Matthew 17:1-27

Matthew’s Good News

Matthew’s *Gospel

Hilda Bright

Chapter 17

Jesus changed his appearance 17:1-13

v1 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James and John (who was James’s brother) with him. He led them up a high mountain where they were alone. v2 Suddenly, Jesus looked completely different. His face shone like the sun. His clothes became as white as light. v3 Just then Moses and Elijah appeared in front of them. They were talking with Jesus.

v4 Then Peter spoke to Jesus. ‘*Lord, it is good for us to be here’, he said. ‘If you wish, I will put up three shelters - one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’

v5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them. A voice spoke to them from the cloud. ‘This is my Son, whom I love’, the voice said. ‘I am very pleased with him. And you must listen to him!’

v6 When the *disciples heard this, they were very frightened. They fell down with their faces on the ground. v7 But Jesus came and touched them. ‘Get up’, he said. ‘Do not be afraid.’ v8 And when they looked up, they saw nobody except Jesus.

v9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus spoke seriously to them. ‘Do not tell anyone what you have seen. Wait until the Son of Man has risen from death.’

v10 So the *disciples asked him about it. ‘The men who teach the *Law say that Elijah must come first. Why do they say this?’ they asked.

v11 Jesus replied to them. ‘That is right. Elijah will come first’, he said. ‘He will prepare everything. v12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come. People did not recognise him. And they have done everything that they wanted to do to him. In the same way, they are going to make the Son of Man suffer.’

v13 Then the *disciples understood that Jesus was talking to them about John the *Baptist.

Verse 1 Matthew does not tell us the mountain’s name. It is probably Mount Hermon, which is near the town called Caesarea Philippi.

Verse 2 For a short time, the *disciples were able to see Jesus as he really is. His face shone as Moses’ face had shone (Exodus 34:29-30). Mark and Luke find different ways to describe Jesus’ clothes at this time. They were shining and they were white. Mark says that nobody could make them whiter. Luke says that they were bright, like lightning.

Verse 3 Moses was God’s special servant. He received the *Law from God for the people. Elijah was the greatest of God’s special servants. Jesus was more important than both these men. He explained what the *Law meant. God gave his message to his special servants to deliver to the people. Jesus made that message come true. Both Moses and Elijah had left the earth in strange ways. Their appearance with Jesus now suggested that there is life after death. Luke says that they were talking with Jesus about his death in Jerusalem. Luke used the word ‘exodus’ for ‘death’, like the ‘exodus’ in Moses’ time. Moses rescued Israel’s people from Egypt (Exodus 12). When Jesus died, he rescued people from *sin.

Verse 4 Peter offered to make three temporary shelters. He did not know what to say. Perhaps he wanted to stay on the mountain. Perhaps he wanted this experience of Jesus’ power to last longer. Sometimes Peter spoke before he really thought about his words.

Verse 5 The bright cloud was a sign that God was present. It was called the ‘shekinah’. It had appeared on Mount Sinai when God gave the *Law to Moses long ago. God also spoke the same words when John *baptised Jesus.

Verses 6-8 The *disciples were very frightened. But Jesus came over to them and touched them. So they knew that he was real. He told them not to be afraid. Then they realised that what they had seen had gone. But they had heard words, so the experience had been real too. They must listen to whatever Jesus said to them. Peter later wrote about this experience. ‘We ourselves heard the voice that spoke from heaven’ (2 Peter 1:16-18).

Verse 9 Jesus warned his *disciples. They must not tell anyone at this time what they had just seen. He did not want people to think about him as the wrong kind of *Messiah. These three *disciples did not understand completely until after Jesus died and rose to life again. So they were not able to explain properly until then what they had seen.

