Reasoning Through the Bible
Taking a cue from Paul, Reasoning Through the Bible is an expository style walk through the Scriptures that tells you what the Bible says. Reviewing both Old and New Testament books, as well as topical subjects, we methodically teach verse by verse, even phrase by phrase.
We have completed many books of the Bible and offer free lesson plans for teachers. If you want to browse our entire library by book or topic, see our website www.ReasoningThroughTheBible.com.
We primarily do expository teaching but also include a good bit of theology and apologetics. Just like Paul on Mars Hill, Christianity must address both the ancient truths and the questions of the people today. Join Glenn and Steve every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as they reason with you through the Bible.
Reasoning Through the Bible
S28 || Jesus' Second Coming, Elijah's Return, and Restoring All Things || Mark 9:12-18 || Session 28 || Verse by Verse Bible Study
Diving deep into Mark 9:12-28, we explore the fascinating distinction between John the Baptist coming "in the spirit of Elijah" versus the literal prophet's future return before Christ's second coming. This enlightening discussion untangles why Jewish leaders recognized prophecies about a glorious Messiah but overlooked crucial passages predicting His suffering—creating a fundamental misunderstanding that persists in different forms today.
Whether you're fascinated by biblical prophecy, struggle with spiritual authority, or simply want to understand Scripture more deeply, this verse-by-verse exploration offers profound insights that bridge ancient text with contemporary faith challenges. Listen now to discover what these powerful encounters reveal about Christ's kingdom and our place in it.
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May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve
Welcome to Reasoning Through the Bible, where we go verse by verse and often phrase by phrase, through the Word of God, which is really the only way to really get the true sense of what's going on and make sure that we learn the Word of God. My name is Glenn. I'm here with Steve. If you have your copy of the Word of God, open it to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 9. We're going to dive in around verse 12, because here we have the Lord Jesus. He has just come down from the Mount of Transfiguration, he's given a warning to the crowd and his disciples and now he is talking about the things that would happen around end times. He talks about Elijah and the kingdom. We're going to talk today about whether the kingdom is today in the church or is it some future date, or is there a sense of both of these that are true. We'll talk about that today. Let's go ahead and dive in. Steve, can you read Mark 9, verses 12 and 13?
Speaker 2:He said to them Elijah does come first and restore all things. Yet how is it written of the Son of man that he will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.
Speaker 1:With this, these verses. Let's just look at what it directly says and then we can talk about the interpretation. What he says in these two verses that we just read, elijah does come before something called the restoration of all things. The restoration of all things does indeed happen. He mentions it here as if it's known. The restoration of all things is an event that will happen. Jesus is speaking here of this restoration of things on the earth. That's the point of things here. It's not talking about a spiritual thing. He's talking about Elijah coming and restoring all things. All things means all things. There will indeed be a time when the earth is restored.
Speaker 1:Jesus also turns their attention from Elijah to the Son of man suffering, which was predicted in the Old Testament. He says it was written of him. He also says in these verses quote Elijah has already come, which likely meaning John the Baptist. That's what he was directly saying. If we're to then talk about interpretations of it, first of all, he says in here twice that it is written once of the Son of man that's going to be suffering and treated with contempt, and also saying that the Old Testament predicted suffering and mistreatment of the precursor, elijah coming. So, steve, first of all, how do we jump into this and start trying to interpret what he means?
Speaker 2:As we ended the last session, glenn, we were talking about the disciples and they were asking these questions related to Elijah. Jesus had told them for a second time that he was going to die and be resurrected. They didn't understand that. They were trying to understand and put together what you mentioned were the sequence of events, of what was going to happen. As we ended that session, we mentioned that these aren't uneducated, just fishermen that wants to be portrayed. They were being taught in the synagogue. They went every Sabbath to the synagogue.
Speaker 2:The scribes, the teachers were going over the Hebrew scriptures of what the Messiah was going to bring. This is directly from Malachi, the last couple of verses of Malachi that says Elijah is going to come before the Messiah comes in that great day. We know that to be Jesus' second coming. So as we approach this, we also know that John the Baptist is coming in the spirit of Elijah. How do we know that?
