Perplexing Facts. Mark 9:9-13.
And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?”And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? “But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”
Dear Holy Nation,
When the three disciples go down from the mountain with Jesus, there is no doubt in their minds that Jesus is the Messiah. They can hardly wait to tell everyone about it.
Restraint (vv. 9-10). But Jesus effectively gags them. The Kingdom must be revealed in stages, the first the rescuing of humanity from bondage to sin. No doubt that the crowds will jump the gun and want to make Jesus king right away. So the gag is to stay in place until after Jesus’ resurrection. This intrigues the disciples because it is not part of what they have been taught about the Messiah. Instead, they turn to what they can interrogate more competently.
Reference (v. 11). The scribes were the recognized teachers of the Old Testament. They had taught that Elijah would come to pave the way for the Messiah (Malachi 3:1; 4:5-6). The disciples have just seen Elijah, but he was not preparing the way for the Messiah, he was in a sense affirming the Messiah in a private ceremony. It is also possible that the scribes had argued that he could not be the Messiah because he had not been Elijah.
Response (vv. 12-13). Jesus decides to answer both questions, the one they had voiced and the one they had only asked in their minds. He tells them that indeed Elijah should come first and that he had come. The implication is that John the Baptist was Elijah, not in a reincarnated sense, but in his role. The scribes expected Elijah in person, Jesus clarifies that John played the role of Elijah. On the question of the resurrection of the Son of Man, Jesus refers them to the Old Testament teaching about suffering, rejected, and murdered Messiah (Isaiah 53:3-9).
The obvious conclusion would be that the Messiah must be raised from the dead in order to complete his mission. Are you stuck on some interpretation by some preacher, so that the truth of God’s word cannot be clear to you? Open your heart and mind to the Spirit of God, that he may clarify for you what is hazy.
Your Loving Pastor Chris.