Matthew Chapter 17

Introductory remarks:

As noted in the last chapter, verse 28 of that chapter belongs at the beginning of this chapter, for it explains that the disciples that were then with Him would not taste death until He would be glorified.

"This was fulfilled for the apostles in the Transfiguration of Jesus. The Transfiguration is that picture of the Son of man coming in His kingdom. Someone may say, 'Can you be sure that the Lord had reference to His coming Transfiguration?' Well, Simon Peter was one of the apostles who was present at the Transfiguration, and in his second epistle he wrote of that experience: 'For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard with Him in the holy mount' (2 Peter 1:16-18). How was Jesus' statement fulfilled for the apostles in that day? When the Lord Jesus Christ was glorified on the Mount of Transfiguration with three of His disciples present, this statement was fulfilled. The Transfiguration was a miniature picture of the kingdom, and Simon Peter confirmed for us" (J. Vernon McGee).

The Transfiguration of Jesus

(Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36)

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

LGT "And after six days Jesus takes with [Him] Peter and James and John his brother, and brings them up into mountain, high apart."

It was about a week after verse 28 of chapter 16 that Jesus takes with Him Peter, James and John unto a high mountain. "There can scarcely be a reasonable doubt, that Christ and His disciples had not left the neighborhood of Caesarea, and hence, that 'the mountain' must have been one of the slopes of gigantic, snowy Hermon. In that quiet semi-Gentile retreat of Caesarea Philippi could He best teach them, and they best learn, without interruption or temptation, from the Pharisees and Scribes, that terrible mystery of His suffering" (Edersheim).

Barnes notes:

"These three disciples were with Him, also in the garden of Gethsemane, Mark 14:33. He designed to fit them in eminent degree for the work of the gospel ministry by the previous manifestations of His glory, and of His patience in suffering."

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

LGT "And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone as the sun, and His clothes became white as the light."

The Greek word for 'transfigured' is metemorphethe, a first aorist passive indicative meaning His form was changed; (meta-) a change, (morphe) form. Christ's form was changed before their eyes. The dazzling brilliance of His glory shone in His face and His clothes became whiter than any bleach could make them. "It was a metamorphosis, a change from within; the glory of Christ's eternal Sonship shone out through the veil of His flesh so that the disciples might have ocular [visual] proof of His true character as Immanuel - God and Man in one person" (Ironside).

Pentecost writes:

"Christ was not transfigured by means of an external light focused on Him so that He reflected the Glory of God. Rather, this was the outshining of the essential glory that belongs to Jesus Christ. The Father's glory is Christ's glory. John recorded Christ's prayer, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world began (John 17:5). It was necessary that Christ's glory be veiled when He came into this world. Christ's glory was not surrendered at the time of the incarnation but was veiled, lest the people whom He had come to redeem should be consumed by its brightness. God's purpose was to dwell in the midst of His people Israel and to reveal His presence among them by letting the light of His glory shine on them. But Israel could not behold the unveiled glory of God. Therefore, in revealing plans for the tabernacle to Moses, God instructed them to erect a curtain between the Holy of Holies, where God purposed to dwell, and His people. That veil was not so much designed to teach Israel that they were unworthy to enter the presence of God - which in truth it did - as much as to protect Israel from being consumed by the brightness of God's glory. The veil, then, was a gracious provision by a holy God to make it possible for Him to dwell in the midst of an unholy people. The writer to the Hebrews said that the body of Jesus Christ was to Him what the veil was in the Tabernacle: We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body (Heb. 10:19-20). Christ's glory, then, was not surrendered at the incarnation [His birth]; instead, it was veiled so that the Holy One might dwell among an unholy people. The Transfiguration, then, was a revelation of the essential glory that belongs to Christ and one day will be revealed to the world. This, then, was the fulfillment of the prophecy that Christ had made the preceding week."

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

LGT "And, behold, Moses and Elias appeared to them talking with Him."

Moses and Elijah appeared to all three disciples; Moses represented the law; Elijah represented the prophets; Jesus represents grace. Every dispensation was covered in His transfiguration. Jesus Christ kept perfectly the Law of Moses and fulfilled all the prophecies of the O.T. The incarnation of Jesus Christ only veiled His glory, and now that glory shone out in all its brilliance. Luke tells us what they talked with Jesus about; And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jeusalem (Luke 9:30-31). How did these men know it was Moses and Elijah? It has been suggested that Moses appeared with a scroll in his hand and Elijah in a fiery chariot. However, it was a vision only, and I am sure that Christ would tell them what it all meant. Actually nothing is said of them recognizing the two, only that the two appeared to them.

Verse 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."

LGT "And Peter answering said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if You will, I will make here three tabernacles; for You one, and for Moses one, and one for Elias."

"If thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles;"

The best text reads I will make here three tabernacles. Peter plans on erecting these tabernacles himself (Vincent).

Peter, always the spokesman, doesn't know when to hold his peace. Peter was answering the Lord who obviously had addressed Peter, but what he said was better left unsaid, for Peter had no idea what he was talking about. Peter expected that Christ was ready to set up His Millennial Kingdom.

McGee said:

"Simon Peter could never resist an opportunity to make a speech. Every occasion was an auspicious [favorable] one for him. He generally got to his feet to say something, and usually it was to say the wrong thing - that is, until the Day of Pentecost. But here it is the wrong thing; he should have kept quiet. God Himself rebukes him, as we shall see, because he was attempting to place Moses and Elijah on the same plane with the Lord Jesus. Luke offers the explanation for this indiscretion of Peter's by stating, '. . . not knowing what he said' (Luke 9:33). And there are a lot of folk who talk without knowing what they are saying! Peter was rebuked. He should have kept still."

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; hear ye him."

LGT "While yet he was speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My Son, the beloved One, in whom I have found delight, you all hear Him."

"While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them:"

This cloud was a sign of the Divine presence of the Lord, just as the cloud went before the children of Israel in the wilderness; so maybe the disciples were prepared for the voice of God. The cloud actually enveloped them completely.

"And behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son; hear ye him."

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

LGT "And hearing [it], the disciples fell upon their face and were terrified greatly."

The cloud enveloped them around, and they were terrified (Luke 9:34) as they heard God's voice. "No man can see God and live; and it is only the glory of God, as it shines in the face of Christ that mortals can bear" (Barnes). We read in II Cor. 4:6: For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath [shone] in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

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

LGT "And having come to [them] Jesus touched them and said, Rise up and be not terrified."

Jesus touched His disciples and with His tenderness restores order.

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

LGT "And having lifted up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself only."

After Jesus had touched them and gave them words of comfort, the disciples lifted up their eyes and saw Jesus only, for Moses and Elijah had been taken up in the cloud back to heaven.

Verse 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."

LGT "And as they were descending out of the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, To no one tell the vision until the Son of Man be risen from among the dead."

Jesus commands that the disciples tell no man of their experience with Him on the mountain. There are several reasons He did not want them to tell of their experience. One of the reasons is that His resurrection will be a large part of their message when they go out to the world to preach the gospel of the kingdom, and they did not understand the fact of the Resurrection as yet. Pentecost gives two significant reasons they were not tell anyone; "First, the ministry entrusted to the men would be centered around the person and work of Jesus Christ, not in their own experiences. It would have been natural for these men to tell of the glory they had seen, thus attracting others to themselves. But their ministry was to point others to Jesus Christ. A second reason for silence was that the nation already had responded negatively to the person of Christ. Therefore, He withheld further signs from that generation. If these men had told of their experience, they would have given the nation another sign that Jesus Christ had been appointed by God and was approved by Him as the Son of God. However, after the Resurrection, These men were free to publicize what they had seen on the mount. Two of the three (Peter and John) specifically referred to this event in their writings."

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

LGT "And the disciples asked Him, saying, Why then [do] the scribes say that it is necessary that Elias come first?"

