Behold Our God!

The promised Elijah, John the Baptist, did in fact have a ministry of restoration. He announced that the kingdom of heaven was near and he called people to repent (Matt 3:2). However, in the end, John the Baptist's ministry of restoration resulted in his suffering and death. John's death is what Jesus referred to when He said, "They did whatever they pleased to him" (v. 12). Such treatment was not only true of John; Jesus was also preparing the disciples for His own death. Jesus closes verse 12 by saying, "In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." The disciples were being prepared for the reality that Jesus' ministry of redemption would be accomplished through His suffering and death. This is a key truth that keeps reappearing in Matthew's Gospel.

The disciples (along with many other Jews) wanted an immediate and glorious kingdom set up on this earth by the Messiah. That's one of the reasons Peter suggested putting up three tabernacles, for he saw that in Jesus the kingdom was dawning.37 But Jesus refused, for the cross of Christ must come before the crown of Christ. He instructed the disciples in verse 9 not to tell anyone about what they had seen. They were to wait until after Jesus' death (and resurrection), since there is no true glory apart from the cross. Suffering must precede splendor. This truth doesn't make sense to the world, but it is crucial if we are to see the divine glory of the Son.

So far we've seen the divine glory of the Son from a number of different angles. As we turn to verses 14-21, let us behold the patient power of the Son. Once Jesus and the three disciples come down from the mountain, the scene in Matthew's Gospel shifts from one extreme to the other. It turns from the glory of God in Christ on a mountain to the pain and suffering of the world. We are seeing the God who stooped to become a man, the One who identified with us in our suffering in order to bring us salvation from sin.230

In verse 14 Jesus was approached by a man whose son had epilepsy as a result of demon possession. The boy had seizures and would often fall into fire and water (v. 15). I'm reminded of being in a Sudanese hospital and seeing a child with sleeping sickness, a disease that caused him to go into a trance at any moment, which meant falling over unconscious. This happened one time as the boy was sitting next to a fire, and he tragically had half of his body charred. Suffering can be violent, and it reminds us of the tragic pain of living in a sinful world.

Jesus' disciples lacked the faith to do what Jesus had given them authority to do, namely, to deliver this epileptic boy from a destructive demon. In this portrait, we see that Jesus endures our unbelief. Keep in mind that this is the same Jesus whom we just saw in His unveiled glory in the previous verse. The One who was with the Father in glory and who commanded myriads of angels is now confronted yet again with the unbelief of men, even His own disciples. In verse 17 we see Jesus' frustration with this failure of faith: "How long must I put up with you?" The fact that He didn't immediately reject His disciples reminds us that God is patient. Christ was forbearing with people He encountered, and gratefully He treats us the same way.

Not only does He endure our unbelief, but also Jesus meets our need. In verse 18 He healed this demon-possessed boy, instantly bringing him out of his misery. Jesus alone has the power to heal, to save, to deliver, and to meet the deepest needs of our lives.

Following this healing, Jesus' disciples came to Him privately and asked why they couldn't drive the demon out (v. 19). This is where we learn that Jesus enables our ministry. We don't know all that was going on in the minds, hearts, and motives of these disciples as they failed to cast out this demon, something they had previously succeeded at by Christ's authority. But we do know from Mark's account of this story that Jesus told them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer" (Mark 9:29). The disciples had likely begun to look at their ministry as mechanical, being dependent on their own ability instead of on God. Jesus pointed them in a different direction: the way of trusting in His power. By telling them that their faith need only be the size of a mustard seed, Jesus was urging them to focus on the object of their faith. A little bit of faith in a great God can accomplish great things. Even mountains, Jesus says, will move. Nothing is impossible for the man or woman who trusts in the power of God to accomplish the will of God (v. 20).231

This is Jesus' second major prediction in Matthew's Gospel of His suffering and death (cf. 16:21-23), and there will be more to come. John Calvin said, "The nearer the time of His death, the more often Christ warned His disciples, lest that particular sorrow should undermine their faith." Jesus was preparing these 12 men for His certain and willing death. We may be accustomed to hearing of the cross, but consider Christ's death in light of the portrait we have just seen earlier in this chapter. No one can overpower this man! He is God in the flesh. Who can take Him on? If Jesus died at the hands of men, which He did, it is clearly because He chose to die. This was no accident. Sinful men killed Him, but only because He walked into their hands at the Father's bidding.

Christ's willing sacrifice leads us next to behold the certain victory of the Son. The disciples were having a hard enough time trying to grasp the fact that the Messiah would be killed by the Jewish leaders of the day; they had no concept at all of the reality of Jesus' impending resurrection. The same Jesus who was nailed to a cross would be raised in power and triumphant victory.

