Law & Grace - Matthew 17:1-27 "A cloud, a claim & a coin"

Good morning. Yesterday, those who were brave enough to get through the storm gathered together for this Extreme Marriage Seminar. It's interesting, it's actually the fourth time we've done this. We did the first one in a church in Northern California. And one of the consistent pieces of feedback that I've gotten on it is, how come nobody else is teaching this? So it is some unique material. And because we had people who wanted to make it yesterday but could not, and not only from here, but also from Berean Bible Church, we had people who wanted to make it and couldn't. So we'll put it on one more time on February 25. And it's not just for married folks. I would say even for singles, it would be perfectly appropriate. Now, into our passage here, what was read for us was just an introductory portion, not the whole thing, but some key parts nonetheless.

There are three main events that take place in this chapter. And they're these. One is Christ is, and the term is transfigured, on a cloud-covered mountaintop there in the area of Galilee. He appears there with Moses and Elijah as Peter and James and John look on. Now, looking on might be a little bit of an understatement. At one point, they're so overwhelmed that they go face down. But we'll take a look at that.

Verses 14 through 23, Jesus drives out a demon from a young man. I wasn't quite sure how to represent that, so I have this very strange picture here. And then tells his disciples that he will be killed and rise on the third day. And then the next part, in these verses 24 through 27, Jesus and Peter discuss a tax issue regarding a temple tax, and Peter pays that tax.

So that is kind of the brief summary and introduction. Let's step into it. We said last week, and you may recall, The very last verse of chapter 16, Jesus says, truly I say to you there are, and this is important, some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. And notice he didn't say all of you, all of you disciples, but just some. And that's, I think, the preface and introduction to what we see here in chapter 17. Let's take a look at it. So here is this last verse, Matthew 16, 28, in which Jesus had spoken to his disciples.

Those who view the kingdom as a literal earthly kingdom, as we do here at Holly Hills, in which Christ will reign as the King of Israel over the land and people of Israel, see these first eight verses of chapter 17, as the fulfillment of Christ's words at the very end of Matthew 16, 1628. Daniel 7, 13, and 14 is the Old Testament passage that prophesies about Christ's second coming and uses the term Son of Man, just like Christ does here. It talks about the clouds and about his kingdom. So those terms show up in Daniel 7, 13-14 about Christ's second coming, and we'll see them also in this passage here. So, it's time to take a hike. I mean, go ahead and stay seated, but no, not you, them. Six days after Jesus had said these words to his disciples, there are some standing here, that would see the kingdom of heaven.

He invited the sum, and that was three of them, Peter and James and John. It's interesting, as you look at the disciples, they didn't all do and go to the same thing in the same places. There were some things that only Peter was involved in. There were some things that Peter and James and John, just the three of them, were involved in. In that case, this is the sum. And then there were some that all 12 of them were involved in. So they would go with him on a high mountain.

Now, the question is, which mountain is this? Well, in truth, we don't know. But a lot of people have suggested Mount Tabor. This is a picture of it here. Now, a high mountain, it's just short of 2,000 feet. There's another problem, though, with Mount Tabor, aside from the fact that it's not that tall. There was a walled fortress on top of it during New Testament times. And that probably wouldn't have been where they'd hang out.

Now, Mount Hermon, which was a much taller mountain, 9,230 feet, was to the north of Galilee and is more likely The truth is, however, we're not certain. Here we see it on the map. Caesarea Philippi is where they had been just prior to this. So here's Mount Hermon to the north and Mount Tabor there to the south.

Interesting, I was reading Mount Hermon is Israel's only ski area and it was shut down this last month because of too much snow. Of course, they're not the only people with too much snow. Okay. Now, so The reality is there are other possible mountaintops in the area as well and a number of them could be suitable. It's not a, you know, a real critical issue. Here is the view of Galilee, for example, from Mount Arbel right nearby on the west shore of Galilee. A beautiful view and you can basically look around and see the whole lake from that point.

So now, as they were on this mountain, whichever one it was, Jesus was transfigured before them. What does that mean? He was changed in form and appearance. He was no longer this humble carpenter. He instead had a face, and the way it's described, a face as bright as the sun. It's like, wow, that's hard to look at. And you've probably had that, you know. It doesn't happen when I get up here, but you've probably seen that. When, you know, you get something really bright and you can just barely look at it. His garments were radiant. It wasn't just that his face was bright. Everything about him was bright.

Moses and Elijah also appeared with him and were conversing with Christ there on the mountain. Now you might ask the question, well, why Moses and Elijah? Why those guys? Just best buds or what? The reality is in terms of Earth time, they're all from different times, aren't they?

Here's Moses, 1,400 years approximately before then. Here's Elijah, about halfway between in time, between Moses and Christ. And now here's Christ here in the first century. So here are men, three of them, all from times centuries apart, earth-wise, and there they are standing together. Now you might ask the question, what are Moses and Elijah doing here? And I suppose that question even crossed the minds of Peter and James and John. What are they doing here?

But that's not what they said. Here's what's interesting. In some way, and we're not quite sure, I somehow doubt they have name tags. Some way their identity was apparent. It was, okay, that's Moses and that's Elijah, because there wasn't any, from the description, wasn't any introduction where Jesus says, okay, I want you guys to meet Moses and Elijah. Moses and Elijah, this is Peter and James and John. You don't see that, right? So somehow their identity was apparent.

And we're not told exactly how that was the case, but there would appear to be no question. So as Jesus was right there transfigured before them, Moses and Elijah conversed with him. Peter said to Jesus, now let's talk about this conversed with him. What do you do when you, okay, here I am on top of this mountain, and I've just been taken, you know, from heaven to, you know, here's this place, or taken from the bosom of Abraham into this place, and what do you talk about?

I mean, it's not like, hey, good to see you again. At least not quite the same. You talk about old times. Well, that might even be difficult too. But I think in view of what Christ has told them that you're going to see the kingdom, I think they're talking about the kingdom. That would be my guess. They're going to see it, and this is going to make sense.

Because what is going to happen when Christ comes again? It will be those Old Testament saints who will be among those there at the kingdom. Jesus even talked about sitting at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob there in the kingdom. So there will be a great many people from different times resurrected and brought into the kingdom.

And so what you see here is a sampling of that. So here's Peter. Peter always has to say something. You know, you can't just keep your mouth shut because you're afraid to act stupid. You just go ahead and say something stupid. Right? Okay. So here's Peter. Lord, it's good to be here. It's not good. It's scary. It's overwhelming and frightening. Okay? But he's got to say something. So, Lord, it's good to be here. Right? If you wish, we'll make, we got to do, he can't just you know, say something, you also have to do something, right?

I will make three tabernacles here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah, as if they need to have something made for them, right? How do they show up miraculously, right? Would it not be possible, if it were needed, to also have them miraculously have a tabernacle, if that were needed? But Peter's got to say something, and he's got to do something, right? Okay.

One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. It was apparently quite clear who these other two men were. Now, Peter makes this proposal, and you notice in this, we're going to see the Lord doesn't say, not Peter, you know, just shut up and sit down, right? Matter of fact, the Lord doesn't respond with anything.

Why? Something is about to happen that's going to make a response unnecessary. Besides that, Peter is going to be in no mood as soon as the next thing happens to build anything. Okay. So here they have this mountaintop experience. Jesus didn't respond to Peter's proposal due to a dramatic divine interruption. What comes across here, just as Peter made his proposal about these tabernacles, He was interrupted by a cloud moving among them and a voice that proclaimed, and you can imagine some cloud drifting as they often do in high mountains, a voice that proclaimed, I'll try to say it this way, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

Listen to him. Only I don't want to try to imitate how loud that probably actually was. I don't want to frighten anybody or disturb the kids in the nursery. The truth is, it was a voice so booming, it probably just floored them. Aside of which, that wasn't what they were expecting.

What Peter was expecting was, okay, we got this figured out. There's Moses, there's Elijah, there's Jesus. He's really shiny. And let me say something good and propose to make tabernacles, right? And so we got this figured out. It's kind of odd, but we got it figured out, right? All of a sudden, boom! voice just floors them. They all just hit the ground face down.

I try to think about, have I ever had something like that? One time I was walking along near Twain Heart up in the Sierras in Northern California and I was on some kind of a weekend retreat and all of a sudden We were right near a ridge, and all of a sudden a fighter plane came zooming over the ridge really low. And the fellow I was standing next to and talking to, we both just crouched down. It was an overwhelming noise that we weren't expecting.

And I think the same thing was happening here with Peter and James and John. At this, the three disciples all fell face down. The Bible says explicitly, they were terrified. The sound was loud and sudden and overwhelming and unexpected. We see in this, and I'm going back to Matthew chapter 3, where Jesus was baptized. And back at that event, Jesus, after being baptized, was there in a similar kind of statement. And behold, the voice out of the heavens said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, at that point in time.

It doesn't describe that everybody fell face down. But here, up in the mountaintop, with the cloud, that's what took place. After they were terrified, after they had gone face down, after they were overwhelmed, Jesus comes up to them, touching them, get up and do not be afraid. Well, a thought might be, well, it's a little late for that, right? You know, because they're already terrified, but nonetheless, he's saying get up and don't be afraid. They saw everything was back to normal. No cloud, no booming voice. Where's Moses and Elijah? Jesus isn't shining so bright as the sun. Everything's back to normal now, okay?

