1And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
Luke 9:28 says, And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. If we put together the time frames stated by Matthew and by Luke and the other details in the event we’re going to read about, it seems likely that Jesus and the three disciples left Caesarea Philippi, where they had been (16:13) six days after He spoke the words in 16:28. In that verse, the last verse of chapter 16, Jesus said, “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.” Sometime in the evening of the seventh day and the start of the eighth day (the new day began at 6 p.m. by Jewish time), they reached the high mountain that Matthew described. The events that took place there probably happened during the night (thus the disciples were having a hard time staying awake (Luke 9:32)). Then, later that day or on the ninth day, they came down from the mountain (Luke 9:37).
2and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
There on the mountain, Jesus’s form was changed, and He was seen in His glory. Also, Moses and Elijah were seen by the disciples talking with Jesus. Luke tells us what they were talking about:
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. (Luke 9:30-31).
They were talking with Jesus about His coming departure (Greek: “εξοδος”) by death in Jerusalem.
Why Moses and Elijah? At Mount Horeb (Mount Sinai), God revealed to Moses the Covenant of Law that He made with Israel (Moses summarizes this in Deuteronomy 5:2-4). At the same location, the prophet Elijah later declared that Israel had forsaken this covenant (I Kings 19:8-10). These two leaders were talking with Jesus about His approaching death in Jerusalem. By that death, Jesus would redeem Israel from its sin of breaking God’s covenant. His death was the only hope for Israel and for the rest of the people on earth.
4Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
Both Mark and Luke tell us that Peter didn’t know what to say (Mark 9:6; Luke 9:33). The disciples were afraid, and Peter just said what came to his mind. But by saying what he said, he was putting Jesus, Moses, and Elijah at the same level, which was wrong. Before Peter could finish speaking, a shining cloud covered the disciples, and God the Father spoke, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”
The words that the Father spoke both answer Peter and also point to at least three passages in the Old Testament. God the Father said “This is my beloved Son” – not Moses and not Elijah. The three are not at the same level. When God said, “in whom I am well pleased,” He was saying that Jesus is the One spoken of in Isaiah 42:1 : “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.” When the Father said, “hear ye him,” He was saying that Jesus is the One about whom He spoke to Moses in Deuteronomy 18:18-19: “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” When the Father said, “This is my beloved Son,” He was saying that Jesus is the King spoken of in Psalm 2:6-9:
“Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”
Jesus is God’s Son from all eternity. But when He is placed as King over the earth, He will thus be receiving His rights of Sonship. In Acts 13:32-33, Peter related these verses in Psalm 2 to Jesus’ resurrection. Peter said, “And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.” At Jesus’ resurrection, His humiliation was over. He was exalted by the Father to receive His rights of Sonship. Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18).
Thus, when Peter, James, and John saw Jesus’ glory on the mountain, they saw the glory which would be given to Him at His resurrection, the glory in which He will return to receive His kingdom (Matthew 24:30). That’s why Jesus told the disciples in 16:28, “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.” Peter, James, and John saw in advance what was about to be fulfilled in Jesus’ death, resurrection, ascension, and second coming.
6And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. 7And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 8And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.
The disciples were very afraid. They fell on their faces in fear. But the beloved Son of whom God the Father spoke came to them and touched them. He told them to get up and not to be afraid. Psalm 2, which speaks of God’s Son, closes with these words: “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” Jesus, the eternal Son of God, will return with wrath on everyone who rebels against God the Father and His anointed King. But Jesus will receive with comfort and compassion everyone who puts their trust in Him. When the disciples looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone. They saw Jesus only. He is the Savior.
9And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
Peter, James, and John were not to tell anyone of the vision they’d seen until Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. That’s because He, in His humanity, would be exalted to receive His rights of Sonship at His resurrection.
Peter later wrote about this vision in II Peter 1:16-18:
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.
10And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 11And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
The disciples’ question shows that they understood the significance of the vision they’d seen. They understood that Jesus is the Messiah King promised in Psalm 2 and in other passages in the Old Testament Scriptures. That’s why they started their question with the words “Why then…?” They had heard from the scribes that Elijah the prophet was to come before the Messiah King. So if Jesus is the Messiah King, where was Elijah?
