SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 8/9/2012 7:47:40 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
First Suffering Then Glory
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Mark
9:1-8
Message
of the verses: I have listened to
different sermons on this section along with reading different commentaries,
and there are some who say that the chapter break is in the wrong place, and
others who say that the chapter break in Matthew 16 to 17 is in the wrong
place. I realize that the chapter breaks
are not inspired, but were put there to help us better understand the
Scriptures and I suppose that the chapter break that most people would say is
wrong is between Isaiah 52 and 53 where Isaiah 53 should have began at verse 13
of Isaiah 52. With that said I will look
at the section in Mark 9:1-8 in today’s Spiritual Diary as one whole unit. Dr. Wiersbe entitles this section
“Confirmation” which covers the first eight verses of chapter nine. This is actually a sub-title under his main
title which he calls “Suffering Leads to Glory” that goes from Mark
8:27-9:13. Today’s SD will actually be
the third SD under this main heading.
For just a bit of a review before we
look at this section in Mark nine we should remember that the highest section
in the book of Mark is found in chapter eight where Peter states that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and then after that Jesus begins to tell
His disciples that He must suffer and die and three days later raise from the
dead. Peter then rebukes the Lord who in
turn rebukes Peter. What Peter was missing was that
in order for the kingdom of God to happen the sin problem had to be taken care
of and this could only be done through suffering. We mentioned Isaiah 52 and 53 already, but it
is in this section along with Psalm 22 that speaks of the suffering Messiah,
but Peter, along with all of the other disciples, did not understand this. They were looking for the glory that went along
with the kingdom, and there are many OT passages that speak of the glory. It was at this point that Jesus will show His glory to three of His
disciples and this is what this SD is about. John MacArthur states that before the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead that this miracle is the most important miracle that was done by our
Lord while He was on earth.
Confirmation
(vv. 1-8): “1 And Jesus was saying
to them, "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing
here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has
come with power." 2 Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James
and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was
transfigured before them; 3 and His garments became radiant and exceedingly
white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 Elijah appeared to them
along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. 5 Peter said to Jesus,
"Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one
for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 6 For he did not know
what to answer; for they became terrified. 7 Then a cloud formed, overshadowing
them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is My beloved Son, listen
to Him!" 8 All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore,
except Jesus alone.”
Peter and the rest of the disciples
were having a great problem in understanding the fact that Jesus was going to
die. They did not want to believe that
Jesus was going to die and we see in different passages that they did not
understand this. Jesus states in the
gospel of John about sending the Holy Spirit to those who would believe and
that the Holy Spirit would cause them to remember the things that Jesus had
done and the things that He had taught His disciples. Peter became a different person after the
Holy Spirit came upon him as seen in Acts chapter two and he even writes about
this event that we are looking at in the second letter he writes: “12 Therefore, I will always be ready to remind
you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been
established in the truth which is present with you. 13 I consider it right, as
long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14
knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our
Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will also be diligent that at
any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind. “16
For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His
majesty. 17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an
utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is My
beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased"- 18 and we ourselves heard this
utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. “19 So
we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay
attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the
morning star arises in your hearts. 20 But know this first of all, that no
prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no
prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit
spoke from God.” These verses follow the
verses that I am working on to memorize and therefore have great meaning to me.
Mark states that six days later and
Luke states that eight days later and some may think that this is a conflict.
Dr. Wiersbe writes “Luke’s ‘about eight days’ is inclusive of the day of the
lesson and the day of the glory, Luke 9:28.”
Now the mountain that they went up
on is probably Mt Hermon, for they were already in the region near to where Mt.
Hermon is located, Caesarea Philippi.
Mt. Hermon is a high mountain, which is what the text is saying that
they went to a high mountain, 9232 feet high.
