The Mystery Is Revealed
From Bethsaida, Jesus and his disciples travel 20 miles north to the villages around the city of Caesarea Philippi (see map).
Along the way, Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”
“Some say you’re John the Baptist resurrected,” they answer. “Others say you’re the return of Elijah. Still others, just a regular prophet.”
Then Jesus turns and looks at them. “And you?” he asks. “Who do you say that I am?”
After a long pause, Peter answers, “You are the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed King and Savior prophesied in the Hebrew scriptures.”
Seeing the time is finally right, Jesus warns his disciples not to tell anyone what he is about to teach them. Then he begins to explain quite frankly that the Son of Man, the Messiah, must be rejected by the Jewish leaders, that he must suffer terribly, and that he must be killed and rise from the dead in three days.
Disturbed, Peter pulls Jesus aside and begs him to stop talking like this, but Jesus whirls back around toward the other disciples and rebukes Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You’re not thinking as God does, but as humans do.”
Then Jesus summons the crowd to join his disciples, and he teaches them all, “Whoever wants to follow me must deny himself, pick up his cross, and join me on the path. And whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, or for the sake of the Good News, will save it. Because what do you profit, really, if you sell your soul to gain the whole world? What could you possibly give in exchange for your soul? If anyone in this adulterous and sinful generation is ashamed of me and my words, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his Father’s glory with all his holy angels. Let me tell you, for real, some of you standing here today won’t taste death until you see God’s Kingdom manifested in power!”
After six days pass, Jesus goes for a hike, taking along only three apostles: Peter and the two brothers James and John. They follow closely as Jesus leads them up a tall, lonely mountain. Suddenly, as they reach the summit, Jesus transforms right before their eyes! His clothes shine more radiantly white than anyone on earth could ever bleach them. Then the long-gone Hebrew prophets Moses and Elijah appear before the apostles and start talking with Jesus!
Stupefied, Peter searches for something to say, “Master, uh, maybe it’s good that we’re here,” he stammers. “Yeah, we could, you know, make some tents. Maybe one for you, and another for … uh, Moses? And one for Elijah…”
As Peter trails off, a thick cloud passes overhead, casting a shadow upon them. A voice speaks from the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Then, as suddenly as it all appeared, everything is gone.
Looking around, the three apostles now see only Jesus standing alone. As they descend the mountain, still in shock, Jesus instructs them not to tell anyone about what they witnessed until after the Son of Man rises from the dead. So they agree to keep it to themselves, quietly wondering what “rising from the dead” could possibly mean. Then one of them asks, “Why do the Jewish scribes claim that Elijah must return before the Messiah will appear?”
“Well, they’re not wrong,” Jesus answers. “Elijah must indeed return and restore everything first, according to Malachi 4:5-6. But if this is true, you might ask, then why does Isaiah 53 suggest that the Son of Man will experience so much contempt and suffering? Well, I’ll tell you. Elijah has already returned and was restoring everything through John’s ministry of baptism. But the corrupt King Herod and his evil wife killed John, fulfilling the desire of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel to kill Elijah in 1 Kings 19:1-10.”
Jesus and the three apostles rejoin the other disciples and find them in an arguement with some scribes while a large crowd gathers around them. When the crowd spots Jesus, they become awestruck and rush to greet him. “What are you people arguing about?” Jesus asks.
A man answers, “Oh, Teacher! I brought my son to meet you because… well, you see, he’s possessed with some kind of mute spirit or something! Whenever it takes him, it throws him on the ground, and then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes as stiff as a board! I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t do it.”
Jesus sighs and puts his hand on his forehead. “Oh, you faithless generation. How much longer will I have to put with you? Alright, bring the boy.”
The man fetches his son, but as soon as the boy sees Jesus, the spirit throws his body into a wild seizure, rolling on the ground and foaming at the mouth.
“How long has he had this problem?” Jesus asks.
“Since childhood,” the boy’s father replies. “It’s tried to kill him many times by throwing him into fire and water and whatever else it can find. Oh, I don’t know what to do! Please, if you can do something … anything … have pity and help us!” he sobs.
