Matthew 17:9-13

⁹ And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one this vision, until the Son of Man has been raised from among the dead ones.”

¹⁰ And the disciples asked him, “Then what about what the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

¹¹ He replied, “Yes, Elijah is coming first, and he will restore all things.

¹² Yet I am telling you that Elijah has already come, but they did not recognize him, and did to him whatever they wanted to. So also the Son of Man will suffer at their hands in the same way.”

¹³ Then the disciples understood that he had been telling them about John the Baptist.

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eschatological distraction

The disciples had been taught that a certain eschatological event must first take place before the kingdom from the sky comes down. They were expecting Elijah to return from the grave and lead a mass revival among the Israelites. This would pave the way for the triumphant arrival of the Messiah. Perhaps all the time this anticipated event was in the back of the minds of these disciples. Even though they were beginning to recognize that Jesus is the Messiah, they still could not shake the feeling that something had to happen first.

When they saw Elijah in the vision, they must have thought that this event was about to happen. Surely everyone needed to know. But Jesus stopped them from thinking along these lines. He commanded them to remain quiet about the vision.

1. The disciples were mistaken about the event: Elijah’s predicted coming had taken place when John the Baptizer led Israel into revival. That eschatological event had already taken place.

2. Jesus did not want the disciples getting carried away and distracted with this end-times teaching, because the really important events loomed before them: his death and resurrection. These would define kingdom living for (at least) the next twenty centuries.

LORD, we want to concentrate on the things that are essential, and not to get distracted with things that are incidental. When we teach about the end times, help us to keep our emphasis on what you have done for us, and not get carried away imagining what you will do some day.