Speaker 2:If we go over to Luke, chapter 1, verses 16 and 17, it says and he will turn. He, being John the Baptist, will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord, their God. It is he who will go as a forerunner before him, in the spirit and power of Elijah, and it goes on to finish verse 17 there. So we know that John the Baptist, who Jesus is speaking of, came in the spirit of Elijah. But I think Jesus here is actually referring to that. Elijah is going to come physically, as predicted in Malachi, but it's going to be at his second coming. It's's going to be at his second coming. It's not going to be at his first coming.
Speaker 1:And I would agree 100% with what you said.
Speaker 1:To get the context here of what he's saying in Mark 9, 12, and 13 is we have to understand again the context. It's always a mistake to just open a Bible and turn to a verse and take that verse and try to interpret it without interpreting what's going on in the chapter, what's the book for, etc. In this chapter, in the previous chapter 8, we had Jesus going up to the Mount of Transfiguration and then telling them some things. He says don't go and tell this to everybody until and he gives some things they didn't understand, until the Son of man. He talked about him dying and rising again, and that's when they didn't understand. They thought, oh, once we've seen the glorified Messiah, we understand who he is. He is the Christ. He must be going to set it up right now, here today, as an earthly kingdom. He then gave them some instructions that they're saying what I thought Elijah coming first. What's the sequence here, lord? Then he gives what we just read Elijah does come first and restore all things. We have to take that in the sequence of what they had asked about. The disciples were asking about the final coming and, as you said, steve, they didn't get. There was going to be two comings. We have to then say, okay, what was predicted about Elijah? Well, we know the actual prophet, elijah, was indeed abused under the cruel reign of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. That happened in 1 Kings 19. We know he was persecuted. Apparently that must have been the time when the Lord says it is written that when Elijah comes he will be persecuted. So if the modern-day Elijah was to, or at least the future Elijah was supposed to, be persecuted, he must have been drawing parallels to the former Elijah.
Speaker 1:He says Elijah does come first and restore all things. He says that directly in verse 12. Okay, what is the? Or at least ask the question when is the kingdom? Is it a spiritual kingdom now, in the church age? Will there be an earthly, future physical kingdom on earth? Right, here would have been the place where, if he was to correct the misunderstandings and said oh no, wait a minute, there's not going to be an earthly kingdom, it's all going to be spiritual and it's all going to be fulfilled in the church, right here would have been the place where he would have said it, because they were misunderstanding, or at least they were asking questions about Elijah coming. Here would have been the place. Oh no, the kingdom is really a spiritual kingdom in the church age.
Speaker 1:But he doesn't say that. What does he say? He says directly Elijah does come first and restore all things. Steve, I just believe that when he says Elijah comes and restores all things, then what he really means is Elijah is going to come and restore all things, and all things means all things, which means the earth is going to be restored. Elijah is going to come. He didn't give a spiritual interpretation of it. The normal use of the language must be the one he's talking about. There will indeed be a second coming of Christ. Elijah, the prophet, will come and he will restore all things. Right now, things are not restored. We're under the curse that was given in the garden and the kingdoms were scattered. The nation of Israel was scattered. We've talked about Zechariah, specifically the latter parts of the book, predicting that the kingdom was going to come on the earth. This is the context of the questions that were asked and it's the context of the answers that he gave. That's the answer here, wouldn't you agree, steve?
Speaker 2:I would agree. They're trying to understand the sequence. Jesus knows the sequence, obviously, and he is conveying to them what is going to happen because he knows when it is going to happen. They're asking the question, though, directly why is it that the scribe says that Elijah has to come first? And he's answering them directly To him. He knows it's going to be at his second coming To them.
Speaker 2:They don't quite realize it yet, but it is another piece of the puzzle that they're going to be able to put together at his resurrection and then his ascension, because, as they watch him go up, the angel standing next to him says why do you stand here watching him going up, just as you saw him go up? He's going to return again. Now they're going to be able to put these little things that Jesus told them back here of Elijah's going to come first. Now they're going to understand Jesus is going to come again. Oh, elijah really is going to come. It's another thing that they're going to expect the fulfillment of Amalekite, but it's going to be at his second coming, not at his first coming.
