Peter isn’t buying any of it. Of course not. He
thinks Jesus is going to crush the opposition like a bug. After all, if you
have the power to heal, don’t you automatically have the power to destroy?
If things haven’t been made plain enough to the
disciples and the crowds, Jesus now tells them openly, If you want to follow
me, you’d better be ready to pick up your cross. I am headed for execution.
“Those who want to save their life,” he says, “ will lose it, and those who
lose their life for my sake and for the sake of my euangellion, will
save it.”
Then he calls Peter, James, and John, up a high
mountain, where they see Jesus’ body glow, are met by Moses and Elijah, and
hear a loud voice from a cloud. “Listen to him!,” the voice bellows.
The whole scene is terrifying, this talk of death
and these supernatural visions.
Jesus reveals what his Messiahship is all about. It’s
ordained by God, undergirded by the law of Moses and the teaching of the
prophets. It has the power to transform everything. But very little of any of
that can be seen with the naked eye.
They trek down the mountain, with the revealed
glory, all that talk about death, and even their terror at these revelations
behind them. They see no one but Jesus, just as he is and as he has always
been, with the meaning of the Messiah hidden.
He will suffer, be rejected, die, and be
resurrected. And not a single soul will understand.
Text for the day:
Things to think about:
It has been prophesied that the Messiah will bring
peace.
Even though the disciples have been with Jesus all
along, they do not understand.
Things to do:
Challenge your own understanding of who Jesus is
and what his ministry accomplishes.
Jesus,
transform my mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment