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 come 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 2Corinthians 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.”
2Cor. 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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