Verses 10-12 They were confused because they had seen Elijah on the mountain with Jesus. The men who taught the *Law believed that Elijah would come back before the *Messiah arrived. They did not know how this could be true. They thought that Elijah had not come. But they wanted to believe that Jesus was the *Messiah. Jesus told them that ‘Elijah’ had already come. The new Elijah was John the *Baptist. He had come to prepare people to receive the *Messiah. Then there could be a new relationship between the people and God. There could be new relationships between people as well (Malachi 4:5-6). But John had suffered because people did not believe his message. So Jesus would suffer too. But Jesus also said that Elijah will come again to the *Jews one day.

Jesus heals a boy who has an evil *spirit 17:14-23

v14 When they came to the crowd of people, a man approached Jesus. He went down on his knees in front of Jesus. v15 ‘*Lord, pity my son’, he said. ‘He has terrible ‘*epilepsy’ and he suffers a great deal. He often falls into the fire or falls into water. v16 I brought him to your *disciples, but they could not heal him.’

v17 ‘You are difficult people who do not believe God!’ Jesus replied. ‘It is hard for me to stay with you. It is hard for me to be with you. Bring the boy here to me.’ v18 Then Jesus ordered the evil *spirit to come out of the boy. And it came out of him, so that he was well from that moment.

v19 Then the *disciples came to Jesus in private. ‘Why could we not send out the evil *spirit?’ they asked him.

v20 ‘Because you do not really believe me’, Jesus told them. ‘I am telling you the truth. If you really believe only a little, it is enough. A very small seed like a mustard seed can grow into a plant. If you believe, you can speak to this mountain. “Move from here and go to there”, you could say to it. And it would move. Nothing would be impossible to you.’ [v21 But this kind of evil *spirit does not go out, unless you pray. You have to keep on praying and not eat.’]

v22 When they were all together in the Galilee region, Jesus spoke to them again. ‘Someone will hand the *Son of Man over to the authorities. v23 They will kill him, but on the third day after that, he will rise from the dead.’ Then the *disciples became very sad.

Verses 14-16 The three *disciples returned to the crowd from their wonderful experience alone with Jesus. They found the other *disciples with a problem because someone was suffering. There was a lot of confusion at that place, and Mark gives us more details. There was a curious crowd of people including some men who taught the *Law. And they were arguing with the *disciples. The *disciples were probably ashamed and puzzled. They had been able to force out evil *spirits before (Matthew 10:8), but this time they could not do it. But the sick boy’s father believed Jesus. So he still came to him, even after the *disciples had failed to heal his son. The father called his son’s illness ‘*epilepsy’. This illness makes a person shake hard and fall down. The boy had fallen into dangerous places. He could burn himself, or he might even drown.

Verses 17-18 Jesus used the same words that described Israel’s people in the desert long ago (Deuteronomy 32:5). People did not believe God then either. In Mark’s account, the father asked Jesus to help him. He really wanted to believe more. Matthew emphasises that the *disciples had failed to heal the sick boy. Jesus healed the boy with a command.

Verses 19-20 The *disciples wanted to know why they had not succeeded. Jesus told them that they needed only to believe him a little. Then they could deal with the most difficult problems. The *Jews used picture language. To move a mountain meant to remove something very difficult.

Verse 21 is not in many of the old copies that people made from Matthew’s *gospel. So many modern translations leave it out. The same words are in Mark 9:29.

Verses 22-23 This is the second time that Jesus spoke about his death. He also spoke about the time after his death. He said that someone would ‘hand him over to the authorities’. We read that Judas handed Jesus over to the chief *priests (Matthew 26:15). The chief *priests handed Jesus over to Pilate (Matthew 27:2). Pilate handed Jesus over to the soldiers who killed him (Matthew 27:26). The *disciples did not understand how Jesus would rise from death ‘on the third day’. They only knew that God would be the judge on a terrible day after death.

The *Temple tax 17:24-27

v24 Then Jesus and his *disciples arrived in the town called Capernaum. And the men who collected the *Temple tax came to Peter. ‘Does your teacher pay the *Temple tax?’ they asked.

v25 ‘Yes, he does’, Peter replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke first. ‘What do you think, Simon?’ he asked. ‘The kings in this world collect payment and taxes. Who do they collect this money from? Do they collect it from their own sons, or do they collect it from other people?’

v26 ‘From other people’, Peter answered.

