Divine affirmation
Reading for Friday March 31
Bible section: Mark 9:2-13
Jesus has begun to prepare his disciples for the fact that he must suffer many things and be killed at Jerusalem. But who prepares Jesus? God himself does. When Jesus goes up the mountain taking his closest friends with him, he becomes radiant as they are watching, and Moses and Elijah talk with him. The topic of their conversation is about the death he will accomplish at Jerusalem.
The three close friends; Peter, James and John do not remember much of the conversation; a kind of stupor overcomes them at the height of the vision. But after Moses and Elijah leave, they see Jesus alone and all four are suddenly overshadowed by a cloud and hear a voice from the cloud saying, “This is my beloved Son. Hear him!”
The hardest part to understand is that Jesus says not to tell anyone about their vision until Jesus has risen from the dead, and they do not understand that term. They have seen three people brought back to life, but what is this word resurrection?
We know the end, because we know the end of the story. We know about the resurrection of Jesus and we know that the same three friends of Jesus became leaders of the people of God after Jesus had ascended into heaven. We know how the good news of the kingdom of God spread from Jerusalem to Samaria and then to the uttermost part of the world.
Moses had been the leader of the people of God when they were a religious group of nomads; Elijah had encouraged and supported the people of God when they were established in their own territory but being led terribly astray by their own royalty. Neither of them had been martyred but they had both born the heavy burden of leading the people of God on a spiritual journey. Jesus, by his death, will complete the work that they began. It would be good to know what they said but at this point the three disciples go into a kind of stupor.
It must have been so hard for Jesus to walk away from the mountain top and go back to the people knowing that his arrest and death were approaching. The voice of his Father, affirmed that he was loved and honored, and that he had correctly understood what was required of him. Moses and Elijah were the only other reassurance that Jesus received. Not a single person living at that time understood why Jesus let himself be arrested and why he did not use his divine power to come down off the crucifixion cross. Jesus had no friends to help and support him as he faced the certainty of arrest and painful death. .
Matthew 17:1-8, Luke 9:28-36
Bible section: Mark 9:2-13
Jesus has begun to prepare his disciples for the fact that he must suffer many things and be killed at Jerusalem. But who prepares Jesus? God himself does. When Jesus goes up the mountain taking his closest friends with him, he becomes radiant as they are watching, and Moses and Elijah talk with him. The topic of their conversation is about the death he will accomplish at Jerusalem.
The three close friends; Peter, James and John do not remember much of the conversation; a kind of stupor overcomes them at the height of the vision. But after Moses and Elijah leave, they see Jesus alone and all four are suddenly overshadowed by a cloud and hear a voice from the cloud saying, “This is my beloved Son. Hear him!”
The hardest part to understand is that Jesus says not to tell anyone about their vision until Jesus has risen from the dead, and they do not understand that term. They have seen three people brought back to life, but what is this word resurrection?
We know the end, because we know the end of the story. We know about the resurrection of Jesus and we know that the same three friends of Jesus became leaders of the people of God after Jesus had ascended into heaven. We know how the good news of the kingdom of God spread from Jerusalem to Samaria and then to the uttermost part of the world.
Moses had been the leader of the people of God when they were a religious group of nomads; Elijah had encouraged and supported the people of God when they were established in their own territory but being led terribly astray by their own royalty. Neither of them had been martyred but they had both born the heavy burden of leading the people of God on a spiritual journey. Jesus, by his death, will complete the work that they began. It would be good to know what they said but at this point the three disciples go into a kind of stupor.
It must have been so hard for Jesus to walk away from the mountain top and go back to the people knowing that his arrest and death were approaching. The voice of his Father, affirmed that he was loved and honored, and that he had correctly understood what was required of him. Moses and Elijah were the only other reassurance that Jesus received. Not a single person living at that time understood why Jesus let himself be arrested and why he did not use his divine power to come down off the crucifixion cross. Jesus had no friends to help and support him as he faced the certainty of arrest and painful death. .
Matthew 17:1-8, Luke 9:28-36
posted by Jessie Coates at 11:10 PM
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