Matthew 17:24-18:9

“Notice what you notice.” Three short vignettes today from Matthew – the temple tax, becoming like children, and temptations to sin. Two of these are also covered in Mark and Luke, but only the temple tax is covered in Matthew. Later Jesus again deals with taxation in Matthew (the former tax collector) and quiets the Pharisees with His famous line, Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. (Matthew 22:21) So let’s focus on the tax item.

I’ve always been amazed at Jesus’ knowledge in this incident. How did He know that there was a coin in some fish’s mouth and that this particular fish would be the one to bite onto Peter’s hook? And did His Father or the Holy Spirit so intervene in our world to make this outcome happen? This item has amazed me possibly more than any other bit of knowledge that Jesus possessed while He was on earth. And when it all happened as predicted, the disciples in turn must have been astonished! How could Peter ever fail to believe?

So, is Jesus, His Father, or the Holy Spirit now acting in our world in similar fashion today? If we pray for a particular outcome (“if the Lord wills”) is there in fact Divine Intervention on earth that brings about that outcome (“in His will”)? A coin in a fish’s mouth is a small item in our great big world. What would happen if we were to believe for really big items??!! Unreal…!!

Slava Bohu!

Luke 9:37-45

“Notice what you notice.” Luke has two interesting twists to the story that we have been reading the past two days. First, for Luke, this boy is an only child. Matthew and Mark only mention the boy as “my son”.

Second and more striking to me, however, was the Jesus’ quote in the next segment of today’s reading: But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to His disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears…” (ESV, vv. 43-44). Jesus’ quote was so striking that I looked it up in three other translations, including the original King James Version, and all the translations had the same emphasis, “Let these words sink in…”! Even “The Message” has a strong translation, “Treasure and ponder each of these next words…”

Two millennia down the road we know that we are to treasure all of Jesus’ words, to go further and ponder, reflect, meditate on whatever He said. A major focus on this year’s study, in averaging only ten to eleven verses per day has been that very objective – to take time to really listen, to let Jesus’ words sink in! I never noticed that emphasis before. I’m glad that I see it now.

Slava Bohu!

Mark 9:14-32

“Notice what you notice.” WOW! A number of good items to report on today, including, for every one of us, our favorite Bible verse: Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (v. 24) “I believe, Lord, help my unbelief.” How often have I cried out like that in difficult times!! You, too…??

I’m having to find time in between sessions at this conference! So now I’ve tapped out some introductory thoughts and it’s 10:30 pm as I finish those thoughts. I hope they make sense!!

Mark’s introductory description is fascinating: And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw Him, were greatly amazed and ran up to Him and greeted Him. (vv. 14-15) I am sympathetic for the disciples. Jesus had Peter, James, and John with Him. The other 9+/- disciples were somewhere else, presumably nearby, unable to cast out this particular demon, even though they had had successes before when Jesus had sent them out. So now they are arguing with the scribes, presumably about Jesus and His power to heal and about their own relationship with Jesus. Then Jesus comes by and the crowd instantly moves to Him, deflating the disciples even more. Yes, disappointing for the disciples, but consider for a moment the level to which the crowd has elevated Jesus. Later, on Palm Sunday, they are almost ready to make Him king. These outsiders in Galilee might have felt that way, but at a lower level of emotion than the Jerusalem crowd. These Galilean expectations of a King were probably at a lower level than in Jerusalem. Still, they knew Jesus and loved to be near and with Him!!

And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again. (v. 25) Here we see something that we have not seen before. Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit and orders it to “never enter him again”. What a wonderful thought!! To have been burdened with this unclean spirit for all these years, and then to know that you have (or your son has) been healed of this affliction FOREVER! Never again!!! Awesome!! What a glorious God we serve! NEVER AGAIN! Folks, I know that we have some “never again” afflictions that can be healed. So, go back to the first paragraph: “I believe, Lord, help my unbelief.” GLORY!!

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 17:14-23

“Notice what you notice.” Is Jesus as exasperated as it might seem in this reading? We have Him twice asking, …how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? (v. 17) It seems fully out of character for Him. Yet, even if He is exasperated, He relents and heals the boy. It’s a simple lesson for us to learn.

Slava Bohu!

