1. What stood out to you from this passage?I love the story of the transfiguration of Jesus. When I read it, it reminds me so much about coming to camp, especially since many people have described camp as a "mountaintop experience". First Jesus invites Peter, James and John to come to the mountaintop with him. Second the three disciples see, understand, and experience Jesus in a whole new way. Third, the disciples are so caught up in the experience that they want to stay there. Finally Jesus explains that they can't, and then proceeds to lead them back into a life of following after God. Camp is the same thing. Most people come because of someone's invitation. They see, understand, and experience Jesus in a whole new way. Many campers speak words almost identical to Peter's, "It is good for us to be here," and then essentially, "Can't we stay here?" And finally, one of the most important things about camp is actually sending the campers home with the promise and knowledge of God's presence to lead them down the mountain to a life of following God.
2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know?
What stood out to me was this conversation between Jesus and the disciples about Elijah being linked to John the Baptist. But it's not the first time John the Baptist is connected with fulfilling the prophecy about "Elijah" coming before the Messiah. The original prophecy comes from Malachi 4:5 in which God promises to send the prophet Elijah before the day of the LORD comes. But even Jesus explicitly linked the two in Matthew 11:13-15, which we already read a week ago. Literally, he said, "If you are willing to accept it, he [John] is the Elijah who was to come." It's funny that the disciples didn't catch this.
3. So what does this mean for my life?
I was intrigued by the part of the chapter where the disciples couldn't drive out a demon because of their lack of faith. And I have always wondered how the twelve disciples could possibly have had a weak faith. These men were with Jesus! They saw him perform miracle after miracle and teach with authority. Yet Jesus basically tells them they don't even have a mustard seed of faith. Why? After reading this today, I ask myself, "Dan, why do you have so little faith?" My excuses are many: I haven't seen Jesus with my own eyes, I don't know theologically if God still does miracles in the same way still, I don't know if it's God's will. But the real answer that I was convicted by today is this: I lack the faith that the disciples lacked because I know myself, with all my flaws and failures. I have a harder time than anyone believing that I could do something like driving out demons. Yet this also reveals a great flaw in my thinking, namely because this kind of act has NOTHING to do with me and everything to do with God and God's power. Lord, help me trust in your power to do your work.
4. What questions do I have about this chapter?
I cannot say that I have encountered someone possessed by a demon. But how do I know? The demon in chapter 17 caused seizures and brought harm to the boy it possessed. How can we tell the difference between demons and epilepsy? Or demons and muteness, deafness, and blindness? It seemed like the people in Jesus's day just knew, like it was obvious that this person had a demon.
In Christ,
Dan
I always love hearing you talk about the connection to camp and the transfiguration of Jesus. It is a really cool parallel.
ReplyDeleteIt is also encouraging and convicting at the same time to see the kind of teacher Jesus is. He gets frustrated (verse 17), but he also has patience (verse 25). As a mom I am teaching all the time and there are DEFINITELY times when I get frustrated (the encouraging part!) but also times when I lack patience (the convicting part!). Sometimes you read about the disciples and think "Gee, they are so dense!" And then I realize that a lot of times I am just as bad, if not worse, than the disciples!