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Crumbs 112

Destiny

Scripture Mark 9:2-13 NIV 2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) 7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” 8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant. 11 And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” 12 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? 13 But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”

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Why did Jesus do this ? Two reasons come to me. 1. Jesus was blessing His friends. They would have to face many challenges. Doubts would threaten but this milestone is a reassurance they could recall. Jesus briefly draws the curtain on a deeper reality,

2. Jesus is teaching his disciples the place He has in divine revelation .within and beyond the law and the prophets. They have been fulfilled and superseded. The voice from the cloud points to the importance of Christ in God’s dealing with us. The response to Peter’s suggestion is to wean him off the idea that the law can save and that the prophets were the last word from God.. It is a directing to the path of grace.

Once again we note that Jesus asks for them to keep quiet about His miraculous activity. His was not the path of overwhelming force but of love. This was going to be seen in His entry into Jerusalem on a donkey. Its ultimate fulfilment was in the cross. “ Not by power nor by might by by my Spirit “

The disciples are mystified by the various hints they are picking up about the future. They could not have conceived of the death, agony and victory to come. “ just as it is written about him” This statement tells us that God has planned the future. Death and life for the whole world are in His hands.

Questions

1. What part may spiritual experiences play in the life of faith ?

2. What does this passage teach us about the Lord Jesus Christ ?.

3. What do the teaching and transfiguration of the Lord teach us about our life and reality ?