Transfiguration
About a week later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother to a high mountain. While Christian tradition names it as Mount Tabor, it is not identified in the Bible text [Matthew 17:1-13].
There, Jesus was transfigured, causing His face to shine brightly as the sun and His garments to appear white. Along with Jesus was Moses and Elias (Elijah). Moses had been dead for a long time, and his soul was in the paradise compartment, since Jesus hadn't been resurrected yet. Elijah had been living in heaven along with Enoch who are destined to be the two witnesses who come back to witness in Jerusalem in the time of the anti Christ.
For the three disciples, that was a very moving experience. There is no record concerning what they were talking about, so speculation is pointless.They wanted to build earthly temples to each of the three, not quite understanding that Moses and Elijah weren't sticking around.
While they were still speaking, a bright cloud came down and the voice of God declared that Jesus was His beloved Son. God was very pleased with all that Jesus had done both before and during His ministry. And God told the disciples to hear what He was saying. They fell on their faces and were afraid since the presence of God was clearly there. As Jews, they knew what being in the presence of God could do to those priests who weren't worthy... there was a purpose in the bells and rope around their ankle when they entered the Holy of Holies after all.
Jesus went to them and touched them and told them to not be afraid. At that point, only Jesus was left. Moses and Elijah were gone. Jesus told them to not tell anyone about what had happened until after He was resurrected from the dead.
The disciples were confused by the scribes belief that Elijah must come first. Jesus replied that Elijah would indeed come and restore all things, but that John the Baptist had come having the spirit and power of Elijah. He was not received by the Jewish leaders and was killed by the Roman government. In like manner, Jesus would be rejected by the Jewish leaders and tortured and killed by the Roman government.
It must have been hard for the three to not speak of what they had seen until after Jesus died and was resurrected. God came down at the start of Jesus ministry and now, near the end, to declare the truth of who Jesus was. That is all that we can do today. But I'm pretty sure Peter was feeling pleased that he'd not only answered Jesus question from the previous chapter about whom do you say that I am correctly, but that God had confirmed it directly and that he got to witness that.
The world has changed in many ways since Christ's time. Many changes have been good. Some have been bad. But the issue that was laid to rest in the transfiguration for the three disciples who accompanied Jesus is still a sticking point that people need to accept today. Jesus was God, the creator. He came to earth and was born of Mary in a virgin birth. He lived, took up a ministerial position filled with the Holy Spirit, and taught and did works that set Him apart from every other prophet or teacher that came before Him.
After dying on the cross and being resurrected, He rose again to be joined with the Father in heaven and operates on our behalf. He is coming again in the clouds to take His church out of the world before the Father unleashes judgment in tribulation on those who rejected Christ. After the seven year period, Jesus will return to set up His rule on earth that will last for 1,000 years. The world will be a very different place during that time.
But accepting these simple truths is a stumbling block to many. The Jews have never accepted Him as the Messiah. The Muslims accept Him as prophet, but reject His divinity because they refuse to accept a God would allow Himself to be crucified. None of this alters the truth about Jesus Christ.
After the resurrection, the three were free to publish what they had seen with their own eyes, and they did so. You would think an eye-witness account by three people, two of whom were going to give their lives for the cause of Christ would be convincing enough, but the majority of the world still refuses to accept accounts which by historical norms are well documented. Flavius Josephus, Tacitus, and Pliny the Younger are three examples who were not directly associated with the early Christian movement, but who give accounts of Jesus life.
Unbelief and Value of Prayer and Fasting
After this Matthew 17:14-21 describes a man who came to Jesus concerning his son who was plagued by a devil which caused him to burn himself and throw himself into the water, presumably to try to drown him. The disciples had been unable to deal with the situation.
Jesus first commented to the disciples that He wasn't going to be around much longer and that they didn't seem to have much faith. When the child was brought to Jesus, He rebuked the devil who left and the child was freed from the turmoil that had been his life before that.
After the man and his son left, the disciples wanted to know why they couldn't cast out the devil. Jesus reply is one that we need to hear today just as much as they did then. Unbelief is a root cause. I think there's a reason that faith is both a fruit and a gift of the Spirit. Faith in God and what His plans are and how you are to go about accomplishing them is still so critically important.
Jesus says that if they had the faith like that of a tiny mustard seed, they could tell a nearby mountain to be removed to a different spot and it would move. Nothing would be impossible to you. I'm not sure any of us will ever have that kind of faith on our own. Divinely given faith is a different matter.
But even then, Jesus goes on to say that the kind of devil that was plaguing the young man required not just faith, but also prayer and fasting to get rid of. The person doing the work needed to be very much in tune with God as Jesus was.
Prayer and fasting are just as important today as then. And I think that is true regardless of what you are trying to do for God. It is always beneficial to a believer to try to get closer to God, and these are two ways to help in that endeavor. If you are struggling with accomplishing something you feel God has led you to do, those are two things to try, subject to God vetoing fasting if you have a particular medical condition that needs special attention.
I'm pretty sure that Jesus gets just as frustrated with His church today as He did with the disciples then. Several of His replies as He was getting closer to the end were a bit tough on the disciples to start with. But He would always go on to explain or do what was needed to meet their needs. The closer you are to God via the Holy Spirit, and the better you listen, the fewer times Jesus is likely to get frustrated with you. Even as parents, we are more helpful with a child that is trying to do something than one who just throws up their hands and expects us to do everything. Maybe as parents, we could learn from Jesus example as well and correct in a merciful manner that nurtures rather than tears down.
Further Prophecy of Jesus Death and Resurrection
In Matthew 17:22-23, Jesus again explained to the disciples that He was going to be betrayed, killed, and would then be resurrected on the third day after he died. They were again sorrowful that their time with Him would be coming to an end and for all the things that were going to happen to Him.
It is natural to not want anything bad to happen to someone you care about and who has been a part of your life for an extended period of time. However, since Jesus was destined to be the sacrifice that would bridge the gap between man and God, there were no other options. What was prophesied to be would happen, regardless of the feelings of the disciples.
But it should also be noted that they were beginning to accept this. In the previous setting, Peter rose up to declare this should not come about. Now they are just noted as being sorrowful. Yet it is still a bit surprising that they received the news of the resurrection with any doubts as Christ had told them plainly what would happen. That they hid after the crucifixion wasn't as great a surprise. After all, if the Jewish leaders would level false accusations against Christ and get Him condemned to death, they probably didn't feel very safe. But they shouldn't have been surprised at His resurrection.
Tribute Money
When they traveled on to Capernaum [Matthew 17:24-27] the temple workers who received tribute money (a yearly temple tax paid by every Jew) asked whether Jesus had paid the tax that was required. Peter replied that He did, but Jesus took an aside to clarify.
He asked Simon about the Roman government whether they collected custom or tribute from foreigners or their own children. Clearly, in that system, the children were exempt. Since Jesus was Lord, in reality He should not have had to pay the tax either.
But not wanting to give any excuse to offend,He tells Peter to go fishing and that the first fish Peter would pull up would have a piece of money that could be used to pay the temple tax for both Peter and Jesus.
No matter how you look at it, this was again a pretty incredible miracle. But it is also clear that Jesus didn't shirk His duties simply due to His position. Christians shouldn't either. Whether or not we approve of all that goes on in the governments above us or the church organizations we are part of, we owe them our taxes for the government and tithes and offerings for the church.