Jesus cocks his head. “If I can do something?” he repeats the man’s words and pauses for a moment. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
The boy’s father suddenly cries out with tears and desperation for his son, “Oh, I believe! I do believe! Oh God, help my unbelief!”
Seeing that a crowd is quickly gathering, Jesus rebukes the demon, “Hey, you deaf and mute spirit, get out of this boy and stay out!”
After lots of screaming and convulsing, it comes out, and the boy falls to the ground as if he were dead. Indeed, he looks so dead that some bystanders start saying, “Yup, he’s dead alright.” But Jesus takes the boy’s hand and raises him up.
Later, after Jesus has gone inside, his disciples ask him privately, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?”
“Only prayer and fasting can drive demons like that out,” he answers.
The next day, Jesus and his disciples leave Caesarea Philippi and start a journey south through the region of Galilee, but they tell no one because Jesus wants to keep it private. As he is teaching his disciples along the way, he says, “The Son of Man must be handed over to men who will kill him, and then three days after getting killed, he will rise again.” His disciples still have no clue what he is talking about and are too afraid to ask.
When they arrive at Simon and Andrew’s house in Capernaum, Jesus asks, “What were you guys arguing about on the way here?” Caught and ashamed, no one dares to answer, for they were arguing about which of them was the greatest. So Jesus sits down, inviting the 12 apostles to join him. “Listen, whoever wants to be the greatest must become the least and a servant to all,” he explains. He calls a child over to them, hugs him, and continues, “Whoever welcomes a child like this one in my name also welcomes me, and not just me, but also the One who sent me.”
Finally, John speaks up, “Master, that reminds me. We saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he doesn’t follow us.”
“You don’t need to stop him,” Jesus replies. “Nobody who does something great in my name can say anything bad about me. Right? So whoever is not against us is for us. And really, let me tell you, even if someone just gives you a cup of water because you belong to Christ, they won’t lose the reward merited by their good deed.”
Then, returning to the matter at hand, Jesus gestures to the child in front of them, “These little ones are so innocent, aren’t they? And they’re watching you, learning from you … how to live and how to follow me. So heed this warning: if any of you, by your attitude or behavior, causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, you’d be better off if someone had thrown you into the sea with a huge stone tied around your neck.” He stares at their shocked faces. Then, “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, what should you do? … Cut it off! It’s better that you enter into eternal life disabled than to keep both hands and feet on your way to the unquenchable fire in the Valley of Hinnom.” The apostles knew he was referring to the Valley of Slaughter, where the people of Judah burned their children and where birds and beasts feed on human corpses (Jeremiah 7:30-33). And if your eye causes you to sin? … Pluck it out! Better to enter God’s Kingdom with only one eye than to have two eyes and be cast into the Valley of Hinnom, where ‘their worm shall never die, and their fire shall never be quenched,’ (Isaiah 66:24). So you too will be cut off and plucked out if you cause these little ones to sin.”
Jesus gives them a moment to consider his warning.
Jesus gives them a minute to quietly consider his warning. Then he continues, “Every sacrifice gets seasoned with salt before it’s burned on the alter before God,” (Leviticus 2:13, Ezekiel 43:24). The apostles are grateful that Jesus seems to have changed the subject. “Salt is good, right? You fishermen use salt to preserve your catch from rotting. You probably also know that holy incense is preserved with salt (Exodus 30:35). And I’m sure you’ve all heard of a ‘covenant of salt,’ meaning one that lasts forever (Numbers 18:19, 2 Chronicles 13:5). But what happens if salt itself rots and becomes corrupt? What else is there to season it with?” The apostles now realize that Jesus hasn’t changed the subject after all. “You all must be salt for these little ones and for each other. You must preserve my holy message from rot and corruption forever. You must keep the covenant of salt and be at peace with one another … forever.”
The next morning, they leave Capernaum and continue their journey south beyond the Jordan River to the region of Judea. The crowds start gathering around him again. And as usual, he starts teaching them.
Understanding Seeking Faith 