So far we've seen the divine glory of the Son, the patient power of the Son, the willing sacrifice of the Son, and the certain victory of the Son. Finally, we behold the humble authority of the Son. This story sets the stage for Matthew 18, where humility is a major theme. Interestingly, Matthew is the only Gospel writer who tells us this story, and it seems fitting given his former profession—a tax collector. Unlike most of the mentions of taxes and tax collectors elsewhere in the Gospels, the temple tax described in verse 24 was not a tax collected by the Roman government. Instead, the temple tax was collected by Jewish leaders for the service of the temple in Jerusalem. Based loosely on Exodus 30:11-16, the people of God were expected to help provide for the place that housed the glory of God. However, we've already seen Jesus claim to be greater than the temple (Matt 12:6). He was the literal dwelling place of God, and we know that He had come to usher in an altogether new and glorious way of access to God, namely, through Himself.232

When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain of the temple was torn in two (27:51). So why should He and His followers pay for the upkeep of the temple? In His conversation with Peter, Jesus used the analogy of kings who raise money from taxes, and He asked Peter whether such taxes came from the king's sons, or from strangers (17:25). Peter gave the obvious answer, "From strangers" (v. 26). The point of the analogy is clear: Since God is King, Jesus (His Son) is free from the obligation to pay the temple tax, along with all who are with Jesus in the family of faith. However, in order not to give offense, Jesus says to pay the tax. In other words, Jesus is greater than the temple, yet He still pays the tax. But why? Not because He is under obligation, but because He is working for others' salvation.

Verse 27 records one of the more striking miracles in Jesus' ministry. He commanded Peter to go to the sea and pull up the first fish he caught, wherein he would find a coin to pay the tax. Consider what had to take place for this miracle to occur: Jesus ordained that somebody would drop a shekel into the water, that a fish would scoop it up in its mouth but not swallow it all the way, that that fish would swim over to the shore at the moment when Peter walked up, and as Peter cast out a hook, that he would catch that fish. All of that happened so that a temple tax could be paid in order not to bring unnecessary offense to people whom God desires to save from sin. Jesus is sovereign over the sea, yet He graciously stoops for our salvation.

There are a number of ways we can respond to the truths in Matthew 17. We'll note four of those ways. First, as we consider Christ in this passage (and in the entire Gospel of Matthew), let us look to His worth. See His divine glory, His patient power, His willing sacrifice, His certain victory, and His humble authority. Then fall on your face in worship, just like the disciples (v. 6). Fix your attention and your affection on the Lord Jesus Christ and stop spending your life on the trivial and temporal. Let those things grow strangely dim in the light of God's glory and grace.

Second, let us listen to His Word. This point is made powerfully in 2 Peter 1:16-21, a passage where we get Peter's reflection on the events of Matthew 17:

After reading of Jesus' transfiguration, we might be tempted to think that our lives would be dramatically different if only we could witness that kind of event or hear God's Word with that kind of certainty. However, we now have the New Testament, which contains the authoritative record of the transfiguration along with an explanation of its significance. We don't need any further confirmation, for we have all we need in Scripture. If you want to behold the glory of God in Christ on a daily basis, then read, study, meditate on, and memorize the Word of God. Then you will see His glory, and you will love it.

Third, we ought to respond to this text by having a new motivation for living: let us live for His renown. When you see the glory of God, you want to spread the gospel of God. Therefore, let's proclaim the One we praise. Let's not see His glory and then be silent. Let's speak to people about the Christ we cherish. Also, let's embrace suffering as we follow our Savior. Just as the cross preceded the crown for Jesus, so suffering in this life will precede our final reward in the next. After all, if Jesus suffered in the spread of God's kingdom, do we think that we will have it easy? Remember, no one can follow Jesus without taking up his or her cross (Matt 16:24). We give away our possessions, we risk our reputations, and we go to the hard places knowing that our sufferings "are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us" (Rom 8:18). We don't seek suffering, but we do seek Christ, and this will ensure at least some level of opposition in this world (2 Tim 3:12; John 16:33).

In His teaching related to the temple tax, Jesus reminds us that although our reward is still future, we have responsibilities in the here and now. Therefore, let's live as responsible citizens of this kingdom234 for the eventual coming of His kingdom. We must be mindful of the salvation of others and our witness in the world. We pay our taxes, not because we agree with everything our government supports, but because we are under law (Rom 13:5), and we want to live as responsible citizens in this earthly kingdom for the spread of Christ's heavenly kingdom.

Fourth and finally, let us long for His return. We should eagerly anticipate the day when our faith will be sight, when we will see Jesus as the Father sees Jesus, revealing the glory of God and radiating the splendor of God. Revelation 22:4 says of those who will enter God's eternal kingdom, "They will see His face." First John 3:2-3 talks about the transforming effect of such a vision:

This is the Christian's hope. And as we behold Jesus, we will become like Him.