Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Have you ever been asked to keep a secret? Did you? Did you know Jesus asked His disciples to keep a secret? Oh yes! Join me again today in Matthew 17 as three disciples, Peter, James and John, are walking down the mountain with Jesus following an indescribable experience we looked at yesterday.
They had seen Jesus TRANSFIGURED right before their eyes, and furthermore ancient Jewish heroes Moses and Elijah, even though dead hundreds of years, had miraculously appeared before them talking with transfigured Jesus. And if all that wasn’t enough, they had audibly heard the voice of God proclaim: “This is My Son whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” (Matt. 17:1-5)
My guess is the three disciples who had witnessed this shocking scene, Peter, James and John, were speechless and probably trembling as they started making their way down the mountain with Jesus. What had they just seen and heard? How could they ever explain it to anyone?
Oh my, they had hundreds of questions to ask. But before they could, Jesus asked them to keep it all a secret! Jesus said: “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” (Matt. 17:9)
What?? I suspect the three disciples stopped cold in their tracks and stared at Jesus. Jesus had just made the clearest, most direct statement they had ever heard Him speak about His death and resurrection! What could He possibly mean by that? What should they do in preparation? Were their lives in danger as followers of Jesus? Can you imagine the questions and maybe a shiver of fear that welled up in them?
Finally one of them found his tongue and asked a question that for you and me seems way out of left field, totally irrelevant. “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” (Matt. 17:10) We need to remember these were Jewish men, and all Jewish men knew that the last words of their cherished holy books, what we call the Old Testament, were the words of the prophet Malachi. These words found in Malachi 4:5 had kept all Jews watchful, for more than 400 years!
Watching for what? Watching for these words of God to be fulfilled: “I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with destruction.” Perhaps you recognize how the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Zechariah, about the child John, echoed these words of Malachi! (Luke 1:17)
Now remember, these three disciples had just seen, with their own eyes, the transfiguration of Jesus and somehow the appearance of both Moses and Elijah, on that mountain!? But Jesus answered that this miraculous appearance was not what God had promised through Malachi, rather the man who fulfilled Malachi’s prophecy as Elijah in their generation had been John the Baptist!
And then Jesus said: “Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” (Matt. 17:12) Oh my, Jesus once again predicted that He would very soon suffer at the hands of the Jerusalem religious leaders! These disciples knew John the Baptist had been beheaded! Can you imagine what they were thinking and talking about as they continued down that mountain with Jesus?
Matthew and Mark both tell us that upon their arrival at the base of the mountain they found a crowd gathered around the other disciples arguing with them! Jesus asked the obvious question: “What are you arguing about?” but before anyone could answer, a man ran up to Jesus begging for his help.
This man described a terrible situation he and his family were living with: “I brought You my son who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked Your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” (Mark 9:14-18) Oh my, what do you see happening here my friends?
The man brought his boy to Jesus and the record says: ‘When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into convulsions. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the father, ‘how long has he been like this?’ ‘From childhood. It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” (Mark 9:20-22)
It’s not difficult for us to see the desperation of this family, is it? Can you imagine the compassionate look on Jesus’ face and the bewilderment on the faces of His disciples? Peter, James and John watched very closely remembering the transfiguration of Jesus they had witnessed on the mountain only a few hours before. What would Jesus do now in response to this urgent need?
As the boy rolled around on the ground Jesus spoke words to the father none who heard Him would ever forget: “If you can? Everything is possible for the one who believes.“ And immediately the boy’s father said words no one would ever forget: “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:23,24)
Let’s pause right here. Have you said that to God in the past, asking for God’s help in overcoming your doubt, your small belief? Have you wondered why some needs go so long without being met even though brought before praying people many times? Do you wonder if the dark kingdom is as active in our day as it was in Jesus’ day but maybe we don’t identify the problem as demonic? Do you wonder why the demonic forces were trying to kill a child?
Those are very legitimate questions and tomorrow we’ll dig more deeply into Mark 9 to find the answers. For today I urge us to consider the crowd standing with Jesus watching this child roll on the ground foaming at the mouth. All of them knew there was nothing any of them could do to help the boy.
Three of them, Peter, James and John, now looked at Jesus differently because of what they experienced earlier that day in His transfiguration and the voice of God.
Jesus looked intently at this scene. The boy, like the demonized man who had lived among the tombs, (Mark 5) was being brutalized by demons of the dark kingdom. Only one force was powerful enough to control the demons and free the boy… the supreme power of God which had created all the angels. Jesus, God the Son, had that power that day. What would be the right thing, the God honoring thing for Jesus to do? Tomorrow we’ll find out.
For today, more ‘lessons learned’ study notes are available to you at the link just below, as is a wonderful worship song and I’ll be here waiting for you tomorrow.
Today’s Scripture: Matt. 17:9-13; Mark 9:14-24.
Choose below to read or listen.
Matt. 17:9-13
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Mark 9:14-24
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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