The context keeps us on the retreat north from Galilee, up near Caeserea Philippi, roughly a week after Peter's dramatic declaration that Jesus was the Messiah. The apparent reason for the retreat was avoiding an untimely arrest by the Sanhedrin. Jesus must insure He dies as the Passover Lamb. This is not some cynical plot to appear falsely as the Messiah, but obedience to the Law and Prophets, the Word of His Father. Furthermore, it was necessary His Disciples receive further training. After the coming of the Holy Spirit, all these experiences and teachings would be recalled with their proper meaning.
Having already vested Peter as the leader among the Disciples, Jesus adds the Sons of Zebedee to round out the leadership team. Their fitness for this became more apparent after the Day of Pentecost. Until that point, we see them jockeying for privilege as if they possess very little understanding. However, it's safe to assume a certain level of kinship and fellowship which exceeded merely being cousins of Jesus. As a man, He very much needed their support for the coming trial, along with having someone trustworthy in charge during the early days of building His Kingdom. Their leadership training begins with a demonstration of some things Jesus had been teaching all along.
While a lot of ink has been spilled over which mountain it was they climbed, it hardly matters. That's part of the lesson here. We can safely assume it was part of Mount Hermon or some other major rise which afforded Jesus and the trio some measure of privacy. They needed very much to realize this was not about politics and privilege, but about the ongoing work of revelation. Thus, in the middle of prayer over their task as leaders, they witnessed a transformation in their Master. He took on the form of His true identity. While much of the lore common to Hebrew teaching has been lost, we know at least when the divine comes into contact with the fallen Creation, there is a glow which is clearly unearthly. Significantly, two figures appear at His side: Moses and Elijah. While the latter had a mode of dress which made him distinctive (2 Kings 1:8), and copied by John the Baptist as the signal he was calling all men to repent (Matthew 3:4), we aren't told of a distinctive garb for Moses. More than likely, their exchange of greetings and conversation with Jesus was more than enough to establish who they were. While the symbolism is thick, most important is their endorsement of Jesus and His teaching, representing all the Law and the Prophets. Were there any doubt about Jesus correctly teaching what the Old Testament was all about, it was removed here. There were three ordinary witnesses to testify, sufficient in any Jewish court, that Jesus was God's clearest revelation. It didn't matter where they were; where Jesus was, all God's glory and truth was present.
This was no quick flash, no brief conversation. Peter recovered enough from his amazement to show he clearly had not grasped the meaning of it all. Still thinking along the lines of an earthly paradise ruled by Jesus, he suggested building on the mountain top a meeting place, with hope of keeping Moses and Elijah around for awhile. Surely Peter had a thousand questions he would ask them to clarify matters in his own mind. Before Peter even finished proposing this, the presence of God Himself -- described as both an enveloping cloudy presence, yet luminescent -- overwhelmed them all. The voice from the cloud affirmed Jesus was the Son of God, but pointedly told Peter and his two cousins there was no need to probe the matter with Moses and Elijah. All they needed to know came from the mouth of Jesus, because Jehovah was completely satisfied with their Master's work. The voice was enough to make them swoon, with the altogether normal response of any human to the presence of God Almighty: complete and utter fear, reverence and awe.
Jesus came over and touched them, a warm and friendly gesture. His words were, "Arise, fear not." Words not idly chosen, He pronounced them fit to stand before God, if they would take up the faith to do so. Upon looking around, they saw the dramatic scene was gone. While it burned in the minds, Jesus warned they were not to relate this experience until after His resurrection. This presented a problem for them. Was it not prophesied Elijah had to appear before the Messiah could begin to reign (Malachi 4:5-6)? Surely this required announcement! Jesus answered this was true, and had already happened, but Elijah's message was rejected, and he was treated very badly. They realized this prophecy was fulfilled in John the Baptist, who even dressed like Elijah. To the degree Israel would accept his message, all things were restored, but only a small righteous remnant did not bow the knee to a false understanding of God's Word (1 Kings 19:18). Yet from this tiny remnant of Israel, Jesus had promised to build His Kingdom, a spiritual kingdom. Everything had to be understood in the spiritual sense, from the other-worldly mind of the ancient faith.
