The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah, Part 13: Matthew 17:10-21, by Kevin M. Williams

What does the coming of Elijah and the casting out of demons have to do with showing Jesus as Messiah? Journey through the Gospel to the Hebrews with Kevin Williams and find out.

And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you, that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist (Matthew 17:10-13).

In the previous issue of the Pneuma Review, we looked at the mount of transfiguration in much greater detail and how the Jewish elements surrounding the event might have been interpreted by the disciples. We also saw that Yeshua’s (Jesus’) final word on the experience was “Tell the vision to no one …” (Matthew 16:9). This is curiously followed with one of disciples asking, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first.”

As this was some of their conversation back in Matthew 11:11-14 and is by now what we might call “old news” we may rightly wonder, “Why are they asking this when Yeshua said it was not to be discussed?”

There may be several options as to why this question surfaced. Most notably, they were just coming down the hilltop where Moses and Elijah had appeared with Yeshua. The text tells us that only Peter, James, and John were there and that Yeshua had commanded them, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead” (Matthew 16:9).

The opening of our passage above “And His disciples asked Him …” does not give anyone’s specific identity, yet imagine you are Peter, James, or John, having just witnessed the very presence of Elijah when one of your peers asks this question! The knowing glances that passed between the three of them must have been remarkable!

It is possible that the question came from one of the three—hoping to draw the experience with Yeshua out for the other disciples to hear (and in this cunning way, not break Yeshua’s commandment to remain silent).

Or, perhaps the passage from Malachi 4:5-6 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD” had been a part of the prior or approaching Haftarah (prescribed Sabbath reading) and was on the forefront of their minds.

There may have been any number of reasons for the question to come up, and none of them particularly pointing to any daftness on the part of Yeshua’s chosen.

Yet if we look again at the Malachi prophecy, it foretells of Elijah’s appearance before “the great and terrible day of the LORD.” To the Hebrew reared in the synagogue, this meant the Day of Judgment when all sins are revealed before the Judge of all the earth, when the Book of Life is read. Those whose names are inscribed within go on to the Olam HaBah, the world to come. Those whose names are not recorded spend the rest of eternity in Sheol.

So Yeshua’s statement that Elijah had come, and that “Elijah is coming and will restore all things” at some point in the future served to affirm his current role as the Messiah, but also clearly indicated His return, which will again be hailed by the spirit of Elijah.

This would be consistent with Jewish thought. For instance, this quote from the Seder ‘Olam Rabbah, ch. 17 reads: “In the second year of [King] Ahazia, Elijah was hidden, and he will not be seen again until King Messiah comes. And then he will be seen but will be hidden a second time, and seen again only when Gog and Magog will come.”¹ How they reached this conclusion divorced of Yeshua is a puzzlement, yet Paul states that only a “partial hardening” has come upon them (Romans 11:25), so there remains a partial softening to the Spirit as well.

Yeshua also gives us a hint to his own future. By comparing his coming trials with those of John the Immerser’s, who was taken captive, jailed, put to death, and according to our passage, is “coming and will restore all things,” he will have some form of resurrection. These things awaited Yeshua in Jerusalem.

Though prophesying about Himself, Yeshua still does not directly refer to Himself the Messiah, rather preferring the title “Son of Man.” The reasons for this have been covered before, but a quick review seems in order. The “Son of Man” euphemism had a twofold meaning in that day and age. It did indeed have direct reference to the Messiah as we read in Daniel 7:13: “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him.”

This term was also interchangeable when discussing a normal human being. Yeshua’s use of this title in relation to himself was a clever means of imparting information about Himself without necessarily incriminating Himself if He were to be brought to trial. The phrase “Son of Man” is also used in Daniel to refer to an non-divine man, “So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and fell on my face; but he said to me, ‘Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end’” (Daniel 8:17).

Equating oneself with God was considered blasphemous and as such, a capital crime. Using this title, “the Son of Man” allowed Yeshua to make implications without incurring incriminations. It would mean one thing to His disciples—and those who had ears to hear—and yet not be admissible in court.

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And when they came to the multitude, a man came up to Him, falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic, and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” And Jesus answered and said, “O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once (Matthew 17:14-18).

This can be a challenging passage, particularly among charismatics because as we all know, not everyone for whom we pray is healed. Is it due to the afflicted’s lack of faith? Is it due to our lack of faith? Is there some secret sin? Where do the answers lie?

