Matthew Chapter 17

 ¹ And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

² And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

• Jesus took just Peter, James and his brother John up into a high mountain.
• Jesus said Matthew 16:28  “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” Here Jesus is transfigured before them and they see the glorified Jesus. This event happens just before the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, the arrest, trial and crucifixion.

³ And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

• Moses received the Law from God and Elias (Elijah) represents the prophets of the Old Testament. The following are my thoughts about this:

• Moses and Elias are there with Jesus just as Jesus is about to die for the sins of all mankind… Jesus has fulfilled the Law (what Moses received on mount Sinai to instruct the people of Israel on how to follow God) and the Prophecies (what Elias represents as a prophet). John the Baptist is also called Elias, this is because he is the last Prophet of the Law (Matthew 11:11). After Jesus dies on the cross and resurrects from the dead, the time of grace begins.

• Additional notes: Revelation 11:3-6 ³ And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.⁴ These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.⁵ And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.⁶ These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
  The witnesses in Revelation are often said to be Moses and Elijah by end time teachers. I didn’t hold this teaching because the word never actually says this outright and as I’ve said before, “What the Bible doesn’t say, we shouldn’t either.” Another way to think about these two witnesses is that in the same way that John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah (end of the age of the Law and prophets), perhaps these two witnesses will come in the spirit of 2 teachers for the age of grace. For example, Peter and Paul… one taught the gentiles and the other the Jews… I’m not saying this is a factual truth, but I could argue this is in keeping with the way things were done historically. My points would be that Moses and Elijah in the transfiguration here were at the closing of the age of the Law and beginning of the age of grace…. so the next two that would come would be at the close of the age of grace and would be representatives of the Apostles. Peter for the Jews and Paul for the gentiles. And like John the Baptist wasn’t actually Elijah… these two witnesses wouldn’t actually be Paul or Peter… but would have an anointing that looked like theirs. Since these witnesses appear at the end of the age of grace, they would be preachers of gace and repentence… which both Peter and Paul were, but Moses and John/Elijah were under the Law. At the end of the day, the word does not say this clearly and speculations are just guesses. These two end times witnesses are unknown and will likely stay that way until God is ready to show us, but I show with this the 2 different thoughts on these two witnesses, both of which can be supported with HUMAN logic. Anyway… I digress.

⁴ Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

• Peter sees the transfiguration, a glorified Jesus, and Moses and Elias in their afterlife form, and he chooses to speak in a time when he should remain silent. Peter is zealous, and he has a great love for the Lord, but he is without understanding and immature. In spite of this, Jesus still took him along…and Jesus still used him mightily. God interrupts Peter in the next verse.

⁵ While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

⁶ And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

• My thoughts: I wonder how much time elapsed while they were on their faces? I wonder if Peter was like me when I do something stupid… my brain will replay it over and over, and I’ll ask myself why I make such mistakes! Peter is so relatable. I’m so thankful to God he included Peter’s mistakes, errors and sins along with all the Lord did through him… when I’m feeling low it gives me hope because I consider Peter one of the greatest of the Apostles.

⁷ And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.

• In the Bible I noticed that whenever man has an encounter with God or those who have been in the presence of God and appear in their glorified or holy form, the people who see them are afraid and need to be comforted. In Daniel 10 he saw a vision of an Angel… the people that were with him didn’t see the vision, but they were still afraid and ran off to hide . Click here to read Daniel 10 Here Jesus comforts the 3 disciples after the visitation.

⁸ And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.

⁹ And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.

¹⁰ And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?

• Malachi 4:5-6 ⁵ Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:⁶ And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

• The Jews expected a savior that would drive out Rome, set them free from Roman oppression and take the throne of David to rule over all of Israel… they didn’t expect a savior with a more complex plan of first dying for the sins of all mankind, resurrecting from the dead, then sending out his disciples to cover the entire earth with the good news that Jesus laid his life down for our sins so we can all be restored to fellow with God and all we have to do is believe in him. They didn’t expect Jesus to die for us then ascend into heaven until the time was right for him to return and then at that time, take the throne and rule the whole world. Their errant presupposition of Jesus coming to overthrow Rome is how they missed Jesus when he came. This is also how they missed John the Baptist coming in the same prophetic anointing as Elijah.
  With this in mind, I also think this is how people are going to be deceived in the end times. They are looking for the wrong thing because they don’t know the word. I notice there are also those who feel it’s their place to “figure out” the symbolism in the end times verses and will state these assumptions like they are fact. However, in order not to be one of the people looking for the wrong things, you must be careful to not fill in the blanks the bible has with your own assumptions or other peoples no matter how fantastic it sounds. I outlined earlier how the assumptions of the 2 end time witnesses can be argued to be several different people… each different assumption can be supported with logic or facts, but at the end of the day are simply speculations because every assumption can’t be true or there would be more than 2 witnesses. The scribes who documented everything and who knew the word of God still missed what the word meant when it prophesied that Elias would come first, and they didn’t see it fulfilled with John the Baptist, and they missed the Messiah coming because they assumed his coming would be different. What the Bible teaches, learn and teach to others… what it leaves unspoken, leave it unspoken and trust that when the time is right, The Holy Spirit will open the eyes of your understanding along with the rest of the world.

¹¹ And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

• John the Baptist turned the hearts of men back to God. They always had religion, but what John the Baptist did was turn their hearts back toward worshiping God in spirit and truth…with true repentance.

¹² But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.

• Their expectation of the return of Elijah was different from what happened here so they missed his return. John the Baptist wasn’t the reincarnation of Elijah. John the Baptist came in the same type of anointing as Elijah.
• It’s clear to me that a common flaw we have is that we allow our expectations to cloud our vision.

¹³ Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

• The killing of John the Baptist was still fresh in their minds. I think we can read these scriptures and be detached from what it must have been like to witness someone like John the Baptist being killed for preaching the truth while you yourself are out there preaching the same truth. When Jesus mentioned that Elias had already come, and they did to him what they wanted, they knew instantly that he was speaking about John the Baptist.

¹⁴ And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,

¹⁵ Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.

• It seems to me this man’s son was having seizures, however this is not a medical problem like those that cause seizures, it’s a demonic issue.

¹⁶ And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

• While Jesus and the 3 other disciples were on the mountain, the man brought his son to the other 9 disciples seeking deliverance for him. The other disciples could not cure the boy even though the disciples were given authority to cast out demons in Matthew 10 when they were sent forth. Matthew 10:1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

¹⁷ Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.

• When we see this situation, it comes down to a lack of faith (unbelief).

¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

¹⁹ Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

²⁰ And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

²¹ Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

• When the disciples asked why they could not cast out the demon, Jesus said because of their unbelief. Then he goes on to say this kind of thing goes out by prayer and fasting. In order for this to be because of their unbelief and for the second statement to be true that it goes out with prayer and fasting. You would need to conclude that their faith and belief is made strong through prayer and fasting. If you have strong faith, nothing is going to be impossible to you.

²² And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:

²³ And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

²⁴ And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?

²⁵ He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?

²⁶ Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.

²⁷ Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.