Matthew 17

Jesus took Peter, James , and John up onto a mountain. There they saw Jesus transfigured, shining like the sun in glory with Moses and Elijah beside Him, talking with Him. All of this moved Peter to suggest building tabernacles for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah right there. God appeared in the form of a bright cloud over them and proclaimed Jesus as His Son and said to listen to Him. At hearing this, the disciples fell on their faces to the ground. After Jesus came over and touched them, they looked up to see only Jesus. It must have been quite an experience for the three disciples, but Jesus told them not to speak of it until after He had risen from the dead.

Coming back down the mountain with any possible doubt of Jesus being the Messiah removed, the disciples asked Jesus about the coming of Elijah. They had learned that Elijah would come before the Messiah, and they hadn't seen him. Jesus confirmed that their understanding was correct and and that Elijah had already come. Then they realized that it was John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus.

We may not each get to experience an event like this in our lives, but each of us can see the glory of Jesus in our own lives and the lives of others if we just care to look. The disciples were sworn to secrecy until the time was right to tell about their experience of Jesus' glory. We are under no such obligation (quite the opposite!) and should be letting everyone know about the glory of Jesus as we have personally experienced it.


After they came down from the mountain, a man approached Jesus asking for his son to be healed. Some of Jesus' disciples had tried, but could not. Jesus cast the demon out of the boy after addressing the crowd, asking how long it would take for them to catch on. When asked by the disciples later why they couldn't heal the boy, Jesus told them it was due to their lack of faith.

When we pray for things and don't see them happen, one reason may be that we don't have faith that God will do what we ask. Doubts can enter our minds where we imagine something is beyond even God or perhaps He's too busy to take care of such a trivial thing. This lack of faith can stop us from receiving God's blessings and doing His will. After all, if we don't believe He can or will do a thing, why should He?


Peter was approached by someone collecting tributes for the temple who asked if Jesus payed the temple tax. Peter said He did and then went to talk to Jesus about it. Before Peter brought it up, Jesus started to question him about taxes. Through this questioning, He made a comparison of earthly taxes to the temple tax. Earthly kings collect taxes from their subjects, but not their sons. Likewise, God's Son should not be subject to the temple tax. So as not to create a conflict though, Jesus instructs Peter to go to the sea and catch a fish. That fish would have a coin in its mouth worth enough to pay the temple tax for both of them.

Jesus could have easily said the tax didn't apply to Him and He wasn't going to pay it. Instead, He chose to fulfill the perceived obligation. Sometimes, even when we are in the right, standing firm in our position may not be the right thing to do. Being right isn't the most important thing. We need to use wisdom to decide what battles to pursue and which to leave alone.