Confusion Now . . . Understanding Later (Matthew 17:9-23; Mark 9:9-32; Luke 9:37-45)

Glory is easier to recognize on a mountaintop. The hard part is trusting God when you walk back down into noise, need, and confusion. We pick up right after the Transfiguration as Jesus, Peter, James, and John head down the mountain and Jesus tells them to keep quiet about what they saw until after the Son of Man rises from the dead. That single instruction exposes a gap that still trips us up today: we want quick victory, but Jesus keeps talking about a cross first and a crown later.

We dig into the disciples’ question about Elijah and the promise in Malachi, then follow Jesus as he explains that Elijah “already came” through John the Baptist’s ministry. John wasn’t literally Elijah, but he served an Elijah-like role, preparing the way and pointing to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That connection ties Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9 together and makes the message of the Gospels unmistakably clear: the first coming of the Messiah centers on forgiveness, redemption, and rescue from sin, not the immediate setup of the earthly kingdom.

Then the scene pivots from breathtaking light to a heartbreaking crisis. A father begs for help, the disciples can’t drive out a demon, and we talk honestly about how believers drift from dependence into self-sufficiency and prayerlessness. Jesus steps in with divine authority, heals the boy, and reminds us that God’s majesty isn’t only visible “up there” but is just as real in the valley. We close with a vivid reminder that God’s plan can take years to understand, and his detours are never wasted.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Well, today we pick up our chronological study of the Gospels as Jesus, Peter, James, and John make their way down the mountain following that amazing, glory revealing transfiguration. And I'm sure these three disciples can't wait to tell the other disciples what they've seen. But then Jesus commands them on the way down, in Matthew chapter 17, to tell no one until after the Son of Man is raised from the dead. Now the Gospel of Mark adds in chapter 9 and verse 10, so they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising

Coming Down From The Transfiguration

SPEAKER_00 1:22

from the dead might mean. Now let me point out here that perhaps the most challenging aspect of Jesus' ministry was helping his disciples understand two things. First, that he had not come at this time to set up the kingdom, and second why he came to earth at this time. See, they didn't grasp the idea that there would be two appearances of Israel's Messiah, the first time for a crucifixion, and the second time for a coronation. A big part of the challenge was that the Old Testament wasn't explicit on this particular matter. Now having just seen Jesus and Elijah and Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration, these three disciples are wondering about the promise perhaps of Malachi. Malachi wrote back in chapter four and verse five of his prophecy that Elijah would appear before the Messiah came to establish his kingdom on earth. Well, Jesus is the Messiah, they knew that. Elijah has just appeared, so why didn't Elijah restore the people in preparation for the kingdom? In fact, Elijah has now just disappeared back into thin air. Now all of this would have

Elijah’s Promise And John The Baptist

SPEAKER_00 2:38

been confusing. Jesus says to them here in verse twelve, but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they, that is the Jewish leaders in the nation, did not accept him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands. Matthew adds in verse thirteen, then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. Yes, he's referring to John the Baptist, but he's also saying this, as surely as they kill John the Baptist, you can be certain they're going to kill me, the Messiah as well. Now listen, there are several reasons this is difficult for them to grasp. John the Baptist was not Elijah, but he functioned as Elijah did to his generation. John's ministry reveals that Israel's rejection of Jesus is evidence that, yes, the Messiah had come at his first coming, but for something other than the establishment of his kingdom on earth. See, John the Baptist had made it clear that Jesus was, in fact, the Lamb of God who'd come to take away the sin of the world, John 1.29, to pay the penalty for sin so that people can be forgiven and welcomed into that coming future millennial kingdom. Well, what's our message today? Well, the message to our generation is that the Messiah came. He died, so that all might believe in him and receive forgiveness of their sin and the promise of eternal life through him. Let me tell you, beloved, we are to be Elijah like today. We need to live and testify and point our generation to the Lamb of God who came and who is coming back. Now, with that, Jesus and his three disciples come down from the mountain, and a large crowd is waiting to meet

Our Calling To Point To Jesus

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him. Luke chapter 9, now as we leave the gospel of Mark's account, tells us here in chapter 9 what happened next. There's this heartbroken man here that's about to cry out to Jesus. Verse 38, and here's what he says.

