Day 294 – Reading – Matthew 17 and Mark 9

Read and believe in Jesus!

Matthew 17 and Mark 9,

After telling His disciples about His soon-to-arrive suffering, death, and resurrection, Jesus says something hard to understand. “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not see death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

Our first thought may be, well, WE are here, 2000 years later, and WE haven’t seen Jesus coming into His Kingdom.  But consider a few other thoughts. Jesus could have been referring to His resurrection.  Or, perhaps the coming of His Holy Spirit at Pentecost was in His mind. 

But most likely, Jesus was referring to His “transfiguration” when Peter, James, and John saw Jesus glorified.  In both Matthew and Mark (and Luke), it’s the very next thing that happened after those words.

Jesus and the disciples were still in northern Galilee around Caesarea Philippi. Mt. Hermon (9,000 ft.) is nearby. Jesus took the “inner-circle” disciples, Peter, James, and John, up into this “high mountain.”

Jesus was “transfigured” before them.  And these three disciples saw Him, in some of His ‘Eternal Glory.’

• Peter says in his account – 2 Peter 1:16b-18. “…we (3) were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to Him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with Him on the holy mountain.”

Matthew: “His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light.”

Mark: “His clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.”

(Luke: “The appearance of His face was altered and His clothes became dazzling white.”)

Can you imagine?

And THEN, as if this vision was not enough, the revered Old Testament heroes, MOSES and ELIJAH (representing the Law and Prophets), appeared with Jesus.  These two men, whose own deaths are a mystery, were discussing Jesus’ own upcoming “departure,” which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem in just a few months. 

• What do you think they were saying to Jesus?  How were they encouraging Him, do you think?
• I believe they were calling to His remembrance all the Old Testament scriptures that pointed to Him – beginning at Genesis 3:15 (which Moses wrote) about the “seed of the woman crushing the head of the serpent.”
• Did Moses remind Jesus of the “Passover Lamb” whose blood on the doors saved a nation from the death angel? Now He would provide salvation to ALL who believed.
• Perhaps Elijah brought the prophecy of Isaiah 53 to Jesus’ remembrance, reviewing His upcoming suffering, but also the final reward He would have in the Redeemed Saints He would take to Glory. 
• Maybe Elijah, thinking of the chariot of fire that took him to heaven, encouraged Jesus that He too would return to His Father by being “lifted up to the sky,” while his disciples watched.

We don’t know. My thoughts are just speculation. But in some way, these Old Testament powerhouses strengthened Jesus for the road ahead, and the “cup” he would drink.

And then…

Peter’s words penetrated all that sweet communion. “Lord. It is good that WE are here. If You wish, I will make three tents here, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah…!”

But the Father interrupted him, covering the scene with a bright cloud and saying in majesty, “THIS is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, LISTEN TO HIM.”

When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. Perhaps they even fainted, because it took Jesus coming to them, touching them, and saying, “Rise, and have no fear” for them to see that the vision had gone.

On the way down the mountain, Jesus commanded the three, “You are to tell NO ONE about the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”   They kept the matter among themselves, but they didn’t really understand what Jesus meant by ‘rising from the dead.’

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When they came back to the rest of the disciples, they saw a crowd with them, some Jewish officials, a man, and a very distressed boy.  There was loud arguing by the Jewish scribes, and a great deal of distress in the crowd.

“What’s going on here? What are you arguing about?” Jesus wanted to know.

A man from the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought my son to You, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.  So….I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.”

Jesus sighed. “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?  Bring him to me.”

They brought the boy to Jesus, and when it saw Him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.  

Jesus turned to the father, “How long has this been happening to him?

“From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him.” answered the man. “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 

Jesus, to the man, “If YOU can.  All things are possible for one who believes.”

Immediately the father cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Jesus, seeing the crowd amassing around them, said, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come of of him and never enter him again.”

And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that some said he was actually dead.  But Jesus took the boy by the hand and lifted him up. And he arose.  And all were astonished at the majesty of God. 

Later, in the house, the disciples asked Jesus privately why they could not cast the spirit out.  Jesus confided in them that “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”  

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A little later, back in Galilee, Jesus was trying to keep His disciples isolated, for He was teaching them. “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days He will rise.”

The disciples were greatly distressed and did not understand what He was saying. And they were afraid to ask Him.  Jesus would keep reminding then of what MUST happen to Him, clear up to the night of His arrest. But they didn’t understand and wouldn’t accept it.   

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How sweet it must have been to talk with Moses and Elijah on the mountain. They affirmed what was going to happen to Him. And they encouraged Him that indeed, He WOULD rise from the dead, to the glory of God. The plan of salvation, decided on before creation, would be accomplished. Jesus would conquer death and the devil and save His people from their sins.)