Matthew 17, Part 2
Notes
Transcript
Jesus and the disciples have just been through the experience of His transfiguration. They had seen the glorified for of Jesus, present on earth. Can you IMAGINE what that would have been like?
Tell No One
Tell No One
9 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”
10 And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?”
11 He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things.
12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.”
13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
On five different occasions we find Jesus telling people to “Tell No One” what they had seen or experienced. My first thought has always been “why”? Why did Jesus not want these miracles told? Would it not have helped others understand who He was?
Frankly, no. Jesus did not want others to follow Him because of WHAT He could do for them physically but He desired they understand what he could do for them ETERNALLY. Additionally, the Jewish leadership could/might/would get tired of this quickly and might have tried to put Him to death more quickly. His time had not yet come… therefore the miracles were to be kept secret, as best they could.
Now, Jesus is telling the disciples to not tell anyone what they had seen - simply because no one would be able to adequately describe or understand what they had seen UNTIL the resurrection had been experienced. THEN it would all make sense.
This charge to keep silent baffled the disciples because the Scribes had always taught that Elijah was to come to proclaim the Messiah.
5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
They had just seen Elijah with Christ. When would Elijah begin announcing Jesus to be the Messiah? And if he were going to proclaim the message, why should they keep silent about Jesus’ Messiahship? Should they not also proclaim Him as Messiah? Jesus told them that John the Baptist was the prophesied prophet like Elijah who was to come. The people killed him, and the Messiah too was to suffer at the hands of the people.
More Miracles
More Miracles
14 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him,
Faith. These verses speak plainly on faith, and the power one who has faith possesses. What a contrast—the heavenly glory and the mountain-top experience of the transfiguration vs. the earthly problems and the valley experiences of the next day.
37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him.
What a lesson for all of us! The glory of devotions is for the purpose of going out and meeting the multitudes in all their need. We do not stay on the mountain top; we come down to the valley, down to earth where people are. No experience of Christ teaches the necessity for both devotions and ministry any more forcibly than this experience. God wants our attention and fellowship, but He also wants us to go out and give attention and godly fellowship to a lost world!
15 said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water.
16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.”
The son’s illness seems to have been both physical and spiritual. The description of the illness in The Gospel of Mark points toward what is known today as epilepsy and demon-possession (Mt. 17:15; Mk. 9:17–18; Lu. 9:39). The demon-possession in particular seems to have heightened and aggravated the condition, perhaps causing some suicidal tendencies (Mt. 17:15; Mk. 9:22). Throughout the gospels, this seems to be one of the major works of evil spirits: to heighten and aggravate existing conditions. The great tragedy of the event was unbelief and having no power. These tragedies plague so many servants of God. But note: they plague us only because “we ask not” .
James 4:2 (ESV)
2 ...You do not have, because you do not ask.
We fail to go up to the high mountain of transfiguration and receive the renewing of God’s presence. Our lack of power too often results in three things. We are disappointed when things don’t go our way, we still have many desperate needs that are unmet, and sometimes we might be embarrassed if others new our faith. Our faith is not truly faith! We are told:
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.
We are told if we call out to God HE WILL ANSWER. Our faith comes through His faithfulness to us!
This father had faith and was seeking help for his child. Also, Christ was compassionate towards both the father and the child, but He recognized a problem - no one with true, powerful faith had stood up and called out to God for help.
How many children are gripped by desperate needs both physical and spiritual? How many are trapped by sin? Where are the parents who are concerned enough to seek Jesus, not half-heartedly and haphazardly, but genuinely? Where are the parents who seek Him, persevering until He answers? As in the above case, Jesus is willing to meet the needs of our children, but where are the parents who seek Jesus with the fervency of the father? And where are the servants of God who can lead parents to trust Christ?
17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.”
18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.
Christ rebuked the lack of power. A person with no power saddens and brings sorrow to His heart. What can He do to stir faith and power? He does all He can: He warns, yet He offers hope. He warns them that He will not always be present. He warns them that His patience is finite. But, He assures us that His power can overcome Satan. Satan cannot stand before God’s Word.
