Joy in the midst of sorrow. Hope in the midst of despair. Remembering the mountain-top in the midst of the valley. To be mindful and expectant of supernatural realities in the midst of everyday life. A woman saying, "I want to give all the glory to God" as she emerges from the cruiseline disaster. Isn't this "glass half full" perspective what we're looking for in the Christian life?
After Peter, John, and James experienced the glory of Jesus Christ, and they were returning down the mountain, Jesus told them not to tell about this until after he was raised from the dead. (Matthew 17:9). In Luke, the disciples simply don't tell anyone. In Matthew and also in Mark, it's at Jesus' request.
In Mark, as in the other gospels, the Father himself speaks and tells the disciples to listen to Jesus. This was a peak moment for me during Kevin's sermon - to ponder a holy, almighty God's pleasure in this man Jesus, his Son - and to imagine a thing so wonderful as that. And the Father says, "Listen to him!" The NIV translates this phrase in Matthew and Mark with an exclamation point! In the whole Bible, what do you think are the urgent, exclamation point moments for God? This is one of them: "listen to him!"
God says listen to Jesus, but the first thing Jesus says is, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." It is the first thing he says, and already, I bet the disciples didn't want to listen to this. I would want to tell everybody about it, the way Peter eventually does in 2 Peter 1:12! I can imagine having an amazing experience and wanting to give the glory to God, and I don't think I'd understand if Jesus then said, "The time isn't right. Don't tell anybody yet. People will get the wrong idea."
Joy in the midst of sorrow. We want our Christian life to express this. And Jesus knows this will only be a reality for us through his cross. He says don't talk about this until I'm raised from the dead. He's telling us not to leave the ingredient of suffering and death out of the recipe of our rejoicing. They go together. The cross is where Jesus makes us like himself. Without it, the transfiguration would have been a nice experience but nothing more. Through the cross, Jesus makes us like himself - dead to sin, raised to new life. And God the Father speaks over us, "This is my beloved child!" Over us. Without the cross, we are just observers of an amazing mountain-top scene. Through the cross, we become participants in it. And we don't leave it behind. It goes with us everywhere.
People gave glory to God even though they were in a terrible situation on a cruise ship. Unless they were psychic, I don't think they knew this was going to happen. And we don't know what's going to happen to us today. Kevin said that the news world loves bad news. I agree. But the world is also aching and longing to know that people can go through hellish experiences and that even though the body suffers, the soul can still thrive. As Christians, we know what this is like because we know about the cross.
1) Is there anyone you admire for the way they've endured something difficult?
2) What is a difficult struggle you've been through? How did you get through it?
3) How is Jesus' cross a comfort to you in your hardships?
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