Glory is Coming! (Those Out Will Be In)

Study Notes

Glory Is Coming!

Mark 9:2-13

     The more clearly you see who Jesus is, the better you will know how to live in this world. 

     This basic message functions at the heart of the part of the Gospel of Mark that we are learning from this Lent Season, i.e., Mk 8:22-10:52.  And, if today, like the early disciples, you’re not seeing Jesus very clearly, then you may need to listen carefully to this message – because, in our text today, God’s Word seeks to open your eyes to see Jesus.

In the story of Jesus up to now…

     After 8 chapters telling us about Jesus doing miracles and exorcisms, forgiving sins and teaching as no one has ever taught, and engaging in incredible acts of love, the disciples still cannot see who he is.  So, we began our Lenten series with the account in 8:22-26 of Jesus healing a blind man by spitting in his eyes.  At first, the man saw only partially so that people looked like trees walking around – and. then later, Jesus enabled the man to see better.  That led to last week’s message from Mk 8:27 – 9:1 in which Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you think I am?”  Peter seemed to have discerned a little bit of who Jesus was, i.e., Peter thought he was the promised Messiah.  But, Peter did not see that Jesus was also the one who had to suffer and die if anybody would ever have hope of forgiveness and eternal life.  So, at best, Peter and the disciples were seeing Jesus only partially.  For them, it was as if Jesus was a tree walking around. 

     So, what did Jesus do about their spiritual blindness?  Did he have to spit again and again in their eyes so that they would see him better?  Well, what he did was take three of them up a mountain.  These three Jewish disciples would surely have known well that it was on a mountain that some of the great people of their past had met God – people like Moses and Elijah.  What happened to them that day on that mountain is what I want us to think about today. We’re going to do what my son Brandon called us to do in his message two weeks ago, i.e., experience Jesus calling all his followers to 1) see, 2) understand, and then 3) respond.   

1. See -- Jesus was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them (9:2-3).

     This episode begins with what might seem to be an unimportant detail, i.e., “after 6 days” (9:2a).  But, it’s not unimportant.  That detail is striking because, up to now, Mark has not given us any time designations at all in his gospel.  Instead, for 8 full chapters, all the action has been rapid fire.  Mark describes each episode of Jesus’s life by saying, “this happened and then immediately that happened…”. But, in 9:2, Jesus slowed down.   

     “After 6 days…”  Does that remind you of anything?  Isn’t it like God’s creation of the world described in Genesis 1.  God created rapidly and then stopped “after six days.”  God slowed down his miraculous creating to see what he had made.  With that in mind, it’s evident that Jesus recognized that these disciples were still not seeing what they needed to see.  But, he loved them and wanted them to see better. What Jesus wanted them to see is essential if they would ever grasp 1) who he is and 2) how we are to live after we become Christians.

     So, Jesus slowed down.  And, just like Jesus did with them, I’m going to slow down right now with you.

     Let’s think about what we’re seeing in this text: These men had “seen” Jesus for 3 years – but the Bible tells us that they never really seen him.  Now, in Jesus’s last journey toward Jerusalem and his death, he facilitated an experience that, though they didn’t grasp much of its meaning when it happened, they would remember it and cherish it after he was gone.  One of them, John, would later write, “We saw him.  We saw the glory of the one and only Son of God (Jn 14:6).”  But, when they first saw that glory, they still didn’t see it – not fully.

     The word that describes what they saw is translated “transfigured” in v. 2.  That was a word for something real that is inside but grows or morphs to be seen on the outside.  In other words, that person or being that is “transfigured” is changed in a way consistent with what he was before but, after the transfiguration, can be seen visibly.  You see, this transfigured Jesus is still the Jesus they knew before -- but there is something more about him than they had previously seen – and that “something more” is “deity”. 

     Let me read vv. 2-3 again: “Jesus was transfigured before them.  His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.”  This is like what happened to Moses when he had met God on the mountaintop in Exo 34.  But, with Moses, only his face was radiant after meeting with God.  But, Jesus in this case is the radiant one.  This radiance is what God’s people have called “shekinah glory”, the glory of God.