The disciples asked Jesus a very interesting question, for they were taught by their very learned teachers, the scribes, that Elijah must come first before the Messiah would come and set up His kingdom. The scribes were teaching from Malachi 4:5, Behold, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the coming of the great and [terrible] day of the Lord."

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

LGT "And Jesus answering said, Elias indeed comes and restores all things."

The disciples did not see any need for Elijah to come and restore order (Mal. 4:5), since they already have their Messiah; However Jesus assures them that Elijah will surely come. Elijah perhaps will be one of the two witnesses that will come during the Tribulation before that 'great and terrible Day of the Lord' which will be when Christ returns to judge the nations at the end of the Tribulation.

Pentecost writes:

"Christ's reply was to affirm the truth of the prophecy that Elijah will be sent by God before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. That day will be a time of judgment on Israel preceding the institution of Messiah's kingdom. In that day the nation will be called to repentance and judged, with Messiah separating believers from unbelievers. He will accept believers into His kingdom but reject all unbelievers. Christ affirmed that the Word of God will stand and that the teachers of the law were not in error in expecting the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy."

Verse 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."

LGT "But I say to you that Elias is already come, and they knew not him, but did to him whatever they desired: thus also the Son of Man is about to suffer from them."

"But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not,"

Jesus is referring here to His forerunner 'John the Baptist' whom they did not recognize when He came: And they asked him [John the Baptist], and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, not Elijah, neither that prophet. If John the Baptist had been Elijah, Christ would have set up His kingdom, but John only came in the spirit of Elijah, because Christ had to be put to death first before He could reign in His kingdom.

"But have done unto him whatsoever they listed."

The Greek word for 'listed' is ethelesan, meaning whatever they desired. Listed is an old English word meaning as they pleased, that is they put John to death (Matt. 14:10).

"Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them."

Jesus is making reference to His coming crucifixion. This is a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy in chapter 53.

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

LGT "Then the disciples understood that concerning John the Baptist He spoke to them."

The Healing of a Boy with a Demon

(Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-43a)

It finally dawned on the disciples that John the Baptist was Elijah in spirit and had come to prepare the way for the Lord.

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

LGT "And having come to the crowd, a man came to Him and kneeling down to Him,"

Jesus with His three disciples, Peter, James and John, came down from the mountain, the next day after the Lord's Transfiguration, they met with the crowd and a man came before Him kneeling in honor.

Verse 15, "Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for oftimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water."

LGT "And saying, Lord, have pity on my son, because he is epileptic and he has it bad: for often he falls into the fire, and often onto the water."

The Greek word for 'lunatic' is seleniazetai, epileptic, literally, moonstruck or lunatic. "The symptoms of epilepsy were supposed to be aggravated by the changes of the moon" (Robertson). Luke gives a very vivid account of the sons condition as being possessed by a demon: And behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son; for he is mine only child. And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him so that he foameth again and, bruising him, hardly departeth from him (Luke 9:38,39).

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

LGT "And I brought him to your disciples, and they were not able to heal him."

Barnes believes that the man came to some of the disciples, but not the nine apostles left behind when He departed with the three, Peter, James and John; but this does not make sense that Matthew would be referring to some of the disciples, that is, followers, and not to the nine; Barnes believes that because the nine apostles were given the gifts of the Spirit, they would have been able to exercise their authority; the problem with this reasoning is that it doesn't seem to fit our context; the twelve apostles had to exercise faith in order to be able to heal etc., but this was an extreme case, probably the worst that Christ had been confronted with, so it could be that they did not yet have a mature enough faith to accomplish this Herculean task.

Verse 17, "Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? Bring him hither to me."

LGT "And answering Jesus said, O unbelieving and distorted generation, until when shall I be with you? Until when shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me."