From Powerful To Powerless Faith

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I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not. Now wait a minute, what do you mean? They could not? They'd just been on a mission trip sometime earlier when they had been given power from the Lord to cast out demons and to heal the sick, and now the nine disciples that have been down there at the base of the mountain combined can't cast out one demon? You mean they've moved from powerful to powerless? Well, Matthew's account back in chapter 17 says that they weren't trusting the Lord. Mark's gospel account in chapter nine implies that they didn't even pray about it. You see, the Lord is going to teach the disciples a lesson here, and this is something that happens when you and I drift away from dependency on him to self-sufficiency. So the Lord asks them to bring the young man to him. Now, again, Luke chapter nine, verse forty two says, While he, that is the boy, was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father, and all were astonished at the majesty of God. See, Jesus is demonstrating his divine authority, his divine majesty, his deity, his greatness. He did it on the mountain up there in that brilliant light, and let me tell you, he's doing it down here as he demonstrates his power over the kingdom of darkness. Now the majesty of God might be more obvious to us up there on the mountaintop, but let me tell you it's just as majestic and powerful and operational down here in the chaos and darkness and confusion of our world. Luke writes here in verse forty three, while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, let these words sink into your ears. The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men. Well, I've got to tell you, unfortunately, these words didn't sink in very far at all. Verse forty five says that they didn't understand Jesus' words, and they're afraid to ask for an explanation. Why would Jesus tell them something he knew they wouldn't understand? That's a good question. I believe the Lord is giving them information that they're

The Cross Before The Crown

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going to remember with the Spirit's help after his crucifixion. They're going to realize that his crucifixion wasn't a mistake after all. It wasn't some kind of tragic miscalculation. It was all according to the divine plan. And don't overlook the fact that Jesus tells them here about his coming suffering while they're in the middle of marveling at everything he was doing. You see, right now they're having thoughts of riding this miraculous moment right into the glory of the kingdom. But that isn't God's plan. So Jesus is reminding them that there's a divine script, and it happens to be very different from theirs. The same thing's often true with you and me. Our agenda often conflicts with the agenda of God. Our script that we've written is often very different from God's script. One day we'll understand that what God had in mind for us was so much better than anything we could have hoped for. In fact, I'm reminded of a young couple who were appointed as missionaries to the continent of Africa many years ago, and the wife, however, came down rather quickly with a serious illness. Because of her illness they had to leave their missionary dreams and return to the United States. Well, to make a living, this young man joined his father in his dentistry practice, and he also helped his father on the side experiment with ways to pasteurize grape juice in order to keep it from fermenting, and it was for their church to use during communion services.

When God Reroutes Your Life Plan

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Well, their experiments over time were successful, and they began offering their unfermented grape juice to other churches in the community, and word just sort of spread. It wasn't long before the demand for their grape juice was so great that they closed down their dental practice to develop this new business. Well, the young man who longed to be a missionary, his name was Charles Welch. He helped found Welch's Grape Juice Company. He wasn't able to be a foreign missionary, but he never lost his heart for missions. In fact, he would go on to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to the work of Christ on mission fields around the world. You know, sometimes, beloved, it takes a lifetime to see God's plan for us come together. Maybe we don't see it now. Maybe it'll take a lifetime, maybe never in our lifetime. But eventually, certainly one day in heaven, we will see that God didn't make a mistake. He didn't make a miscalculation with our lives. In fact, one day we'll see that his majesty had been on display all along the way, even down here in the dark valley of life on earth. Well, with that we're out of time, beloved, until our next wisdom journey, and we set sail again. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.