seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Matthew 17:1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”
11 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, 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.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” [21] [a]
22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.
24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”
25 “Yes, he does,” he replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”
26 “From others,” Peter answered.
“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27 “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 17:21 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark 9:29
Well of course the tax collector would talk about taxes.... but something big is in this chapter..... Jesus must have called a conference after He heard about the beheading of John the Baptist. Some articles I read said that Jesus was upset over the passing of His friend.... how obtuse and uncaring can we humans be? Jesus was teaching love and kindness. He didn't want to appear to be the dragon slayer on this trip.... He had the antidote to death and that was more important that letting his temper have a little release. I think that's why Jesus got so testy with the disciples when they could drive the demon out of the little boy. I bet the rebuke Jesus let out on that demon would have made a sailor's ears turn blue..... I bet that demon in verses 17 and 18 was happy to get out of the sight of Jesus.
The commentary is from the easy English site.
For a short time, the disciples were able to see Jesus as he really is. His face shone as Moses’ face had shone (Exodus 34:29-30). Mark and Luke find different ways to describe Jesus’ clothes at this time. They were shining and they were white. Mark says that nobody could make them whiter. Luke says that they were bright, like lightning.
Moses was God’s special servant. He received the Law from God for the people. Elijah was the greatest of God’s special servants. Jesus was more important than both these men. He explained what the Law meant. God gave his message to his special servants to deliver to the people. Jesus made that message come true. Both Moses and Elijah had left the earth in strange ways. Their appearance with Jesus now suggested that there is life after death. Luke says that they were talking with Jesus about his death in Jerusalem. Luke used the word ‘exodus’ for ‘death’, like the ‘exodus’ in Moses’ time. Moses rescued Israel’s people from Egypt (Exodus 12). When Jesus died, he rescued people from sin.
Jesus warned his disciples. They must not tell anyone at this time what they had just seen. He did not want people to think about him as the wrong kind of Messiah. These three disciples did not understand completely until after Jesus died and rose to life again. So they were not able to explain properly until then what they had seen.
They were confused because they had seen Elijah on the mountain with Jesus. The men who taught the Law believed that Elijah would come back before the Messiah arrived. They did not know how this could be true. They thought that Elijah had not come. But they wanted to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus told them that ‘Elijah’ had already come. The new Elijah was John the Baptist. He had come to prepare people to receive the Messiah. Then there could be a new relationship between the people and God. There could be new relationships between people as well (Malachi 4:5-6). But John had suffered because people did not believe his message. So Jesus would suffer too. But Jesus also said that Elijah will come again to the Jews one day.
There was a curious crowd of people including some men who taught the Law. And they were arguing with the disciples. The disciples were probably ashamed and puzzled. They had been able to force out evil spirits before (Matthew 10:8), but this time they could not do it. But the sick boy’s father believed Jesus. So he still came to him, even after the disciples had failed to heal his son. The father called his son’s illness ‘epilepsy’. This illness makes a person shake hard and fall down. The boy had fallen into dangerous places. He could burn himself, or he might even drown.
Jesus used the same words that described Israel’s people in the desert long ago (Deuteronomy 32:5). People did not believe God then either. In Mark’s account, the father asked Jesus to help him. He really wanted to believe more. Matthew emphasises that the disciples had failed to heal the sick boy. Jesus healed the boy with a command.
The disciples wanted to know why they had not succeeded. Jesus told them that they needed only to believe him a little. Then they could deal with the most difficult problems. The Jews used picture language. To move a mountain meant to remove something very difficult.
Every male Jew who was over 20 years old had to pay an annual tax to the Temple. The tax was half a ‘shekel’ coin (Exodus 30:13), and it was equal to two days’ wages. This tax provided the money that the Temple in Jerusalem needed. The men usually collected it in the towns and villages from March 15th to March 25th. After that date, people had to go to the Temple to pay the tax. The men who collected it probably thought that Peter was the disciples’ leader. The men may have asked an ordinary question for information. But perhaps they wanted to know whether Jesus was a loyal *ew. Jesus could have refused to pay since, as God, the Temple belonged to him. But the people did not understand that. So they would think that he did not care about the Temple. That is why Jesus asked Peter the question about the taxes.