     Later, in the NT, the writer of Hebrews said that Jesus himself is "the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his nature (Heb 1:3)."  All this is to say that, to see Jesus, this one born in a lowly manger, was, at the same, to see God. (See Jn 14:9.)  Jesus is the Shekinah presence of God.

    So, in last week’s message, we heard Jesus ask, “Who do people say I am (8:27)?”  All the answers of the people at large were wrong:  They were saying, “John the Baptist reincarnate”, “Elijah returned”, “another great prophet…”  Even Peter’s answer, i.e., “you are the Messiah” was only part of the answer.  Today in our passage, we hear God the Father speak from out of a cloud saying, “This is my beloved Son (9:7)!”

     So, now, you have heard this report from Mark 9:2-3.  When you look at Jesus, who do you say he is?  Whom are you seeing when you see Jesus?  Does he seem a bit confusing and vague – like a tree walking around?  Do you need him to come and spit in your eyes?  That’s my first word: See.

2. Understand – Peter said, “Rabbi, let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say. He was so frightened) (9:5-6).

     Shockingly, Elijah and Moses show up.  Why Elijah and Moses?  Maybe because both had conversed with God on mountaintops.  Maybe because both of them had also experienced something of God’s glory.  I think the main point of the story is that Moses was the great lawgiver who had establishing Israel as a people.  And Elijah was the great prophet calling people back to God.  They were the ones people looked to as the great figures of the past.  Moses had rescued people from slavery and had defeated the great Pharaoh.  Elijah had defeated all the prophets of Baal.  You see, those were the good old days.  Those were the times of victory.  Now, Israel was under the oppression of a pagan government.  These men wanted it to be the way it used to be.

    So, for the three disciples, it’s clear that, without taking time to understand what they were seeing, they still saw Jesus as being equal to Elijah and Moses.  It’s like they were saying, “Wow!  Jesus, you’re one of the three great leaders of Israel.  “You are as great as Moses and Elijah were.  And, now God has brought them back --so, let’s triumph again.  Let’s use this as a base and bring our people to victory again!”  That’s the implication of their words: that Jesus should make Israel as great as it had once been when Moses and Elijah were here. 

     So, Peter called Jesus, “Rabbi” in v. 5.  That means teacher.  Do you see it?   They thought that, in these three men in front of them, they had 1) the great lawgiver, 2) the great prophet and 3) the great teacher.  “We like this Jesus!  This is a whole lot better than all your talk about suffering, dying and crucifixion (from Mk 8:31-32 that Pastor Jeff preached about last week).

     But, rabbi though he was, Jesus was no mere rabbi.  Nor was he simply one of three great men.  See vv. 7-8:  Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”  Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them, no one except Jesus.

     And, don’t miss this: In the very next verse, v. 9, Jesus said again that he will die.  And, vv. 12-13, Jesus insisted that he would soon suffer and be rejected in this world.  And, the disciples were confused.  How could this radiant and glorious man also be a rejected, suffering, and dying man?  They saw -- but did not understand.

     So, do you understand?  The point is that this man they had been with for 3 years was fully human. He had lived in poverty.  He had experienced trials and temptations.  He had wept.  But, he was also fully God – in control of the entire universe.  He could speak, and the winds and waves obeyed.  He had the power to accomplish the mission he had come to earth to accomplish. Do you see and understand more about him now?  Jesus is both fully man come to the world to live with us and die for us.  To change things in this world, he had to enter into the wrongs and injustices in this world.  At the same time, he is God who promises to end death and abolish all the effects of sin.  Jesus took his disciples up onto the mountain so that they could see that he was and is both.

     I spoke last week with my artist son, Brandon, about how one reality might be seen in more than one way depending on your perspective.  He referred me to a newer movement among artists called “Perceptual Shift.”  Modern sculptors in the movement are creating works that show us how approaching the same work of art from differing perspectives can expand our understanding of reality:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fd1GoiK3rk 

     So, the disciples saw Jesus from a different perspective on that mountaintop.  He was still the same Jesus they had been with – who experienced all the trials and temptations of this world (though without sin).  But, now they had also seen his shekinah glory.  Would they understand what they had seen?  Would they understand that Jesus is both human and divine? Being human, he had chosen to enter into and experience the evils of this world in order to redeem us. And, being God, he would be able to defeat the evil – even death itself.  From that, they should have understood that, although there will continue to be difficulties now, that glory is and glory was coming.  God’s glory would someday come in its fullness. 

