The Opening Act

Setting the Stage for the Son of God

Let’s get this out on the table. I’m rarely a fan the opening act at a concert. I pay my money to see the headliner, not some wanna-be. But occasionally the warm up band over delivers and wins me over.

Did you know Jesus had an opening act? Sure did. It was his weird, bug eating cousin John. He toured under the name John the Baptizer. His role from the very beginning was to set the stage for the Son of God and make sure He got the spotlight.

A Conversation with Christ

In Mark’s biography of Jesus, the author shares a conversation Christ has with three of His closest followers about His opener (Mk 9:9-13). The Jewish people have not only been expecting the Messiah but His predecessor Elijah too.

Our Savior tells these three disciples that His opener has already completed his performance. The Big E did exactly what he was supposed to do. But the religious leaders weren’t fans. They didn’t just boo Elijah off the stage. They threw him under the bus and then drove the bus over him two or three times.

If they think that stinks, Jesus goes on to say that’s nothing compared to what will happen to Him. And get this, it’s all part of God’s plan. If you don’t believe Him, you can read all about it in the Hebrew Bible.

Coming Down the Mountain

We pick up the action in Mark’s Gospel with the Lord coming down a big mountain with Peter and the Thunder Brothers, James and John. The boys have just witnessed something that has totally rocked their world (Mk 9:2-8).

First they saw Jesus pull back the heavenly curtain and glow in glory. Next they saw not just one but two ancient Hebrew heavyweights appear out of nowhere and talk to the Lord. None other than Moses and Elijah.

Removing the Distractions

If that’s not wacky enough, God the Father shows up in the form of a cloud. He makes it clear that He’s absolutely crazy about His Son. Don’t listen to anybody but Jesus, He says.

Just so there’s no confusion, the Father removes any distractions when it comes to following Christ. When the cloud clears, Moses and Elijah are nowhere to be found. I’m pretty sure nobody’s forgetting what went down that day.

This happens to confirm the radical Rabbi/Carpenter’s identity as the long-awaited Messiah. The first chunk of Mark’s story of Jesus is all about folks trying to figure out exactly who He is. After this unforgettable mountaintop meetup, these three have no doubts.

Back to the Grind

We pick up the story with Jesus and the Big Three returning to the daily grind, “as they went back down the mountain” (v9). Who doesn’t love those mountaintop moments with God? An incredible conference. An amazing revival. A weekend of solitude.

There’s just one problem. We can’t stay there. We live life between the mountaintops. Constant and uninterrupted intimacy in God’s presence is a-MAZE-ing! I know I don’t want to leave. Mountaintops are great but most of what we experience is the everyday grind. God calls us to be faithful in the valley. Most times, that looks like Tuesday.

Keeping It on the Down Low

As they head back to join the other disciples, Jesus wants the boys to keep what they experienced at altitude on the down low. “He told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead” (v9).

You might surprised to see that Christ regularly tells folks to keep quiet about who He is and what He’s up to (Mt 8:4; 9:30; 12:16; 16:20; 17:9; Mk 5:43; 7:36; 8:30; Lk 8:56; 9:21). What’s up with that? Doesn’t He want EVERYONE to know?!?

Walking a Tightrope of Timing

These commands for confidentiality are all about timing. Trust me, Jesus wants to get the word out. He just want it happen when it’s supposed to happen. He’s walking a tightrope with His timeline.

Christ doesn’t want to draw too much attention to Himself too quickly. He certainly doesn’t want Roman officials thinking He’s leading a revolution. He’s trying to avoid getting the bigwigs at the Hebrew home office worried that He’s threat to their power. Both of those will happen soon enough.

Wait for It

Another issue is that His followers don’t have the context of His resurrection to give it all perspective. It won’t be long before they see Him betrayed, tortured, and crucified. But when He comes strolling out of the cemetery on Sunday, that’s a total game changer!

Christ wants them to keep it quiet for now. Wait for it. Wait for it. Wait “until the Son of Man had risen from the dead” (v9).

Christ Calls His Shot

There’s a huge chunk of doubters and naysayers who want to believe this is Jesus’ way of denying the claim that He’s divine. There’s just a couple of little problems with that. First, He clearly calls Himself the Christ when He calls Himself the Son of Man. That’s straight outta the OT (Dan 7:13).

Second, He’s calling His shot. Make no mistake. Jesus didn’t just predict His death. Pretty sure most of us can do that. But He also calls His own resurrection. As Andy Stanley says, if somebody can predict His own death and resurrection, and pull it off, I’m on His team!

The Inside Scoop

Pete, Jimmy, and John don’t say a word to anybody. Mark writes, “So they kept it to themselves” (v10). They were clearly paying attention on the mountain when Father God told them to obey His Son (Mk 9:7).

