Matthew 17:9

Matthew 17:9

In Matthew 17:9-13 the Bible says, "And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen from the dead. And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elijah truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they wanted. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that He spoke unto them of John the Baptist."

The last two verses of the Old Testament say, "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." As it turned out, the coming of the Messiah was meant to be in two phases: the first phase happened when Jesus came to die for the sins of the world, and the second phase will happen when He comes again to judge the world and then to transform it.

There are several things that can be said about the coming of Elijah. First, Elijah had just appeared with Moses at the transfiguration of Jesus. This in itself was a partial fulfillment of the prophecy made in Malachi. And then Jesus implied that the work of John the Baptist was a symbolic fulfillment of the prophesy about Elijah, but Jesus also implied that Elijah will yet come in the future just as Jesus Himself will come again. Speaking of the future, Jesus said, “Elijah truly shall first come, and restore all things.”

Much more important than the nature or the timing of the coming of Elijah, is the message and the ministry that Elijah represents. Jesus said, "Elijah truly shall first come and restore all things." If something needs to be restored, it is because it is out of place. It once was right, but now it is wrong, and it needs to be restored. The people need to have their relationship with God restored to its proper place.

What is the problem? What messed things up so that things need to be fixed and need to be restored? Sin: sin is at the root of almost every problem in the world. It is the greed of man, the selfishness of man, the cruelty of man, and the sin of man that is at the root of almost every problem on the earth. If the sin problem can be fixed, then all other problems will be fixed as well. That is why a person’s life gets the most important spiritual correction when he or she finds forgiveness of sin through faith in Jesus Christ.

The nation of Israel had to pay a price because they continued in sin and did not repent. Listen to what the prophet Jeremiah said before the city of Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians. Jeremiah 22:8-9 says, "And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore has the Lord done thus unto this great city? Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods and served them."

Your sins will keep you from God, and the guilt of your sins will keep you from heaven. Jesus came to die for our sins, but before He died, John the Baptist came with the baptism of repentance. The emphasis of the message of John the Baptist was repentance from sin. Jesus died for your sins, but before you can be forgiven of your sins you must repent and turn to Jesus. Repentance is a change of mind: a change of mind about your sins and your sinful condition. You must turn from your sins with a desire to do what is right. When a person truly turns to Jesus, that person is turning from sin. No one gets saved unless they turn to Jesus with such a motivation.

If you do not turn from your sins, your sins will destroy you. Jesus offers you a great and complete forgiveness, but if you do not repent you are in danger of a great and complete condemnation. Repentance is important for salvation, and after you are saved repentance is also important in order to walk in fellowship with God. We can have a relationship with God, not because we earn it, but because of His mercy. The apostle John included himself when he wrote in First John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The believer who most consistently walks with God will not be the one who is the most sinless, but he will be one who most consistently confesses his sins. Do not think that repentance is only for the time that you get saved. Learn to live a life of repentance. It is the only way for a Christian to stay in fellowship with Christ. Concerning this subject, the Bible says in First John 1:6, “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.”

Matthew 17:14-21 says, "And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falls into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him here to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for truly I say unto you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting."

This incident in the life of Jesus emphasizes the importance of faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him." Faith is important because it is the means of salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works lest anyone should boast."

Much more important than the amount of your faith is the object of your faith. That is why Jesus said that all you need is faith as a grain of mustard seed. However little is your faith, if you put that faith in Jesus, then He will answer your prayer and reward the confidence that you placed in Him. For some reason the disciples in this situation had no faith. Jesus said that they were faithless. If only they had faith as a grain of mustard seed, they would have seen a miracle performed.

If you are a believer, one of the most precious things that you have is your faith. Make sure that you do whatever is necessary to protect your faith and to keep it growing. Romans 10:17 says, "So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." True faith will be rooted in God’s word. True faith is based upon God’s promises. The daily strength of your faith will be directly proportionate to the daily involvement that you have in reading, studying, hearing, and thinking about God’s word. Remember that Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." There was once a student at Bob Jones University who liked to remind himself and others of the importance of God’s word by using the saying, "No Bible, no breakfast." That was his method to stay in God’s Word. Hopefully you have a method. Some people use a daily Bible-reading calendar.

Sound Bible teaching strengthens and encourages faith. The teaching of false doctrine is the enemy of faith and can harm faith. Beware of false teachers because they can damage your faith. Jude verses 3 and 4 says, "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ."

The promises of God build up our faith. The Bible has many precious promises. There is something wonderful about these promises. The words are so powerful that they often need no explanation. Just to repeat the words seems to automatically increase our faith. One example of this is Jeremiah 33:3 where God says, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, that thou knowest not." And of course, one of the old favorites is Romans 8:28 that says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God and to them that are the called according to His purpose." So many of the things that Jesus said fit into this category such as His promise, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Find the promises of God that are in the Bible, memorize them, and think about them; and then your faith can only grow.

