Reflections on Matthew 17

Matthew 17 (Contemporary English Version)


1. Six days later Jesus took Peter and the brothers James and John with him. They went up on a very high mountain where they could be alone.
   
2. There in front of the disciples, Jesus was completely changed. His face was shining like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
   
3. All at once Moses and Elijah were there talking with Jesus.
   
4. So Peter said to him, "Lord, it is good for us to be here! Let us make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
   
5. While Peter was still speaking, the shadow of a bright cloud passed over them. From the cloud a voice said, "This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him. Listen to what he says!"
   
6. When the disciples heard the voice, they were so afraid that they fell flat on the ground.
   
7. But Jesus came over and touched them. He said, "Get up and don't be afraid!"
   
8. When they opened their eyes, they saw only Jesus.
   
9. On their way down from the mountain, Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the Son of Man had been raised from death.
   
10. The disciples asked Jesus, "Don't the teachers of the Law of Moses say that Elijah must come before the Messiah does?"
    
11. Jesus told them, "Elijah certainly will come and get everything ready.
    
12. In fact, he has already come. But the people did not recognize him and treated him just as they wanted to. They will soon make the Son of Man suffer in the same way."
    
13. Then the disciples understood that Jesus was talking to them about John the Baptist.
    
14. Jesus and his disciples returned to the crowd. A man knelt in front of him
    
15. and said, "Lord, have pity on my son! He has a bad case of epilepsy and often falls into a fire or into water.
    
16. I brought him to your disciples, but none of them could heal him."
    
17. Jesus said, "You people are too stubborn to have any faith! How much longer must I be with you? Why do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy here."
    
18. Then Jesus spoke sternly to the demon. It went out of the boy, and right then he was healed.
    
19. Later the disciples went to Jesus in private and asked him, "Why couldn't we force out the demon?"
    
20. Jesus replied: It is because you don't have enough faith! But I can promise you this. If you had faith no larger than a mustard seed, you could tell this mountain to move from here to there. And it would. Everything would be possible for you.
    
21. (SEE 17:20)
    
22. While Jesus and his disciples were going from place to place in Galilee, he told them, "The Son of Man will be handed over to people
    
23. who will kill him. But three days later he will rise to life." All of this made the disciples very sad.
    
24. When Jesus and the others arrived in Capernaum, the collectors for the temple tax came to Peter and asked, "Does your teacher pay the temple tax?"
    
25. "Yes, he does," Peter answered. After they had returned home, Jesus went up to Peter and asked him, "Simon, what do you think? Do the kings of this earth collect taxes and fees from their own people or from foreigners?"
    
26. Peter answered, "From foreigners." Jesus replied, "Then their own people don't have to pay.
    
27. But we don't want to cause trouble. So go cast a line into the lake and pull out the first fish you hook. Open its mouth, and you will find a coin. Use it to pay your taxes and mine."
    

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In Matthew 16:28 Jesus told His disciples that there were some in the group who would not "taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." Chapter 17 opens with the fulfillment of this event. Six days following that conversation Jesus took His inner circle, Peter, James, and John, up on a mountain with Him. There Jesus was transformed so that they saw His face shine like the sun and His clothes become white as the light. They also saw Moses and Elijah appear talking with Jesus and then a "voice from the cloud said: This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him. Listen to Him!" These three had an affirmation of Jesus' identity as the Messiah that would take them through the trials and persecutions that came later.

Verses 9-13 record the conversation between Jesus and the three disciples as they came back down from the mountain and were talking about Elijah coming. We see in this conversation another oversight by the scribes that contributed to their oversight of Jesus as the Messiah. The scribes looked to the coming of Elijah to provide their sign that the Messiah had come. But the same blindness that kept them from recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, despite all the signs He provided, also kept them from recognizing that Elijah had already come in the person of John the Baptist. They missed the first sign, Elijah's coming, and thus missed the Messiah. And, just as they treated John the Baptist as they pleased, so, too, would Jesus suffer at their hands.

This new insight and understanding of these three disciples is contrasted by events they found when they returned to the other disciples. The three inner circle disciples had new evidence and faith in Jesus as the Messiah, but the other nine were still lacking in faith as demonstrated by their failure to heal the boy of his seizures. Jesus' comment to them that only faith the size of a mustard seed was necessary to move a mountain indicates that the size of our faith is not an issue, simply the presence of faith. But what should be the focus of such faith? Is it faith that God can do the miracle? They had seen enough miracles of various complexity performed by Jesus for this not to be the problem. I suspect the issue was faith regarding whether or not they had been empowered to perform such miracles. In other words, the focus of the faith is God's will. If God leads us to do a thing, whatever it is, we must step out in faith and do the thing. But if we lack faith that God has directed us to do it or if clearly He has not directed it, we will not succeed in doing it. If we are to say, no, this is not about whether it is God's will but about our faith that God can perform the miracle, then we get into a debate about how much faith is enough. All of us who accept that God exists and that He created all that is and who have given our lives to Him believe that God can do anything. The question in our mind is whether He wills to do the thing we are asking Him to do. That is the issue of faith, not the size of our faith. Jesus' reference to the mustard seed made clear the size of our faith is not the issue.

In the concluding verses of the chapter Jesus addresses two other matters. The first was His pending death and resurrection. We know, due to the distress of the disciples that they understood this time that Jesus' death was coming. But did they clearly hear the part about His resurrection? This time, however, no one of them challenged Jesus about the reality of His death. The second matter Jesus addressed in these verses was submission to authority. Jesus and His disciples returned to Capernaum to find temple tax collectors who asked about whether Jesus paid His tax. Jesus explained to the disciples that He and the disciples were not subject to the tax, but nevertheless, rather than offend the authorities, He would submit and pay the tax. No issue of significance was in question here to prohibit Jesus and His disciples from submission at this point. Thus, they should submit to the authorities.