The Transfiguration. Concerning Elijah.

  ^a 5 While he yet speaking, behold, ^b there came ^a a bright cloud ^b overshadowing them: {^c and overshadowed them:} and they feared as they entered into the cloud.

^a and behold, ^b there came a voice out of the cloud, ^a saying, This is my beloved Son, ^c my chosen: ^a in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. [This command contains the chief significance of the entire scene. Spoken in the presence of Moses and Elijah, it gave Jesus that pre-eminence which a son has over servants. He is to be heard. His words have pre-eminence over those of the lawgiver and the prophet ( Hebrews 1:1 Hebrews 1:2 ). Peter recognized Jesus as thus honored by this voice-- 2 Peter 1:16-18 .]

  6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. [As every man is who hears the voice of God.]

  7 And Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise, and be not afraid. [As mediator between man and God, Jesus removes fear.]

  ^b 8 And suddenly looking round about,

  ^a 8 And lifting up their eyes, ^b they saw no one any more, save Jesus only with themselves.

  ^c 36 And when the voice came, Jesus was found alone.

[Leaders and prophets depart, but Christ abides-- Hebrews 3:5 Hebrews 3:6 .]

  ^a 8 And lifting up their eyes, ^b they saw no one any more, save Jesus only with themselves.

  ^c 36 And when the voice came, Jesus was found alone.

  ^b 9 And as they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them, that they should tell no man what things they had seen, save when the Son of man should have risen again from the dead.

^a 9 And Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen from the dead.

[The people were not ready for the publication of such an event. To have told it now would only have been to raise doubts as to their veracity.]

^a 9 And Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen from the dead.

questioning among themselves what the rising from the dead should mean. [Jesus spake so often in parables and made so frequent use of metaphors that the apostles did not take his words concerning the resurrection in a literal sense. They regarded his language as figurative, and sought to interpret the figure.] ^c And they held their peace, and told no man in those days any of the things which they had seen.

  ^a 10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come? ^b How is it that the scribes say that Elijah must first come?

[They were puzzled by the disappearance of Elijah. They looked upon him as having come to fulfill the prophecy of Malachi ( Malachi 4:5 Malachi 4:6 ), but they marveled that, having come, he should so soon withdraw, and that they should be forbidden to tell that they had seen him, since the sight of him would be some sign of Jesus' Messiahship.]

  ^a 10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come? ^b How is it that the scribes say that Elijah must first come?

  ^a 11 And he answered and ^b said unto them, Elijah indeed cometh first, and restoreth {^a shall restore} all things [this sentence leads some to think that Elijah will appear again before the second coming of our Lord, but the words are to be interpreted in connection with the rest of the passage]: ^b and how it is written of the Son of man, that he should suffer many things, and be set at naught? [If the writings concerning Elijah perplexed the apostles, those concerning the Messiah perplexed them also. From one set of prophecies they might learn something about the other. Elijah came, but the Scriptures concerning him were so little understood that he was put to death. The Messiah also came, and the prophecies concerning him were so little understood that he, too, would be set at naught.]

  13 But I say unto you, that Elijah is come, ^a already, and they knew him not, but did {^b and they have also done} unto him whatsoever they would. Even as it is written of him. ^a Even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them.

  13 Then understood the disciples that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

[Malachi used the name of See Section 20, Section 45. That there shall be a second coming of Elijah in fulfillment of this prophecy is hardly possible, for the office of Elijah is prophetically outlined as that of the restorer. But Elijah could not restore Judaism, for that dispensation had been done away with in Christ. He could hardly have chosen to restore Christianity, for even if it should need such a restoration, a Jewish prophet would be ill-suited to such an office. One of the apostles would be vastly preferable.]

  13 Then understood the disciples that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.