WHERE'S ELIJAH? (Mark 9:9-13)
INTRODUCTION:
The Lord Jesus had begun to teach His disciples that He must suffer and be rejected by the religious leaders and be killed and on the third day rise from the dead. The truth of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ would become the distinguishing mark of the true church. The preaching on these two themes began on the day of Pentecost and became the constant subject of the apostolic preachers. This was the theme of the Apostle Paul’s preaching and is repeated countless times throughout the New Testament. But before the cross, the followers of the Lord Jesus found this teaching of Christ’s death to be unacceptable, even repulsive, because it went against everything they had ever been taught concerning the Messiah. So repulsive was this teaching, that when Jesus first announced it Peter had taken the Lord aside and rebuked Him. Last week, we looked at the transfiguration and Peter wanted the Lord to skip the cross, skip the suffering and immediately establish the kingdom. The idea of the Messiah dying and rising did not fit into the disciples’ thinking. They believed what the scribes had taught the people, what they had grown up learning about the Messiah. For the disciples and for most people, the Messiah, in their view, would come to conquer and judge His enemies, bring salvation to the Jewish people, and elevate Israel to world supremacy. After destroying all the enemies of Israel and of God, the Messiah would establish His earthly kingdom of righteousness, peace, and wisdom. He would be worshiped; He would pour out blessings on the world and crush any appearance of evil. Because of this they could not accept Jesus repeatedly saying that He was going to suffer, be arrested and mistreated, then be killed and rise from the dead three days later. This teaching confused them, and it frightened them. The transfiguration had helped to alleviate three of the disciples’ shock and disappointment concerning the Lord’s death by giving them a preview of the coming glory. Our passage this morning gives us the aftermath of the transfiguration as Jesus continues to tell the three disciples with Him the importance of His death. Let’s pray and then get into our passage of Scripture.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Mark 9:9-13, our passage for this morning. Please stand, if you are able, in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Mark 9:9-13,
“As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead. They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant. They asked Him, saying, ‘Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ And He said to them, ‘Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.’ ” (Mark 9:9–13, NASB95)[1]
THE COMMAND OF JESUS (Mark 9:9-10)
This passage begins with Jesus leading Peter, James, and John down off the mountain. They had just experienced the transfiguration and the voice of God the Father that had terrified them, so much so that Matthew records that they fell to the ground due to the holy terror that overwhelmed them when they were ushered into the glorious presence of God in the bright cloud. After it was over, and Jesus touched them and compassionately encouraged them to not be afraid did they look around and found they were alone with Jesus and His glory was again hidden. Jesus began to lead them down the mountain and as they came down, I am sure that they were trying to process the majestic, yet terrifying scene they had just seen and experienced. Their faith in Jesus had been confirmed by what they had seen and heard. This had removed any doubt they may have had; they were fully convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, and the Son of God. Never again would they be shaken in their confidence as to Jesus’ identity. Their faith would be tested by what happened to Him at His arrest, trial, and death, and they would temporarily abandon Him and even deny Him. But no threat, disappointment, humiliation, dishonor, or suffering on the Lord’s part or theirs would make them ever doubt that He was the Messiah and the Son of God.
As the three men were trying to process all this, Jesus spoke. Mark writes that Jesus “…gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead.” (Mark 9:9b, NASB95)[2] It was not unusual for the Lord to command someone to be silent after He had healed them. Jesus made such commands to avoid the proclamation of an incomplete gospel. The Lord Jesus knew that the central truth of the gospel is His death and resurrection, not that He healed the sick, cleansed the leper, or raised the dead, or that He manifested His divine glory. To proclaim those things might divert the people’s attention from the more important truth of His death and resurrection. This is the first time that Jesus put a time limit when commanding someone’s silence. They were to remain silent on what they had seen, until the Son of Man (the Messiah) rose from the dead. Once He had risen from the dead it would be obvious that He had come to die and by doing so conquer sin and death, and not the Romans. The disciples, unlike others Christ had ordered to not tell anyone, followed His command. The parallel passage in Luke says, “And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.” (Luke 9:36b, NASB95)[3]
Mark records about the three disciples, “They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant.” (Mark 9:10, NASB95)[4] It must be understood that it was not that the disciples did not know what resurrection was. They had seen Jesus raise people from the dead, they may have even done so themselves when Jesus sent them out in His name and power. These disciples also understood and believed that there would be a general resurrection as prophesied in the Old Testament. This discussion was not about resurrection in general but specifically about the resurrection of Jesus. They were still confused about His death and rising, it did not fit what they understood about the Messiah’s mission. Trying to fit the Lord’s death and resurrection into what they believed concerning the Messiah became the subject of their thinking and the topic of their conversations. Because Jesus had said they were to be silent until He had risen from the dead must mean that His death and resurrection must be in the near future, during their lifetime, how did this fit with their belief that the kingdom was imminent, a belief they continued to have even after the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. At some point during that 40-day period that Jesus was with them between His resurrection and ascension, a time that Jesus spent speaking to the disciples about the kingdom of God, they asked Him, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6b, NASB95)[5] There question was misguided, but understandable. Jesus had died and had risen from the dead; He was talking to them about the kingdom of God. He had spoken to them about the coming of the Holy Spirit. There desire after the resurrection was that the kingdom would be established, this is what they had hoped for since they first joined Jesus. But the time had not arrived for the kingdom to be established, and it would not arrive until the time fixed by the Father, but until that time they were to share the gospel of salvation with the world. This was the time that they could talk about what they had seen on the mountain top.
