<p>9:11 <em>And they asked him: Why do the scribes say that Elijah must first come?</em>- The disciples were evidently still under the influence of Judaism and the religious world around them, and this background died hard for them. &ldquo;Why say the scribes&hellip;?&rdquo;, they reasoned (Mk. 9:11), implying that their view was of at least equal if not greater weight when compared with that of the Lord Jesus as they also did in Mt. 17:9,10. He had to specifically warn them against the Scribes in Lk. 20:45,46; He had to specifically tell them not to address the Rabbis as &lsquo;father&rsquo; (Mt. 23:8,9), implying they had too much respect for them. The way the disciples speak of the Scribes as if they have such a valid theological position reflects their upbringing and respect for the ruling elite of the synagogue (Mt. 17:10), with whom the Lord was at such total variance. They were concerned that the Pharisees had been offended by the Lord&rsquo;s words (Mt. 15:12). We again see here how the disciples were out of step with the Lord&rsquo;s thinking, pursuing their own mental agenda, and not doing that they had just been told- to &lsquo;hear Him&rsquo;. For the Lord has just told them very seriously (&ldquo;charged them&rdquo;) to not say anything about this experience until He was resurrected. But instead they are grappling with another issue- if this Jesus was really Messiah, well why hadn&rsquo;t Elijah come first, as the Scribes taught? Clearly we see them pursuing a line of thought which precluded their attention to what the Lord was so earnestly seeking to tell them.</p>