Newsletter April 2020 Part 2

The sovereign Lord

 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.”

     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. 4 And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  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.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  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 9:1-10)

     When Jesus went about teaching about the kingdom of God and doing miracles large crowds gathered to hear Him and to be healed of illnesses and delivered from demonic oppression.  They came because they had needs and Jesus met their needs.  However, He also challenged them, explaining what it would mean to follow Him.  He knew that He posed a threat to the religious and political establishment and that they would conspire to kill Him; and He knew that this was the purpose for which He had left His place in glory and taken on human form (Phil. 2:6-8).  He knew that many who were celebrating His miracles now would soon be discouraged and lose faith as they could not see beyond His humanity. 

     Jesus therefore warned that following Him would mean giving up all; that to receive the true life He was offering they would have to give up the life they knew.  For many, He knew, the cost of discipleship was too much; once pressure came, such people would turn away.  Yes some would live to see His kingdom come with power.

     Today we know that none of the disciples lived to see Jesus return to this earth, when every eye would see, when every knee would bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord (Phil. 2:9-11).  We too do not know if we will live to see that day, and we don’t know what challenges we may have to pass through before that day comes.  We can therefore be discouraged as many were in those days and give up when the pressure gets too much for us.  Or we can look up through the eyes of faith and see Jesus exalted; by faith we can recognised that He is in control, no matter what may be going on around us.

     Jesus took three of His disciples to a mountain top alone with Him, and there He allowed them to catch a glimpse of who He really was.  There the Father drew back the veil of humanity that concealed His divinity and they were able to see Him in all His glory.  One of these three recalls this encounter when He writes (2 Peter 1:18) we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.  What a privilege to be present at that moment of revelation!  What an experience!  Surely having seen Him transfigured and having heard the voice from heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” they would never doubt again.  And yet these three, like the rest of the disciples, were overcome by fear and unbelief when they saw Jesus arrested and taken away to be crucified.  It was as if He had never told Him that He would rise again, to overcome the power of death – once for all.

     Fortunately the story does not end there.  After His resurrection He showed Himself to many and they believed (1 Cor. 15:5-8).  They then proclaimed the message of His resurrection everywhere and many more came to faith in the risen Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:3-4).  And as they proclaimed His kingdom His power was manifested and many miracles were done in His name.  Jesus is still on the throne; He still rules supremely and His power is still at work.  Yes, those early disciples suffered persecution and some even died, but their eyes remained firmly fixed on the risen Lord, seated in glory (Acts 7:55-56). 

     Therefore let us, like them, not be discouraged because of what we see happening around us.  Let us continue to trust in God.  Let us believe that He is still able to do the impossible – to stretch forth His hand to heal and protect.  And let us remember that we have an eternal hope beyond this life.  Let us find comfort in the assurance that those who have died in Christ have merely gone before us and are now forever in His glorious presence (1 Thess. 4:13-18).  Let us look to the day of Christ when there will be no more death, sorrow, crying or pain (Rev. 21:4) as all things are gathered together in Christ (Eph. 1:10).

Pastor Konrad