According to the testimony of this father as well as the subsequent questions of the disciples, this boy had been brought forward before for “healing.” At this time in Israeli history and theology, there was if you will, a procedure to be followed and a “method” to help insure deliverance. Many illnesses were directly attributed to demons—whom Jewish exorcists would command by name. It was believed that knowing the name of the demon would give the practitioner “command” over the spirit. In a sense, it was a type of reverse application of using God’s holy Name, often referred to as Yahweh or the anglicized “Jehovah”—though the actual pronunciation is lost to antiquity. Invoking God’s Name was akin to invoking the powers of heaven. This, it seems was applied to the demonic realm as well. (It does not seem reasonable however, that pronouncing God’s name correctly would give anyone authority over the omnipotent Creator and King of the universe.)

Kordicus² was one alleged demon believed to cause people to fall down, not unlike today’s mad-cow disease. Another was Shibta who was believed to take a hold of the neck of infants and restrict their nervous system. These are two of a host of names listed in the ancient cult. The key to healing for many was, therefore, to “divine” the name of the demon thereby gaining authority over it, commanding it to leave. This practice appears to have influenced Jewish scholarship and theology during the Babylonian exile, where such “authority” was invoked by the magi. This practice is recorded at length in the pagan book The Necronomicon whose author believed he had control over the demonic realm by use of their names—only to later turn insane, becoming known as the “Mad Arab.”

Obviously, it must have had some deceptive success or the practice would have been abandoned. This may have been part of the mindset of the “Jewish exorcists” in Acts:

But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” And seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded (Acts 19:13-16).

That our disciples had been practicing such “divination” is highly unlikely, though the father may have attempted this common “cure” among other so-called holy men of Israel.

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you. But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:19-21).

The answer as to why they could not cast the demon out therefore, was that they lacked faith. We may ask, how could they—the disciples of all people—have lacked faith? Perhaps is was not “faith” per se which they lacked, but the proper focus of their faith. The telling statement is the question of the disciples, “Why could we not cast it out?” (emphasis mine). We read seven chapters earlier, in Matthew 10:1, that Yeshua had given them “authority over unclean spirits.” Casting out demons worked then, why not now?

Faith can be an ethereal concept around which to wrap one’s mind. Many books have been written on the subject, and many more sermons preached. The question should never be “do I have faith” enough to accomplish this or that. In and of myself I am powerless, and faith inappropriately directed is equally powerless. The question therefore should be, “do I have faith in Yeshua” to achieve this or that purpose (assuming it is in harmony with His will)? If the disciples had been self-focused (i.e. “we’ve done this before, we can do it again”), then it is no doubt that they failed.

This would seem to be consistent with Yeshua’s final instruction, “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” One of the purposes of prayer and fasting is to strengthen the intimacy between the person praying and the Lord. This intimacy often leads to the important realization that it is not about “me,” it is about God: His will, His desires, His purposes, and His authority—upon which no one should presume.

There may be one more indicator here. As has been touched on before, one of the signs the people of Israel were looking in the true Messiah was miracles.

The belief in these self-proclaimed Messiahs and in their power to perform miracles could be so strong that it could override all normal instincts of self-preservation. Thus in about 448 a Jew appeared on Crete announcing that he was Moses and that he would repeat on a much larger scale the miracle performed by Moses at the Red Sea: he would part the waters of the Mediterranean and lead the Jews of the island dry shod to Judea! When the hour he fixed for the miracle arrived, he ordered his followers to jump into the sea, which they did, with the result that many of them drowned in the waves (Socrates Scholasticus, Historia Ecclessiae 12:33, as quoted in Encyclopaedia Judaica, s.v. Messianic Movements). ³

As we have noted on many occasions, one of the attributes that separated Yeshua’s messianic claim from other false-messiahs was that he was not self-proclaimed. He relied solely on the testimony of others to manifest such declarations. In fact, He still relies on the testimony of others to this very day.

Yet here, with the “lunatic” son, Yeshua did what no one else had been able to do—deliver him. For those with eyes to see, this was a miracle of “messianic” proportions and one more proof that this man was no mere mortal, but the Promised One. All other humans up to this point needed to fast and pray. Not Yeshua. His authority stood on its own.

Matthew’s purpose in writing his gospel for the Jewish people was once again bearing the very evidence they sought: Yeshua is God’s promised Savior.

___ In the next edition, we examine one teacher’s insight on the miracle of the coin in the fish’s mouth and the parables of Chapter 18.

PR

Endnotes

¹ The Messiah Texts, by Raphael Patai, ©1979, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan, p. 134.

² The listing of these alleged names does not constitute any admission of their reality on the part of the author or the Pneuma Review. Neither is it a recommendation to add this practice to your own deliverance services.

³ The Messiah Texts, by Raphael Patai, ©1979, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan, p. lxi.