Mark 9:1-29
- The chapter begins with Jesus' statement, "There are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power" (v. 1, NASB). Now, obviously, everyone who was standing there has since died. So Jesus wasn't referring to some future even that we haven't seen yet. The kingdom of God has ALREADY come with power. It's not something we're waiting for. It's already here. Which is challenging, because that means we can't just shrug off that which is wrong in the world saying, "Oh well, Jesus will take care of it when he comes back." No, if the kingdom of God is here now, then we should be recognizing and working for it's ultimate realization here now.
- Then Jesus takes Peter, James and John up on a mountain and transfigures, his garments becoming "radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them" (v. 3) - I love that earthy description! Particularly as one who is hopeless with laundry :). And Jesus talks to Elijah and Moses. How trippy would that have been! And so Peter, being frightened out of his wits, puts his foot in his mouth (again), and suggests making tabernacles for all 3 of them. He tries hard, that Peter.
- When they return to the other disciples, there's a large crowd (as usual). And someone brings a possessed son (who sounds epileptic) to be healed. The disciples couldn't heal this boy. This time it's got to be Jesus. And Jesus is again frustrated by the disciples, this time for their lack of faith which translates into being unable to heal the boy. This passage mostly just raises questions for me. I don't want to knock the power of prayer, but neither do I think we can always (or even often) pray people well, no matter how much faith we have. But...we are not Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment