Latest / Journey Elgin / Journey Through Scripture- Mt 17, Mk 9 & Lk 9
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: It's good to see you today. Welcome to our Journey Through Scripture podcast. ⁓ we're journeying through the scripture and we're going through in a chronological order. So glad that you have joined us today. My name is Philip Thomas, pastor of Journey here in Elgin. And we are in the the Gospels, so we're kind of skipping around the all different ⁓ points in the Gospels, especially where there's ⁓ the similar stories that are happening. ⁓ and so we are in gonna be looking at Matthew ⁓ seventeen ⁓ and eighteen today ⁓ as well as mark chapter nine and luke chapter nine. So Matthew seventeen and eighteen, Mark nine and Luke nine. Alright, so Matthew chapter seventeen. ⁓ remember Jesus has just talked with the disciples and Peter has given ⁓ his ⁓ proclamation that Jesus is the Christ ⁓ and Jesus promises ⁓ that some will will see the the the kingdom and its glory, right the the ⁓ before they die. Well, that's kind of going to happen here at the transfiguration. It also happens, you know, you can make the case that it also happens whenever Jesus is resurrected. ⁓ but in Matthew chapter seventeen, the first thirteen verses there is the ⁓ the transfiguration. So it's this interesting thing where Jesus goes up ⁓ on the ⁓ on a mountain, he brings ⁓ Peter, James, and John with him. Those kind of the the the inner sanctum, if you will, right? The the those three are clearly ⁓ that they were there for the healing or the rising excuse me. Whenever Jesus brought the little girl back from the dead, it was Peter, James, and John. and remember Jesus is telling them, now I don't want you telling all of this to people, but I'm wanting you to see these things. I because y he's Jesus is helping them strengthen their faith and better understand fully who he is. ⁓ because again, their idea of the Messiah ⁓ was very different than who Jesus was. So he's he's not only proving to them that he is the Messiah, but he's also having to help them change their way of thinking about who the Messiah is. and what he is going to do. He is not going to raise up an army and overthrow Rome. ⁓ he is not creating a political kingdom. He is creating a spiritual kingdom of God. And so you have this wonderful encounter where ⁓ Jesus is joined by Moses and Elijah, and ⁓ Jesus is ⁓ transfigured, is ⁓ made bright white and, you know, I I just Can't imagine what that must have been like. Obviously, it was terrifying for Peter, James, and John. ⁓ they want to build them booths, which is probably referring to the Feast of Tabernacles, giving them a place to stay. ⁓ they want this to last a while, but it's not going to last a while. ⁓ but there's some interesting little connections here ⁓ with Moses being there. Moses also. was transfigured in a way probably a little bit different. If you remember whenever he encountered God on Mount Sinai, he came back with and his face was glowing, right? Like he had to put a veil in front of his face because he had experienced the presence of God. Well now Jesus is that presence. And and then you have Elijah. So you have both the law Represented by Moses, ⁓ who the law was given to, and the prophets ⁓ represented by Elijah, and God speaks, and of course ⁓ Peter, James, and John hear this, say, This is my son, listen to him. So it is elevating Jesus above the law and the prophets, right? Because he is he's the one who gave the law and called the prophets. And and so it's it's just making sure that ⁓ Peter, James, and John understood this. It's not replacing the law and the prophets, it's the fulfillment that Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. ⁓ and so it's you just a a really neat thing that that you're seeing here. ⁓ and then of course Moses and ⁓ Elijah are are gone and the disciples are are asking Jesus in verse ten, saying, ⁓ Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? And Jesus said he has come, and he's referring to John the Baptist, right? So Jesus is again teaching them and convincing them that he is the Messiah, that all of these things that the scribes and the religious leaders have talked about that needed to happen, ⁓ that Elijah returns. Well that he he returned in the form of John the Baptist in a sense, right? I mean that that John the Baptist had that role of preparing the way for the Messiah, and now Jesus is that Messiah. And you see the same thing in ⁓ Mark chapter nine, ⁓ and then in Luke chapter nine, ⁓ verses twenty eight through thirty six, you have something that is ⁓ a little bit different. ⁓ verse thirty it says, And behold, two men talked with him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his decease. Which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. And and that's interesting. So it shows that Jesus was kind of having a conversation with Moses and Elijah. And that word decease, it's a that is talking about the process of his death. ⁓ you know, so that there's there seems to have been some sort of a conversation going on where Jesus is is visiting with them about what is about to to come in Jerusalem. And Peter and James and John are kind of waking up, right? The the so