Matthew 17.9-13 Mark 9.9-13

Matthew 17:9-13 9 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.” 10 And His disciples asked Him, “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.

Mark 9:9-13 9 As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead. 10 They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant. 11 They asked Him, saying, “Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 12 And He said to them, “Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 “But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.”

After the experience of Peter James and John on the mount of transfiguration, the disciples must have been very excited and likely saying things like: “wait until we tell them about this one.”  Jesus instructed them that they were to keep this experience to themselves and not tell anyone about what they saw until after He had risen from the dead.  This must have been very difficult for them to imagine, but at this point what Jesus was saying brought up many questions in their minds.  It is clear that the disciples had many expectations about what following Jesus would mean.  They were expecting a kingdom and for Jesus to be King.  Naturally, as His disciples, they would have important positions in this kingdom.  They had just seen another clear manifestation that Jesus was indeed Messiah so their anticipation of the kingdom must have been heightened even more.  The words of Jesus as they come down from the mountain caused them confusion but the responses of Jesus brought them clarification.

CONFUSION: It may have been disappointing to hear that they were not supposed to share about all they experienced, but then when Jesus started talking about His death again and resurrection from the dead, this brought about many questions in their minds.  They began to speculate about what He might have meant by rising from the dead.  Perhaps they thought it was some sort of metaphor or that there was some sort of hidden meaning in these words.  The death of Christ simply did not fit into their understanding of who He was and their vision of the kingdom.  This type of confusion is not unusual in our own minds today as we follow the Lord.  When we trust Christ, and commit ourselves to His will, we all have certain expectations that we think will happen in our lives.  Those things rarely happen.  We don’t expect suffering, hardship or illness; but those are often the things that God uses to accomplish His will of conforming us to the image of Christ.  Confusion in these areas should not surprise us, it seems to be a natural part of following Jesus.

CLARIFICATION: The disciples ask Jesus about the prophecies that Elijah was to return prior to Messiah.  They may have been asking if what they just experienced was the beginning of that, or if there was still something that needed to happen.  Jesus takes the time to let them know that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of the prophecy and that the Scriptures also clearly taught about the suffering of Messiah.  Jesus wants to make it very obvious that He is the Messiah and that He is fulfilling all that the Scriptures foretold about Him.  There are things that we have trouble understanding because we don’t look at the whole of Scripture but just look at the things we like and fit with the way we think.  We must be dedicated to studying the whole truth and not just the parts we like to hear.

APPLICATION: Be prepared to face suffering as we become like Christ.  Study all of Scripture not just that which makes us feel good.