Mark 9:13 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Mark 9:13

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Matthew adds more: ‘But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. ¹³ Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist’ (Matthew 17:12-13). Elijah is come already and he was not recognised. He tells them elsewhere: ‘from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. ¹³ For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come’ (Matthew 11:12-14). Now John the Baptist himself was interrogated by the Sanhedrin Council, the chief priests, the scribes and Pharisees’ representatives: ‘And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No’ (John 1:21). Well, he wasn't literally Elijah, but he was the one who Elijah represented. Elijah was the literal prophet, who did miraculous things and taught, but at the same time he was a foreshadowing, a symbol of John the Baptist, who would come. John the Baptist came, it is said, in the power and spirit of Elijah. So out of the transfiguration arises this problem. ‘Oh we have seen Elijah. That reminds us: he must come and restore all things. What does it mean?’ Elijah has come and everything that was said of him has happened to John the Baptist, and in a sense he has restored all things, because the whole nation went after him and listened to him, and sought baptism and repentance in readiness for the Messiah. Elijah has come.

Application

This is a great key to all Old Testament prophecy. You are not to expect literally Elijah, but you are to interpret Elijah, when it comes to prophecy, figuratively. He is a figure of John the Baptist. When you interpret prophecy in the Old Testament, you do not expect it to be literally fulfilled in the terms which it uses. You expect it to be, as it were, symbolically fulfilled, figuratively fulfilled. So Elijah will come; John the Baptist will come in his power and spirit, the one who represents Christ and announces him, the forerunner. There are today many people who go through the Old Testament – it is a pity – and they say, ‘Oh yes, I understand the Red Sea literally happened, and it’s also a figure of how Christ would come, and he would open up the way of salvation. The holy of holies: I understand that it was literally there, but it is a figure. Only the high priest was allowed in, only once a year, and him not without shedding of blood: it all picture the inaccessibility of God. There is no access to God until Christ comes and the veil is parted, and the chains lifted, and the doors opened, and he goes in to the presence of God for us, offering up his righteousness and his shed blood. I understand it, people say. They are all figures of Christ and his work, and what he would do. But, when we read about the future of Israel, they say, ‘Oh no, surely that has got to be literal. When we read other prophecies they have that got to be literally fulfilled, so we are expecting the Jews to be re-established and the temple to be reconstructed and the last battles of the world to be fought with bows and arrows, archers, and shields and spears. It all got to be literal. ‘Listen,’ says Christ, ‘it isn't literally Elijah. He typifies, symbolises, John the Baptist. You have to understand that the prophecies are symbols and figures of what will happen in the end times. And when you come to the New Testament, the new Israel is the Jewish-Gentile church of Jesus Christ, and what happened to Israel of old figures, typifies, the New Testament church of Christ.’ A key to prophecy and the understanding of it, actually flows out of the transfiguration.

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Mark 9:13 Commentary and Bible Study