     So, Jesus indicated, they would have to go back down the mountain and into the world where he would die.  And, they would have to follow him wherever he would lead.  So, the disciples had seen both Jesus’s humanity and his glorious deity.  They now had to understand the implications of what they had seen. 

     And, they needed to do one more thing: They needed to see – to understand – and to respond.

3. Respond -- “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him (9:7)!”

     Listen to Jesus!  This means to hear what he says and be directed and changed by him.  Let Jesus be the voice that directs your life.  When you have a decision you have to make, listen first to him.  When you want someone shaping your life, don’t let it be a great celebrity but let that main influence be Jesus.  God was saying to the disciples that they won’t find God’s kingdom by going back to the days of Elijah and Moses.  Elijah and Moses were only pointing toward the coming of Jesus. What is in the past is still incomplete.  What was back then was not so great anyway.  Not for Moses.  Not for Elijah.  Not for us either.  We thank God for a great heritage – but Jesus constantly leads us forward into a new kindgm – not backward.  The kingdom of God is still coming.  We’ll still face challenges in our future – but Jesus’s glory is real, and glory is coming. 

    Churches have always been marked by looking back – to the days when it seems that everything was more comfortable and defined.  “Let’s build three shelters and stay here – one for Waybright, one for Ortlund or Cedar or Kirk or Hutchens…?  No!  We have been sent into this world and this time to live with Jesus and to bring the gospel of Jesus into the challenges of our world.  One in Christ with one another, we must go out in unity into our world and address the issues of our day -- bringing the person, the message, the love and the reconciling work of Jesus to our world and all that’s happening in it. 

     I cannot tell you with specificity where Jesus will lead our church family.  But, I know this – it will be to a place that is more like his kingdom than it is now and than it ever has been before.  God loves this world – with all its issues related to immigration, sexual orientation, abuse of power, etc., etc.   But this is the world God has created us for and sent us into.  And, who is with us?  The one who is with us is fully human and therefore knows how hard it is – but he is the one who bears the shekinah glory of God.  We go in his name

     So, after descending from the glory of the mountaintop experience, these disciples enter back into the cold harsh realities of this fallen world.  Jesus had been preparing them for it by saying that he was coming back to die.  But, they wanted none of that.  They only wanted the glory.  But, Jesus says – first the suffering and death and then the glory. “I will die but I will rise again.”  I will do both.  And, you will too.

     So, Jesus takes his disciples from that mountaintop place of seeing his power, majesty and glory back down the hill into this fallen world as it is.  He thereby lets them and us know that there is still a lot of work to do until the kingdom of God arrives fully – but, even while we will have to live in this world, Jesus will still be Jesus –We must see him both crucified and risen if we will see him aright.

     In our Lenten journey this year, we will move next week all the way to Mk 10:17-31 and the story of the rich young ruler.  So, this week, I urge you to read on your own Mk 9:14 – 10:16.  Now that you have seen the shekinah glory of Jesus, you will see the difference that this makes in the lives of Christians.  Let me tip you off to what you will see:

• You will see that failures will be made useful again (9:14-32).

     The disciples come down the mountain and their disciple-colleagues could not do what Jesus had empowered them to do, i.e., liberate a boy from the oppression of an evil spirit.  In this case, Jesus says the problem was a lack of faith.  But, Jesus is that glorious Jesus we saw on the mountaintop.  Jesus set the boy free.  Please notice, however, that Jesus did not give up on these disciples even though they had failed.  No, he would not leave them where they were either.  They needed to learn about faith and grow in their own faith.  It’s so beautiful -- Jesus would use these same failures to launch the church.