There is a critical point to remember: the longer Christ has to put up with our faithless and powerless behavior, the more He is displeased with us. We must learn and learn quickly. His presence will not always be with us, and His patience is limited.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
The clear reason for no power was unbelief. What is unbelief? Why does faith weaken and turn into unbelief? The disciples had been given and promised unusual power earlier, and they had ministered effectively .
1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”
But now the power seemed to be gone, and they were unable to minister. “Why?” they asked.
Pointedly, Jesus answered, “Because of your unbelief.” Unbelief is four things, or to put it in the form of a question, “What is unbelief?”
a. Unbelief is doubting Christ Himself, the object of one’s faith. It is questioning the power of Christ. Is He really strong enough to do what is needed: to save, deliver, heal, and help; and to remove evil empires, entrenched wickedness, destructive greed, and the threat of wars?
b. Unbelief is doubting the power of the Lord within oneself. It is questioning if one is close enough to Christ for Him to hear and answer or to grant enough power to meet the need.
c. Unbelief is doubting one’s own faith. It is questioning the strength of one’s own dependence and confidence in Christ.
d. Unbelief is doubting if the thing needed is God’s will. It is questioning if one should be seeking such a thing or if God is willing to do what is needed.
The answer to unbelief is hungering and thirsting after God so much that we spend a great deal of time in God’s presence—so much time that even food is forgotten.
Too often, we want to blame others - like Saul this morning - when in fact the fault usually is at our own feet, and the cause is our unbelief. We are not trusting and seeking God diligently, like we should.
The great power of faith is promised. The Jews clearly understood what Jesus meant by “removing mountains.” The phrase was a Jewish idiom or proverb meaning “to remove difficulties”.
7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ ”
2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
The greatest difficulties in human life can be removed by faith. Prayer and faith can do anything for God. They can remove all kinds of mountains: fear, disappointment, depression, despair, sickness, temptation, guilt, weariness, loneliness, persecution, heartache. Such mountains loom ever so large as a barrier before man’s path. Such mountains can really defeat life. How can they be overcome? By prayer and faith—praying and believing God even to the point of fasting.
All he asks is for us to have the faith of a mustard seed. He is not referencing the actual size, but instead using this as an illustration of how little true faith it takes to move the world for God! The mustard seed was known for its small size, the smallest of all plants; yet it grew to be one of the largest bushes.
Picture a mustard seed lying in a person’s hand. It is real and it is small. Just imagine the potential for growth and use. So it is with faith: faith is “as a grain of mustard seed.” It is real and small, yet it has enormous power for growth, for use, and for ministry.
Death and Resurrection Reminder
Death and Resurrection Reminder
22 As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men,
23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ cannot be overstressed. They are of paramount importance: a person’s destiny is determined by his response to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His death and resurrection are the pivotal points of human history, the hub of God’s plan for eternity. History itself revolves around the death and resurrection of God’s dear Son. God works all things out for good to the praise of His dear Son. Even the evil and devastation of men are turned around and worked out for the good of Christ and for those for whom He died and arose again.
The phrase as they were gathering means they were going from place to place. The point is this: while Jesus and the disciples went all about Galilee, He was drilling into them the fact that He was to be killed and raised from the dead.
The word betrayed is actually delivered up (paradidosthai) which means that His death was ordained. Christ was saying that He was about to be delivered up to death—it was ordained, that is, determined in the counsel and plan of God.
As simply as possible, Jesus Christ was killed for two reasons.
The religionists delivered Him up to the Gentiles because He was a threat to them, and God delivered Him up to die for the sins and the life of the world.
Christ also foretold His resurrection.
Good Citizens
Good Citizens
24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?”
25 He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?”
26 And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.
27 However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”
Jesus had been carrying His disciples through intensive training for some time now. He had been zeroing in on His death and resurrection (see notes—Mt. 16:21–28; 17:1–13; 17:22–23). In this passage, Jesus showed just how capable a teacher He really was. He was able to take the visit by a tax collector and continue to make the unique claims of Messiahship and at the same time teach the importance of good citizenship. He is God’s Son, and every believer is responsible to be a good citizen.
Jesus was visited by a tax collector. The tax collectors approached Peter instead of Jesus because it was Jesus’ habit to lodge in Peter’s house when in Capernaum or perhaps because they feared Jesus.