they're not fully aware of that conversation is what it what it it appears to in Luke. ⁓ but then they they do wake up and in in Luke it's the the same thing. ⁓ Peter, James and John's response is the same ⁓ same thing. ⁓ and they hear, of course, the Lord saying, This is my beloved ⁓ son, ⁓ hear him, listen to him. so it's Ver very interesting there. I I think that's ⁓ you know, it's it's this clear passing from Moses ⁓ who you know brought the people out of Egypt, ⁓ brought them out of slavery into the promised land, and and now the fulfillment ⁓ of the ultimate Messiah is being found in Jesus. ⁓ it's this this passing from the law and the prophets to Jesus, ⁓ who again continues to uphold the law and the prophets, but it's clearly the fulfillment of them. ⁓ Then ⁓ you go and and again, this is a back and forth thing. So in Matthew chapter seventeen, you have the transfiguration, ⁓ where the disciples are seeing some amazing things and Jesus is asking them, be careful, don't I don't want you sharing all of this just yet. ⁓ and then we see the disciples lack of faith. And so in chapter seventeen, there's the the story that ⁓ a guy comes up and tells and tells the Lord ⁓ hey Your disciples weren't able to heal my ⁓ child who is possessed. And ⁓ verse seventeen in Matthew says, Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to me. and Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him. ⁓ the child was cured from that very hour. I I thought that's interesting. with the faithlessness of the generation. It's like they're they're not fully getting it. Don't they understand my spiritual kingdom, what I am here to do. ⁓ you know, and and ha how many of us have thought that too? Lo look at the generation and the faithless generation, but yet what what's going to happen? That generation is actually going to to change the world because of the way that they ⁓ live their lives and proclaim what they've experienced and learned from Jesus. So yeah, it was a faithless generation, but but God God worked through it. And I I pray that He's able to work through our faithlessness and that we are able to to grow and mature just as the disciples have. Verse 20 ⁓ or 19, the ⁓ disciples came to Jesus and said, Why could we not cast out that demon? And he said, Because of your unbelief, for assuredly I say to you, If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. And it says ⁓ the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and the third day he will be raised up, and they were exceedingly sorrowful. So Jesus is starting to be a little more overt with telling them what is to come and what is to be. going to be happening, which is why he needs them to have that faith. He needs them to overcome their unbelief and kind of be all in, if you will, that that understanding who Jesus is, the type of Messiah that he is going to be. Mark chapter 9, 14 through 32 also has the same, a similar story, has a few more dialogue ⁓ and verse 21 says So he asked his father, How long has this been happening to him? Talking about the the child who ⁓ he cast the demon out of. father said, From childhood and often he is thrown both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. And Jesus said to him, If you believe, all things are possible to him who believes. And I I love this response, ⁓ this honest response of the Father. Immediately the father of the child. cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. I I love that because he's he's acknowledging the doubts. He's acknowledging sometimes the struggle to believe, but he wants to believe and he's trying to believe. But those doubts are just going to come at come at us from all different directions. And we I I I love that that ask, Lord, I do believe, but help me in my unbelief. ⁓ I I think that's a a good prayer for for all of us. ⁓ and so of course Jesus ⁓ cast cast out and again he tells the disciples, he said, This this kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting, of developing that that spiritual relationship ⁓ with God. ⁓ Luke chapter nine, thirty seven through forty five, ⁓ again has this much shorter. ⁓ again Jesus predicts his death. and you know, this in verse forty five of Luke nine says, But they did not understand this saying and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him ⁓ about this saying. Right. So Jesus is telling him that he's gonna end up dying, ⁓ and they just they can't comprehend because again, they are they are thinking of Jesus the Messiah as this political conquering hero. ⁓ and he is going to conquer, but it's going to be in a different way. It's going to be conquering sin and death through his own death and resurrection. Then we have ⁓ getting into the the rest of Matthew chapter 17 through chapter 18, verse 9. ⁓ it kind of talks about the kingdom of God and and our our place in the kingdom of God. You have this interesting thing whenever they're in Capernaum and they're approached and asked. Do you pay the temple tax? And ⁓ and Jesus uses that as an opportunity and he says, ⁓ who who is taxed ⁓ by the by kings of the earth? Do they take from their sons or from their strangers? And the disciples ⁓ answer, Well, this the strangers. And ⁓ Jesus says, But the sons