Speaker 1:There's another important thing we can pull out of verse 12. Look at the middle of the verse. He says there how it is written. So that part must be from the Old Testament. That's the Old Testament writings how it is written of the Son of man that he will suffer many things and be treated with contempt. What he's saying there very directly is that the Old Testament predicted the Messiah, son of man, will be mistreated.
Speaker 1:Now that is the message that the Jewish scholars and the Jewish scribes missed. They saw the predictions in the Old Testament of the glory of the Messiah when he would come, but they were blinded. They didn't see the parts that predicted about the suffering of the Son of man, the suffering of the Messiah. So here he's pointing it out. It is written it was predicted that the Son of man will suffer and die and be mistreated. Therefore it's both true. The Old Testament predicted a suffering Messiah and a glorious Messiah. And what a lot of the Old Testament prophets missed was the suffering part. They only saw the glory part.
Speaker 1:And the two comings of Christ are what happens to fulfill it. The first one he came is the suffering servant and people were looking for the glorious Christ. The next time they're going to be looking for the suffering servant gentle, jesus, meek and mild. What they're going to get is just the opposite. Suffering servant gentle, jesus, meek and mild. What they're going to get is just the opposite. They're going to get the conquering warrior on a white horse, with fire in his eyes and a sword coming out of his mouth, and he's going to come to take over. That's the Jesus that people today don't understand and aren't ready for is the conquering Messiah he's predicting.
Speaker 1:All of that here is all packed into these verses, and I just find it to be really tremendous. We haven't read verse 14 yet, but when we get to verse 14, he's going to come down from the mountain and see that there's this argument going on, with these scribes, which tells us that when he went up on top of the mountain to the transfiguration, the only people he brought with him was Peter, James and John. He didn't bring the rest of the 12, and he didn't do the transfiguration in front of the scribes the official representatives from the government, which kind of begs the question. Well, why? Why wouldn't he? If they were doubting his authenticity, why wouldn't he do this flashy, showy miracle and transform himself right there in the midst of the temple in Jerusalem. Now, why did he go to this place, out where it's relatively obscure and there's a few people there, and didn't do it in front of the scribes? Why would he do that?
Speaker 2:Steve, when we see the word scribes, we might think of people who write things down, and maybe these were the men who were off in a room somewhere copying the scrolls of the Hebrew Scriptures. But what they were? They were the teachers. They were the ones who taught in the synagogues and they were the ones who interpreted the scriptures. You had the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who were a part of the political system, you could say, of the synagogue, and the scribes were more the hands-on teachers. So here they are they're arguing with the disciples.
Speaker 2:I think that Jesus hasn't showed them because back in the earlier chapters of Mark they have officially rejected him. They have been part of this delegation that has come from the Sanhedrin up here into the Galilean area, following Jesus around, observing what he's doing, challenging him on the things that he's doing. On the Sabbath they have officially rejected him by saying the miracles that he does he's doing by Satan himself. Jesus has changed his ministry. He's taken it and doing things privately. He's not showing miracles as much in public. Some of the other miracles that we've seen in the most recent verses and chapters he takes the people aside or he pulls them into the house. His ministry has changed. He's not doing anything in front of these Pharisees. Sadduce had already heard a lot of his teachings and had rejected them.
Speaker 1:They had officially rejected speak. They weren't going to change their minds. So therefore, he didn't reveal himself to those people. He had already done these miracles. They had made up their mind to not follow him. Today, the same situation happens. There's atheists and skeptics today that say, oh, if I just saw a flashy miracle, I would believe. Well, I submit no, you wouldn't, because the truth that was already been revealed to you you've rejected. There's been many infallible proofs that are already given in the Word of God and they've rejected that. These atheists and skeptics are demanding that God perform on their terms.
Speaker 1:Jesus is not a vending machine. He's not a puppet on a string. He's not going to perform for people, especially people whose main goal is to trap him and try to get ammo against him. He's going to go off and hide himself. He's going to reveal himself to those that are genuinely open for the truth. What did he do to the people that were genuinely looking for the truth? The woman at the well In John, chapter 3, there was Nicodemus the Pharisee there.
