Along with healing and teaching, Jesus spent a lot of time correcting misconceptions made by religious leaders. Four hundred years earlier, Malachi had said God would send Elijah back to the Israelites before Messiah came. Jewish religious leaders taught that meant the real Elijah would return. Evidently, God meant it metaphorically as John the Baptizer—who was very much like Elijah—fulfilled this role.

Another misconception was that Messiah would conquer, defeat, whoop, win. Religious leaders didn’t talk about Messiah suffering and dying. So, when Jesus told Peter, James, and John to keep quiet about the Transfiguration they had just witnessed until he had died and been resurrected, they didn’t understand it any more than when he said Elijah had already returned. Looking back, we understand both.

Aside from a lesson on not trusting religious leaders who say they have God all figured out, this passage raises some questions. How able (and willing!) are you to recognize how much you don’t know? How open you are to accepting something you never considered before?