Jesus affirmed that it was correct that Elijah would come and that Elijah would restore all things. The scribes knew that Elijah would come because at the end of the book of the prophet Malachi, God said, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5-6).
Then Jesus told the disciples that Elijah had already come but that Israel had not known him. And, as Israel had treated this Elijah, Israel was about to treat Jesus, too. Then the disciples understood that Jesus was talking about John the Baptist.
Jesus used the future tense when He spoke of what Elijah would do. He said that Elijah “will restore” all things. Clearly, John the Baptist did not restore all things. Otherwise, Israel would have received Jesus in faith, and Jerusalem would not have been destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. So what did Jesus mean when He said that Elijah had already come?
In Jesus’ first coming, He offered the kingdom of heaven to Israel by giving them proofs that He was the Messiah so that they might receive Him in faith. But God knew that Israel would reject Jesus as their Messiah. At Christ’s first coming, John the Baptist came as His forerunner “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17), but John the Baptist was not Elijah (John 1:21). John only fulfilled the role of Elijah at Jesus’ first coming while the kingdom was being offered to Israel. Before Jesus’ second coming, the prophet Elijah himself will come. It seems likely that Elijah will be one of the two witnesses described in Revelation 11:3-12. It may be that the 144,000 Jewish servants of God sealed in Revelation 7:1-8 will be saved through the witness of Elijah and the other prophet with him. These 144,000 will be a part of the restoration of Israel; in Revelation 14:4, they are called “the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.”
14And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, 15Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is a lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. 16And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 18And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
Jesus had just come down from the mountain where Peter, James, and John saw Him in the glory that will be His as King over the kingdom of heaven. The contrast between the glory on the mountain and the situation He met down below is great. He was met by a crowd of people in a stir, a man whose son was afflicted by the work of a demon, and the other nine of His disciples, who had been unable to help the man’s son.
Jesus’ response to them all is a description of the spiritual condition of the nation as a whole at that time. He said, “O faithless and perverse generation.” In the Old Testament, there is little mention of such demonic activity. It is likely that Satan and his angels had increased their activity in Israel in opposition to Jesus’ presence. But it was the sin of the nation that opened the door to that increase. The man who came kneeling to Jesus wanted healing for his son, but Mark tells us that the man said, “...if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.” Accordingly, Jesus said to the man, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” The man cried out to Jesus with tears, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:22-24). And, the faith of the disciples was also little (Matthew 16:8-10).
The Bible does not say that all such physical afflictions are caused by demons, but this one was. Jesus rebuked the demon, it came out of the boy, and the boy was made well. When Jesus spoke to the crowd, He also said, “how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?” He knew that His departure was near. Without salvation, the condition of Israel and of the world was dismal.
19Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
In Matthew 10:1 we read that Jesus gave to the twelve disciples the authority to cast out demons and to heal every kind of sickness and disease. At that time Jesus sent them out two by two, and they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them (Mark 6:13). So what was different about this time? Jesus said that their problem was unbelief. But why did they fail to believe in this case when they’d succeeded before?
Jesus had just told them plainly in chapter 16 that He would go to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and raised from death on the third day. He’d also told the disciples that anyone who wants to come after Him should deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him (16:21,24). Now, only just over a week later, they face a situation where there is demonic affliction and Jesus is away on the mountain. Also, Mark tells us that the scribes were there, too, questioning with them (Mark 9:14). It is possible that these nine disciples did what Peter did in the storm when he was out of the boat to walk on the water (Matthew 14:28-31). It is possible that they stopped focusing on the Lord Jesus and focused instead on the threatening wind of opposition from the scribes.
Jesus compared the casting out of the demon to the moving of a mountain. The disciples would understand that no one of us can move a mountain in our own strength. Yet, Jesus said that if the disciples had even a small amount of faith, they could tell a mountain to move and it would.
