Mark 9:12 AV
And he answered¹ and told them²,
Elias verily cometh first³,
and restoreth⁴ all things;
and how⁵ it is written of the Son of man,
that he must suffer many things⁶,
and be set at nought⁷.
¹) To give an answer to a question proposed; to answer; to begin to speak, but always where something has preceded (either said or done) to which the remarks refer.
²) Said to them.
³) First in time or place, in any succession of things or persons.
⁴) To restore to its former state.
⁵) In what way.
⁶) Much, largely.
⁷) To hold and treat as of no account, to utterly despise, to set at nought, to treat with contempt.
Other translations
And He said to them, Elijah, it is true, does come first to restore all things and set them to rights. And how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be utterly despised and be treated with contempt and rejected? [AMP] And he said to them, "Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? [ESV] Jesus replied, "Elijah does come first and get everything ready for the coming of the Son of Man. They treated this Elijah like dirt, much like they will treat the Son of Man, who will, according to Scripture, suffer terribly and be kicked around contemptibly." [MSB] And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. [KJV] Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? [NIV] Jesus responded, "Elijah is indeed coming first to set everything in order. Why then is it written in the Scriptures that the Son of Man must suffer and be treated with utter contempt? [NLT] Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? [NKJV]
Some further information
Elias verily cometh first
This is a prophecy of 2 things:
- The coming of Elijah to restore all things just before the second advent (Malachi 4:5-6). This will be fulfilled when the two witnesses appear on earth (Revelation 11:3-12).
- His own sufferings, which have now been fulfilled (Matthew 27; Mark 15)
Jesus agrees with the teaching of the Scriptures that the coming of the Messiah will be preceded by the coming of Elijah: “Elijah at his coming restores all things.” (Restore: Greek: apo-kat-histanő, literally means “return to its original state” – Mark 3:5; 8:25; Acts 1:6; Hebrews 13:19).
The scribes envisioned a political restoration of the Davidic kingdom.
But when Elijah restores everything before the coming of the Messiah, how can Jesus be the Messiah if Israel is still occupied by the Romans?
However, the scribes’ interpretation of the prophecy of Elijah is incorrect, because it conflicts with other scriptures, especially those about the suffering Messiah.
As Scriptural evidence of the Messiah’s suffering, we can think of Psalms 22:7-8, 69:30, 118:22 in particular; Isaiah 53, but especially Psalm 89:39 LXX).
The restoration of ‘all’ (Greek: panta), according to Malachi 4:6, refers to the turning of the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers, ‘that is, the children going back to living in the way of the fathers by repenting.
So the coming of the Messiah must be preceded by the conversion of the people, not through the restoration of a political dynasty.
Now let us reflect on this
Again, Jesus teaches His disciples the wonderful secret of the Son of Man.
He will suffer a lot and be despised. Who could think that? They saw His glory on the mountain as the God-given Savior. Will He be despised?
Who could do that?
Soon they will all leave Him.
Then it is fulfilled: He was despised and we did not esteem Him.
It is bitter to find that in yourself.
Whoever esteems himself despises the Christ.
The Father says: This is My Beloved Son, hear Him!
See that you do not despise Him.
For how will you flee from punishment if you do not heed such great salvation?
Twitter: @SchoemakerHarry
Website 1: https://devotionals.harryschoemaker.nl
Website 2: http://bijbelplaatjes.nl
About Author
