Matthew 17 - Day 113

Matthew 17 - Day 113 (link to reading plan)

Scripture: Matthew 17:1-13

Commentary: Whereas in our day most Christians need to have a revelation concerning the full humanity of Jesus, who has been abstracted into the doctrine of the Trinity, it was not so with the disciples. They, having a few days earlier heard Jesus speak in a most unexpected and disconcerting way about his death, needed at this point some assurance of the true identity of Jesus as Messiah, Son of God. This was especially important if they were to be able later to hold on to the continuity between the Jesus they had followed and the glory of the risen Christ they were also to experience. It may well be, however, that even in our day a sense of the transcendent glory of Jesus, such as is afforded by this pericope, is also very important. With the unveiling of Jesus’ glory comes the divine exhortation: “Hear him!” For Matthew and his community, this exhortation undoubtedly emphasized the authority of Jesus’ teaching (cf. 7:29). This prompted G. B. Caird (294) to write: “The whole history of Christian ethics could be written as a commentary on the Transfiguration.” The present-day church needs once again to discover the absolute authority of the teaching of Jesus. Jesus, as our passage shows, stands in continuity with the revelation of the OT, symbolized by Moses and Elijah, but because of who he is and what he brings (i.e., the kingdom of God, the climax of salvation history), his utterances have a final and incomparable authority. The transfiguration dramatically underlines that fact.

 Hagner, D. A. (1995). Matthew 14–28 (Vol. 33B, p. 495). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

Application: Jesus the Messiah, fully God, fully man came to reconcile the world back to His Father.  God the Father confirms His Son's authority, with the command, "Listen to him."

Was this episode for Jesus or for his disciples or both?

Prayer: Lord, reveal Yourself to me so that I may believe.