A Little Help: Mark 9:11-13

Human beings typically need a divine assist to truly know how God’s plan is going to play out.  As Jesus prepares to head to Jerusalem for the final conflict with the religious elite, the disciples are still trying to figure out what is happening.  They are doing a great job of following Jesus’ instructions and only talking amongst themselves and with Jesus, but that doesn’t mean things are making sense.  Their struggle is understandable, though.  They are trying to figure out God’s plan prior to it happening.  We still struggle accomplishing that.  Hindsight is always 20-20; sometimes that’s the only time we really figure out what God is doing.

The disciples ask Jesus about the teachings of the scribes, who say Elijah will come again.  Their question puts the confusion of the disciples on display.  Some of the disciples came down the mountain having seen Elijah and Moses appear.  The other disciples no doubt heard Peter, James, and John tell them what happened.  As the group tries to understand God’s plan, someone no doubt reminded them that Elijah must come prior to the Messiah coming.  Religious teaching meets real life and the disciples try to make it make sense.

Before unpacking this a little deeper, what the disciples are doing in this passage is not much different than the people who read the book of Revelation and believe it was designed to predict the end of the world.  Certainly, there are things to be learned from the book of Revelation, but there is an inherent danger in using scripture in such a manner.  Human beings are traditionally quite bad at figuring out God’s prophecies on our own before they happen.  Typically, human beings need a messenger from God to give us a clue.  For example, take the heavenly host that told the shepherds about the birth of Jesus.  Think about Gabriel who needed to come to set the record straight with Mary and Joseph.  Think about the prophets who had to clue in the ancient Hebrew people and their kings regarding what God wanted from them.

Jesus knows this dynamic is true, which is why He tells them about Elijah.  Jesus explains that John the Baptizer prepared the way for Him and in this way he served the same role as Elijah.  Jesus also reminds the disciples that the religious elite treated John roughly, as did Herod.  The Elijah the disciples saw up on the mountaintop should not be confused with the promise of someone who comes to prepare the way for the Lord’s Messiah.

Jesus affirms that scripture is being fulfilled before the disciples.  He affirms that God’s Word is true.  He shows them how understanding God’s Word – especially His prophecy – is a daunting task that we seldom get completely correct.  Human beings typically need a divine assist to truly know how God’s plan is going to play out.