist, “3 A
voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our
God. 4 “Let every valley be lifted
up, And every mountain and hill be made
low; And let the rough ground become a
plain, And the rugged terrain a broad
valley; 5 Then the glory of the Lord
will be revealed, And all flesh will see
it together; For the mouth of the Lord
has spoken.””
7.3.1.1.1.We saw already in Matthew
3:1-3 that
Matthew interprets this prophesy in Isaiah 40 as concerning John the Baptist, “3:1 Now
in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
saying, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 For this is the one
referred to by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!’””
7.3.1.1.2.John’s preaching of
repentence fulfilled this prophesy for His message to repent brought down
mountains of pride and built up the valleys created by sin and sinful living in
peoples’ lives, for true repentence breaks down the barriers that exist between
man and God and man and man
7.4.
It is interesting here that the disciples figured out that it must be
John the Baptist who was the initial one to fulfill this prophesy concerning
Elijah coming to earth before the Lord’s return. I say it is interesting because it is one of
the few times when the apostles actually came to have an understanding of
spiritual things.
7.5.
Jesus also said that Elijah ‘is’ to come again, indicating a second
fulfillment of the prophesy of scripture concerning Elijah.
7.5.1.
Malachi 3:1-2, 4:5-6 refer to this coming to the earth of Elijah
before the Lord’s return, “3:1 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and
he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly
come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight,
behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. 2 “But who can endure the day of
His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire
and like fullers’ soap… 5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6 “And he will
restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the
children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse.””
7.5.1.1.I think that these verses
make it clear beyond a doubt that Elijah is to be one of the two witnesses of
the book of Revelation who come and preach to the nations during the seven year
Tribulation and who are slain before the world and then raised up from the dead
three days later by the Lord. What we
don’t know for sure is who the second witness is, however from this chapter I
think the most likely candidate from the scripture for this second witness is
Moses (see Rev. 11:3-12)
8.
VS 17:14-18 -
“14 And when they came to the multitude, a man came up to Him, falling on
his knees before Him, and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a
lunatic, and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire, and often into the
water. 16 “And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.”
17 And Jesus answered and said, “O unbelieving and perverted generation, how
long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to
Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was
cured at once” - While Jesus is on
the Mount of Transfiguration with the inner three disciples, the other 9
disciples cannot cast out a demon
8.1.
In this story we have contrasts, for while Jesus with Peter, James, and
John are having a ‘mountain top’ experience with God called Jesus’
‘Transfiguration’, down in the valley things are going much differently, for
the disciples are frustrated and miserably vexed because they cannot have
success casting a demon out of a boy
8.2.
The father of the demon possessed boy sees Jesus coming and before the
rest of the disciples can come and ask Jesus for help, he comes up to Him and
falls down on his knees begging Jesus to have mercy on his son
8.3.
Jesus remark to the disciples is sharp for He says to them, ‘O
unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you?’
8.3.1.
I believe that Jesus’ words are also meant for more than just His
disciples for Jesus sees them as a product of their own generation
8.4.
Jesus rebukes them here for their ‘unbelief’ because it is their
‘unbelief’ which is hindering them from being able to cast out this demon
8.5.
The man says here that his son is a ‘lunatic’ for in that day people
tended to blame certain illnesses on the moon’s influence and a person who
suffered seizures was said to suffer from ‘lunacy’
8.6.
The demon has caused this boy much suffering for it tries to cause him
much harm by making him to fall into the fire or the water, and the boy has
been very ill
8.6.1.
There are illnesses that are demonic in origin. Ten years ago when I visited many of the
churches in
8.7.
We need to learn from this story that there are demons and then there are
demons, and not all demonic powers are equal in their power and influence over
peoples lives
8.7.1.
In Daniel 10:10-13 we see this point illustrated for the angel that touched and spoke to
Daniel in these verses first had to be rescued by Michael the Archangel before
he could come to Daniel, “10 Then behold, a hand touched me and set me
trembling on my hands and knees. 11 And he said to me, “O Daniel, man of high
esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for
I have now been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood
up trembling. 12 Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the
first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling
yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to
your words. 13 “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for
twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help
me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia”
8.7.2.
Contrast the powerful demon mentioned in Dan. 10:10-13 with the demons who fled
from King Saul merely by David’s playing upon the harp before him (1 Sam. 16:23)
8.7.3.
In Ephesians 6:12, Paul wrote about the existence of ‘principalities’ and ‘powers’
indicating a variety of might held by demonic forces, “12For we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places” (see also Eph. 3:10)
8.8.
In order to be able to have the faith to cast out demons from people we
Christians must be prepared in our hearts to be used by the Lord, prayed up and
spending time each day with the Lord
9.
VS 17:19-21 -
“19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not
cast it out?” 20 And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your
faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall
say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing
shall be impossible to you. 21 [”But this kind does not go out except by prayer
and fasting.”]” - The disciples come
to Jesus to find out why they were unable to cast out this demon
9.1.
We can imagine the embarrassment and shame of the disciples as they came
to Jesus to ask Him why it was that they had failed to be able to cast out this
demon
9.1.1.
We know that they were embarrassed because it says here that they came to
him ‘privately’
9.2.
The nine remaining disciples thought that they had the formula down for
casting out demons, that is they said all of the right words, words which Jesus
had taught them to say, however they were lacking in that they did not have a
sufficient amount of faith to unleash God’s healing power to cast out this
demon
9.3.
Jesus tells the disciples that they needed just a small amount of faith,
symbolized by a small mustard seed, and that if they had this amount of faith
that it would be sufficient for them to move a mountain
9.3.1.
‘Faith’ is just ‘trust’ in God and His promises to us, and as such we can
have sufficient faith to move mountains without having to perspire nor work
ourselves up into a huge emotional high
9.3.2.
In other words, a small amount of faith is a lot for it is placed in the
Lord, and that is really what counts
9.4.
Now, it has been said by many that this concept of having faith to remove
mountains was a Jewish idiom or saying and that literal mountains are not
really meant but rather that the mountains symbolize the trials, troubles, and
needs that we have from time to time in our life
9.5.
Verse 21 is in braces because the verse is not found in the oldest
manuscripts, only the newer, however in Mark 9:29 in Mark’s account of this
incident he writes that Jesus did in fact say this statement here, “29 And
He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.””, and some of the older
manuscripts render Mark 9:29 to say, ‘but by prayer and fasting’
10.
VS 17:22-23 -
“22 And while they were gathering together in
10.1.
Jesus will remain in Galilee until He finally sets His face to go to
10.2.
The disciples had such a hard time understanding any of Jesus’ teachings,
and every time that He taught them something eternal in nature they mistook Him
for speaking to them about something earthly
10.3.
It seems that the disciples didn’t really know how to react to this
statement by Jesus, and thus all that they come away with is being ‘deeply
grieved’
10.3.1.I think that here in this
story that if Jesus’ disciples would have just listened closely to Jesus
telling them that He would raise from the dead in three days they would not
have been nearly so grieved, for their grief was a bitter grief such as
non-believers with no hope beyond this life have when they those lose their
loved ones. The disciples could not at
this point conceive of life without their Savior being their in the flesh by
their side.