Mark 9:1-9 This is My Beloved Son
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: February 22, 2018, Mark 9:1-9
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
(Revelation of God) I think that the disciples were still looking at Jesus as a slightly modified man or a superior prophet. They still thought of Him as equal with Moses and Elijah, not superior to them. Here the Father makes it clear to them that Jesus was more than a prophet; he was the son of God. The Father testified that Jesus was His son so that the disciples would understand that they need to place Jesus higher up the scale of their reckoning. The Father has to put some form of love or joy into His words of Jesus. He does not say, “This is my obedient son or my powerful son or my smart son or my royal son.” No, what the Father wanted the disciples to understand about Jesus was that not only was Jesus God’s son, but He was the beloved of God. The Father loves the Son is one of the important facts that I often overlook. I just accept it without thinking about the significance of that relationship. Jesus is beloved by the Father.
(Understanding the Text) John the disciple had heard John the Baptist testify about the Father’s voice coming at the baptism of Jesus and affirming that Jesus was His son. Was John the disciple present that day? I don’t think so from the way John 1 reads, but I could be wrong. Now, John the disciple hears the Father’s voice for himself.
Luke adds a few more details. “And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him” (Luke 9:30-32). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the next stages of the plan of salvation. The Desire of Ages says that Jesus had prayed for a chance to show these three disciples the kingdom of heaven so that they would be better prepared to face the coming trials. However, their tiredness made it so that they missed much of the conversation that could have prepared them. God wanted them to know what was going to happen. He tried to tell them, but they refused to listen or their physical condition kept them from listening.
The two men from heaven and Jesus spoke of Jesus leaving to go to Jerusalem and what He would accomplish there. This was a kind of pep talk rather than a planning session. The plan had been put in place from before creation. However, God had never been a man before and never had to suffer and die as a man before. Thus, Moses, who was Jesus’ friend and had experienced death, could give Jesus some insights. Elijah knew what it was like to fear and run and forget his faith in God’s power. Both men had valuable insights into the weakness of humans and the problems Jesus would face. They had also been Jesus’ companions in their human lives on earth and then for thousands of years with Jesus in heaven. They were part of Jesus’ inner circle who cared about humans as humans themselves. They understood what it meant to sacrifice for unworthy humans. Thus, just speaking with the two men who had “been there and done that” may have provided comfort for Jesus as He would have to continue to work with ignorant humans who had no understanding of the big picture for the human race. There is sort of a role reversal here. During the lifetime of Moses and Elijah, it was Jesus who was the sustainer while they experienced the weaknesses of being human. Now, they were the sustainers from heaven while Jesus was in a weak human body subject to human limitations.
What did Moses and Elijah think when the three disciples woke up and saw them? Did they sort of smile and wink at Jesus when Peter made his idiotic suggestion about the tents? Was God the Father already there when the disciples woke up and simply started covering Himself so that they would not die after they woke up? Or did He approach after Peter made the mistake of equating Moses and Elijah with Jesus. Was this testimony planned, or was it a spur of the moment correction of the disciples’ misconception of what they were seeing?
Jesus told the disciples to tell no one until He was raised from the dead, yet the disciples still were shocked when Jesus died and when He was resurrected. Why was that?
(Revelation of God) I have too much of the Greek idea of a stoic God. God is passionate and concerned and draws comfort and joy from us. Jesus was passionate about saving people and brooded when they refused to be saved. Jesus asked His disciples to give Him comfort when He felt bad. Jesus had joy in children and was excited when there was a breakthrough in His disciples’ understanding. He touched the disciples and let them lay on Him. God is full of passion and intimacy and touch. God is social and while “need” might be the wrong word, “want” is too weak for how God interacts with us. Jesus drew comfort from His two heavenly human friends and brought His three earthly human friends to be part of the experience.
(Understanding the Text) Three from heaven and three from earth and the Father in the mix. I’m not sure if there was any significance in all that. Elijah who never died and Moses who did in the mix with the Father who will never die and Jesus who was about to die. Again, I’m not sure if there is any significance in this parallelism.
(Application / Prayer) There is a lot more here, but I am too obtuse this week to get it. Heaven is a very different place than this world. Things are brighter and cleaner there. We should not be satisfied with this sinful degraded worldly life when there is a much cleaner, more fulfilling future in heaven if we can only keep choosing to follow Jesus amid the squalor that we call home. I pray to look to heaven instead of focusing on the questionable fun of this world.