Bible Commentaries
Matthew 17

Verses 1-23

28 See 2Pe_1:16-18 .

28 This prediction was fulfilled about a week later when He took His most intimate disciples with Him and they saw His power and presence and were spectators of His magnificence ( 2Pe_1:16 ). It is fitting that, at this juncture, there should be some plain intimation of the postponement of the kingdom. In the record the promise is immediately followed by its fulfillment, but there is a week's delay. Another cycle must run its course before the proper conditions reappear which precede the kingdom.

1-9 Compare Mar_9:2-10 Luk_9:28-36 .

1 This was not merely a transfiguration but a transformation. Satan is, at present, transfigured into a messenger of light ( 2Co_11:14 ). We should be transformed by the renewing of our minds ( Rom_12:2 ). Transfiguration deals with the temporary fashion. Transformation is the permanent appearance. The Lord's flesh was a veil or curtain, which hid His innate splendor. On the mount, the glory shone out so that it became visible to mortal eyes.

3 The mystery concerning Moses' body and the translation of Elijah explains their presence hero. While this is a glorious kingdom scene, it is also a preparation for the “exodus” which He was about to complete at Jerusalem ( Luk_9:31 ). The scene was glory but the theme was shame. So we do not see David on the holy mountain, but Moses, the great mediator, who led the exodus out of Egypt, and who wrote so much concerning His sacrifice, and we see Elijah, the premier prophet, who must come ere the kingdom is accomplished fact. These men sympathized with the sufferings which were before Him, but Peter has not yet learned the lesson. He wished to make this a permanent display and thus avoid the cross. But he foolishly places Moses and Elijah in the same class with our Lord. Just as Israel's unbelief dispelled the hope of the kingdom, so now his words draw down a cloud and the glory vanishes.

5 See Mar_1:11 ; 2Pe_1:16-18 ; Isa_42:1 .

9 Even during our Lord's ministry the kingdom could not be proclaimed because He had been rejected. He has once more been rejected by the nation, recorded in the book of Acts, hence the kingdom proclamation is once mere abeyance.

10 Though John the baptist was not Elijah, who will probably be one of the two witnesses at the time of the end ( Rev_11:3-12 ), he came in the spirit and power of Elijah ( Luk_1:17 ), and could have performed his mission if the people had been ready to receive him.

11 See Luk_1:16-17 ; Act_3:21 .

12-13 See Mat_14:3-10 ; Mat_11:14 .

12 John the baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah, but without his mighty deeds. He did not call down fire on his enemies nor lock heaven as Elijah did ( 1Ki_17:1 ) and as he will do again when he reappears as one of the two witnesses ( Rev_11:6 ). The prophetic testimony closes with the prediction that he must reappear “before the great and fearful day of Jehovah comes” ( Mal_4:5 ).

14-18 Compare Mar_9:14-27 ' Luk_9:37-42 .

16 Intimations abound in this period our Lord's ministry which point to a temporary failure of the kingdom testimony. When the disciples were left alone with epileptic Israel, in the Pentecostal era, they found it impossible to cure them, for lack of faith. The cure will not be effected until His return. If they had had a modicum of faith they could readily have removed the mountain of Roman supremacy far from them and put in its place the mountain of Jehovah. All the future fortunes of the kingdom were known to God, and, in His inimitable way, He is giving us a foreview of its history in the vale of unbelief, as well as a glimpse of its glory on the mountain top. These hidden hints, conveyed by His acts as well as by His words, are full of delightful food for reflection, and glorify the failures that follow.

19-21 Compare Mar_9:28-29 .

20 See Mat_21:21 ; Luk_17:5; Luk_17:-6 ; 1Co_12:9 ; 1Co_13:2 .

22-23 Compare Mar_9:30-32 ; Luk_9:43-45 .

22 The gloomy shadow of the cross lies athwart the pathway of our Lord throughout the second period of His ministry. More than that, His disciples were blind to it. As the Jews did not understand or accept Him as their King, so now His disciples refuse to entertain the revelation of Himself as their Priest and Sacrifice. So today His own saints turn from Him as the Saviour and seek to press His kingship, which is in abeyance.