They do what He says but don’t know what in the world Jesus is talking about. “They often asked each other what He meant by ‘rising from the dead’” (v10). You don’t find this little detail in any of the other two versions of this story (Mt 17:9-13; Lk 9:36).

So why does John Mark include this very personal nugget? Chances are it’s because someone who was there told him so. Most of the early followers of Christ believed Peter is the source of the second Gospel.

Hashing It Out

There’s something cool here when you dig into the original language of this phrase. The word the NLT translates as “asked” (Gr. συζητεω/suzeteo) is a compound word meaning “together (Gr. συ-/su-) seeking (Gr. -ζητεω/-zeteo).”

It describes a discussion among several people where they forcefully express their differences of opinion. On one hand, it can describe an open minded debate and discussion. At the other extreme, it’s a heated argument. It depends on how the writer uses it.

Pete, James, and John passionately hash it out. They search for an answer together. They discuss, dispute, and debate. They’re also open to each other’s opinion. We can all take a lesson from the Big Three. Let’s stop trying to be right and figure things out TOGETHER.

Rising from the Dead?

But this idea of “rising from the dead” goes right over their head. Peter sure doesn’t. Just the other day, he tried to tell Jesus to stop this crazy talk of betrayal, torture, and death! That just results in the Lord calling him Satan (Mk 8:32-33).

Most Jewish people actually believe in resurrection. But their hope is in a general resurrection, not something personal like the Lord is suggesting.

We see Lazarus’ sister Martha struggle with that same idea when Jesus tells her, “Your brother will rise again” (Jn 11:23). She’s sure he will, it’s just not happening today. “He will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day” (Jn 11:24).

Keeping a Lid on It

This is HUGE reason why He doesn’t want them telling people He’s the Christ. They don’t have a clue what’s about to happen. They’re oblivious when it comes to Jesus’ upcoming betrayal, torture, and murder, much less His resurrection.

Once they see Him alive after His death, only then will they start to put the pieces together. Until then, let’s just keep a lid on all this Messiah business. We, on the other hand, know EXACTLY what happens on Sunday morning!

The Tsunami of Grace

It won’t be long before Jesus’ rising from the dead will be THE Story! Long before anybody wrote down any of this stuff and assembled it into what we call the Bible, His miraculous resurrection is what gives them the strength and courage to spread His story to every corner of the known world.

Check out the sequel Dr. Luke about how the tsunami of grace races around the Mediterranean Rim. What’s the lede story of the Good News? Jesus’ resurrection! The good doctor mentions it specifically 17 times (Acts 2:24, 31-32; 3:15; 4:10, 33; 5:30; 10:40-41; 13:30, 34, 37; 17:3, 18, 31; 25:19; 26:23)!

A Pretty Sorry Lot

How important is Christ’s resurrection to our faith? In a letter to Corinthian believers, Paul says that if Jesus didn’t rise from dead, we’re wasting out time following Him (1Cor 15:12-19). The Message puts it bluntly. “We’re a pretty sorry lot” (1Cor 15:19 The Message).

But at this point, these three disciples don’t understand Jesus “rising from the dead” (v10). After chatting it up with each other, they clearly connect His resurrection with that wild scene they just saw back on the summit.

Untangling the Knots

The Big Three turns to Jesus and asks Him, “Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?’” (v11). They’re scratching their heads wondering, “Since You’re obviously Messiah, where’s Elijah? We’ve all been taught that Elijah comes before You. Was that it?”

The “teachers of religious law” (Gr. γραμματευς/grammateus) are the scribes, theologians highly skilled in Jewish law. The word literally means a person of letters. The scribes worked to untangle some of the more difficult scriptural knots. Stuff like, could God build a wall so high that even He couldn’t jump over it.

We often find these teachers of the law working closely with priests and elders in groups like the Sanhedrin. They would serve as scriptural lawyers, helping leaders thread the biblical needle or look for loopholes in tricky decisions involving the Jewish Scriptures.

A Sequence of Events

These theologians have looked at the Hebrew Bible that we call the Old Testament and determined a sequence of events when it comes to the arrival of the long awaited Messiah. Before the Hero from heaven hits the neighborhood, He’ll have an opening act. Ladies and gentleman, here’s Elijah!

God tells the prophet Malachi, “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers” (Mal 4:5-6).

The Last Verse of the Last Book

And get this. This is the very last verse in the very last book of the OT. God basically drops the mic for more than 400 years. The next time we hear from Him, it just so happens to be none other than John the Baptizer! I’m sure it’s just a coincidence (wink, wink).

That’s not all. When the angel appears to John the Baptizer’s dad, he tells him that his son will be the Messiah’s opening act. “He will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. He will be a man in the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children” (Lk 1:16-17).

So Where’s Elijah?

But the Big Three have yet to put the pieces of the prophetic puzzle together about Elijah and Jesus’ leather wearin’ cousin John. This is also a big reason why the religious muckety-mucks aren’t buying that Jesus is Messiah. Where’s Elijah? In their view, no Elijah, no Messiah.

