Matthew 17

The Transfiguration
We have seen that even before Jesus was born; throughout the birth dialogue, as wise men from the east made an incredible journey to witness the glory of young Jesus; as God the Father worked in the life of Jesus and His parents to ensure He met prophecy after prophecy, and through the baptism of Jesus and His temptation in the wilderness that He is the undeniable Son of God. We and the disciples have seem Him preach and teach with an authority that could only be of God. We have witnessed Him heal the sick and shoo away demons like a common housefly.

Peter, James, and John have not seen Jesus like this though. Jesus leads His inner circle up to a mountain to be alone. All of a sudden He is transformed; the Son becomes like the sun!
This transformation provides a glimpse of His future glory of when He will return to judge the earth and it probably served to encourage the disciples who might have been disheartened after hearing about the death and impending suffering of Jesus.

Then out of nowhere Elijah and Moses appear and begin talking with Jesus!! According to the NIV Study Bible, Moses appearance here is as a representative of the OT covenant and the promise of salvation and Elijah appears here as a reference to Malachi 4:5 “See I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.”

Now why and how Peter misses this is beyond me. If Peter was at all familiar with the Scriptures he would have recognized this wouldn’t he? Instead Peter is concerned with the physical comfort of the three and offers to build some shelters for everyone. God’s only recourse is to send a bright cloud signifying His presence. He speaks to them from this cloud and finally Peter and the disciples fall on their faces in reverence and fear. At hearing the voice of Jesus they look up and find that He is alone among them once again.

After this experience the three disciples would never again consider Jesus as anything less than the Son of God. Through God’s Holy Word and the testimony of other believers we too can see the glory of Jesus Christ. To deny His authority over our life is to assure failure in our walk of faith. Jesus is the only one who can transform our life and lead us to victory.

Casting Out Demons and Faith to Move Mountains
In this section we see that the disciples were unable to cast out a demon. This failure on their part and the explanation from Jesus afterwards teaches us the role of faith in our walk with Jesus. Jesus criticized the disciples lack of faith in God’s power. You see, we don’t need large amounts of faith to begin a transformation in our lives; we only need the “faith as small as a mustard seed” to effect change. Prayer and faith in Jesus are the tools necessary in our walk of faith and with these, Jesus says we can move mountains!! So pray and have faith and the mountain of addiction can be moved; the mountain of fear can be removed; the mountain of disbelief can be disproved; and the mountain of faith and forgiveness can grow and be nurtured.

The Real Reason Jesus Came
Jesus again prepares His disciples for His upcoming death and resurrection. This time He even proclaims that He will rise on the third day but the disciples are still filled with grief.

Obey Those in a Position of Authority
Later on in the NT Paul preaches heavily on our necessity to obey those in authority above us. Here Jesus preempts Paul’s message with one of His own. It is the same message though. Pay your taxes, obey the speed limit, and do what your boss requires of you. So often I am guilty of breaking the laws of society. So often I see cars with “Jesus fish” decals on them speeding and driving dangerously. We must remember the message of Jesus and not offend but do what is required of you by those in a position of authority above you.

Have a great day.

God bless.