Category: Red Letter Year

Red Letter Year: 2/4

Mark 9:1-13

9 Jesus went on to say, “I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God arrive in great power!”

2 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. 4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus.

5 Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials — one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 He said this because he didn’t really know what else to say, for they were all terrified.

7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.” 8 Suddenly, when they looked around, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus with them.

9 As they went back down the mountain, he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept it to themselves, but they often asked each other what he meant by “rising from the dead.”

11 Then they asked him, “Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?”

12 Jesus responded, “Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready. Yet why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be treated with utter contempt? 13 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they chose to abuse him, just as the Scriptures predicted.”

Comments

Now this is what the Pharisees were demanding (back in ch. 8). This is the sort of sign that would have fit their criteria (maybe). But Jesus only took three people and told them not to say anything until after his resurrection. Moses and Elijah appear, demonstrating that the Law and Prophets point to Jesus, have led up to Jesus, must be understood in relation to Jesus. The three with him don’t know what to do or say, they are terrified and babbling. But Peter was right, it was good that they were there, or we wouldn’t know anything about it, missing out on two key lessons. When the kingdom comes in power, two things happen: 1. Jesus is glorified, lifted up, revealed for who he is; 2. the people who witness this power are encouraged to listen to him. Some things may come that look powerful, but if they fail on either of these points, something is lacking. I pray that today as you read this passage, Jesus will be transfigured in your thinking, made more glorious than your imagination has yet conceived and that the metamorphosis of how you picture Jesus would encourage you to listen to him more intently than ever.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Red Letter Year: 2/1

Mark 8:22-38

22 When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. 23 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?”

No I don’t think this is biblical evidence of Ents.

24 The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”

25 Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly.26 Jesus sent him away, saying, “Don’t go back into the village on your way home.”

27 Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

28 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.”

29 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”

30 But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

31 Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. 32 As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.

33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Comments

I have been praying for people to be healed for years, but only recently have I adopted a method similar to what Jesus uses here with the blind man. No, not the spitting part (though don’t sit in front when I’m preaching or lecturing, sometimes I get excited). The part where Jesus simply and quickly prays (it actually only says he lays hands on the man here, prayer itself is implied, not stated), then asks if the prayer has worked. When the man says partially, Jesus does it again. Robbie Dawkins uses this approach regularly with a lot of success, so we’ve been doing it too. It feels very in keeping with our Vineyard approach, where praying for healing is normal and something to be treated as such. We are also finding that a lot of times the second (or third) round of praying is when healing occurs. Amy, the girls, and I prayed for a friend like this yesterday in a parking lot and he felt some tingling in the spot that needed healing. We’ll see if there are long term results. If you aren’t used to praying like this, give it a try. It worked for Jesus, so why not us?

I think this goes well with the main point of today’s reading, Jesus’ encouragement there at the end to follow his example, to live for others and for the Gospel, to give up claim to one’s life, to be – what’s the opposite of ashamed? To be bold, defiant, immodest, not sorry, shameless, un-regretful, un-remorseful, unselfconscious of Jesus and his message (all those courtesy of thesaurus com).  Hear in today’s red letters a call to live like that. Because that is how Jesus lived and how he calls his followers to live.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.