Funny thing. John didn’t see himself as serving in some sort of Elijah-like role (Jn 1:19-21). Maybe he was humble. Maybe he didn’t fully understand how God was using him. John loved to use a passage from another prophet named Isaiah to describe himself. “I am a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Clear the way for the LORD’s coming!’” (Jn 1:23).

Maybe God has revealed to you how He wants to use you. That’s awesome. But maybe your like the rest of us and haven’t really figured out exactly what you’re supposed to do in the long run. That’s okay. Just continue following Jesus. Continue loving those around you. Keep on keeping on. We can trust that He’s got it all figured out.

Messiah’s Advance Man

Meanwhile, our Savior tells His three closest followers, “Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready” (v12). He’s the Messiah’s advance man. His opening act.

Over in Matthew’s bio of Jesus, he tells us about another time our when the Lord quotes Malachi 3:1 and spells out the Baptizer’s connection to none other than the Big E. “John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer to when they say, ‘Look, I am sending My messenger ahead of You, and he will prepare Your way before You’” (Mt 11:10).

The Greatest Person Ever Born

He tells the crowds that His cousin may be on the eccentric side but he’s actually the greatest person ever born (Mt 11:11). Christ cuts to the chase, “And if you are willing to accept what I say, he is Elijah, the one the prophets said would come” (Mt 11:14).

In a similar way, God gave John the Elijah-like job of revealing the identity of Messiah (Mk 1:7; Jn 1:15). We see him point the spotlight at Jesus as “the Lamb of God” on more than one occasion (Jn 1:29, 36).

A Question for the Boys

After confirming that Elijah must indeed take the stage before Messiah, Jesus has a question for the guys. “Yet why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be treated with utter contempt?” (v12).

Christ wants them to connect Elijah’s coming in the form of John the Baptizer with His own suffering. Elijah/John HAS come. Messiah/Jesus WILL suffer. They’ll soon understand that BOTH must happen.

The Suffering Servant

The Lord wants the boys to think about all the prophetic passages in the Jewish Scriptures that predict how Messiah will be betrayed, tortured, and murdered. You can bet He’s talking the suffering Servant in Isaiah 52:13-53:12. But there are certainly a 

LOT more than that (Gen 3:15; 22:1-18; Ex 12:1-51; Num 21:6-9; Ps 22; 69; 118; Zech 11:12-13; 12:10).

I’m guessing the resurrected Christ will use this very same material when He leads a couple of disappointed disciples heading back home on one of the greatest Bible studies of all time (Lk 24:13-24).

But Not THAT Kind of Messiah

Once again, the radical Rabbi/Carpenter redefines their understanding of the long promised Messiah they’ve been waiting for. Jesus’ three-and-a-half year ministry has nothing to do with military victory and rebelling against the Romans. It has EVERYTHING to spiritual victory and defeating our rebellion.

In other words, the Lord admits to being Messiah. He’s just NOT the kind of Messiah the Jewish people are expecting. No Jew in their right mind could predict Christ would suffer and die…well, other than the prophets.

Answering His Own Question

Mark doesn’t tell us how or if the disciples respond to Jesus’ question. Do they run their ideas pass Christ? Or do they simply stair back blankly like my dog looks at my computer?

Whatever the case, the Lord answers for them. “But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they chose to abuse him, just as the Scriptures predicted” (v12). Sure enough, He says the Big E has come and gone and the writers of the OT called that one too.

A Sinful Snake Pit

The Message doesn’t pull any punches in its paraphrase of Jesus’ response. “They treated this Elijah like dirt” (v12 The Message). Instead of listening to what the Baptizer had to say, the religious teachers rejected him when he accused them of being a sinful snake pit (Mt 3:7-10).

You can be sure the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes didn’t shed any tears the day the king chopped off John’s head as payment for a lap dance from his niece (Mk 6:14-29). No, I’m not kidding. This stuff REALLY is in your Bible!

Some VERY Good News!

First century Jews didn’t just turn their backs on John the Baptizer’s opening act as Elijah, they would rush the stage and kill Christ. But Jesus would willingly take every bit of their abuse just as He took on the sin and rebellion of the entire world.

What’s your response to the original double bill of Elijah/John and Messiah/Jesus? Did you hate their performance too? I’ve got some good news. Actually I’ve some VERY Good News! All you have to do admit you can’t save yourself. Place all your trust in what He’s done for you.

The Ultimate Encore

Jesus lived the perfect life that we failed to live. He died the death for our sin that we should have died. He rose to a spectacular new life that we don’t deserve. Trust Him to not just forgive you but be the loving Leader of your life.

The Son of God is coming back for the ultimate encore. And they’re are plenty of good seats still available!

©2018

Jay Jennings