Verses 24-27

24 See Exo_30:11-16 ; Exo_38:25-26 .

24 According to the law every one who was numbered in Israel, being over twenty years of age, paid half a shekel to shelter his soul ( Exo_30:12-14 ). It was used for the temple service, and was known as the temple tribute. This must not be confused with the tribute paid to Caesar. There never was any question as to its payment by a patriotic Jew, until after the destruction of Jerusalem, when it was sent to Rome. The question is peculiarly appropriate at this time. It certainly was not incumbent on the Lord to support the empty forms of an obsolete sacrificial system, when He Himself was the true Temple of God and the real Sacrifice. He could justly demand the tribute, but give it, never. Peter has not yet learned the great truth of His coming sacrifice or he would not have consented so readily to pay such a tribute. Yet, while the Lord does not pay it from the funds, for the sake of His enemies He condescends to submit to law which was far beneath Him. But, in doing so, He gives a little inkling of how the temple ought to be supported and how it will be upheld in the coming eon. The sea represents the gentiles. In that day the riches of the nations will flow to Jerusalem ( Isa_49:22 ; Isa_60:5-11 ; Isa_60:16 ; Isa_61:6 ), and then they will come to the sacred festival of tabernacles each year ( Zec_14:16-19 ). The sons of the kingdom will be free from the payment of tribute or poll tax. They will be ransomed, not with corruptible silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ ( 1Pe_1:18 ). So we see that the miracle was not only a marvel of practical power (for who else could catch a fish with exactly the proper amount in its mouth?), but is an even more marvelous sign, indicating the fiscal policy of the great King.

1-8 Compare Mar_9:33-37 ; Mar_9:42 ; Luk_9:46-48 ; Luk_22:24-26 .

1 It seems very strange and sad that the disciples should choose such a time to inquire about their own greatness. He was trying to engage their hearts with His humiliation. They were sorry when He spoke of it, but His words did not sink in. Little did they dream that the only path to true greatness lay through these very sufferings.

6 Compare Luk_17:2 .

3 See Mar_10:14-15 ; 1Pe_2:2 ; Psa_131:2 .

7 Compare Luk_17:1 ; 1Co_11:19 .

7 The application of these sayings apart from their context can only lead to confusion. The Lord is speaking of a place in the millennial kingdom. There will be much to hinder entrance there, hence He impresses on them the need of thrusting aside everything which would interfere. If anything done by the hand is in the way, it should be abandoned. If their foot is leading them astray, the path should not be longer pursued. If their perception is imperiling the prospect of eonian life, it should be repudiated.

8-9 Compare Mar_9:43-48 . See Mat_5:29-30 .

9 Gehenna, just below the city of Jerusalem, where the city offal was incinerated, will receive the bodies of criminals in the kingdom ( Isa_66:24 ).

10 Such a ministry of messengers is never hinted at outside the favored nation. Israel, in its physical standing, is the only nation, as such, which may claim angelic ministration.

12 See Luk_15:3-7 .

12 This is a beautiful picture of Israel at the time, and of the work in which He was now engaged. Let us not think that the ninety-nine lay safely in the fold. He left them out on the mountains, subject to the storms and to the attacks of wild beasts. Even thus had He left the nation while He went after the sheep which had strayed. To find it, He too must go into the dark ravine of death, where He went on Golgotha. Thus it was that He found the sheep which had gone astray. The rest of the self-righteous nation, who thought they were safe without Him, give Him no joy. But His bewildered, sin-sick disciples, with all their waywardness, are the joy and rejoicing of His heart. When the nations appear in the judgment which takes place at the commencement of the kingdom, they are called kids, in contrast to Israel. The nations are never known as sheep. Nothing in this illustration corresponds with God's present work of grace. The evangel of today is for all. None are left on the mountains. The parable is perfect only in its proper place.

15 Compare Luk_17:3 . See Lev_19:17 .

15 Our instructions, in such a case, are found in the latter parts of Paul's epistles ( Gal_6:1 ). There is no need to go to the writings intended for the Circumcision under circumstances entirely foreign to us. It can only lead to confusion. This course of procedure is clearly confined to one nation, for there is no point to the punishment should we be treated as “one of the nations”, or a gentile, for such we are. Neither is it unpatriotic or criminal to be classed among tax collectors. The ecclesia here spoken of was composed of His kingdom disciples who had been called out of the nation of Israel. They were just as prejudiced against the gentiles as the other Jews. And they were even more antagonistic to tribute collectors, though Matthew himself had been one.