WE ARE STUDYING THE FOUR GOSPELS MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN TO KNOW THE LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.
TO KNOW HIM IS TO LOVE HIM.
The Gospel According To Matthew
INTRODUCTION
There is no reason to doubt that this Gospel was written by Matthew. It presents the narrative of our Lord’s life from the standpoint of the pious Jew; and the evident design of the writer is to show how completely and continually our Lord fulfilled the Old Testament Scriptures. No other Gospel contains so many quotations from the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms. In it the predominant aspect of our Lord’s character and work is the Messianic. He was great David’s Greater Son. The keyword of the book is “Behold your King.” As King, His line is traced through the kingly race. As King, He proclaims the kingdom of heaven. As King, He promulgates the laws, describes the subjects, and announces the rewards of the Kingdom. When describing His own action at the last, when He sits on His throne and all nations are gathered before Him, He speaks of Himself as King, Mat_25:40. It was on His avowal of kingship that He was condemned to die. From every viewpoint this Gospel is one of the most precious documents in the world.
By F.B.Meyer
{e-Sword Note: The following material was presented at the end of Matthew in the printed edition}
Find the outline of our Bible study on The Gospel of Matthew at the link below.
Outline Of The Gospel According To Matthew
The King of the House of David
III. FACING REJECTION, Matthew 16:13-25:46
3. Questions, Discourses and Parables of Judgment, Matthew 17:10 to Matthew 25:46
NB !Note:
The Judean ministry of Jesus, which lasted almost one year, is not discussed by Matthew. This one year period is covered in John 1;1 to the end of John 4: and fits between Mat_4:11 and Mat_4:12. Matthew takes us from the temptation directly to the Galilean ministry.
Today we will look at the following question in the outline starting with
Matthew 17:9-21
60. What miracle followed immediately after the Transfiguration?
And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying,
Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
And Jesus answered and said unto them,
Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
The answer for 60.What miracle followed immediately after the Transfiguration?
Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon
And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
Then Jesus answered and said,
O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
And Jesus said unto them,
Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
Comments by F.B.Meyer
Matthew 17:9-21
The answer for 60.What miracle followed immediately after the Transfiguration? As presented by F.B.Meyer.
LACK OF FAITH REBUKED
As Raphael suggests in his great painting, there is a close connection between the mountain and the valley. The glory of the one did not make our Lord indifferent to the bitter need of the other. It seems as though He desired to impress on us the great truth, that we must have the seclusion and exaltation of communion with God before we can successfully deal with the anguish and terror that devastate human lives. See Mat_17:21.
In Mat_17:17 our Lord grieves over the unbelief of His disciples. Though they had enjoyed His careful teaching, they had failed to grasp His secret, which He here again elaborates. Faith is openness to God. It is the lifting of the curtain, that the healing light may enter. The tiny seed unlocks its little doorway to welcome the entering life of nature; and as this continues to enter, it forces the rootlet downward and the green shoot upward. It is thus also with the life of God in the soul. Let this life of God in and there is no limit to what it will effect.
Believer’s Bible commentary
Book by William MacDonald
E. Concerning the Forerunner (17:9-13)
17:9 Descending from the mountain, Jesus commanded the disciples to be silent about what they had seen until He had risen from the dead. The Jews, overanxious for anyone who might liberate them from the Roman yoke, would have welcomed Him to save them from Rome, but did not want Him as a Savior from sin. For all practical purposes, Israel had rejected her Messiah, and it was useless to tell the Jews of this vision of Messianic glory. After the resurrection, the message would be proclaimed worldwide.
17:10-13 The disciples had just seen a preview of Christ’s coming in power and glory. But His forerunner had not appeared. Malachi had prophesied that Elijah must come prior to Messiah’s advent (Mal_4:5-6), so His disciples asked Jesus about this. The Lord agreed that indeed Elijah had to come first as a reformer, but explained that Elijah had already come. Obviously He was referring to John the Baptist (see v. 13). John was not Elijah (Joh_1:21), but had come “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luk_1:17). Had Israel accepted John and his message, he would have fulfilled the role prophesied of Elijah (Mat_11:14). But the nation did not recognize the significance of John’s mission, and treated him as it pleased. John’s death was an advance token of what they would do to the Son of Man. They rejected the forerunner; they would also reject the King. When Jesus explained this, the disciples realized He was referring to John the Baptist.
F. Preparation for Service through Prayer and Fasting (17:14-21)
Life is not all a mountain-top experience. After moments of spiritual exhilaration come hours and days of toil and expenditure. The time comes when we must leave the mountain to minister in the valley of human need.
17:14, 15 At the base of the mountain, a distraught father was waiting for the Savior. Kneeling down before Him, he poured out his impassioned plea that his demon-possessed son might be healed. The son suffered from violent epileptic seizures which sometimes caused him to fall into the fire and often into the water, so his misery was compounded by burns and near-drownings. He was a classic example of the suffering caused by Satan, the cruelest of all taskmasters.
17:16 The father had gone to the disciples for help, only to learn that “vain is the help of man.” They had been powerless to cure.
17:17 “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?” is addressed to the disciples. They did not have the faith to heal the epileptic, but in that respect, were a cross section of the Jewish people of that day—faithless and perverse.
17:18 As soon as the epileptic was brought to Him, Jesus rebuked the demon, and the sufferer was instantly cured.
17:19, 20 Puzzled by their powerlessness, the disciples privately asked the Lord for an explanation. His answer was straightforward: unbelief. If they had faith the size of a mustard seed (the smallest of seeds), they could command a mountain to be cast into the sea and it would happen. Of course, it should be understood that true faith must be based upon some command or promise of God. Expecting to perform some spectacular stunt in order to gratify a personal whim is not faith but presumption. But if God guides a believer in a certain direction or issues a command, the Christian can have utmost confidence that mountainous difficulties will be miraculously removed. Nothing is impossible to those who believe.
17:21 “This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” is omitted in the RSV and most modern Bibles, because it is lacking in many early manuscripts. However, it is found in the majority of the manuscripts and fits the context of an especially difficult problem.
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