Speaker 1:He was a Pharisee, but he was open to the truth. Jesus revealed himself to people. When he gave them some truth and they accepted it, then he would give them more. That's the pattern that we see here. God acted this way in the Old Testament as well. When Israel rejected God, he backed off and left them to their own sin. This is not a pattern that's unique to Jesus. There's many times where the Old Testament God backs away and says I'm not going to do anything for you because you've rejected me. He will later lift up a prophet and send his message, which, again, that's his pattern all the way through the scriptures. Let's move on to the next one. Next we have this healing of a boy. Steve, can you start at verse 14 and read through?
Speaker 2:verse 18?. When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and some scribes arguing with them Immediately. When the entire crowd saw him, they were amazed and began running up to greet him, and he asked them what are you discussing with them? One of the crowd answered him Teacher, I brought you my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute and whenever it seizes him it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told your disciples to cast it out and they could not do it.
Speaker 1:Note this situation. Jesus had been up on the mountain and did the great miracle, the transfiguration, and he was up there with Moses and Elijah. Transfigured into his glory, he comes down from the mountain and appears back as a man again, while down at the bottom of the mountain, the disciples and the religious leaders were arguing about some religious or spiritual point, and the disciples were powerless to cast out this demon. I think this is just a picture of our situation today. Where is Jesus? Well, he's gone off into heaven and he's glorified and he's with the prophets of old now, but we down here seem to be powerless to solve a lot of our spiritual problems. We're arguing with each other about theological points. What we really need is Jesus to come back and help us out and solve this mess. I just find all these stories in Mark to be so applicable to our lives today. We're down here, almost powerless. What we really need is the person of Jesus to work through us and to solve a lot of these issues, because he is the one with the glory and he is the one with the power. Next, we have this boy who seems to have the symptoms of epilepsy, and I've even heard some religious teachers say well see. Here's an example of where the people back then were just ignorant and they confused the diseases with demon possession. We really can just dismiss all of the spiritual things. No, no, these people weren't that. At least they were probably more educated than we are on these things.
Speaker 1:If we just read our Bibles we can tell that the people back then understood the difference between demon possession and diseases. For example, matthew 4.24, the same passage, the same sentence. God mentions seizures and demon possession in the same sentence. They knew a distinction between them. Not only that, but there's many places where they very well speak of diseases. They speak of gangrene in 2 Timothy 2.17, dropsy. In Luke 14.2, fever, mark 1.30, leprosy, mark 1.40, paralysis it talks about. In Acts 8.7 and 9.33, talks about worms. In Acts 12.33, blindness, dysentery it mentions all these diseases. So they were quite clear on what things were diseases and what were demon possessions. And again, matthew 4.24 has both of those in the same sentence. So it's a really hard position to say they didn't know the difference between them. The Bible is not mixing up diseases with demon possession. Interesting points though. Stephen, verse 14, what do we see happening here? They're doing what. What are the disciples and the scribes doing?
Speaker 2:The scribes are arguing with the disciples. Jesus earlier had sent the disciples out in pairs and given them authority to cast out demons and do other types of attesting miracles. But here is this man that has brought his son to them, while Jesus is up on the mountain with Peter, james and John, and the disciples are not able to cast the demon out of this boy. And the disciples are not able to cast the demon out of this boy. So the scribes, I think, are challenging them and saying Jesus is not the Messiah, you haven't been given the authority, you're not able to do this attesting miracle because they had earlier asked Jesus for signs. They were probably asking for the disciples for signs, asking for their disciples for signs. I think that they were directly challenging the disciples on their belief of Jesus being the Messiah. It was another indication of them missing all of the things that were written in the Hebrew Scriptures of Jesus as being the Messiah.
Speaker 1:Jesus comes down from the mountain, he sees this crowd, he sees them arguing and in verse 16, he asked this question what are you discussing with them? Well, steve, did he not know the answer? Well, yeah, he knew the answer. Why would he ask a question that he already knew the answer to?
