A Scribe-ish Dispute

And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?”  Mark 9:14-16

When Jesus disputed with the scribes, it was shutdown city. The disciples appear to be having some difficulty with that. When the multitude and scribes see Jesus though, the disciples are dumped like a creepy first date. The dispute might even have been dropped as well except that Jesus asked what was going on. And as the story goes in our next reading, the disciples had a massive fail. So what was the dispute? In some cases the scribes would have been ecstatic to see the disciples of Jesus fail at something. We can easily guess the dispute; the failure happened and then a scribe or two opened their mouths and criticized, or mocked, maybe even scoffed. But Jesus arrives for the disciples, and all will be alright now. Or, will it? 

We continue the glorious story of our Lord next time,

Bucky

Encapsulated

But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him. Mark 9:13

Yesterday we read how Elijah will come, but today he has already come? It may be that Jesus refers to John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and also to that witness of the two from Revelation 11. Prophecies have been seen to have both past and present, or past and future fulfillments. However, yesterday it was foretold (sorry, prophecy pun) that we would look into that bit Jesus encapsulated between His Elijahs. That part where the Son of Man must be treated with contempt.

With the advantage of the Gospels as history, we can see what the disciples in that moment could not yet see. Jesus was indeed treated with contempt, and executed by the Romans on the cross. We know by this advantage what the disciples should have recalled from many prophecies available to them including, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and many others. Well ain't we just the learned uber-disciples! Without the enabling of the Spirit of God, faith in Jesus, and the study of His word, we would be facing the same difficulty as those disciples of our Lord's. We enjoy a little distance and a lot of scripture; they had to learn on the spot.

Praise and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ!

Bucky

Elijah Coming First

Then He answered and told them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? Mark 9:12

Elijah comes from the Old Testament for us, but does not get his own book. From his story though, this prophet may be more famous than many of the others. We see that among all the prophets, Elijah gets a special mention here in our verse for today by Jesus. The disciples had asked Him why the scribes said that Elijah must come first. And part of the response Jesus gave them was interesting to say the least. "Restores all things"? From his story in 1 Kings, Elijah was a restorer sent by God to bring Israel back to the worship of their one God, Jehovah. So...will it be Elijah who returns and brings back the temple worship in the Revelation? Entirely possible as Revelation 11 tells of two witnesses, that is prophets by another name, who will stand against the man of lawlessness.

Then, what about that next part with the Son of Man? Tomorrow, the Lord willing, we will get into that.

Love and joy to you in Christ our Lord!

Bucky

Learning From Their Confusion

Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant. Mark 9:9-10

This is not the first time that Jesus did a marvelous thing, and then said to keep quiet about it. This time He does give them a time for bearing witness, a condition once met that will allow them to tell what they had just seen. But then He goes and baffles them with that same condition. Rising from the dead? We may recall that it was these same three disciples who went with Jesus to restore the life of Jairus' daughter. Yet they were left confused by what Jesus said of Himself. It is easy to laugh at these befuddled disciples.

However, we only know what they do not because of the witness they wrote down for us later on in their respective missions. These three disciples told their stories enough after Jesus rose from the grave that we have four gospels to study and learn what they could not understand at that time. It is always tougher for the one in the spotlight to see what is going on. Laugh? No sir, we are grateful to God to learn from their witness, and their confusion.

I pray that you enjoy a lovely and loving Memorial Day weekend,

Bucky

Never A Moment Like This

Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”— because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  Mark 9:5-6

Jesus standing there in His glorious attire, now Moses and Elijah show up. Of course the disciples were a little overwhelmed by this. Didn't know what to say? Oh, like you and I have never had a moment like that. Peter said something anyway. And God makes intercession for him by speaking from above and letting the disciples know that it was a listening time. Yes, a time when it was perfectly alright to not speak. 

Pastors, known themselves for a certain yak-ability, often emphasize the speaking part of our great mission. But there are times for listening as well, as I often try to remember to remind myself during my prayer time. For a known quiet person, I can in prayer produce quite a torrent of words toward the Almighty. Listening in prayer may be an overlooked portion of our daily walk with the Lord. Some of us might even think that a contradiction. Prayer, be quiet and listen? How can that be? Perhaps the Lord has something to say, if only He could get a word in edgewise. 

Pray and listen,

Bucky

Transfigured

Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  Mark 9:2-3

Laundry detergent sellers to this day advertise their product's whitening ability, but why take just three of the twelve disciples? Jesus became something like they had never seen before, but was there something special about the three disciples? Many similar questions may lead us back to a 'bee in the bonnet' as the old folks used to say. Jesus does something out of this world amazing, and we are stuck wondering over something else and missing the point. Perhaps our earthly mind of the flesh wants to take refuge in a criticism when a miracle appears before it. The Pharisees did this sort of thing all the time during our Lord's ministry. He would heal a blind man, and they would say, "Show us a sign!" We laugh and point at those Pharisees, but we had better be careful not to do the same thing. Jesus showed Himself in His spectacular glory for just a brief time. Praise God!

Bucky

Standing Here

And He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.” Mark 9:1

Jesus had a habit of presenting the disciples and all readers of the word with extraordinary statements such as this one in our reading today. In Mark, this statement comes just before, okay, six days before the transfiguration on the mountain. So, was that it? Statement fulfilled and all is done with it? Or, did Jesus mean the rushing mighty wind of Pentecost that would fill the disciples with power of the Word of God? Those two words, standing here, mean that this is one of the few statements of Jesus that does limit it to those who were there to hear Him at that time. We do not have to wonder at a future fulfilment to watch for or if we missed something in our walk with Jesus. But there is that other word just before that, some standing here.

Whoa, for those standing there, they would be left with a lingering, am I one of the some or not? We know from the story that Judas Iscariot would not be one to stay around to see the presentation. If we go back a few verses, we also find out that Jesus had called not just the disciples to Him, but the people also (Mark 8:34). Once again this leads us to Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Not so fast though, what about the Resurrection? Well yes, that's certainly a presentation of power from our Lord!

Praise God for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the king of the kingdom of God!

Bucky