Matthew 17
McGeeCHAPTER 17THEME: The Transfiguration; the demon-possessed boy and the faithless disciples; Jesus pays taxes by performing a miracle
Matthew 17:1
THE TRANSFIGURATIONAs we noted at the conclusion of chapter 16, the final verse belongs to this chapter because it explains what our Lord meant when He made this statement: 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 [Mat_16:28].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 Jesus 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 honour 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, when we were with him in the holy mount” (2Pe_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 this for us. The other Gospels give the account of the Transfiguration, with the exception of the Gospel of John. This leads me to say something that may startle you. The Transfiguration does not prove, nor set forth, the deity of Christ. It sets forth the humanity of Christ. The Gospel of John emphasizes the deity of Christ and therefore omits the account of the Transfiguration, although the other three Gospels record it. The transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ is, in my judgment, not only the proof of His humanity but the hope of humanity. The Man whom you see glorified there, transfigured, is the kind of person that you, my friend, will be someday if you are a child of God. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1Jn_3:2). The glorious prospect of being like Christ is before every man. The Lord Jesus Christ was glorified before His death and resurrection, and this is the picture which is given to us here. You will find that the Gospel of Luke presents details which neither Matthew nor Mark include, because Dr. Luke is the one who sets forth the perfect humanity of Jesus. “His face did shine as the sun.” The light shone from within Him rather than upon Him from the outside like a spotlight. At this point let me make the suggestion that perhaps it was this sort of thing that clothed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before their fall. After they sinned, they discovered that they were naked. The implication is that they were not naked before, which leads me to believe that they were clothed with this type of light. And it was the humanity of Jesus that was transfigured. The Transfiguration sets forth His perfect humanity. The word transfigured is a very interesting word. It is the word metamorphosis, which means “a change of form or structure.” The little woolly caterpillar will someday become a beautiful butterfly by the process of metamorphosis. This body that I have today, filled with infirmity and cancer, will someday be transfigured, and even those who are alive at the coming of Christ will be changed, transfigured. This is the hope of humanity.
Matthew 17:3
Moses was the representative of the Law, and Elijah was the representative of the prophets. Moses had died, and Elijah had departed from this world in a chariot of fire. Luke tells us they were discussing Jesus’ decease in Jerusalem"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 Jerusalem" (Luk_9:30-31). The Law and the prophets bore testimony to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 17:4
Simon Peter could never resist an opportunity to make a speech. Every occasion was an auspicious one for him. He generally got to his feet to say something, and usually it was to say the wrong thingthat 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" (Luk_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.
Matthew 17:5
This is God the Father’s testimony to Jesus, the Son. Jesus is the final authority in matters of revelation. What Moses, Elijah and the prophets had to say was wonderful. The writer to the Hebrews says: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son …” (Heb_1:1-2). The Son is the One who came to earth as the final revelation of God to man. Now notice this great statement by the Father"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." Have you ever heard a voice out of heaven commending you and saying that God was well pleased with you? Well, He has never said that to me either. In fact, He has never said it to anyone but this One. The Lord Jesus is the only One who ever has been well pleasing to God. And you and I well never get into God’s presence until we are in Christ by faith. When we receive Christ as our Savior, then we are placed in the body of believers. Christ is the only One in whom God has been pleased, and we are accepted in the Beloved.
Matthew 17:6
Do you want a good motto for your life? I suggest these two words: Jesus only. He is the One who is the authority. I hope you will mark those two words, Jesus only, in your Bible. They provide a good motto for all of us.
Matthew 17:9
Why wait until the Resurrection to tell it, and why should it be told at that time? Because it is part of the gospel story. It tells who Jesus is. He is the perfect Lamb of God. He has been tested for three years, and at this time He is on the way to the Cross to die for the sins of the world. You see, God required a lamb without blemish, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the only One who could die a substitutionary death for mankind, because He was sinless. In His perfect humanity He was transfigured. He is the hope of mankind. The hope of mankind is not in science or education. Both of them are letting us down today. They have created Frankenstein monsters, and we don’t know what to do with them. For example, they have invented a little gasoline buggy in Detroit, Michigan, that is giving us a lot of trouble by polluting the air and clogging all the highways. Science cannot solve the problem. Believe me, friend, the hope of the world just happens to be in a person by the name of Jesus Christ. Be sure you know Him; He is your only hope.
Matthew 17:10
Now this is a remarkable statement
Matthew 17:11
Jesus confirms what was said in the prophecy of Malachi.
Matthew 17:12
This raises a question in the minds of a great many folk regarding John the Baptist. Was he really Elijah? We have covered the same problem in Matthew 11. What our Lord is doing in this chapter is trying to forestall the argument that Jesus had to die on the cross because John the Baptist was not Elijahand Elijah has to come before Christ returns to establish His Kingdom. Our Lord is saying that if they would receive Him as King, John would be Elijah. Don’t ask me how that could beI am only telling you what the Scriptures teach. “Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them"this is the second time the Lord Jesus mentions His approaching crucifixion.
Matthew 17:14
THE DEMON-POSSESSED BOYIn this scene we have a Kingdom-of-Heaven situation, as it is in today’s world. Where does the church fit into it? Go with me now to the foot of the mountain where the other disciples (who were not with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration) are really in trouble. This was probably the worst case which had been brought to the attention of Jesus. It was also a sad situation because the disciples were impotent. This is a picture of the church today in a world that is demon-possessed and has gone crazy. Why is the church impotent in this crazy world? Because it doesn’t have enough psychology or enough methods or enough money? It has all of those things, but they are not what the church really needs. This man had to say to Jesus, “I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
Matthew 17:17
“O faithless and perverse generation” would be His word to the church in our day and probably individually to you and to me.“Bring him hither to me.” Jesus is the Great Physician. Take your case to Him, my friend.
Matthew 17:18
The Lord rebuked His disciples, and then He rebuked the demon. This is probably the worst case of demon possession our Lord dealt with.
Matthew 17:19
“Nothing shall be impossible unto you"that is, nothing that is according to the will of God for you. It was God’s will that this boy be delivered from demon possession. Why couldn’t the disciples deliver him? Because they didn’t have the faith.
Matthew 17:21
This verse is not in the better manuscripts.
Matthew 17:22
AGAIN JESUS ANNOUNCES HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTIONFor the third time the Lord reminds His disciples that He would die and be raised again from the dead. This is the third time He speaks to His disciples of His death and resurrection. The first time He mentioned it was when they were in Caesarea Philippi. Now He is in Galilee, on His way to Jerusalem, and He mentions it again. All that the disciples can do is to feel sorry.
Matthew 17:24
TAX MONEY FROM THE FISH’S MOUTH"Tribute” was the assessment collected annually for the support of the temple.
Matthew 17:25
“Jesus prevented him” means that Jesus went before him.
Matthew 17:26
Jesus is tryng to show Peter that just as the royal family is exempt from tax, so He, as the Son of God, would not be obligated to pay for the support of God’s house.
Matthew 17:27
His method of getting the tax money was certainly novel, to say the least. Now our Lord demonstrates that He has recovered all that Adam lost. The creatures were obedient to Him. The fish as well as Peter followed His command. I believe that God had given to Adam the same dominion over all creation, but he lost it at the Fall. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” (Gen_1:26). In the Transfiguration we see man restored to his original purpose. In the episode of the tribute money we see man restored to his original performance.