Speaker 2:Well, it's for the benefit of everyone else in the crowd. That's, I think, is the reason why.
Speaker 1:He's also teaching them by asking them questions. Remember, back in the Garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve sinned, god comes in and says where are you? Well, did he not know? Well, yeah, he knew where they were and he knew what happened. By asking these questions, he's getting them to realize. He's speaking to the disciples. What are you discussing? He's really pointing out to the disciples why are you arguing with these guys? He's teaching them that it's pointless to have these arguments with people that are not seeking the truth. That's what he's pointing.
Speaker 1:Then notice, the scribes didn't answer either. He's asking everyone there. The scribes were the ones that seemed to be so passionate about whatever side they were taking in this argument, trying to prove Jesus and his disciples wrong. And the scribes they didn't answer.
Speaker 1:I think it's interesting, steve, these skeptics, the scribes, the ones that are only out here trying to disprove Jesus. They'll argue with Jesus' follower, but when Jesus shows up, they don't have anything to say. They don't have an answer. That's what it's going to be when he comes back. There's all these skeptics and atheists running around the countryside saying, just like Job, if I could just get God down here across the conference room table, then we could have a meeting and we could iron out this problem. I could get all my answers. Well, what did Job say when God finally shows up? I'm sorry, I ask because once you're in the presence of an overly majestic, infinitely powerful God, then you realize how small your questions are and how small your issues are, and you really don't have anything to say. Jesus showed up, they had the opportunity to ask him questions and they're just silent.
Speaker 2:Isn't that how it usually is whenever the person with authority shows up and can actually answer the questions that maybe they're asking? I think that you're right on point there in verse 16. The inflection there is not what are you discussing with them? That's kind of how I read it, but it's more of a what are you discussing with them. In other words, I think you're right on point with that. Why are you conversing with them and arguing with them? They're the scribes and teachers. You should be having an influence on them. They're the scribes and teachers. You should be having an influence on them. They don't have any influence on you. So I think that you've hit the nail on the head on that one.
Speaker 1:Jesus comes back, he asks the questions and one of the people from the crowd, who apparently was the father, relative of this boy, he says demon-possessed and your disciples could not cast it out. Here's a question, steve. Two previous occasions in Mark, jesus had given the disciples the power to cast things out In Mark 3.15 and in 6.7, when he sent them out two by two, he specifically gave them the power to cast out demons. Yet here, when Jesus comes back, they are unable and they couldn't do it. We'll learn when we get to the next passage, a little bit of a clue on why, but I think there's a lesson here, just in their inability.
Speaker 1:Is Jesus able to cast out these demons? Well, yes, but the disciples couldn't. We have to ask what's going on here, and I think what's going on is that God is fully capable, god is fully powerful, god is able to do what God has always been able to do, which is to control not only the physical world but the spirit world. But the power that these disciples had of working through them was weak, not because God was weak, but because they were weak.
Speaker 2:Glenn, as you're mentioning that and going through all of that, one of the things that the Pharisees would do in the processes of casting out demons is they would get the demon's name. That was part of the process. If they couldn't get the demon's name, that was part of the process. If they couldn't get the demon's name, they couldn't cast the demon out. I think there's a purpose behind this in that Jesus comes down. The disciples were in the same predicament. They couldn't cast out the demon because they couldn't get his name.
Speaker 2:I don't want to say it's because God was limited. I know that you're kind of struggling with that a little bit too, of trying to convey that, but I think it's there to give us a point to Jesus and that he can do it, that he can directly cast this demon out as an object lesson to the other people around. The object lesson is this Under normal circumstances they couldn't cast demons out on a mute person. Jesus shows up and he's going to cast the demon out in the next few verses. So I think he's showing them that object lesson. But when we get to the next verses and next session, he does show a little bit of frustration with them, which I think does lead to what you were just saying, in that there is the ability to do it as long as they approach it in the proper way, and Jesus is going to tell us what that proper way is in the next few verses.
Speaker 1:We will reason through that next time. Thank you so much for watching and listening.
Speaker 2:May God bless you.
