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| Chapter 9 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And He said unto them, "Verily I say unto you, that there are some of them that stand here who shall not taste of death till they have seen the Kingdom of God come with power." 2 And after six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and led them up onto a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. 3 And His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, such as no fuller on earth could whiten them. 4 And there appeared unto them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter spoke and said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles: one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elijah--" 6 for he knew not what to say, for they were sore afraid. 7 And there was a cloud that overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "THIS IS MY BELOVED SON: HEAR HIM!" 8 And suddenly when they had looked round about, they saw no man anymore, save Jesus only with them. 9 And as they came down from the mountain, He charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 And they kept that saying to themselves, questioning one another what "rising from the dead" should mean. 11 And they asked Him, saying, "Why say the scribes that first Elijah must come?" 12 And He answered and told them, "Elijah verily cometh first and restoreth all things, and how it is written of the Son of Man that He must suffer many things and be set at nought. 13 But I say unto you that Elijah has indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they pleased, as it is written of him." 14 ¶ And when He came to His disciples, He saw a great multitude about them and the scribes questioning with them. 15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld Him, were greatly amazed; and running to Him, they greeted Him. 16 And He asked the scribes, "What question ye with them?" 17 And one of the multitude answered and said, "Master, I have brought unto thee my son, who hath a dumb spirit. 18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him; and he foameth and gnasheth his teeth and pineth away. And I spoke to thy disciples that they should cast him out, and they could not." 19 Jesus answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto Me." 20 And they brought the boy unto Him. And when the spirit saw Him, straightway he tore the boy; and he fell on the ground and wallowed about foaming. 21 And He asked his father, "How long is it ago since this came unto him?" And he said, "From childhood. 22 And oftentimes it hath cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him; but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us and help us." 23 Jesus said unto him, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." 24 And straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief!" 25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, "Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him and enter no more into him." 26 And the spirit cried, and rent the boy sorely and came out of him; and he was as one dead, insomuch that many said, "He is dead." 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could not we cast him out?" 29 And He said unto them, "This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting." 30 ¶ And they departed thence and passed through Galilee, and He would not that any man should know it. 31 For He taught His disciples and said unto them, "The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill Him; and after He is killed, He shall rise the third day." 32 But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask Him. 33 And He came to Capernaum; and being in the house, He asked them, "What was it that ye disputed among yourselves on the way?" 34 But they held their peace, for on the way they had disputed among themselves as to who should be the greatest. 35 And He sat down, and called the twelve and said unto them, "If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all and servant of all." 36 And He took a child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said unto them, 37 "Whosoever shall receive one of such children in My name, receiveth Me; and whosoever shall receive Me, receiveth not Me, but Him that sent Me." 38 And John answered Him, saying, "Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name, but he followeth us not, so we forbad him because he followeth not us." 39 But Jesus said, "Forbid him not, for there is no man who shall do a miracle in My name that can lightly speak evil of Me. 40 For he that is not against us is on our side. 41 ¶ For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in My name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. 42 And whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe in Me to fall, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea. 43 And if thy hand cause thee to fall, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed than, having two hands, to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched, 44 where ‘their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.’ 45 And if thy foot cause thee to fall, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter halt into life than, having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched, 46 where ‘their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.’ 47 And if thine eye cause thee to fall, pluck it out. It is better for thee to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire, 48 where ‘their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost his saltness, with what will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another." |
v1-9 The Transfiguration. Matt 17:1-8; Luke 9:28-36. The disciples had been told about the coming suffering of Jesus, it must have been difficult for them to accept what Jesus had told them. Six days later Jesus revealed himself in a wonderful way. Jesus took Peter, James and John to the top of a mountain and there He revealed His glory. We are not told which mountain but most Bible students believe this was Mount Hermon. Moses stood for the Law and Elijah the prophets. The transfiguration shows a change on the outside that comes from the inside. Jesus allowed His inner glory to come from within, filling His body with the glory of God. See John 17:24 for us to be part of His glory in the future. Also consider Rom 12:1,2; 2 Cor 3:18. Luke 9:32 tells us that Jesus prayed at first and the disciples fell asleep, they almost missed the transfiguration and seeing Moses and Elijah. v5 The idea put forward by Peter shows his human thinking, how wonderful to stay on the mountain top in all the glory when Jesus had a far more important task to complete. If we want to share the glory we must be willing to also take on the task, the cross, and suffering which may come with it. Peter was also putting Moses and Elijah on the same level as Jesus. God the Father interrupted Peter’s speech and told them to concentrate on His Son and the Word of God. The glory faded but the Word remains for ever. The three disciples were not allowed to tell the other nine what they had seen on the mountain until after the resurrection of Jesus. When this happened this event must have given the believers great encouragement, these three disciples had already seen Jesus in His true form. v10 They were very puzzled by the instruction "until the rising from the dead." v11-13 Elijah comes first Matt 17:10-13; The disciples knew the Old Testament prophecies in Malachi 3:1 and Malachi 4:5-6 , that Elijah was to come before the Messiah John 1:21, had they missed him? Jesus confirms that Elijah had already come to prepare the way for the Messiah but the people did not recognize him. - John said that he was not Elijah risen from the dead but he did do what Elijah would have done. John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus. Matt 17:10-13 Elijah will come again, just before the time of tribulation. Some students connect this with Rev 11:3-12. Both John the Baptist and Jesus were rejected by the people. v14-29 The disciples failure. Matt 17:14-21; Luke 9:37-42. When Jesus and the three disciples return to the other disciples they find that the disciples are having a problem. A boy, who was deaf and dumb and under the control of a demon, had been brought to the disciples and they were unable to cure the child. v17,22,24 The father comes to Jesus, he is not sure that even Jesus can cure His son "if you can do any thing." The father is honest to admit that he has little faith in Jesus as His disciples had failed. Jesus turns to the child, when the demon comes in contact with Jesus it makes one final attack of the boy, but under the power of Jesus the demon leaves the boy. v28-30 Why had the disciples failed? The authority that Jesus had given them previously was only able to work with faith by the disciples. It may be that the split of the disciple had effected their faith in some way, their failure hurt them but also the Lord Jesus, allowing the enemy to use it to their advantage. When the disciples asked Jesus why they had failed, He responded in v29 "This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.." Obviously there was a problem with their attitude. v30-32 Future death and resurrection. Matt 17:22,23; Luke 9:43-45. Still heading for Jerusalem Jesus continues to tell the disciples of the coming events. The disciples could not understand what He was saying, especially the resurrection on the third day, but they were frightened to ask. The sadness which might have appeared at this time did not stop them arguing amongst themselves as to who was the most important. v33-37 Who is the most important? Matt 18:1-6; Luke 9:46-48 To explain to them Jesus takes a child and explains that those who want to be first must become a servant to all. The child is an example, it totally is dependant on its parents for its needs, the child accepts that it is a child, it submits to instruction, needs love and care. However, some children think and behave like adults, they are spoilt and demand attention. The world teaches that being the "greatest" means power and position, this is opposite to the teaching of Jesus, that greatness comes from being a servant, giving yourself for others. v38-41 John felt that he should defend the disciples, "We saw a man casting out devils in your name, and stopped him." They had failed yet they were stopping someone doing it!!! The reply of Jesus shows that no one can be in the middle, the choice is "for me or against me." If we are not for Him, then we must be against Him, "no one doing a miracle in my name can be against me." See Matt 12:30. Miracles are not necessary to serve Jesus, just sharing food and water give evidence of our love for Him. Matt 25:31-50. v42 Jesus now gives a warning of causing others to fail due to our life and attitude. v43 Jesus gives a very serious warning of hell, any problems in our life which might be causing others to fail must be dealt with as if surgically removed. Evil comes from the heart so cutting off the hand does not stop evil, sin is like cancer it spreads and must be stopped by any means. Many people are worried by the words of Jesus about hell, a place of eternal torment. See Luke 16:19ff. Hell is for ever Rev 20:10. Which do you want, the purifying fire of God or the eternal fire of hell? v49-50 Salt was used in preserving food by the Jew, if the salt is not pure then it will lose the power to preserve and flavour. Just as a Christian who has turned back to sin the power of God is not in them. A Christian will experience the fire of God as He tries to bring them back to Himself. 1 Peter 1:6,7; 1 Peter 4:11-19. |
Easy English Translation
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