Jesus only takes Peter, James, and
John with him and the text states that He was transformed before them. This transformation revealed His glory;
something up until this time had been hidden from His disciples. John, who was with them, wrote about this in
the gospel of John when he writes, “John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and
dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of
the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
Jesus was transformed on the
mountain while His disciples were actually sleeping and when they awoke they
saw His glory and saw Him speaking to Elijah and Moses. Dr. Wiersbe writes “Moses represented the Law
and Elijah the Prophets, both of which find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ
(Luke 24:25-27; Heb. 1:1-2). Moses had
died and his body was buried, but Elijah had been raptured to heaven (2Kings 2:11). When Jesus returns, He will raise the bodies
of the saints who died and will rapture the living saints (1Thes. 4:13-18).” It
is at this point that I want to talk about something that is found in the
eleventh chapter of the book of Revelations where we find the account of the
two witnesses. There are many who
believe that these two witnesses are Moses and Elijah, the same two whom we
meet in the passage in Mark. Jesus
speaks of Elijah coming before Him later on in Mark nine. There are a couple of reasons that Bible
Commentators believe that these two wittiness are Moses and Elijah and one of
these reasons is that the miracles that these two wittiness’s do are similar to
the miracles done by Moses and Elijah.
The second reason is that neither of them finished their ministry while
on earth, Moses sinned and therefore was not allowed to come into the Promised
Land and Elijah was “raptured” before his ministry was finished.
I want to focus in on the word
“transfigured” or transformed that is found in this section, for the word is
not used many times in the Scriptures.
Dr. Wiersbe writes, “The word transfigured describes a change on the
outside that comes from the inside. It
is the opposite of ‘masquerade,’ which is an outward change that does not come
from within. Jesus allowed His glory to
radiate through His whole being, and the mountaintop became a holy of
holies! As you meditate on this event,
keep in mind that He has shared this glory with us and promised us a glorious
home forever (John 17:22-24). According
to Romans 12:1-2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18, believers today can experience this
same transfiguration glory.” Romans
12:1-2 state, “1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that
ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good,
and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
2 Cor. 3:18 states, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a
mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from
glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” The Greek word is “metamorphoo
met-am-or-fo’-o,” We get the English metamorphose from it, and we can see this
word used when a worm turns into a butterfly.
I suppose the question can be asked how this happens to the believer,
how are we changed by the renewing of our minds and how are we changed from
glory to glory? I can give at least one
answer to this question and that is through the Word of God. As we fill our minds with the Word of God we
will be changed from one glory to the next glory.
One more point here and that is
about what Peter said and perhaps why he said what he said. I believe that this event happened near or on
the time of a Jewish feast that is called “The Feast of Booths,” and this feast
was to remind the Jews of their wondering in the wilderness when they live in
booths or tents and they were taken care of by the Lord who gave them food and
water during those forty years of wondering.
Now we saw in the last chapter that Peter put his foot in his mouth by
rebuking Jesus and now we can see again that Peter kind of speaks out of turn,
but we must remember that he, James and John were napping and when they work up
they saw Jesus in all of His glory speaking to Moses and Elijah, so this must
have been a shock to all of them. We
learn that Jesus was talking to Moses and Elijah about His upcoming death and
resurrection. We can also learn from
what God the Father said at this time, and that is that Jesus is His Son and we
should listen to Him. Perhaps Peter was
the one that this was directed too, but probably to the others too along with
us in today’s world, for we should listen to what Jesus says in His Word.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: We see from our reading and studying in Mark
that the disciples of Jesus were looking forward to the kingdom of God, and not
looking at the suffering before the glory.
I have mentioned before of my reading of a book called “Implosion” by
Joel Rosenberg in that he talks about different ways that it is possible that
the United States imploded and one of the ways is that the rapture comes and
all of the believers go to heaven and this will leave a big whole in our
country by many important people vanishing.
The rapture is our hope, but am I being selfish in not wanting to see
many others come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord by
hoping that the rapture comes at this time?
Perhaps I am like the disciples.
My prayer is that the Lord would bring another great awaking to our
spiritually dry land so that the Church will awake into a great revival so that
the church will be empowered to go out and tell others about their need for the
Savior.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Continue to pray for revival in our land, that the church will be
revived.
Memory
verses for the week: 2Peter 1:1-9
1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and
apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have received a faith
of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus
Christ; Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of
Jesus our Lord, 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything
pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called
us by His own glory and excellence. 4
For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so
that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world by lust.
5 Now for this very reason also,
applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your
moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your
self-control perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your
godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are your and are
increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9
For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having
forgotten his purification for his former sins.
8/9/2012
9:40:07 AM
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