2.
Matt 17:10: The Disciples object that Elijah must come first
The disciples
then ask Jesus why therefore do the scribes say that Elijah must come first
(17:10). The word “therefore” (ουν)
connects the disciples’ question not only with Jesus’ command for their silence
about the transfiguration until he has been raised from the dead (17:9), but
also with their seeing Moses and Elijah together with Jesus in heavenly glory
(without having been raised from the dead) in the transfiguration epiphany
(17:3).
The
disciples’ question relativizes the divine necessity that Jesus as the Son of
Man “must” (δει) suffer,
be killed, and raised (16:21) with the necessity that Elijah “must” (δει) come
first. Ironically, the disciples appeal to the teaching of the scribes, one of
the groups of Jewish leaders who will put Jesus to death (16:21; cf. 20:18;
26:57; 27:41). This appeal to scribal authority is especially ironic for the
audience who recalls the response of the crowds whom Jesus taught in his sermon
on the mount (5:1-7, 27): “The crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he
was teaching them as one having authority and not as their scribes” (7:28-29).
The disciples’ appeal to scribal teaching thus underlines their lack of
understanding regarding the more profound character and authority of Jesus.
That
Elijah must first come first reminds the audience of the scriptural expectation
that Elijah, who ascended to heaven without dying (2 Kgs 2:11), would return
before the great and manifest “Day of the Lord” comes (Mal 3:23; Sir 48:10).
This eschatological “Day of the Lord” is closely associated with the time of the
eschatological resurrection of the dead to be inaugurated by the resurrection
from the dead of Jesus as the Son of Man (17:9). The disciples’ objection that
Elijah must come first implies that indeed Elijah has already returned in the
transfiguration epiphany. The disciples are thus insinuating that if Elijah,
the expected forerunner of the eschatological age, has returned as a heavenly
figure rather than as an early mortal to undergo the death he escaped at his
first coming, then why must Jesus, who was just transfigured into a heavenly
figure like Elijah, be put to death and raised as the Son of Man to inaugurate
the eschatological age?
3. Matt
17:11: Jesus affirms the expectation of Elijah’s return and restoration of
everything
Jesus
affirms the scribal expectation that Elijah will indeed come first, but he adds
that “he will restore all things (αποκαταστησει παντα)” (17:11). Jesus’ addition further affirms the
scriptural expectation regarding Elijah, rather than introduces his own new
expectation of Elijah’s further coming for the restoration of everything. This
already begins to dispel the disciples’ implication that perhaps Elijah’s
appearance in the transfiguration epiphany fulfills the expectation that perhaps
Elijah’s appearance in the transfiguration epiphany fulfills the expectation
that he must come first. The brief appearance of the heavenly Elijah with
Moses to converse with the transfigured Jesus (17:3) can hardly be understood
as his restoration of all things. (John Paul Heil, The Transfiguration of Jesus: Narrative Meaning and
Function of Mark 9:2-8, Matt 17:1-8 and Luke 9:28-36 [Analecta Biblica 144;
Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 2000], 225-27)