And it's kind of like, well, some time ago, Craig Case brought a friend here. I think it was a co-worker. Sharp fellow, but after he came here to Holly Hills, he walked out and said to Craig, what was that? when he was here at Holly Hill, so I guess we're a little unusual. I can imagine the disciples doing something like that as they came down off the mountain. Jesus, what was that? Right? I don't mean Jesus in a, you know, bad way. Anyway, you know what I mean. Okay. All the extraordinary appearances All the presence and the booming voice were all gone. Only Jesus and the three disciples were there.

And you imagine, it's kind of like, okay, now that my heart's pounding out of my chest, we can walk calmly down the mountain, right? And we can ask, what was that about? The significance of this event, I believe, was a fulfillment, a foretaste for these three of the kingdom to come. It will be an awesome time and though my description won't be adequate, let me briefly describe what kind of a time we're talking about.

Christ will come from the clouds of heaven to earth. You and I as believers will come with him in new bodies. bodies that we will have previously been given. The angels will come also. Resurrected saints from times past, I mean Old Testament saints, will also come, including as Jesus described Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. People from that far back. There will be people that you and I have read about will be there coming to earth with Christ. People on earth will either be very glad for his coming or terrified.

And it will be a time then here on earth for a thousand years of people who are of this kind, flesh and blood people, with Christ reigning, and then resurrected saints, including ourselves, reigning with Him. So that's the significance. They had gotten a brief sampling of that kingdom glory.

It'll be the glory of Christ Himself and us with Him. One way to look at it is the way 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 through 18 describes it. And that is, once we are taken up to be with the Lord, forever we will be with the Lord. Forever we will be with Him.

So, now comes the next part after they're coming down off the mountain and saying, what was that? Okay? The next part, we'll have this, this is ready. Because today is the Super Bowl, right? Ready, set, unhike. Yeah, unhike because they're hiking down the mountain, right? Okay. Oh boy. Okay.

At first, Jesus told the three disciples, Can you imagine after seeing this, and you're still trying to process, what was this? What just happened? After seeing this, Jesus tells them, tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead. Well, first of all, I don't understand what just happened, right? And then he says, don't tell it to anybody. Well, wow, okay. until the Son of Man is risen from the dead. What? The entire experience of what Jesus just said, none of it was anything in the realm of ordinary. None of it was like, you know, go to the store and buy some bread. It was all extraordinary. Everything.

What does He mean, rise from the dead? What's that all about? Of course, these words assume that He would first die, which is something they didn't quite understand or like to think about. His disciples asked Jesus and it's almost like you can imagine coming down off the mountain that they hardly know what to ask. So here they are coming down off the mountain and they ask the question, why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? Why do they say that?

Well, Jesus lets them know in this passage that John the Baptist came in the role and in the spirit of Elijah, but he wasn't recognized. People didn't understand, here is John the Baptist, he is coming as the royal announcer for the king. John the Baptist was not recognized for what he was, and neither is Christ being recognized for who he is. Neither one. And like John, who ultimately suffered and was killed, Jesus told them that he too, Jesus, must suffer as well.

They're not understanding much of this yet. You can imagine this entire time, they didn't understand, what's this whole thing on the mountain? What just happened? What do you mean, don't tell anybody? This is the most phenomenal experience we've ever had and besides of which we're not sure how to describe it, but this is amazing and you're telling us don't tell anyone. That's right. Tell no one until after he's risen from the dead.

What do you mean risen from the dead? What does that mean? And then Jesus, you're going to suffer? Wait a minute, I thought you're going to liberate us from these stupid Romans. Filthy pig-eating Romans, right? Then as they come down off the mountain, they find a crowd of people there.

The father of a boy who had been possessed by a demon appeals to Jesus. His symptoms are epileptic, I would say, in character. He falls into the fire. He falls into water. He puts himself at great danger and risk. And the father, of course, is quite concerned. He loves his son.

So he comes to Jesus, he said, I've asked your disciples to do this, but they can't do it. Would you please heal my son? Would you please cast out the demon? So at first Jesus remarks about the lack of faith among the disciples. Then he had the boy brought to him and he cast out the demon so that the boy was restored to his right mind and no longer having the demon and all the conditions, terrible conditions that went along with it. So then, the disciples are asking why. Of course, it seems like all day they've been asking why, right? When the disciples asked Jesus why they were not able to cast out the demon from the boy, he responds, well, it's a matter of faith. Your faith is too small. But notice the comparison. Their faith was small, but if they had the faith of a mustard seed, if you had just that much, you could move mountains, which says their faith was even smaller than a mustard seed, right?

Jesus told them all then, a piece of good news. As a matter of fact, I call it good news. Why? Because the word gospel means good news. Right? He's telling them a piece of good news. Let's see if they accept it as that. Jesus told them all as they gathered in Galilee, the Son of Man, and who's that? Christ himself, right? is going to be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him and he will be raised on the third day." So their response of course is, hooray! Right?

No. They didn't see it as good news at all. As a matter of fact, it's said they were deeply grieved to hear him say this. Oh no, that can't happen. Not to you. You're going to be the one to drive out the Romans. You're going to be the one to establish the kingdom in Israel. You can't have this happen to you. We won't let it.

Well, when Jesus had told them, told Peter, get behind me Satan, I'm sure that kept them from responding in the same way. But still they were grieved and that was evident. They were sad. They didn't understand. They didn't get it. Now, this is Matthew 16, the previous chapter. At that point in Matthew 16, one chapter before, Jesus began to tell his disciples that he would suffer under the leaders of Israel. So he began in chapter 16 to tell them directly, I'm going to suffer. under the leaders of Israel and be put to death and raised on the third day." So he's now telling them again. They don't respond in the same way, because they don't want to have the response, get behind me Satan, right? But they're still grieved. They still don't understand. They still don't get it.

Now, Then they get back to Capernaum. Capernaum is kind of like their operating headquarters. That's where the house of Peter has been found, what appears to be indeed Peter's house has been found there near the shores at Capernaum. And so they get back there at Capernaum. Now, the background is this. The Old Testament imposed a flat tax on the Jews of what was called 2 drachma.

This is from Exodus 30.13. It went towards supporting the temple in Jerusalem. Previously, obviously, just the tabernacle out in the desert. But ultimately, the temple in Jerusalem was the reason for this flat tax.

Think about it the the tithes and and boy there are pastors sit there and squeeze their Congregations about giving a tithes guess what all the tithes was was a tent of their food supplies to provide food for the priests Just food. That's all it's not everything and so this tax was to provide for other things that wasn't just a matter of food. So those collecting the flat tax, it didn't matter how much you made or didn't make, those collecting this same tax for each were asking Peter if Jesus paid the flat tax since the law of Moses did not make a penalty if he didn't pay it.

Can you imagine? You know, we're going to impose a tax of two drachma. And if you don't pay it, we'll fine you two drachma, right? No. So what they did was they said, you know, it was a voluntary tax. They went around and said, does your master pay the tax?

Now, there was no coinage to pay that during this time. Isn't that interesting? So what would usually be done is two people would go together to pay the tax because there wasn't any coinage to do that. So then that explains how this was handled after that.

So here's Peter. He responds to those asking, does your master pay the tax? He said, yes. So when he came in to the house, Jesus spoke to him first saying, what do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll tax? From their sons or from strangers?" When Peter said, from strangers, Jesus said to him, then the sons are exempt. However, Jesus says, so that we do not offend them.

Very interesting. So that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook and take the first fish out that comes up. So it isn't just, you know, check the fish, nope. put it back, you know, catch another one, pull it back. No. It's the first one that's going to have what? When you open its mouth, you'll find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and for me. The shekel was for Drachma, right?

So that would pay the tax for the two of them. And that was the custom of the time to pay for two at a time because they didn't have any coinage to pay it for just one person. So people would go together to pay the tax. So Peter went and found a fish with money, right? No, not like that. He caught the first fish that he caught and he used that then to pay the tax for himself and for Christ. So what was the miracle here? The miracle was that it was the very first fish that would have the coin in its mouth in the right amount, right? and would pay the tax for both of them.

I'd like to go back to this one, the good news. We're shortly here going to have the Lord's table and share that together. And what in fact grieved the disciples to hear is the gospel. that Christ died for our sins and was buried and rose again. But they didn't see it as that, but we do. They were looking with angst and grief towards Christ giving his life. For us, we can look back remembering Christ giving his life and not with grief.

After all, Christ himself had joy that drew him to the cross. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, a joy of fellowship with you and me. You see, Christ, the Lion of Judah, will forever be remembered as the Lamb, the one who voluntarily gave his life for you and me.

He loved and He gave Galatians 2.20. He loved and He gave Ephesians chapter 5. He will forever be remembered as the Lamb. Matter of fact, the very last chapter in the Bible, here's the first five verses, Revelation 22, 1-5, John is writing here and he says, Then He, the angel, showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, the One who gave Himself for us.

And in the middle of the street, on either side of the river, was the tree of life bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bondservants will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night, and they will not have neither the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them, and they will reign forever and ever."

We will forever know Christ as the Lamb. We won't recall all the sins. We won't recall the pains and agonies. But we will know that He was the one that paid the price for us. He was God's Lamb. Let's pray. Lord, though we see repeatedly that the disciples didn't understand what Christ was telling them, we thank you that in retrospect we can look back, and with further revelation and further explanation, understand what you were telling them. And we, in fact, have not only the command but the privilege of remembering that you gave your very life for us. You loved and you gave. You loved and you gave. Thank you for that love and thank you for the giving. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.