17:1-13 - I think the transfiguration of Jesus makes a really strong point for us to live our lives by. In verse 4, Peter sees Moses and Elijah and Jesus together and he wants to pitch tents right then and there. He is saying, "This is awesome! We can all stay here and just talk and hang out and never leave this mountain - this is what it is all about!" It is kinda like going to an incredible youth conference or worship service and feeling totally connected to God and never wanting to leave. But Jesus knows that he has got a job to do and he is going to do it...look at verse 12 - he knows that he is headed towards suffering and he still walks off the mountain. We need to understand that God brings us to the top of the mountain, so that we can go back down ready for anything that comes our way. We don't go to conferences or great quiet times or retreats to stay there forever...we go to get pumped up and then go back out and do our job - live out the message of Christ.
17:19ff - The disciples couldn't cast out the demon...why? Maybe as the demon was throwing the boy into the fir and attempting to drown him in water, they got freaked out. Maybe it seemed like to huge a task for the lowly disciples. Jesus is upset because he knows that if they had trusted in God's strength and forgotten about their own weaknesses, they could have healed the boy. Sadly enough, I fail to trust God in much smaller things...forget demon possessed boys, I get scared sometimes when I simply don't know what to say to someone who questions my faith! What do we give up on because we decide it is much too big for our faith? What would Jesus say to us?
17:25 - Do the king's of earth tax their sons? No, they tax others so that their sons can be free. The king of the universe caused His son to pay our debt in blood so that we could be free. I love our God.
2 comments:
Just once in my life I would love to tell something to get up and go throw itself in the ocean. But there always seems to be that lingering doubt in the back of my head – or the front – maybe one day…
Imagine seeing a man you have known for almost 3 years suddenly becoming a source of light (scary). Now to bake your noodle even more – Moses and Elijah show up and strike up a conversation with him (Peter – I’d have babbled too, brother). But that’s not all – a bright cloud comes down and surrounds you and this voice comes out of this cloud – and you know that it is God the Father (the words “I’m dead” seem appropriate here). But then, through it all, there is Jesus, who reaches down to us and tells us "Don't be afraid." In this life, I love those words from Him – "Don't be afraid" – words we should all live out our faith by more often.
j
Reading this book "Crazy Love" and the first thing he wants to cover in this book is the greatness of God. I can't help but to think about this part of the book when reading about the transfiguration. Talk about "name droppin". Elijah, Moses, God? If that's not a good enough friend list...
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