The Greek word for 'perverse' is diestrammene, a perfect passive participle meaning to be twisted, to turn away, or to distort; the meaning is that they make everything unclear and vague by distortion. Jesus' words are now directed at the scribes and Pharisees, rather than the disciples who were unable to heal the man's son. Jesus tells them to bring the son to Him, evidently as a test of His authority, for the unbelieving nation is still seeking a sign; of all that Jesus has done they are still seeking a sign, and the Jews are still seeking a sign in the twenty first century.

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

LGT "And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out from him and the little child was healed from that hour."

The other gospel accounts fill in the details that give a clear picture of the effect the demon had on this innocent little boy. "The word rebuke has the combined force of reproving and commanding. He reproved him for having afflicted the child, and He commanded him to come out of him. Mark (9:25) has recorded the words, which He used - words implying reproof and command: Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee come out of him, and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and with a mighty convulsion came out, leaving the child apparently dead. Jesus lifted him up by the hand (Mark), and gave him to his father (Luke)" (Barnes).

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

LGT "Then the disciples having come to Jesus separately said, Why were we not able to cast out him?"

The disciples were puzzled because Jesus had given them the power earlier when He commissioned them (Matt. 10:1). The disciples waited until they were away from the crowd when they asked the Lord why they were impotent.

Verse 20, "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have the 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."

LGT "And He said to them, Because of your imperfect faith: For I say to you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove from here, and it shall remove: and nothing shall be impossible to you."

Christ explained to the disciples by these words that they had been trusting in the power that was previously given them, rather than on His person. He was telling them that they had to depend upon Him daily through prayer, just as He has depended on His heavenly Father through prayer throughout His human existence. Jesus was giving them a lesson that they would be able to take out in the future ministry after He had left them, that is, that they would not get puffed up with their own power, and that they could only do these miraculous things through prayer and complete dependence on His Person.

Christ described their faith as little, literally imperfect. The thought here is that there faith had not yet had a chance to grow. The illustration Jesus uses of the 'grain of mustard seed' is that the seed is the smallest and yet grows into the largest of all the herbs. The disciples had not yet had a chance to mature, for even today, a teacher is not made overnight. No one is able to remove a mountain, and yet, Jesus sets that as the goal they should aim; no one will ever be completely perfected until we reach our goal in glory, but we should never give up in letting Him mature us through our study.

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

This verse is not in the better manuscripts.

Jesus Again Foretells His Death and Resurrection

(Mark 9:30,32; Luke 9:43-45)

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

LGT "And while they were abiding in Galilee Jesus said to them, The Son of Man is about to be delivered up into the hands of men."

They were abiding in Galilee in the Northern part of Palestine. The Greek word for 'betrayed' is paradidosthai, an present active infinitive, meaning to give over, that is, to be delivered up; we know that this was done by that evil Judas Iscariot.

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

LGT "And they shall kill Him, and the third day He shall be raised up. And they were grieved greatly."

Jesus explains for the third time to His disciples that He will be crucified and resurrected the third day; the disciples still do not understand, but they are greatly grieved. The disciples would not understand fully till after His resurrection.

Pentecost writes:

"In spite of this clear statement, the disciples did not understand. The Jews at the time of Christ were confused about the Old Testament prophecies concerning Messiah. They recognized on the one hand that Messiah was to suffer, and on the other that Messiah would rule in power and glory. These two lines of revelation seemed to be contradictory. Jewish theology sought to harmonize the confusion by teaching the coming of two Messiahs: one to suffer and die, and the other to reign in power and glory. The disciples were not above accepting this popular conception. Christ had been speaking of a glorious kingdom in which He would rule over Israel. The three on the mount had had a revelation of that kingdom and Christ's glory in it; thus their attention was focused on the glory of Messiah's reign. Like the other Jews, they could not conceive of Messiah having to suffer and die. Christ was trying to show these men that the same Messiah who one day would reign must also suffer and die. Hence, as they walked the slopes of Hermon to the sanctuary of Capernaum, our Lord again instructed them concerning the events that were before Him. This instruction produced two results: first, they were much confused but afraid to ask Him for further explanation (Mark 9:32); and second, they were filled with grief (Matt. 17:23)."

Payment of the Temple Tax

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

LGT "And they having come to Capernaum, those who received the didrachmas came to Peter and said, Your Teacher does not pay the didrachmas?"

On this tribute money (tax) A.T. Robertson writes:

"This temple tax amounted to an Attic drachma or the Jewish half-shekel, about one third of a dollar. Every Jewish man twenty years of age and over was expected to pay it for the maintenance of the temple. But it was not a compulsory tax like that collected by the publicans for the government. 'The tax was like a voluntary church-rate; no one could be compelled to pay' (Plummer). The same Greek word occurs in two Egyptian papyri of the first century A.D. for the receipt for the tax for the temple of Suchus (Milligan and Moulton's Vocabulary). This tax for the Jerusalem temple was due in the month Adar (our March) and it was now nearly six months overdue. But the twelve had been out of Galilee most of this time. Hence the question of the tax-collectors. The payment had to be made in the Jewish coin, half-shekel. Hence the money-changers did a thriving business in charging a small premium for the Jewish coin, amounting to some forty five thousand dollars a year, it is estimated. It is significant that they approached Peter rather than Jesus, perhaps not wishing to embarrass 'Your Teacher,' 'a roundabout hint that the tax was overdue' (Bruce). Evidently Jesus had been in the habit of paying it."

Verse 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 strangers?"

LGT "He says, Yes. And having come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth receive custom or tribute? From their sons or from the strangers?"

"And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou Simon?"

The Greek word for 'prevented' is proephthasen meaning 'to anticipate', and in this context it means that Jesus knew what Peter was about to say; "Jesus did not wait for Peter to tell him of the demand of the collectors. He anticipated him in speaking about it" (Vincent).

"Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? Of their own children, or strangers"

Does a king tax his own family or strangers? The word 'strangers' does not mean foreigners, but non-family members. "Jesus, as the Son of God, claims exemption from the temple tax as the temple of His Father, just as royal families do not pay taxes, but get tribute from foreigners or aliens, subjects in reality" (A.T. Robertson).

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

LGT "And saying, From the strangers. Jesus said to him, Then indeed the sons are free."

The temple tax was a religious tax and not a civil tax; the Lord was regarded by all as a Rabbi, and therefore would have been exempt from such a tax; but He had been absent from Capernaum for some time, so maybe they regarded Him a stranger. If a civil tax this logic would not apply.

Verse 27, "Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the see, 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: take, and give unto them for me and thee."

LGT "But in order that we cause them to not stumble, having gone to the sea, cast a hook and the first fish coming up take, and having opened its mouth, you will find a stater: having taken that, give it to them from Me and you."

"Lest we should offend them,"

Jesus does not want to be a reason to cause them to stumble over insignificant issues, for He has better things to say to them. The Greek word for 'offend' is skandalon meaning to cause to stumble. Jesus does not want to create the impression that they hated the temple worship (Robertson).

"Go thou to the sea, and cast an hook,"

This is the first place in the NT that a hook is used for fishing, obviously because He wanted Peter to catch one particular fish prepare for Him by heaven.

"And take up the fish that first cometh up;"

More correctly, take the first fish that comes up.

"And when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money:"

Literally, you will find a stater. A Greek stater is equal to four drachmae, enough for two persons to pay the tax.

"That take, and give unto them for me and thee."

"Here we have a miracle of foreknowledge. Such instances have happened. Some try to get rid of the miracle by calling it a proverb or by saying that Jesus only meant for Peter to sell the fish and thus get the money, a species of nervous anxiety to relieve Christ and the Gospel of Matthew from the miraculous. 'All the attempts have been in vain which were made by the older Rationalism to put a non-miraculous meaning into these words' (B. Weiss). It is not stated that Peter actually caught such a fish though that is the natural implication. Why provision is thus only made for peter along with Jesus we do not know" (A.T. Robertson).

By paying the temple tax, Jesus was avoiding the religious authorities, and thus not giving them reason to reject Him on these grounds.

Go To Chapter 18

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