Peter agreed that kings do not collect taxes from their own families. We do not know whether Peter understood Jesus. He probably realised years later what Jesus had meant. Jesus and his disciples were citizens where God rules. They were part of the King’s family. So they did not have to pay the tax. But Jesus did not want to give wrong ideas to people about their financial duties. To ‘offend’ here means to put something in the way that makes people fall. So Jesus told Peter how to find the tax for them both. Christians sometimes have a responsibility to do something that limits their own freedom. They want to avoid offending other people. They do not want people to misunderstand what they believe.
There is a fish in the sea of Galilee that has a very large mouth. People call it ‘St Peter’s fish’.
I admit.... there is a ton of information in this chapter.... and I shouldn't gloss over any of it.... and that's why I post the commentary. I'm not smart enough to figure all this out..... so I depend on my Online Bible and my online commentary. The preachers must be all over the place with this chapter.... taxes for their church or transfiguration..... transfiguration or taxes for the church..... which will probably blow up in their faces..... Transfiguration or money.... Elijah, Moses, and Jesus having a conference on the side of a mountain or pulling a coin out of a fish....... and let's throw in that "ye of little faith" too.... I bet the preachers have a big problem with this chapter.Let me first remind myself how these two, Moses and Elijah died. Deuteronomy says God buried Moses and no one knows where. People talk about how Elijah was picked up in a chariot of fire in 2 Kings. Now that's some pretty tall tale for an old woman to sort out..... Moses was almost murdered at birth.... as was Jesus. Elijah was a messenger who talked regularly with God.... and when Elijah was taken away..... His cohort Elisha took Elijah's cloak and stuck it in the water..... and the water parted.... now there... there from 2 Kings 2 is the full circle of Moses and Elijah..... and now both of them are having a conference with Jesus.....
I wonder about that conversation.... I know God was in attendance..... I wonder... did Elijah tell Jesus what really transpired that night when Herod's step daughter traded a lusty dance for the head of a prophet..... Is that why Jesus was so upset..... Was that demon in that little boy put there just so Jesus could vent a little. Humans.... stupid humans.... just wouldn't learn to trust.... just wouldn't learn to give.... just wouldn't learn to care for each other.. Jesus didn't have a lot of time to get these humans trained. The disciples were not "unfaithful" meaning totally lacking in faith.... rather they were "faith impaired" meaning they had faith but not enough to trust.
Then there's the matter of the tax. This is the first year.... since 1965 that I did not file taxes. I'm an old woman.... retired [thanks to colon cancer] and the first year I don't have any taxable income.... there's supposed to be a stimulus check on its way. Of course the government will give the stimulus to the working class first.... after all... they contributed so they need their coins back...... I guess they will get those of us who are totally dependent on Social Security next month. The Temple Tax..... that's a different animal though. The Temple Tax was supposed to be used to keep the Temple in good shape. Jesus said.... God is My Father..... so why should I pay the tax.... but if I must.... I'll tell you where to find a coin or two.
I heard..... honestly I must have heard or seen every lousy bad stupid preacher who could utter a stupid comment on tv.... but I heard that the story of the fish was about tithes. I heard a preacher say..... you are a child of God so every penny you make is from God..... just like Jesus told Peter to take the coins and give them to the church.... you should do that too. I heard this stupid preacher say.... "everything you have comes from God..... so everything you have should be given back to God.... so tithing is not enough.... you should do as Jesus did.... and give everything you earn to the church...." I heard him say that.... and I kept listening through the rest of his stupid money grubbing sermon.... and he never clarified or took it back.... that preacher wants it all.... he wants it all and he wants it now.... geeze..... what's in your preacher's wallet?
Jesus had to be a tad bit distraught..... I often wonder if Moses and Elijah were there to give Jesus a chance to go to war..... Jesus was there to teach and heal without violence, conquest, or burdening humans. The plan was the Cross and walking out on death...... and those stupid human disciples better get faith full to the brim and quick because this ministry had a short time clock on it.....