     The point is: When you turn from your faithlessness and renew your trust in Jesus, you will experience that he forgives you and uses you again.  So, you may have failed yesterday, but glory is still coming!

• You will see that people who are viewed as low in the world are lifted up (9:33-37; 10:42-49).

     You’ll seen two passages dealing with little children.  The 1^st C was not a children-friendly world.  The main cultures of the world did not value children at all.  And, the disciples had imbibed the values of their culture. But, Jesus valued children.  And, those who follow him must do the same.  When we see Jesus as he is, we will see people as Jesus sees them, i.e., as image bearers of God and potential new creations in Christ.

     So, if you feel devalued in this world because of age, race, appearance, or any other reason -- let me tell you that Jesus sees you, knows you and loves you to his death.  May that be true of us as his followers.  For, people in this world may be put down today, but a new day of glory is coming!

• You will see that those who were outsiders will be brought inside (9:38-41).

     A man who was not a part of the disciples, maybe not even of their ethnicity, was able to do what the disciples had not been able to do, cast out demons.  The disciples didn’t like it.  But Jesus makes it clear that those who live and speak “in his name” are no longer outsiders.  No, like this man in 9:38, in Jesus you not only belong but you become a full participant in the work of God.  When we have seen Jesus and listen to him, we discover that the basis for belonging in God’s family is our relationship to Jesus.  So, let me tell you today that, you may feel alone and alienated in this world – even right now in our own church family – but that will not last forever.  Glory is coming!  And the glory of the work of Jesus is that people from every tribe, language and nation become full members of the family of God – in Christ.

     Know this today:  We who follow Jesus sometimes will still experience failure, rejection and alienation as Jesus did.  At this point in Mark’s gospel, the disciples were not yet ready to hear this part of the story. They only cared about success now.  But, I hope you see and understand more now than those disciples did. I pray that, having seen Jesus as God’s Word reveals him to be, you will leave church today knowing that Jesus is with you and never forsakes you.  He’s not done with his work yet so you will face challenges. But, I pray you will be able to live this week with hope and confidence, walking on faithfully through the “dangers, toils and snares” of this world – because it may sometimes be hard now, but, Jesus’s glory is real – and the fullness of his glory is still a-coming.

Chinese Study Notes

榮耀正在來臨!

馬可福音 9:2-13

      你越認識主，就越知道如何在世上度日。

            這一基本內容就是我們四旬期學習馬可福音的中心，參看可8：22-10：52。如果說今天我們不能像早期門徒那樣與耶穌面對面，我們就當仔細聽—因為今天神的話要開我們的眼睛去認識耶穌。

 

耶穌的故事發展至今…

            馬可用了8章來講述耶穌行神跡、趕鬼、赦免罪、教導人所未聞的道理，彰顯他的憐憫，但他的門徒們還是不認識他。我們是從8：22-26耶穌用吐沫醫治瞎眼人開始四旬期系列的，那瞎眼人先是模糊看見人像移動的樹木，後來耶穌使他完全看清了。上周我們又看了可8：27-9：1，耶穌問門徒：“你們說我是誰？”彼得似乎有些認出耶穌，說他是應許中的彌賽亞；但彼得並不知道他還是要受苦、釘死、帶給人赦免和永生盼望的那一位；所以彼得和門徒們只是看見了耶穌的一部分，就好像剛能看見的瞎子，他們只是看見耶穌像移動的樹木。

            耶穌針對他們的屬靈瞎眼做了什麼？他要一遍遍往他們的眼上抹吐沫好使他們能看見嗎？這次，耶穌把三個門徒帶上了一座高山。這三個猶太門徒應該知道古代許多偉大的歷史人物，比如摩西和以利亞都是在這座山遇見神的。那一天在山上門徒所經歷就是今天我要大家去思想的。我們應該回應我兒子布萊頓在二周前的倡議，去做耶穌要求所有門徒所做的，即1）看； 2）明白；3）回應。

1.看 -- 過了六天，耶穌只帶著彼得、雅各、約翰，領他們悄悄地上了一座高山。在他們面前，耶穌變了形像。他的衣服變得光亮耀眼，極其潔白，地上漂布的人無法漂得那樣白。 (9:2-3)

