Day 31

Chase: Hello and welcome to the Point Church Podcast. We're really glad you're here. Before we jump in, if you'd like to stay connected, you can download the Point Church app. It's a simple way to find messages, resource, and what's happening. And if this podcast is helpful, take a moment to like, subscribe, and share. You can find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music. Let's get into today's episode. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Point Church Podcast. I'm here with Pastor Sam. As we're working through the gospel of Matthew verse by verse through our Lent series, and today we're in chapter seventeen of Matthew. It reads After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured in front of them, and his face shone like the sun, his clothes became as white as the light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it's good for us to be here. If you want, I will set up three shelters here. One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Yeah, so pretty amazing scene happening where Jesus takes his like that inner circle, like he has the twelve disciples. He takes the inner three, Peter, James, and John, up with him on a high mountain, which has always had a lot of symbolism, especially in the old testament. And he almost recreates that moment ⁓ that we see in the book of Exodus where God calls Moses up on Mount Sinai and his face when Moses comes back down shines so bright that he has to cover it with a veil. So but Jesus is like revealing like this is my my beauty on full display. Yeah. ⁓ also it reminds us as a little bit of a ⁓ Prequel, if you will, or kind of a sneak preview of the way he's described after the resurrection, like in the garden, that you know, just the brightness of the sun, the absolute ⁓ beauty, and then you have Elijah, who is considered like the leader of the prophets, yeah, who pointed towards God's coming, and then you have Moses, who is considered like you know, the leader of the law, and both of them are just discussing whatever with Jesus, like old friends. Peter just can't help himself though. He's like Time for me to interject and make some small talk about tents. Like Let me build some shelters for you. Yeah, and you're like, I don't I don't think they're worried about the elements right now. Like they're not that worried about any rain or wind, but but that's just kind of the that shows also the how human human, yeah, the story. Yeah. Yes, exactly. That they're like what can I provide you? Yeah. We we just default to that being like, I have to do something for God, and you're like God's got it covered. Like, but it is just that heart of like I want to help, I don't know how, and so yeah. ⁓ in verse five it picks up While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. When the disciples heard this, they fell face down and were terrified. Yes. So you hear a voice Where we heard this before, where we heard these words before. This is again just ⁓ going back to Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River, the almost word for word, the exact same phrase. This is my I just want to get right, this is my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased, listen to him. So it's the same phrase, but added, you know, that listen to him. Like and we'll we'll see why in a second. But again, it also it kind of gives us that same imagery of when angels show up. Yeah, do not be afraid. Don't be afraid. They fall face down. But like so this is a lot's happening here in this moment for these three men to witness. Sure is. Yep. And verse seven it picks up Jesus came up, touched them, and said, Get up, don't be afraid. When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus alone. And that is very intentional language by Matthew, even though he's not here. No. He ev he still recorded this because you know the disciples all shared their stories. Of course they did. Of course. And this is symbolic language like or this is very strong language. They saw no one but Jesus alone. And what people have said for centuries about this story is that Jesus is standing side by side of the one who represents the prophets, the one who represents the law, but he's front and center in the middle. And they're essentially pointing to him and then there's no one else. It's Jesus alone. So the one the law talks about is Jesus. The one the prophets point to is Jesus. It's all about him that he's the the new and better Moses. He's the new and better Elijah, prophet, anything you can imagine. Jesus is the ultimate of what the whole story is about. So that's what this scene is reminding us. In verse nine it picks up, as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, Don't tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead. So this the the the disciples asked him, Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? Elijah is coming and will restore everything, he replied. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they didn't recognize him. On the contrary, they did whatever they plea they pleased to him. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them about John the Baptist. Yes. There's John coming back, that he's the Elijah, he's the one preparing the way, pointing the way to Jesus. But notice that how interesting their question is is almost like this not obscure, but kind of obscure question about why did they say And and they blow right past the fact that he said, Don't tell anyone about this till the son of man is raised from the dead. And they're like Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Like they don't ask any questions about that. He says, I am the son of man, yeah. Raised from the dead. And they're like, Got it. Talk about Elijah. And it's almost like they dismissed it. And then he says it again, saying, And he's gonna suffer many things at their hand. Like he's like, I'm repeating myself. Yeah. And they still are like ⁓ he's talking about John the Baptist. But they completely missed about him. Well, it kind of goes into like what they believe so much in that old testament and all of that. Like that is where they're coming from. So like Elijah, as we know, is up here. Yes. And so they're like, he's saying suffering and stuff. Okay, but Elijah. Right. Because they still are some of them maybe working under that assumption that the Messiah is not going to be the suffering servant as described in like