Editor

(Mat 17:2 KJV)  And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
(Mat 17:3 KJV)  And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

In Wednesday night Bible study, someone asked the question, “Why is this story in the Bible?”   I don’t think we ever got an adequate answer, but that’s just the nature of our Wednesday night Bible study.  One thought that occurred to me was that everything Jesus said and did is not included in the Bible.  John tells us that at the end of his gospel.  The writer had to decide what to put in and what to leave out.  Then you have the belief that the Holy Spirit is the One who guided the writing.

Think of God as being the editor of the gospel of Matthew.  He put in what He wanted to put in for His own purposes.  I wonder if the mention of these two prophets is to give us an awareness of the faith of Old Testament saints.  There were many Jews who did not believe in an afterlife.  Although the New Testament is for Christians, Matthew was written towards the Jews.  This may have been reminding them that there is an afterlife.  It may also help tie Jesus to the Old Testament plan of the atonement.

So?  Read and learn.  Let your mind investigate.  God teaches in many different ways. 

Literal Hope

(Mat 17:18 KJV)  And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

As we were looking at this verse in our Wednesday night Bible study, I noticed that the King James was much more literal than the New American Standard.  When I compare them, the final phrase in the new American standard was,

    “...and the boy was cured at once.”

The footnote for the New American Standard said it literally should be translated the way the King James has it.  Interesting.  There are times when the literal is the best.

What I didn’t see until I compared them to note the difference was that the King James brings the hope for the future.  It points out that the boy was not only healed, but he was healed from that very hour.  This tells me that it was a permanent healing, not just a psychosomatic involvement.

So?  God offers us hope for the future.  He does things in the context of history.  He does things in the context of eternal life.