THE CONFUSION ABOUT ELIJAH (Mark 9:11-12)
This idea of the death and resurrection of the Messiah was hard for the disciples to accept, they remained confused by this teaching. They were still hoping for the immediate display of His glory and the establishment of the kingdom. Maybe they discussed the possibility that the kingdom would follow Jesus’ death and resurrection. This led Peter, James, and John to ask Jesus a question. Mark writes, “They asked Him, saying, ‘Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ ” (Mark 9:11, NASB95)[6] In other words, that Elijah will come before the Messiah arrives.
Their question was a good one and based on an accurate understanding of the Old Testament prophets. Through the prophet Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet, God said, “’Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 3:1, NASB95)[7] As I have already mentioned before, in Jesus’ day and even farther back in history, kings and rulers were often preceded by a herald, or a forerunner, who was responsible for making sure that everything was prepared for the king’s or ruler’s arrival. Isaiah had also prophesied of a forerunner that would come before the arrival of the Messiah, and in his prophecy, he gives a description of the forerunner’s work. Isaiah 40:3-4 says, “A voice is calling, ‘Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley;’ ” (Isaiah 40:3–4, NASB95)[8] Both Malachi and Isaiah prophesy of a messenger coming before the arrival of the Messiah, but where does it identify this messenger as Elijah? Why did the scribes teach that Elijah must come first? Again, we must turn to the book of Malachi and the last chapter of his book which was our Scripture reading this morning. In the closing verses of Malachi 4 the messenger, the forerunner is identified as Elijah. Malachi writes in chapter 4:5-6, “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” (Malachi 4:5–6, NASB95)[9] Before the day of the Lord, the final judgment of the ungodly and the establishment of the kingdom, Elijah will come. He will restore the nation by calling the people to repent, and the remnant will believe and escape the curse. He will bring people together around belief in the true and living God.
The disciples had declared by faith that Jesus was the Messiah, they had seen the manifestation of His glory. They were thoroughly convinced that He was the Messiah, but if that were true, where was Elijah? Why was he not here performing all the duties, according to tradition and prophecy, that he would do to prepare for the Messiah’s coming. Should he not have come before Jesus’ arrival? Jesus replied to the disciples with Him, “Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt?” (Mark 9:12, NASB95)[10] They were correct, Elijah does come before the Messiah and prepares all things for His coming. But then Jesus went on to make them understand that there was something that they had overlooked. He said, “And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt?” (Mark 9:12b, NASB95)[11] Peter, James, and John asked Him how He could be the Messiah if Elijah had not come. He in turned asked them how He could be the Messiah if He did not suffer as the Old Testament predicted. Where was it predicted that He would suffer? Psalm 22 gives a vivid description of the crucifixion hundreds of years before it was a form of execution, Isaiah 53 gives a vivid picture of the suffering and contempt that the Messiah will endure, Zechariah 12:10 speaks of the people mourning over the Messiah whom they have pierced. Both prophecies will be fulfilled. Elijah will come, and the Messiah will suffer and die because God will carry out His plan and His purposes to the end.
THE COMING OF ELIJAH (Mark 9:13)
Jesus closed this conversation with this statement, “But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come…” (Mark 9:13a, NASB95) This statement must have surprised and confused these three disciples more than they already were. Jesus was not saying that the literal Elijah had come, but one who had been prophesied as coming in the spirit and power of Elijah. Listen to the angel Gabriel’s words when he announced the birth of John the Baptist to his father Zechariah in the temple in Luke 1:14-17, “You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:14–17, NASB95)[12] There were striking similarities between these two prophets, including their physical appearance. 2nd Kings 1:8 describes Elijah as a hairy man with a leather belt bound around his loins, if you remember Mark 1:6 describes John the Baptist being clothed in camel’s hair and wearing a leather belt around his waist. Not only were they similar in appearance but they both were powerful, uncompromising preachers. Yet when the Jewish leaders asked John the Baptist if he was Elijah, he replied that he was not.
In the parallel passage to this one in Matthew we are informed that the disciples realized that Jesus was referring to John the Baptist (Matthew 17:13). Israel as a people failed to recognize John’s significance and because of this Jesus further said concerning him, “…and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.” (Mark 9:13b, NASB95)[13] The religious leaders rejected him, and Herod Antipas imprisoned him and then killed him, which Jezebel had sworn would be the fate of Elijah after he had all the prophets of Baal killed. No specific Old Testament prophecies predicted the death of Messiah’s forerunner, so the phrase “it is written of him” is best understood as having been fulfilled typically by John.
CONCLUSION:
If the religious leaders and the people of Israel had realized who John was and accepted his message, he would have been the Elijah who was to come. Jesus had said earlier in His ministry in Matthew 11:14, “And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.” (Matthew 11:14, NASB95)[14] But since they did not, John the Baptist was a preview of another who will come in the spirit and power of Elijah before the second coming, even the literal Elijah as possibly one of the two witness that will appear in Jerusalem during the tribulation. We read about them in Revelation 11:3-6, “And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.” (Revelation 11:3–6, NASB95)[15]
The biblical pattern is clear. The prophet Elijah was rejected and persecuted; Messiah’s forerunner, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah, was rejected and killed, and the Messiah Himself was rejected and murdered. Out of this suffering comes the glory, and in the future the prophesied Elijah will come, and then the Lord Jesus will return in all of His glory, and conquer and destroy His enemies, and then the kingdom so longed for by the disciples will be established.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[15]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.