Matthew 17 Bible study: Get up, and don’t be afraid

"After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves" (17:1). "He was changed before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light" (17:2) (tap changed, shone). "Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him" (17:3). Peter says, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let’s make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" (17:4). "While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”" (17:5) (tap Listen). When Jesus was baptized, "a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”" (3:17). The WEB words the two differently, with whom (3:17) and in whom (17:5), but in the Greek the voice's first sentence on the mountain is the sentence of 3:17, word for word; then it adds "Listen to him" (17:5). Favor's Matthew 3 studies beloved there. "When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid" (17:6) (tap afraid). Here is what almost everyone misses: "Jesus came and touched them and said, “Get up, and don’t be afraid.”" (17:7) (tap touched). Mark says, "they were very afraid" (Mark 9:6), and Luke, "they were afraid as they entered into the cloud" (Luke 9:34); neither tells of the touch or of those words. Then, "Lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Jesus alone" (17:8). Favor's Mark 9 sets the three tellings of the mountain side by side, in Three Gospels on the mountain. Matthew doesn't name the mountain, and these notes name none.

Exodus 30:13→leads toMatthew 17:24-27

At Capernaum, "those who collected the didrachma coins came to Peter, and said, ‘Doesn’t your teacher pay the didrachma?’" (Matthew 17:24). Jesus asked, "From whom do the kings of the earth receive toll or tribute? From their children, or from strangers?" (Matthew 17:25), and said, "Therefore the children are exempt" (Matthew 17:26). Still, "lest we cause them to stumble", he sent Peter to find a stater coin in a fish's mouth, to give "for me and you" (Matthew 17:27). Matthew doesn't say "half shekel" or tie the didrachma to Exodus 30; setting this chapter's "offering to the LORD" (30:13) beside it is an interpretation.

μεταμορφόωmetamorphoosay met-am-or-FO-o

Thayer: "to change into another form". Strong's: "to transform (literally or figuratively, "metamorphose")". "He was changed before them" (17:2): the WEB's was changed is this one verb. The New Testament has it four times (counted in RP2018): here; in Mark's telling, "he was changed into another form in front of them" (Mark 9:2), which Favor's Mark 9 studies; and twice in Paul's letters, where the WEB has transformed (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18). Matthew goes straight on to what was seen: "His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light" (17:2).