Matthew · chapter 17 of 28
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Matthew 17 tells of the transfiguration: Jesus shines before Peter, James and John on a mountain, Moses and Elijah appear, and the Father's voice commands them to listen to his beloved Son. Coming down, Jesus explains the coming of Elijah, heals a boy the disciples could not heal, speaks of faith like a mustard seed, announces his death again and pays the temple tax with a coin found in a fish.
Six days after Peter's confession and the first announcement of the cross, Matthew 17 shows the glory of Jesus to three disciples. The transfiguration confirms that the path of suffering announced in chapter 16 does not contradict his identity but is the path of God's beloved Son.
Six days later, Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a high mountain, and there he is transfigured before them: his face shines like the sun and his clothes become white as light. Moses and Elijah appear, talking with him. Peter proposes making three tents, and while he is speaking a bright cloud overshadows them and a voice says this is his beloved Son, with whom he is well pleased: listen to him. The disciples fall on their faces, terrified, but Jesus touches them and tells them to rise and not be afraid; when they lift their eyes they see only Jesus. As they come down, Jesus tells them to tell no one the vision until the Son of Man is raised. They ask why the scribes say Elijah must come first, and Jesus answers that Elijah has already come and they did not recognize him, and the disciples understand he means John the Baptist.
When they reach the crowd, a man kneels before Jesus and asks mercy for his son, who has seizures and often falls into fire and water; the disciples could not heal him. Jesus laments the unbelieving generation, rebukes the demon and the boy is healed from that moment. Privately the disciples ask why they could not, and Jesus says it was because of their little faith, and that with faith like a grain of mustard seed they could tell this mountain to move and nothing would be impossible.
In Galilee, Jesus again announces that the Son of Man will be delivered, killed and raised on the third day, and the disciples are greatly distressed. In Capernaum, those who collect the temple tax ask Peter whether his teacher pays it. Jesus shows that the sons of the king are free, but so as not to cause offense he tells Peter to cast a hook into the sea, and in the mouth of the first fish he will find a coin sufficient for both of them.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jesus is transfigured: his face shines like the sun and his clothes become white. The three disciples see for a moment the glory that belongs to him as Son of God, before they see him suffer.
From the cloud the Father declares that Jesus is his beloved Son and commands them to listen to him. The words are almost the same as at the baptism, and now they add the command to hear him, which leads to following Jesus even toward the cross.
Jesus laments the generation's lack of faith, rebukes the demon and the boy is healed at once. It shows that the problem lay in the lack of trust of those present, not in any lack of God's power.
Jesus says that with faith like a mustard seed they would tell the mountain to move and nothing would be impossible. He is not speaking of a size of faith but of true faith that trusts God's power, however small it looks.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Peter, James and John. — Matthew 17:1
Answer: Moses and Elijah. — Matthew 17:3
Answer: That Jesus is his beloved Son, with whom he is well pleased, and that they should listen to him. — Matthew 17:5
Answer: To tell no one the vision until the Son of Man was raised from the dead. — Matthew 17:9
Answer: Because of their little faith. — Matthew 17:19-20
Answer: With a coin Peter found in the mouth of the first fish he caught from the sea. — Matthew 17:27
The Father's voice asks for one thing: to listen to his Son. In a small group you can ask what other voices we give more room than the voice of Jesus, and how to make room to hear him in his word each day. Moments of glory in the life of faith are not meant for staying on the mountain but for returning to the valley with strength.
The scene of the boy reminds us that disciples also fail. Ask in what area of your service you feel unable to cope, and bring that matter to Jesus, trusting in his power more than in your resources.
Matthew 17 shows the glory of the Son and his path to the cross, and leaves the disciples learning to trust and to listen. In chapter 18 Jesus teaches his disciples about greatness in the kingdom, the care of the little ones, correction among brothers and forgiveness.
They represent the Law and the Prophets, and their presence with Jesus shows that the Scripture of Israel bears witness to him. The Father's voice indicates that Jesus is greater than both and that now it is he who must be heard.
Jesus explains that Elijah has already come, and the disciples understood that he meant John the Baptist. John was not Elijah in person but came in the spirit and power of Elijah, preparing the way, and, like Jesus, was not received.
The verse saying that this kind of demon comes out only by prayer and fasting is not found in the oldest manuscripts and is believed to have been added later from a parallel passage. That is why many translations omit it or place it in brackets. The teaching about faith does not depend on it.