            這段故事開始於一個似乎不重要的細節：“過了6天”（9：2a），但這並非不重要。在前8章，耶穌所有的行動如疾風烈火，馬可一個接一個地描述耶穌的故事，但在9：2節，耶穌慢下來了。

            “過了6天”，有沒有讓你想起什麼事？難道不是像創世紀1章關於神創造世界的描述嗎？神連續創造，卻在6天后停下來了，神停下來觀看他的神奇創造。而此時耶穌知道他的門徒還沒有看清他們應該看到的，但他愛他們，願意他們看清楚本質，即 1）耶穌是誰；2）作為基督徒當如何生活。    

            耶穌慢下來，現在我也慢下來。
            我們從這段經文看到了什麼：這些人“認識”耶穌3年了，但聖經說其實他們並沒有真正認識他。耶穌知道最後的行程是去耶路撒冷受死，他要給門徒們一個特別經驗--儘管他們對此未必能瞭解多少；但在他離開之後，他們會記住並珍視這經驗的。他們中的約翰後來寫道：“我們看到了他的榮耀，正是從父而來的獨生子的榮耀”（約1：14）。但他們第一次看見那榮耀時，他們沒有完全認識。

            經文中描述他們所見所聞的詞被譯作“變了形象”，這詞的意思是：裡面依然真實，但外表看起來有了改變；換句話說，“變了形象”的人雖然外表改變，但內裡卻仍然與過去一致；只是“變相”後可以被很好地認識了。你們看，變相的耶穌依然是他們以前所認識的，但他們比以前多了一些認識—多出的部分就是“聖潔”。

            我再讀一下2-3節：“在他們面前，耶穌變了形像。他的衣服變得光亮耀眼，極其潔白，地上漂布的人無法漂得那樣白。”這就好像出埃及記34章所記載的摩西在山上遇見神一樣，摩西在與神相遇後只是面皮發光，但耶穌就是光源---即神的子民所說的“舍金那”，即神的榮耀。

            新約《希伯來書》的作者論到耶穌說：“他是神榮耀的光輝，是神本體的真像”（來1：3）。所有這些都是說，看到耶穌，一個卑微的馬槽嬰兒，就是看見神（參見 約14：9）。耶穌是神本體的舍金那。
            上周講道中，我們聽到耶穌問：“人說我是誰？”（8:27）大部分人的回答都是錯的，他們眾說紛紜，說他是“約翰復活”、“以利亞歸來”、“又一位先知”，即使彼得說“你是彌賽亞”，也是部分的答案。今天的經文中，我們聽到父神在雲中的聲音：“這是我的愛子！”（9：7）

            現在你已經瞭解馬可福音9：2-3，當你看耶穌時，你說他是誰？當你看耶穌時，你看見了誰？他還像一個移動的樹木模糊不清嗎？你還需要他來在你眼上抹吐沫嗎？這就是我要說的第一點：看！

2. 明白 – 彼得對耶穌說：“拉比，我們在這裡真好！讓我們來搭三座帳幕，一座為你，一座為摩西，一座為以利亞。”其實彼得不知道說什麼才好，因為他們都非常害怕 （9：5-6）

            以利亞和摩西震撼出場了。為什麼是他倆？也許他們都在山上與神交談過，也許二人都經歷過神的榮耀。我想故事的重點是：摩西作為偉大律法的給與者，建立了一個以色列民族；以利亞則是呼召人歸向神的先知，他們都是人們眼中的古代偉人。摩西曾經把百姓從埃及奴役下救出，並擊敗了強大的法老；以利亞則擊敗了巴力的眾先知。他們代表了過去偉大的時代，是勝利的時代。如今以色列在外邦政府的壓制下，這些門徒好盼望他們能再次出山帶領以色列。

        很明顯，對三位門徒而言，來不及花時間思想他們的所見，他們還以為耶穌與摩西、以利亞相等；他們像是說：“哇，耶穌，你是以色列三個偉人之一，你和他們一樣偉大！現在，既然神把他們帶回來，讓我們再次凱旋，讓我們以此為基礎，帶領百姓再次勝利！”這話其實是暗示耶穌應該與摩西、以利亞一樣，使以色列再次偉大。