The tax spoken of is the temple tax. The temple was an extremely expensive building to maintain just as any large building is. Time deteriorates furnishings, even stone and mortar, and all has to be replaced. In addition, there was the upkeep of the priests, their shelter, food, and clothing. There was the provision of the animals, incense, wine, flour, and oil used in the sacrifices which had to be offered every day—and the list could go on and on. Upkeep of the temple was so expensive that a nation-wide tax had to be imposed upon every male Jew over twenty years old. It was just a small tax (one half-shekel) for each man, amounting to about two days work; nevertheless, it had to be paid. It was collected annually by the tax collectors setting up their tax collecting booths in strategic locations throughout the country.
Jesus demonstrated good citizenship. He paid taxes. It was His practice to pay taxes, and Peter knew this. Therefore, Peter was able to answer, “Yes, the master pays taxes.”
Note a point which really strikes out at those who say they do not attend church because the church has too many hypocrites in it. In Christ’s day, the temple was a den of thieves, and much of its worship was hypocritical and corrupt; yet Christ supported it. Despite its corruptions, the temple was still the house of God and the house of prayer. Christ benefited from the temple. When He entered the temple, His spirit was right with God, so He was able to worship and minister within its walls despite the hypocrisy of so many and the corruption of so much. The temple was where God’s people were thought and expected to be. The world expected God’s people to be in the temple and not somewhere else when it was time for worship. Christ could be nowhere else.
The illustration is brief and yet forceful. Jesus asked Peter a simple question: “From whom do kings collect their taxes? from their own children or from the citizens?” The answer is obvious: “He collects taxes from the citizens, not from his own children.” And then Jesus made the phenomenal claim: “Then the children are free.”
The tax was the temple tax. The temple was God’s, and Jesus was the Son of God. As the Son of God, He was free from the tax. He did not owe the tax.
Christ was not trying to keep from paying taxes. There is more than meets the eye to the fact that Christ is free of the earthly kingdom. He is free of it because He is of God. His citizenship is of heaven; therefore, He has no obligation to the earth. The world and man neither merit nor deserve any attention from God. Man has forfeited his right to God’s attention by his sin—by his degradation, depravity, evil, rebellion, and treason—all manifesting themselves in daily acts ranging from thoughts of selfishness to the slaughter of human life. Whatever God does for man and the world is of grace and mercy; it is because He loves man and the world. It is not because He is obligated or in bondage to serve man by meeting his need.
The above truth, however, is not true of the believer. When the believer trusts Christ as his Savior, he receives the divine nature of God. He becomes a new man and a new citizen of heaven; however, he is still of the earth. He is a new creature born from heaven above, but he is still flesh—still of the earth as well (2 Pe. 1:1; see Deeper Study # 3—Ep. 4:24; note—Ph. 3:20). Therefore, he has an obligation not only to be a good citizen of heaven but also of the earth. God expects him to live for heaven by living a pure life and to live for the earth by sharing the good news of salvation with the rest of the world.
Jesus set the standard for citizenship—to keep others from stumbling. Note the word offend (skandalizo, verb; or skandalon, noun). When used as a verb the word offend means to put a snare or stumbling block in someone’s way; to cause someone to trip or fall. When used as a noun the word offend means something that causes someone to stumble, trip, fall, or slip back.
Christ was saying that He must not set a bad example by not paying His taxes. He was not obligated to pay them, but if He refused, then He would be encouraging poor citizenship. Therefore, He would forego His freedom in order to keep from causing others to stumble. He must not offend others, cause them to slip, stumble, or fall—under any circumstances.
THEN Jesus demonstrated His citizenship and Messiahship. He paid the tax miraculously.
His knowing (omniscience) that a coin was in the mouth of a fish showed Peter that He …
• was of royalty, the Son of God.
• was of another kingdom that was superior to this earth and its seas.
• was free of the earth and its restrictions and obligations.
How could Christ better demonstrate His Messiahship and Deity?
Christ did not wish to offend or to be a stumbling block to anyone. If He refused to pay the taxes, He would offend some. They would feel He was not carrying His load, and He would be a stumbling block to others. He would be setting an example of rebellion and lawlessness. If He refused to support the government and temple and everyone followed His example, then all governments and temples would collapse and cease to exist.
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 1996. Matthew: Chapters 16:13–28:20. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.