There are two important points that surfaced for me, after reading today’s study.
One is that Jesus is honest with His followers, for example, He told His disciples (just after He told then the great news, that He was the Christ) that He was going to suffer and die. Likewise, He does not spare us from an honest view of where our lives might be heading to – especially, if we have been following our own desires.
Matthew 16:21-27 (NIV): “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.”
He lets all that information sink in for six days, then He allows them to see part of the bigger picture, in Matthew 17:1-6 (NIV), we read: “After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
When the disciples heard this, they fell face-down to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Selwyn captures this point well, when he writes: “Those six days were difficult for the disciples, Jesus was heading towards a cross; they, being confused and afraid, followed at a ‘distance’. Suddenly, it seemed that their expectations of the Christ could not be realised. As they hung back, Jesus continued in loneliness towards the cross. Because He loved them, however, He called three of them aside and led them to a high mountain where He was transfigured, (in bright light,) before them. That vision spoke to their fears and flung new light on the mystery. … There is enough light in God’s ‘afterwards’ to more than compensate for the perplexity of our present confusion. Remember that the next time you find yourself in the dark.”
Jesus will be honest with us, even if His words are not what we want to hear – but He loves us so much that He will reflect His light on the path, which we should follow. His love can never be separated from us. Do you believe that?
Afterwards …
There are two important points that surfaced for me, after reading today’s study.
One is that Jesus is honest with His followers, for example, He told His disciples (just after He told then the great news, that He was the Christ) that He was going to suffer and die. Likewise, He does not spare us from an honest view of where our lives might be heading to – especially, if we have been following our own desires.
Matthew 16:21-27 (NIV): “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.”
He lets all that information sink in for six days, then He allows them to see part of the bigger picture, in Matthew 17:1-6 (NIV), we read: “After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
When the disciples heard this, they fell face-down to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Selwyn captures this point well, when he writes: “Those six days were difficult for the disciples, Jesus was heading towards a cross; they, being confused and afraid, followed at a ‘distance’. Suddenly, it seemed that their expectations of the Christ could not be realised. As they hung back, Jesus continued in loneliness towards the cross. Because He loved them, however, He called three of them aside and led them to a high mountain where He was transfigured, (in bright light,) before them. That vision spoke to their fears and flung new light on the mystery. … There is enough light in God’s ‘afterwards’ to more than compensate for the perplexity of our present confusion. Remember that the next time you find yourself in the dark.”
Jesus will be honest with us, even if His words are not what we want to hear – but He loves us so much that He will reflect His light on the path, which we should follow. His love can never be separated from us. Do you believe that?