‘Then their sons do not have to pay’, Jesus said to him. v27 ‘But we do not want to offend these men. So go to the lake and throw out your line to catch fish. Pull out the first fish that you catch. Open its mouth, and inside you will find a coin. Give this coin to the men who collect taxes. It will be enough to pay both my tax and your tax.’

This passage is only in Matthew’s *gospel. Peter is in this account. Matthew likes to write about Peter.

Verses 24-25 Every male *Jew who was over 20 years old had to pay an annual tax to the *Temple. The tax was half a ‘shekel’ coin (Exodus 30:13), and it was equal to two days’ wages. This tax provided the money that the *Temple in Jerusalem needed. The men usually collected it in the towns and villages from March 15th to March 25th. After that date, people had to go to the *Temple to pay the tax. The men who collected it probably thought that Peter was the *disciples’ leader. The men may have asked an ordinary question for information. But perhaps they wanted to know whether Jesus was a loyal *Jew. Jesus could have refused to pay since, as God, the *Temple belonged to him. But the people did not understand that. So they would think that he did not care about the *Temple. That is why Jesus asked Peter the question about the taxes.

Verses 26-27 Peter agreed that kings do not collect taxes from their own families. We do not know whether Peter understood Jesus. He probably realised years later what Jesus had meant. Jesus and his *disciples were citizens where God rules. They were part of the King’s family. So they did not have to pay the tax. But Jesus did not want to give wrong ideas to people about their financial duties. To ‘offend’ here means to put something in the way that makes people fall. So Jesus told Peter how to find the tax for them both. Christians sometimes have a responsibility to do something that limits their own freedom. They want to avoid offending other people. They do not want people to misunderstand what they believe.

There is a fish in the sea of Galilee that has a very large mouth. People call it ‘St Peter’s fish’.

gospel ~ 1. good news; 2. one of the first four books in the New Testament.

New Testament ~ the last part of the Bible, which the writers wrote after the life of Jesus.
Lord ~ master; a name that we call God or Jesus; we call God or Jesus Lord when we obey them.
disciples ~ those who follow another person to learn from him.
Law ~ the rules that God gave to Moses for the Jews.
Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
faith ~ belief in someone or something; things that people believe about Jesus.
Baptist ~ someone who baptises people.
baptise ~ to put a person under water or put water on a person to show that they want to follow Christ.
sin ~ when we do not obey God's commands.
baptise ~ to put a person under water or put water on a person to show that they want to follow Christ.
Messiah ~ the Jews' word for the king who would come and rescue them.
Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
faith ~ belief in someone or something; things that people believe about Jesus.
Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
faith ~ belief in someone or something; things that people believe about Jesus.
spirit ~ the part of us that lives when our body dies; a being that is alive, even without a body; the part of a person that will always be alive, even after their body is dead. There are good spirits, like God’s Spirit and his angels. And there are bad spirits, like Satan and his angels.
being ~ a person or animal that is alive.
angels ~ God's special messengers.
Satan ~ the chief evil spirit.
messenger ~ a person who gives a message.
epilepsy ~ a disease that makes the person fall to the ground, sometimes with strange movements of the muscles.'Son of Man ~ a name that Jesus called himself. see Daniel 8:17.
gospel ~ 1. good news; 2. one of the first four books in the New Testament.

New Testament ~ the last part of the Bible, which the writers wrote after the life of Jesus.
priest ~ a man whom God chose to do a special work for him. The priests worked in the Temple.
Temple ~ the special building in Jerusalem where the Jews worshipped God.
Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
worship ~ show honour to God, usually with other people.
faith ~ belief in someone or something; things that people believe about Jesus.
Temple ~ the special building in Jerusalem where the Jews worshipped God.
Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
worship ~ show honour to God, usually with other people.
faith ~ belief in someone or something; things that people believe about Jesus.