Matthew 17:9-13 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
In this focus Jesus refers to John the Baptist as Elijah in the last days. Peter also presents this theme of the last days in their time. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. (Acts 2:15-16) In God’s timeless existence, last days can mean many things, but in today’s verses the door to the last days opens to the world. The Messiah had come not to judge or to condemn the world, but to set the world free from sin and death. From the wilderness, John the Baptist called out to the Jewish people to repent, for the kingdom of God was at hand. He was preparing the people to seek God with all their hearts, giving their lives over to God, for their salvation was nigh. He called the people to the altar of God in repentance. People from all over came to John to be baptized in the river Jordan. They were turning to God from a worldly, self-interested attitude. When they asked John how they could prove to God that they were his people devoted to him, John told them to display the love of God in their lives. Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same. (Luke 3:11) Of course, John’s major task was to prepare the people to accept Jesus’ teachings. Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation. (Luke 3:4-6) John’s mission to prepare the way was successful, for thousands followed Jesus through Israel, listening attentively to his teachings and watching with awe his miracles. Many thought of him as the Messiah, the One to deliver them from the hands of their enemies. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, many would throw their cloaks before his colt’s feet. Others would place palm branches before him, honoring him as their coming king. John’s preaching of repentance and turning their lives to God, prepped people to receive Jesus as the Messiah, the man of Good News. In Jesus, they saw God’s salvation. Of course by the time of the transfiguration, John’s life had already been taken by Herod to please his wife who hated John’s proclamation that she and Herod were living in sin. Herod reluctantly had John beheaded. The disciples knew of John’s demise but did not know of his important role in preparing the way for Jesus. Jesus’ talk of his imminent death confused the disciples about Jesus’ role as Israel’s deliverer from its enemies. If Jesus was the Messiah, the personification of the Good News, where was Elijah in their time? The teachers of the law said Elijah must come first? Yet they heard the voice of God designate Jesus as the One they should hear. If that was so, He was truly the Anointed One. What about Elijah? They knew of Malachi’s declaration that Elijah would precede the Lord’s coming. “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” (Malachi 4:5-6) Of course, Jesus came and fulfilled the purpose of Elijah; he dignified the position of a child. He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. (Matthew 18:3-5) This illustrated that the kingdom of heaven was at hand if people turned their hearts towards God as little children. Jesus answered his disciples inquiry about Elijah by saying, To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. They knew of John’s death, so they now knew Jesus was talking about John the Baptist.
We have been in the last days for over two thousand years. We have seen the mission of Elijah to introduce the Messiah as John the Baptist’s mission. Jesus tells us that John prepared the way for his ministry. John lived in the wilderness, away from the clutter of the world. His days in the wilderness were probably quiet ones, alone with God. God prepared his heart to know his mission in life. He was not an attractive person in the natural, for he lived without the amenities in life. John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. (John 3:4) But he was the voice of God in that society. We who live in this society rarely experience desert dwelling. The wilderness usually is not part of our lives, for we live with devices that always demand our attention. When we feel bored, we do not delve into the voice of God, for we monitor our electronic devises or we listen to voices on the radio or television. We do not like wilderness dwelling; we will prevent in every way possible being alone with God. Our comfort comes from our activity, our minds buzzing, our interactions thrashing through our brains. In that way we lose the purpose for our lives, we lose God in our minds, and the still small voice of God is drummed out with the noise of the world. This is what we like; we seek for this kind of living. To be quiet before God is not to our liking. But we see in the Old and in the New Testament, God called people out of sparse landscapes. Jesus went into the wilderness to hear God and to wrestle with the devil about the truth of God and his mission on Earth. We see Elijah driven into the wilderness out of fear of Ahab and Jezebel. They had threatened him with death. In the wilderness, he was fed by ravens day and night, and he drank from a small brook during that time of drought. But finally, God allowed the brook to dry up, pushing him back into civilization. But once back, he performed mighty miracles, even bringing a boy back to life. We see Moses greeted by God through a burning bush in the wilderness. We see the law given to a people in the wilderness who were fed by God as John the Baptist and Elijah were fed by God. The law, the way back to God, was given to a whole nation in the wilderness. In our day the wilderness is a forsaken land in our lives. We do not want it, we run from it. We tell God that we have only one life to live: let us live it, eating, drinking, and being merry. But for us Christians, sometimes the wilderness creeps back into our lives through another door. As with Paul, sickness might lay heavily upon us, but God is saying, hear my voice, know your mission. Paul heard the Lord say to him in his wilderness, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) In his weakness, John ate honey and locusts; Elijah was fed by ravens and drank from a small brook; the children of Israel existed on manna and quail. In their weakness, unable to determine their own destiny, they were dependent on the Lord’s strong right arm. In their weakness, they could boast of God’s work and his strength. If you are experiencing hardships, persecution or difficulties, know the voice of God is speaking to you. God asks you in the solitude of his voice to run to him—his comfort and strength comes from that voice.
The disciples did not know the mystery of God, hidden from man from the beginning: his plan to rescue men made in his image from eternal judgment and death. Jesus knew He was the center of God’s rescue plan. His death would be required. God’s Son would pay the price for human’s inability to be righteous, perfect, eternal. For only perfection will enter eternity in God’s presence. Hidden IN CHRIST, we become perfect as God is perfect. Our souls will line up with God’s holiness. There is no other way to eternity, no other door, no other answer: only Christ and his righteousness in us. He told the disciples: Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. This plan of God to rescue mankind was not to be revealed until after He died. He was not to be saved from death by the efforts of men marshaled together to prevent people from killing him. He called Peter’s plan to protect him from death to be Satan’s plan. God had just revealed to these three devoted disciples that Jesus was his beloved Son. They had this idea bouncing around in their heads. If Jesus is God’s Son, why not bring all things under Jesus’ feet? Why talk about death? This confused the disciples, for they were still stuck, trying to be good by following the law and the Jewish traditions. For them, Jesus would just achieve all things written down in the Old Testament. Israel would be blessed; the Jewish people would take their rightful place as the chosen of God, above all other people of the world. But God’s plan was greater than their conception of it. God’s plan was the covenant of Noah. He would not destroy man again by water, but He would save their souls by baptizing them in his own Spirit. They would become children of the living God, perfect in every way. Jesus had to die to take their judgment upon his shoulders. Jesus became THE WAY to God. His death, his resurrection, his works would appease the wrath of God on sin. John cried out, repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus ushered in the Kingdom with his death and resurrection. The disciples who would observe his completed work and his ascension would give their lives for this mystery plan of God, hidden in the heart of God from the beginning of time. This plan was a plan of love. Jesus’ life is a love story; Paul’s life is a love story. Everyone of us who seeks God first is a love story. No matter what, even in our weaknesses, our times in the wilderness, we will seek God, knowing God intends to do what He will do: save the world from damnation. And to each one of us around the breakfast table, He is saying to us, “I have work for you to do.” Let us be John the Baptist in our time. Prepare the way of the Lord. Amen!
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