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+--- Thread: NT Doctrine -- Matthew 17:1-23 (/thread-985.html)
NT Doctrine -- Matthew 17:1-23 - Ed Hurst - 01-22-2022
It's a good idea to review the parallel passages in Mark 9:2-32 and Luke 9:28-45. The slight variation between the narratives gives a better picture of what actually happened.
They were all staying somewhere in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi. After about a week of ministering there, Jesus took Peter, James and John on a hike up into the mountains. About the only high mountain there was Hermon, a massive chain mountain with three peaks, spreading more or less southwest to northeast along the modern border of Lebanon, Syria and the occupied Golan Heights. It's elevation is so high that it catches moisture all year round as the ultimate source of the Jordan River, and is usually snow capped through the summer. We can't guess how far Jesus and the trio climbed, but it was up high enough to be isolated. You can find any number of likely places all over that area.
We are told Jesus was praying there and His disciples were dozing at some point, but woke up to find Jesus in an eternal form -- His face and clothes glowing like sunlight itself. It should be rather apparent that Jesus took it all in stride. With Him stood talking Moses and Elijah, also in eternal bodies. Whatever else these two held in common, we note that neither was ever buried, but were taken up into Heaven bodily at the end of their time on earth. They weren't among the vast majority of saints "sleeping" until the Resurrection, the only two we know of during the Old Covenant period. Thus, they both retained a physical form in Eternity, but nothing like our mortal bodies. Of course, both were also major figures in God's revelation of the Covenant. Any conversation would have been rooted in that.
Moses and Elijah were discussing with Jesus His coming death in Jerusalem. They each had their own sorrows and tribulations on the path of serving Jehovah, but neither faced death in the way Jesus would. Whatever it was Jesus got from this encounter, it was partly intended for these three to witness it. Naturally, they didn't understand. Peter spoke up and suggested building some kind of temporary accommodations for the three eternal ones to hang out for a longer time together. Given the context, he was most likely referring to using some of the trees growing on the slopes of the mountain.
Even while he had his mouth still open, a bright glowing cloud covered the place. Within the cloud a disembodied voice spoke, declaring Jesus to be His beloved Son who met His full approval, and that the trio of disciples should pay attention to what that Son had to say. The men swooned for fear, passing out completely. When they came back to consciousness, Jesus was there again in His human form, alone.
He encouraged them to get back on their feet. On the way down, He warned them not to tell what they had experienced, until after He rose from death. They were quite puzzled by this, but at the mention of rising from the dead, they asked about the prophecy that Elijah would come back to restore the Covenant obedience, as he had tried with the Northern Kingdom during his earthly ministry, but this time before the Messiah took His throne. The last few verses of Malachi's prophecy mention this. Jesus affirmed that this had to happen, but then declared that it already had. Elijah was abused and then murdered because the nation's leaders didn't recognize him as a prophet of God -- nothing new about that. Eventually it dawned on the three that Jesus was referring to His cousin, John the Baptist, as the Second Elijah.
By the time they returned, it was the next day. The other nine disciples were surrounded by a very massive crowd. More to the point, they were having an argument with a bunch of scribes and Pharisees over something. As Jesus and His trio approached, the argument broke up and the whole crowd approached on the heels of the disciples. Jesus asked what the dispute had been about. A man detached himself from the crowd and spoke of bringing his son to the disciples to deliver him from a demon. The boy would go into convulsions at the worst of times, falling into fire places or bodies of water. The demon was intent on his parents watching him die horribly. Apparently the dispute with the scribes had to do with what was required to cast out the demon from the boy.
There is some debate over just who Jesus was angry with at this point, but we will take the position that He was primarily condemning the scribes and Pharisees. His words suggest they were the primary reason so many Jewish people were distressed in the first place. It was their teaching and leadership that had so perverted the Scriptures that the people were left without any shalom. And it was their dominance that made His disciples struggle so much with His teaching.
So, Jesus demanded to see the boy and dismissed the evil spirit from him. Later, when they were alone to discuss it, the disciples asked why they were unable to make the demon leave, when they had done it so many times before with other cases. His answer has been mistaken by most readers for centuries. The reference to prayer and fasting in the Covenant points to the level of dedication and commitment that saw Jesus skipping a lot of meals and spending countless hours alone with His Father. It's not an iron discipline of human will, but a depth of passion that took the focus away from this life completely. That was the whole point of Jesus' conference with Moses and Elijah.
If you want to see the power of Heaven in external circumstances, you must first allow it to change you internally. It's not simply a delegated authority, but the very power and Presence of the Father Himself touching the world through your person. We must give Him the freedom to reign in us like that.
Thus, once they got back home to Galilee, He reminded them again that He was going to face betrayal and death at the hands of people who simply could not understand His message or ministry. They would execute Him. But on the third day after His death, He would rise again. This drove the disciples nuts. On the one hand, it seemed they were heading for the final confrontation when the Messiah was supposed to exercise the miraculous power to overcome the evil rulers over them. He would appoint the Twelve as His court ministers and rule over a paradise on earth. Wasn't that what the prophecies all said? They didn't understand how Jesus dying was part of that.
RE: NT Doctrine -- Matthew 17:1-23 - Benjamin - 01-24-2022
"It's not an iron discipline of human will, but a depth of passion that took the focus away from this life completely."
If I had to explain this to a 10-year old, I might say "The secret to Jesus' success was not that he hated earthly food and spending time with his disciples, but that he loved God so much, he'd rather spend time with Him."
Maybe this is why Jesus said "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
Material considerations and concerns are persistent and pervasive.
Thoughts and worries about money and things keep coming back, and come from many directions.
There's a reason why, in a world where consumption and collection (and even "prepping") are the messages that get all the air-time, minimalism, downsizing and decluttering have a dedicated following.
RE: NT Doctrine -- Matthew 17:1-23 - Ed Hurst - 01-24-2022
Amen to that, Benjamin. There are people out there looking for something bigger than themselves, and it typically leads to minimalism as an obvious part of the answer.