Even though Jesus said that it only takes faith as a grain of mustard seed, He did not mean that He wants our faith to stay that small. The mustard seed is a very tiny seed, but it can grow into a very large plant. The normal Christian life would be for your faith to start small, and then to grow. Second Thessalonians 1:3 says, "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith grows exceedingly." One of your primary goals in life should always be to find ways of helping your faith to grow. Measure yourself by how much faith you have: faith in the promises of God.

Faith is important because of its role in salvation, and faith is important because it will get you through any problem in life. Think of some of the areas where Jesus has made promises:

1. He has promised to always be with you.

2. He has promised to love you and be your friend.

3. He has promised to protect you.

4. He has promised to provide for you.

5. He has promised to answer your prayers.

6. He has promised to guide you and give you wisdom.

7. He has promised to forgive your sins and take you to heaven.

These are just a few of the promises of God. How unfortunate is the condition of someone who does not have faith or someone who has had their faith weakened. You will be thoroughly equipped for life as well as for death, if you have an abiding faith in the promises of God.

Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 that one of the results of having faith is that nothing shall be impossible unto you. It is obvious that Jesus was a positive thinker, and He wants us to think in a positive way. The message from Jesus is very clear that you can do anything, if you have faith. You can climb any mountain, you can cross any river, and you can surpass any obstacle. There is nothing too hard for you, because if God be for us, who can be against us? You can do anything, if God wants you to do it.

Don’t allow the word "can’t" to be a part of your vocabulary. Never say, "I can’t do that." You can do it, by the grace of God. If it’s God’s will, you can do it. You can put your eyes on Jesus, keep looking to Him for strength, and you can do it. It may require a miracle, but God is a miracle worker. The great and eternal God put you here for a reason. Through faith in Jesus and through His grace you are more than able to do whatever He put you here to do. So don’t allow your own weaknesses or inabilities to tempt you into thinking that you cannot do something. Do not allow your enemies or your obstacles to tempt you into thinking that you cannot accomplish something. You can do anything through Christ. According to Jesus, it is not even a question that is open to debate. Are you capable of doing a certain thing? Jesus said very clearly, "Nothing shall be impossible unto you."

Matthew 17:22-23 says, "And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry." If the disciples knew what we know now, they would not have been so saddened by the news of the death and resurrection of Jesus. His death and resurrection have become our source of joy. Instead of condemnation, we have forgiveness. Instead of hell, we have heaven. Instead of emptiness, we have fellowship with God. Instead of darkness, we have light. We have all of this and more only because of His death and resurrection.

This was the second time that Jesus reminded His disciples of His death and resurrection. We also need to be reminded of the death and resurrection of Jesus, and its importance. Of all the events in the history of the human race, this was the most important. Paul said in Galatians 6:14, "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Paul also wrote in First Corinthians 2:2, "For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified."

It says that the disciples were exceeding sorry when Jesus reminded them of His death and resurrection. When we think of the death of Jesus, we do have some sorrow because we think of how greatly Jesus suffered in our place. He who did no sin, took our sins upon Him. If we think of the agony that Jesus suffered, it can bring tears to our eyes also. Isaiah 53:3-4 says, "Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

When we think of the crucifixion of Christ, we can have both sorrow and joy; and we can also be thankful. It would be good if many times during the day we thanked the Lord in our hearts for Him having come to the earth to die for us. His death on the cross is one thing that we can always be thankful for. No one can take away what Jesus did for us. Should it be your lot in life to suffer many sorrows and disappointments, you will always have this to be thankful for: that Jesus came and died for your sins. Make sure that you thank Him every day for having done so.

In Matthew 17:24-27 the Bible says, "And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Does not your master pay tribute? He said, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What do you think Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter said unto him, Of strangers. Jesus said unto him, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the fish that first comes up; and when you have opened his mouth, you shall find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee."

Jesus and the disciples had come back to their home in the city of Capernaum near the Sea of Galilee. This home was kind of like their headquarters. It was where Jesus and the disciples would always come back to after trips that they made to other towns and villages. In establishing this home, they faced a situation that we all face: taxes. Peter tried to lie his way out of this situation, but the Lord knows all things, and the Lord helped Peter to rectify things.

Jesus said that those who do not pay taxes are free, the implication being that those who do pay taxes are not free. One of the greatest dangers to freedom in any country is taxes. The more that the government takes from you and me, the less freedom we will ultimately have. We should use the rights that we have and the power of the voting booth to see that people are elected who will reduce taxes. Some taxes are necessary, but the basic rule is that when taxes increase, freedoms decrease.

In spite of this, the lesson from Jesus is clear. After we have done what we can to elect people who will keep taxes at a minimum, we are still responsible to honor and obey the authorities. Beware of anyone who teaches rebellion or disrespect against governmental entities. The powers that be are ordained of God. Jesus paid His taxes. Make certain that you pay yours also.

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