What did Jesus mean? Again, we should relate His words to the context of these chapters. In chapter 16, Jesus told Peter that He would build His church on the foundation of the truth that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. In the next sentence, He told Peter that He would give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven (16:15-19). Thus, the present manifestation of the kingdom of heaven is the church. In chapter 17, Peter, James, and John saw the glory of Jesus’ coming in His kingdom. Moses and Elijah spoke with Him about His coming departure (16:28-17:1-9). Now Jesus says to the crowd, “how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?”
Jesus’ physical presence among the disciples is about to end. The twelve disciples will be left here as His servants in the building of the church. Before His ascension, Jesus will give them a commission: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (28:19-20). Will the disciples face opposition? Will the gates of Hades plant mountains to block their fulfilling the commission that Jesus gave them? Clearly, the answer is “yes.” We face the same today.
By faith, we can tell the mountains that stand in the way of our fulfilling the Great Commission to move. We don’t turn back because a mountain stands in the way. We seek the will of God and trust Him to open a way for us to go forward. Jesus said that even a small amount of faith will be enough for us to do this – if we keep our eyes on Him instead of looking at the opposition.
21Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
In Matthew 9:14-15, we read, “Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.”
Fasting is related to mourning – in these verses, the mourning of the departure of the bridegroom. It is also right for us to mourn our own sin and to mourn the sin of our nation and of the world.
It is likely that sin in Israel had opened the door to demonic activity and demon possession. The escape from demonic affliction would require a national repentance and mourning for their sin.
22And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: 23and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.
In 16:21, Jesus told His disciples that He “must go unto Jerusalem” and suffer, be killed, and be raised the third day. Twice now in this chapter He tells them that He “is about to” (Greek: “μελλει”) suffer and “is about to” be betrayed (verses 12, 22). The time of His death is drawing near. In both cases in this chapter He refers to Himself by using His title “the Son of Man.” He will die as the representative of mankind, “the last Adam” (I Corinthians 15:45). He is the One of whom Daniel prophesied (Daniel 7:13-14), who will receive a kingdom that is an everlasting dominion.
24And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? 25He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? 26Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. 27Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.
In Exodus 30:11-16, God told Moses that when Moses made a count of the people of Israel, each person who was at least twenty years old should give a half shekel “that there be no plague among them.” Probably this command was for a reminder to the people that they were sinful and needed atonement. The money was to be used for the service of the tabernacle.
Josephus, when writing of the war which brought the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., said, …he [Caesar] also laid a tribute upon the Jews wheresoever they were, and enjoined every one of them to bring two drachmæ every year into the capitol, as they used to pay the same to the temple at Jerusalem. And this was the state of the Jewish affairs at this time (Josephus, Of the War, Book VII, Chapter 6, paragraph 6).
Since Jesus makes no reference to the temple tax when speaking to Peter, it seems likely that the Romans were already at that time seizing the temple “tribute money” (Greek: “διδραχμα” : “two-drachma”) as a tax for Rome. Jesus’ question to Peter also fits this circumstance. Jesus said, “What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?” Peter responded, “Of strangers.” Jesus said, “Then are the children free.”
Jesus spoke of the money being required as “custom” (same word used in Romans 13:7) or “tribute” (same word used in Matthew 22:17). He said that invading kings demand this payment of the peoples they invade, not of their own citizens. Thus, Jesus said, their own citizens are free from making the payment.
What did Jesus mean? Jesus was implying that He Himself is the rightful King of Israel, not the invading Romans. Thus, by rights, His people should not have to pay tribute money to Rome. But, Jesus said that having a good testimony to the Romans was a higher priority than defending His and Peter’s right not to pay the tax.
Then Jesus gave Peter a wonderful, personalized lesson that God will provide for our needs and for us to do what is right. Peter was a fisherman. Jesus told him to go catch a fish. In the mouth of the first one he caught would be a coin of the right value to pay the tax for Peter and for Jesus. It was surely the first time that Peter had ever found money literally in the mouth of a fish! God will provide for us, too, to do all His will, even in ways that insert the miraculous into our normal routines.
Note: All Scriptures are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.