After preaching and teaching on the transfiguration this weekend, I decided it would be too repetitive to discuss it again this morning, so I’m focusing on the final four verses of the text. The disciples asked the question, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” This prophecy comes from the last two verses of the Old Testament, Malachi 4:5-6.
While it seems like an odd question right after the transfiguration, remember that they had just seen Elijah. Maybe they thought that what they saw was the fulfillment of the Scriptures; we don’t really know what spurred this question. Yet the response from Jesus helped them understand. Notice that very rarely does Jesus come out with the direct answer, yet He leads His disciples to discover the truth by examining what they have seen, heard, and been taught.
All things were in place. The Elijah had come and not been recognized. The same would soon happen to Jesus, as the road to His suffering and death continued…