Mark 9:14-15

Passage

Jesus, Peter, James, and John come back down the mountain to find the rest of the disciples.  When they get there, they find the disciples arguing with some scribes.  When the crowd recognizes Jesus, immediately they come to Him and greet Him.  They were amazed when they saw Him.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

They come down from the mountaintop experience.  I think that right there is a huge point.  Remember Peter from a few days back?  “Lord, can’t we stay here forever?  Let’s build some homes for you all!”  No, Peter.  We can’t stay on the mountaintop forever.  God has not called us to stay on the mountain.  God has called us to the mountain so that we can learn atop the mountain and then come down from the mountain and engage the rest of the world again.  There is a saying that solitude is a necessary tool in the Christian toolkit, but solitariness is not.  We need to have those moments of communing with God.  But if we never come back to people, what good are they?

Why do we need those moments of solitude and communing with God?  Why do we need to learn to come away from those moments?  When is it hard to find those moments with God?  When is it hard to leave our moments with God?

Second Thought:

The rest of the disciples are arguing with various scribes (teachers of the Law).  I love this part of the story.  Just because Jesus isn’t around doesn’t meant the opposition will sit around and twiddle their thumbs.  Jesus isn’t there, so His disciples get ambushed!  Word to the disciple: when the teacher is away, you are the most vulnerable.  When the teacher is away, you need to be the most prepared.  That makes so much sense when you think about it.  But how many of us actually live the opposite truth?   We get ourselves so ready to learn and participate when the teacher is present yet we completely relax when the teacher is away.  It should be the opposite.  We should relax when the teacher is present – abide in the presence of the teacher.  When the teacher is out of our presence, we should be prepared to act and be on our guard!

Why is it easy to live life backwards – prepared when the teacher is around and relaxed when the teacher is not around?  Why do you think the enemy argues with the disciples when Jesus isn’t present?  Do you think the enemy might have even relished the opportunity to argue with the disciples and not Jesus?  Why or why not?

Third Thought:

When the crowd sees Jesus, they are amazed and they come out to see Him.  They wanted to see Jesus.  The rushed to the teacher because they thought He would have the answer.  For the crowd, the teacher was the focus.  For Jesus, it was the end of the mountaintop experience.  For the teacher, being around the crowd is an opportunity to feed, not to be fed.

How difficult do you think it was for Jesus to know that wherever He went he was going to be the focus – for good or for ill?  Why is that important to understand for those of us who are called to be spiritual people in this world?

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 9:16-18