Luke 9:28-36

“Notice what you notice.” Luke’s account of the Transfiguration…

Posting from the plane – you’ll get it Tuesday morning. I’m always intrigued by what’s different in the Synoptic Gospel writers’ accounts. Two items come out in Luke’s account. First, Luke tells us that Jesus went up to the mountain to pray. The other writers simply have Jesus and His disciples going up to the mountain “by themselves”.

Second, Luke writes that the three disciples actually entered the cloud: As He was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. (v. 34) I was once at a conference on a high plateau at Petit Jean Mountain in northwest Arkansas. As we sat in a glass-enclosed conference room we watched a cloud coming in from the valley below, a huge cloud that completely enveloped the building in which we were sitting. It was a spectacular sight, to go from bright sunlight to zero visibility in seconds! Naturally, with our 20^th century knowledge we had no fear as to what was happening. But I can imagine the fear the disciples had as they entered the cloud – and then that their fear was magnified (according to Matthew’s account) when the Father’s voice came from the cloud. The Father’s words were reassuring – they may have heard the same words at Jesus’ baptism, and finding Jesus alone certainly settled their souls. But for a few moments there…!!

Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him, the same three disciples that He took with Him when He went to Gethsemane – also to pray. And again, the three disciples were “heavy with sleep”. Strange that there are these parallels between Jesus’ Transfiguration, a major high point of Jesus’ life on earth and Gethsemane, a major low point… Intriguing.

Slava Bohu!

Mark 9:2-13

“Notice what you notice.” Mark’s account of the Transfiguration…

Carol and I are on the road to Maryland (thank you, Mobile HotSpot!), then tomorrow on a plane to Prague and more. We’ll be 16 days in CZ, SK, and Ireland, then back to MD for an undetermined number of days. Suffice to say that it’ll probably be July before you see us again! We will have Internet and e-mail/text service most of our trip, but it’ll often be difficult for me to post in the morning as I prefer to do. Hopefully I can at least post every day. We’ll see…

And as they were coming down the mountain, He charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. (vv. 9-10) I believe that if I were one of the disciples back then that I would have also kept my mouth shut and not wondered openly what this “rising from the dead” might mean! To the disciples this was an entirely new concept – something that had never been done before. Peter, James, and John saw Jesus raise Jairus’ daughter from the dead, but even then He had told the crowd that the girl was not dead, but only sleeping. Even after Jesus had risen from the dead there was doubt about what had actually happened (see the “Doubting Thomas” story — John 20:24-29).

More to the point for us, however, is the fact that too many of our dear friends and relatives are also dismissive of Jesus rising from the dead, in spite of the substantial amount of evidence available. I feel like it is often the case that those who doubt Jesus’ resurrection refuse to take the time to study the facts. I think that deep down they don’t want to face the reality of what the truth of His resurrection might mean in their lives. Years ago I spent a good deal of time looking at the evidence for His resurrection and was absolutely convinced of Jesus’ bodily resurrection. I cannot cite all that evidence “on command” these days, but the truth of the matter has stuck with me. For Dickie’s sake (my younger brother) I think I need to look at that evidence anew. How about you?

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 17:1-13

“Notice what you notice.” The transfiguration. The first thing that I noticed was the disciples’ fear. But the fear came, not at the bright light or Moses and Elijah or the cloud, but only when the Father spoke, when He spoke the same words that He had spoken at Jesus’ baptism. I’m trying to imagine words that strike fear. If I was in trouble when I was younger and my father spoke, yes, I was afraid of what was to come. But the disciples were not in trouble. Then I’m trying to imagine the Father’s voice, a voice “out of the blue” that would strike fear. The closest that I can come is a thunder crack that is very close. It is deafeningly loud and it strikes fear, but only for a second. The Father’s words were a full sentence, maybe five seconds or longer.

The most God-like voice that I can imagine is James Earl Jones, especially his soliloquy in A Field of Dreams. That deep, bass voice: “Baseball…”! But fear on hearing the Father’s voice? Hard to imagine. Jesus’ gentle touch brought the apostles back. This whole story is GLORY!!

