Mark 9:10-13 “They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what "rising from the dead" meant.”11 And they asked him, "Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?" 12 Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? 13 But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him."
These four verses are once again a demonstration of the skill of the master weaver! The Father has a tremendous capacity to layer so many issues or principles into a short span of content within the pages of scripture. Consider first of all the challenge that Jesus has placed upon these three men who have shared such a moving experience as this. They are commissioned by the Lord to tell no one until the appointed time. It is admirable that they are so restrained as to hold this in their hearts and yet they are provoked to discuss the words of Jesus amongst themselves.
First, the disciples have been granted an experience unlike any other they have known, and second they are faced with a concept that they cannot grasp.” Rising from the dead… what could that mean?” There is an initial problem created by this concept. “To rise from the dead you first have to be dead!... Wait a minute… that’s not the plan.” Can you imagine their frustration at these words as they introduce such a totally contradictory paradox to all that they have believed and expected to this point? This is news that they most certainly don’t want to hear or deal with. As a result their debate emphasizes the fact that they are focusing on this concept philosophically rather than embracing it literally. How many of us do the same when we hear things from the Lord that we do not want to face? The disciples are no different as they struggle to let this news enter their hearts. It is amazing how their denial of the clearly stated leaves them in confusion until after the Lord is resurrected and touches their minds on the road to Emmaus. Suddenly they are ushered into a whole new revelation of God. “Oh, I get it. Dead means… dead!”
A second facet of this passage is found in the direction that their thoughts take as they dialogue with one another. Often in this kind of discussion it can be seen that reflection on a challenging issue or subject often opens up the consideration of many other related subjects. Their reflections on death, resurrection and eternity in light of seeing Elijah with Moses on the mountain turn their thoughts towards the prophetic promise they know from scripture concerning the return of Elijah prior to Christ’s coming.
These men have are remembering the prophecies that state that Elijah will come before the Messiah. It is valuable to note what their expectation of this Elijah is, he will restore all things. Jesus’ response to them is equally intriguing as He states “Elijah has already come.” There is such an interlocking prophetic discussion taking place here as Jesus connects the coming Messiah to the coming Elijah, the death of this Elijah to the death of the Messiah and essentially says to them, “you are right in the middle of this prophecy NOW!”
Jesus is pointing to John the Baptist in His reference as He says “and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it was written about him.” There are a series of powerful implications in this statement. First, it declares “this prophecy has been fulfilled.” Second, it implies that they knew Elijah in the form of John the Baptist. Thirdly because Jesus did not adjust their expectations of what this Elijah was coming to do and the fact that he had already come and gone the implication is that his mission to restore all things as described by the disciples has already been fulfilled as well. They are living in the midst of historical prophetic detail being fulfilled all around them.
Throughout this passage Jesus is constantly linking events in the minds of the disciples. In this way Jesus is using the death of this Elijah that has already come as an evidence of the resurrection. He is forcing the disciples to consider facts. They believe that Elijah never died and went to heaven on a chariot. They believe that he must return and restore. Now Jesus is telling them that Elijah has already come. In addition Jesus is pointing out that he has also already been put to death by the Jews. Finally, they are faced with the reality that this Elijah who was recently killed was just standing on the mountain with Jesus and Moses very much alive! It is in this same context of a demonstration of resurrection life that Jesus then tells them that He too must pass through the doors of death into eternal life through the resurrection power of God. And now their heads are spinning. How about yours?
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