            彼得稱呼耶穌“拉比”，就是老師的意思。看見了嗎？他們看面前的這三個人，包括 1）偉大律法的給與者；2）偉大的先知；3）偉大的教師。門徒們心想：“我們喜愛這個耶穌，比那個與我們談論受苦受難釘十字架的人好多了！”（傑夫牧師上周用可8：31-32講道時說到了這點。）

            儘管耶穌是拉比，但不只是拉比，也不只是三個偉人中的一個，看7-8節：“這時候，有一朵雲彩出現籠罩他們，並且有聲音從雲中傳來：‘這是我的愛子，你們當聽從他！’”。

            但要注意，接下來的第9節經文，耶穌說他要赴死；然後在12-13節，再次強調他很快就要受難，被世界所拒絕。門徒們大惑不解，為什麼一個有榮耀光輝的人會被拒絕、受難、甚至被殺害？他們看了卻不明白。

            你們明白嗎？重點是，他們跟隨了三年的老師是完全的人，他生活貧困，遭遇試探和試煉，也曾哭過；但他也是完全的神，掌管宇宙萬有。他一發話，風浪平息；他有能力完成他來到世界的使命。你現在對他的認識和瞭解有更多嗎？耶穌是作為完全的人在世上與我們同在，並為我們而死；他為改變世界，首先是進入了充滿邪惡和不公義的世界；但同時，他也是神，他應許要廢掉死亡、除去罪。耶穌帶門徒上山，要讓他們看見他是完全的人，也是完全的神。

上周我和我的藝術家兒子布萊頓談到，由於視角不同，你可以看到一個事務的不同方面；他建議我瞭解一下一個新運動“知覺轉移” 。當代雕刻家正在嘗試讓我們從不同角度認知一件藝術品，可以擴展我們的認識程度，參見https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fd1GoiK3rk 

            門徒們在山上得以從不同角度看耶穌，一方面他依然是與他們同在的耶穌—經歷了世界上的一切試探、試煉，只是沒有犯罪；但另一方面，他們也看見了他的舍金那榮耀，他們是否明白自己所見到的呢？他們是否明白耶穌的神人二性呢？作為人，耶穌選擇進入並經歷這邪惡的世界，好拯救我們；作為神，他擊敗了邪惡，甚至擊敗了死亡。門徒們從此應該明白，儘管這世上還有苦難，但榮耀正在來臨；神的榮耀終有一天完全彰顯。

            耶穌說他們還要下山進入世界，他也要在世上捨命；門徒們也決定要跟隨耶穌的引領，因為他們看見了耶穌的人性與神性的光輝，他們開始明白他們所見的含義。
      但他們還要做一件事，他們要看-要明白-要回應。

3.回應 -- “這是我的愛子，你們當聽從他！” (9:7)

            聽從耶穌！這意味著聽他的話，並願意被他引領和改變；讓耶穌在你生命中發聲帶領你。當你要做決定時，先聽聽他怎麼說；當你決定做出改變的時候，不要讓明星們影響你，而要讓耶穌做改變你的工作。神並非要門徒們回到以利亞、摩西的時代去找天國；過去的都是不完全的、沒有完全實現的，包括摩西、以利亞和我們。我們感謝神給我們如此好的傳承，但耶穌要繼續引領我們到新天新地，而不是向後看；神的國就要來臨！我們的未來還會有挑戰，但耶穌的榮耀是真實的，它正在來臨！

        教會常常有往後看的傾向，懷念那些舒適的年代：“讓我們搭三座棚，一個給我，一個給李四，一個給王五或趙六…”不，我們被差遣到世上，是要與耶穌同行，把福音帶給這個世界。我們應該在主裡同心合意，進入世界，去面對今天的問題，把福音、愛與耶穌的和好工作帶來，改變世界。