So what about Andrew, our namesake? This is the second occasion where we’ve seen Peter, James, and John set apart. The first was the raising of Jairus’ daughter. The next will be Jesus’ praying in Gethsemane. So this transfiguration is the most glorious of the three. But why Peter, James, and John? I’ve always wondered about that. What about Andrew? He’s the one who first brought Peter to Jesus. How did these three ascend to “the top” while leaving Andrew behind? Not a big item. Just wondering…

We have two more days of the transfiguration. It’ll be a glorious three days that will take Carol and me to Maryland, then on a plane to Prague and more. All GLORY!!

Slava Bohu!

Luke 9:18-27

“Notice what you notice.” Verse 24: For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. Today it is worth quoting an entire footnote from my Study Bible regarding this verse, that this saying of Jesus “…is found in all four Gospels and in two Gospels more than once (in a slightly different form in John). No other saying of Jesus is given such emphasis.” The Gospel sources are Mt. 10:38-39, 16:24-25; Mark 8:34-35; Luke 9:24, 14:26-27, 17:33; and John 12:25. Interesting…!

“Daily.” If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (v. 23) In one of my Bibles I already had this word underlined. Only Luke has us taking up our crosses daily. But what a good thought that is! Taking up your cross could be a one-time thing – a conversion prayer or a Holy Spirit renewal. But taking up your cross daily…! Taking up your cross as Jesus did on the way to Golgotha, remembering and identifying with Him in His suffering…, daily. Our hearts could be so much more pure if we would take up our crosses, daily.

Slava Bohu!

Mark 8:27-9:1

“Notice what you notice.” I have often imagined / presumed that whatever Jesus said to His disciples, He was also saying to us today. For example, He could easily be asking us, Who do people say that I am? (v. 27) Or He could be asking us, But who do you say that I am? (v. 29) We need to constantly ask ourselves, for His teachings to His disciples or to the crowds, what He might be saying to us today.

Those thoughts are fully relevant in today’s reading, as the passage closes with Jesus saying, For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:38) I ask myself whether the Jewish world in Jesus’ time was in fact so “adulterous”? We could easily believe that of the Gentile world, with its temple prostitutes and its subjugation of women. But were the Jews themselves so “adulterous”? I wonder.

HOWEVER, when I bring Jesus’ verse 38 line into today’s world, the word “adulterous” is wholly applicable. We are truly in the midst of an “adulterous and sinful generation”. Adultery today is seemingly more prominent than faithful Christian marriage. Men and women having affairs while married is the classic adultery. But unmarried people living together also falls outside our traditional understanding of acceptable male-female relationships – to say nothing of same-sex issues!! We’ve long been a “sinful generation”, going back centuries and millennia, but I feel like our 20^th and 21^st century USA behavior has taken adultery to a new level. We are living in the midst of this “…generation”; let’s be bold for Jesus and His words so that He will be bold for us when He returns.

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 16:13-28

“Notice what you notice.” My Study Bible notes that verse 21 begins a new phase, a turning point in Jesus’ ministry: From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. This Study Bible comment hinges on the word “began”, that Jesus “began to show His disciples…”. The Study Bible argued that up to this point Jesus had been ministering to the crowds. Now He is turning His attention to the twelve.

I began to think about this claim and came up with at least four items that support that claim. First, Jesus and His disciples were in the district of Caesarea Philippi, which (I believe) was as far north as Jesus traveled. From this point on Jesus is heading south, back into and through Galilee and on to Jerusalem.

Second, Jesus establishes Peter as the leader of the Twelve, and later as leader of the Church. This decision is based on the Father’s revelation to Peter as to Jesus’ true identity: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven…” (v. 17). As Jesus is moving in a direction of ministering to His disciples, He now has a “second-in-command”. He then further elevates Peter by bringing him to the mountain for His Transfiguration (the very next event in Matthew’s Gospel).

Third, Jesus is very straightforward about His cross and resurrection. To this point He has had difficulties with the Jewish leaders, but I don’t recall that He has said that He must die.

Finally, the next event in Matthew is His Transfiguration. In His Transfiguration He is revealing Himself to Peter, James, and John in a very different manner than He has ever shown before.

So now, we watch to see if the focus changes, if there is less crowd activity and more interaction between Jesus and His disciples.

Slava Bohu!