are able to enter freely. ⁓ he's talking about the kingdom of God, that all there there are no barriers. You don't have to pay ⁓ to get into the kingdom of God, that all are welcome ⁓ to come into the kingdom of God. ⁓ and then you have this ⁓ cool little ⁓ miracle that Jesus says go to the catch of fish and you'll find enough to pay the temple tax kind of an interesting thing. then in chapter eighteen ⁓ one through nine there's kind of talking about the greatest who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom of God, right? The disciples are wanting to know what's what's the pecking order going to be. And then Jesus calls a little child, says, set him in the midst, said, Assuredly I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one ⁓ little child like this in my name receives me. So again it's about that that faith, that believing That Jesus is who he says he is. And then he talks about the ⁓ the gravity of sin. ⁓ he says, Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and if you were drowned in the depths of the sea. and then the verse seven ⁓ of chapter eighteen, Matthew eighteen, woe to the world because of offenses or sinfulness, right? For offenses must come. They're going to come 'cause we live in the fallen world. It says, But woe to that man by whom the offenses come. That's very interesting there that Jesus is saying, Yes, there are going to be offenses and we're going to have to deal with that. But don't be the one who is causing the offense. and whatever it says, it would be better for a millstone to hung around his neck than to deceive one of these little ones. ⁓ I think we are we're entering into a time in our culture where our culture is intentionally deceiving our children more than it has in the past. ⁓ and I I believe there may maybe there's there's there there may be lots of millstones to go around and we want to make sure that we we do not deceive our children, that we do not lead them to a path of of unbelief, a path that leads away from God, but we need to make sure we're leading them on a path towards God. ⁓ and then ⁓ Matthew there at the end of ⁓ or verses eight and nine, it's ⁓ if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off. ⁓ it's better for you to enter ⁓ into life, lame or maimed. ⁓ right so it's this you know obviously not literal But saying, cut out that sinfulness in your life. Quit participating in it. Mark chapter nine, verses thirty-three through fifty has the same ⁓ kind of discussion of who's going to be the greatest. ⁓ in verse thirty nine of Mark chapter nine, ⁓ it says, do not forbid him to ⁓ sorry. So they have ⁓ Jesus has the whoever receives ⁓ ⁓ the little child receives me, he has that the same discussion we saw in Matthew. ⁓ but then the John asked him, said we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in your name, and we told him not to, because he's not part of the group, right? And Jesus says, Do not forbid him, for one who works a miracle in my name can soon afterwards speak evil of me. For he is not against us, for he who is not against us is on our side. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. And what what that's talking about is there there may be people who do things a little bit different and and and go about things in a different way, but if they're doing it in the name of Jesus, if they are for Jesus, then they're Then they can be for us. We don't have to see them as the enemy. ⁓ but then Mark continues on. I think this is important because sometimes we skip over things like this that Jesus says. ⁓ this is it starting in ⁓ verse forty two. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him for a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. Of course, that's that's a an an ill illustration of how serious that That is. Says if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maim, rather than having two hands, to go to hell into the fire that shall never be quenched, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And then Jesus says that two more times. ⁓ that that there is there there are consequences to living in sin, to continually sinning intentionally and not asking for repentance and not striving to to change our life to to look ⁓ like that of Jesus's ⁓ there there will be some sort of repercussions of that. And Jesus specifically says here three times ⁓ that's th that that repercussion is is hell, that you will be cast into hell. ⁓ but you know just it's important for us not to skip over those aspects of who Jesus is. ⁓ Luke chapter nine, forty six through fifty, ⁓ there's the dispute of who's greatest ⁓ again, ⁓ and and then you have ⁓ the same interaction ⁓ with the guy casting out the demons and at verse fifty, but Jesus said to him, Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side. So ⁓ those who are not Actively working against Jesus. ⁓ you know that that is who he's warning. ⁓ do not be actively working against ⁓ the kingdom of God. All right. Let's look at John chapter seven and eight. So actually seven, eight, and nine. Can we get to ten? Seven eight. Let's do that. John seven eight nine ten. Okay. So that's four chapters, seven through ten on John. All right. We will see you then. Thanks for joining us.