As always, Jesus had been teaching crowds who needed healing, gathered in open areas outside the towns and cities. They descended from the mountaintop experience to find the usual crowd, but with an unusual problem. A young boy was demonized, as manifested by a condition literally translated as "moon-struck." Whether it resembled modern epilepsy isn't important. What mattered is the boy was seized suddenly by the demon at times, and too often the seizures found him falling into danger. The other nine disciples had been unable to cast the demon out. Just whose faith was the failure also didn't matter. The whole Jewish nation had been so long and so far separated from Moses and the Prophets, they simply could not grasp the underlying message of Jesus, that message which empowered His miracles. Taking His divine authority, Jesus dismissed the demon. Notice, while Jesus had given His disciples authority over sickness and demons (Matthew 10:1), the authority remained His (Jude 1:9). The lack of persistence in using this delegated authority indicated a lack of faith.
When they later asked Jesus privately why they failed this time, His answer points to something we easily miss. The power of faith while in this world, and over things of this world, is by no means related to power as this world understands it. The weakness of the flesh is the problem, but paradoxically is the answer, too. To weaken the flesh spiritually is to empower the spirit over the flesh. Thus, it is hardly a matter of ritual self-abuse, but a holy disregard for things of lesser importance to engage spiritual powers in the spirit realm in a spiritual way. The phrase "prayer and fasting" was symbolic of self-mortification. We as humans are nothing, and thinking we are something is the fundamental failure. By implication, we see the disciples were not acting in faith, but in some way exhibited an element of self pride. That's hardly surprising when, for the first time we know of, there was an element of segregation between the three and the nine. The nine did not take it well. To the very last day of Jesus' ministry on earth, they struggled with this human ambition to be seen as great in the eyes of others. By this time they should have passed the period of discipleship where they silently absorb the master's teaching, and were now ready to begin acting on it. Had they actually absorbed His teaching, commanding the Mount of Transfiguration itself to jump into the sea would have been an elementary task for neophytes. As we saw in the previous lesson, the key to that power was to embrace death. Their spiritual understanding, and thus their commitment -- another word for "faith" -- to this life of the Spirit didn't amount to the mustard seed Jesus mentioned once before (Matthew 13:31).
Eventually they all made their way back toward Capernaum. On the way, it surely crossed their minds they were once again coming within easy reach of the Sanhedrin. It was the right time to approach once again the matter of His impending suffering and death. Jesus' point was to show this would be the path to His conquest, His ultimate victory. They didn't see it. Instead, they grieved at their sense of loss. Things were just beginning to firm up, they must have thought. Now it would all come apart. They never quite grasped that actions of human government, even to the point of taking life, could hardly interrupt the God's plans for His Kingdom.
Indeed, Jesus showed a simple principle in dealing with human government. It was well past the time of year for paying the Temple Tax (Exodus 30:11-16). Peter was confronted by the local committee for that tax, asking in essence why he and Jesus had not paid it. Was Jesus some kind of rebel against His nation? Peter didn't think so, but hurried off to discuss it with Jesus. They didn't have the money. Before Peter could ask, Jesus wanted to clarify the principles involved. It was common knowledge tribute was collected by rulers from conquered nations, not their own people. The priests were exempt; even more so was the God whose Temple it was. As Son of God, He and His close Disciples were exempt by the nature of their duties. By extension, the entire Law of Moses and Prophets was subject to Jesus' interpretation. The Mount of Transfiguration made that all too obvious. Following Christ fulfilled the Law.
Yet, there was little to be gained by asserting that privilege at every turn. In the case of the Temple Tax, it was best to pay up. Since they were broke, Peter needed to return to his previous employment to pay. However, not in the sense of fishing from a boat all night, or even in the surf. Rather, Peter was to throw in a single hook and take the first fish which he caught. Fishermen today know anything bright and shiny dropped in the water serves to lure some fish to bite. In the busy port of Capernaum, how many coins were accidentally lost in the sea? In this case, Peter would find in the mouth of this fish a coin of sufficient value to pay the tax for Jesus and Peter. Apparently the fish itself would be small enough he couldn't swallow it, so it was all a good Hebrew joke on Peter the fisherman. Meanwhile, Jesus and His friends stayed under the radar just a bit longer.
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Ed Hurst
10 November 2007
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