Matthew 17 explained: A Glimpse of Glory on the Mountain

Jesus shines on the mountain (vv. 1-3)

Jesus takes his three closest followers up a mountain, and they see him changed, glowing with a light that seems to come from within him. Moses and Elijah appear beside him, and they are usually understood to stand for Israel's Law and Prophets, its whole Scripture, honoring him.

The voice from the cloud (vv. 4-8)

Peter offers to build three shelters, likely wanting to make the moment last, but a bright cloud, a familiar sign of God's presence in Israel's stories, cuts him off. The voice echoes what was said at Jesus' baptism and adds a command to heed him, and when the terror passes only Jesus remains.

Elijah has already come (vv. 9-13)

Teachers expected the prophet Elijah to return before God's chosen king arrived, so the disciples ask how that fits. Jesus says the expected Elijah figure was John the Baptist, who was rejected and killed, and he will suffer in the same way.

A desperate father's son healed (vv. 14-21)

The boy's symptoms sound like epilepsy, while the story speaks of a demon, and ancient people did not draw a sharp line between the two. Jesus says even tiny faith, like a mustard seed, can do the impossible, and verse 21 is left blank because the oldest manuscripts do not include it.

Death and rising foretold again (vv. 22-23)

For the second time Jesus says he, the "Son of Man" (his usual way of referring to himself), will be handed over, killed and raised on the third day. The disciples are deeply grieved, apparently hearing the death more clearly than the rising.

The temple tax and the fish (vv. 24-27)

Jewish men paid a yearly tax to keep the temple in Jerusalem running, and Jesus points out that kings do not tax their own children, which many read as meaning that he, as God's Son, owes nothing for his Father's house, though others think he includes his followers among those children. He pays anyway so as not to cause offense, telling Peter he will find a coin in a fish's mouth worth enough for both of them, though the story never actually describes the catch.

Key verse: Matthew 17:5

Something to think about

Peter wanted to build shelters and stay on the mountain; what moments in your own life have you wanted to hold onto, and what was it like to come back down from them?