the prophet Isaiah. Yeah. But that he is going to be ⁓ you know the one who's gonna make things right, make things new. He's a conquering king. What okay. They just can't possibly comprehend what Jesus is telling them, which helps us understand Jesus' harsh language in the next section. And then verse verse fourteen. ⁓ Because he has seizures and suffers terribly, he often falls into the fire and often into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn't heal him. Here it is, Jesus replied, You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me. Yes. I think it's starting to make sense why G like Jesus is not talking to the Father. My son like, ⁓ how dare your son be demon possessed, and I'm mad at you. That's not what Jesus is saying. It's he's like rebuking his disciples. Guys, you just saw the transfiguration. Well, and I just told you about what's going to happen to the Son of Man, and you missed it. You missed it. You in and he knows his time is winding down. Yeah. And he's like, How long will I be with you? Like, you still don't get it. Like at some point he's gotta be like ⁓ my, like come on. Come on. Like it's and then he explains again like his frustration, but now it's like explaining I think this helps us understand the backdrop of some of his frustrations. Like, are you missing everything? Yeah. I've been with you for two years at this point. Are you missing everything? Yeah. Yeah. It's tough. And verse 18 says then Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him. And from that moment the boy was healed. Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, Why couldn't we drive it out? Because of your little faith. There it is. He told them. There it is. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. So right there. That's what he's that's that's exactly it. He's like You say you believe in me, but clearly I gave you authority back on chapter nine or back in the beginning of chapter ten when I called you to be the twelve to to do what I'm doing to drive out these unclean demonic spirits. Yeah. And then I I get word that you can't do it. Well, the only thing getting in the way is your doubt, your lack of faith. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ and so again, you can just like as the human side you ⁓ I yeah. Yeah, like again, as a parent, you almost are like, I thought you knew this by now. Yeah. Like when you have those setbacks with your kids, you're like, I thought I taught you better than this. Yeah. And I think that's a lot of what Jesus is kind of describing. Yeah. Like, guys, come on. And like, yeah. All right. In verse twenty two it says, As they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus told them, The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him. And on the third day he will be raised. And they were deeply distressed. So it finally He says it again third time. But d again, even their reaction betrays that they get it wrong. Yeah, they're He'll be portrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him. Okay, guys, me, me, they're gonna kill me. Yeah. And they're distressed. Okay, like I get that, but like they missed on the third day he will be raised up. Yeah. When we get to the end of the book, they're like, He what? He's resurrected on the third day? And it's like all through this chapter, he has said exactly what's going to happen, and then they're still surprised when it happens. Yeah. But it it's like if I'm really being, you know, both sides, how often do I do this with Jesus? How often do all of us do this with Jesus? Where we're like ⁓ I can't believe you provided for me. That's amazing. And you're like, I he's like, I said I would, but we're still surprised. We're still caught off guard. We don't expect it. Because it again, it's just like it's just like the lack of truly putting our faith and trust in him. Yeah. It is. And verse 24, it says, When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax approached Peter and said, Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax? Yes, he said. When he went into the house, Jesus spoke to him first. What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tariffs or taxes? From their sons or from strangers? From strangers, he said. Then the sons are free, Jesus told him. But so we won't offend them. Go to the sea, cast in a fishing hook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you'll find a coin. Take it and give it to me. Give it to them for me and you. It's just a wild story. Like, it's just amazing. But yeah, I mean so this c little bit of just the historical, like interesting thing, the temple tax is a little different than what like Matthew would have been collecting as a tax collector. This would have been the religious tax to help pay for the temple, keep with the up. Keep, ⁓ you know what I mean, pay the priests. Not the Roman taxes. Yeah, yeah, it's not the Roman tax. ⁓ although they might have used Roman tax collectors to collect it. Yeah. You know, ⁓ the again the religious people are just interested in getting their getting their money. this just seems to be a common theme with the people of this time. Money, money, money. Yeah. We need a soundtrack for that. Like, but ⁓ Jesus is like, okay. You want me to show you how easy it is? Like that somehow he had preordained, knew that ⁓ at some point this coin was going to fall into the water, a fish was gonna swallow it, and then that fish would bite onto the hook and then say, ⁓ here you go. Mm-hmm. Not choke the fish, not like it's just amazing to think about. And he's like, ⁓ okay, here's this thing, like kind of in my back pocket. Yeah, he just throws these out and it's Yes. Yeah, it's amazing. It's mind blowing. ⁓ that he's like, I am still submitting to authority. Like he's not actually some of us would like are hoping he says this. He's like, no taxes. He still pays the taxes. Yeah. He still pays it. Like he pays what's due to the temple. He pays what's due to, you know, the religious leaders, because that was ordained back in the law. He's not agreeing with the way it's been corrupted. But he is still saying give and and he does this in other passages, like give to God what's God's. Yeah. And ⁓ And he does it in a way that's like still causes awe and wonder. Yeah. Amen. Well with that we're gonna end today's episode and we'll be back tomorrow. So thanks for tuning in wherever you are and we'll see you tomorrow.