            我無法具體告訴你們耶穌要帶領我們的教會大家庭去哪裡，但我知道，那是一個比我們過去、現在更接近他國度的地方。神愛這個世界，雖然世界充滿各樣問題，比如移民、性向、濫權等等，但它是神創造的並差遣我們去的地方。是誰和我們一起去？就是那位完全的人，他瞭解一切的艱難；但同時他也是完全的神，充滿神的舍金那榮耀。我們就是奉他的名去的。

            在經歷了山上的榮耀後，這些門徒回到了冰冷和墮落的世界；耶穌預備他們的心，告訴他們自己將受難。我們知道，這些門徒不想要這些，他們只想要榮耀；但耶穌說，先要受難、受死，然後得榮耀：“我死但還要復活！”我要效法他，盼望你們也是。

            耶穌把門徒帶到山上，讓他們看見了他的能力、威權和榮耀；然後下山回到塵世，為了讓門徒，讓我們知道，在神的國度完全降臨前，我們還有很多工作---雖然我們必須在這世上，但耶穌沒有改變，我們既要看到他在十字架釘死，也要看到他復活，這才是正確認識他。

            按今年的四旬期系列，我們下周要看馬可福音10：17-31，是關於一個年輕富有官的故事。我鼓勵你們先自己讀9：14-10：16。你們已經看見耶穌舍金那的榮耀，你們還要看見這榮耀如何改變信徒的生命，我給你幾點讀經建議：

• 你將看到主讓失敗成為對人有益的（9:14-32).

            門徒們下了山，然而他們的同伴卻行不出耶穌讓他們去行的，不能解救一個被鬼附的孩子。耶穌說，這是因為他們小信；於是我們看見的榮耀的主親自救了那個孩子；但主並沒有放棄這些失敗的門徒，他沒有離開他們。他們需要學習信靠並在信心中成長。很美的一件事是—耶穌將使用這些失敗者開啟新約教會。

            重點是，當你轉離失敗，重新信靠耶穌時，你將經歷他的赦免和重用。你可能昨天有失敗，但榮耀正在來臨！

• 你將看到世界所蔑視的反被提升（9:33-37; 10:42-49).

            你會看見有兩段經文都談到兒童。一世紀的世界對兒童並不友善，主流文化認為兒童沒有什麼價值，這也影響了門徒。但耶穌看重兒童，所以跟隨他的人也要效法他。當我們認識了耶穌，我們看待他人也要像耶穌看待他們那樣，每個人都有神的形象，都可能是在基督裡新造的人。

            如果你因為年齡、種族、長相或其它原因感到了世界的排斥，讓我告訴你耶穌怎樣看你，他認識你並願意為你死。願每一個跟隨他的都認識這點。這個世界的人今天可能會被蔑視，但榮耀的新天新地正在來臨！

• 你將看到那些原來在門外的被帶了進來（9:38-41).

            有一個人不在門徒之列，甚至不是猶太人，卻能做出門徒不能做的事，把鬼趕出。門徒不喜歡這事，但耶穌清楚地說：凡言行“奉他的名”之人就不再是外人。比如9：38節的這個人，不僅屬於耶穌，而且完全加入到神的工作中了。當我們認識耶穌並聽從他時，我們知道屬於神大家庭的基礎是我們與耶穌的關係。我要告訴你們，你們或許感到在世上孤獨受排斥—甚至有可能在我們的教會—但絕不會長久，榮耀正在來臨！耶穌大能的榮耀就是各族各方的人都能在基督裡成為神家的人。

            今天你們要謹記：我們這些跟隨耶穌的人有時也會經歷失敗、拒絕和排斥，就像耶穌所經歷過的。在馬可福音中，門徒們不想聽這些，他們只在乎現在的成功。但我盼望你們比當時那些門徒看得更多、明白得更多。我禱告，既然神的話把耶穌啟示出來，你們離開的時候就知道耶穌也隨著你，不會離棄你。你還會面對挑戰，因為他的工作尚未完成。我禱告，你們這一周充滿信心和盼望地工作、學習，即使歷經世界的“危險、試探和網羅”，也忠心跟隨主---因為這世上有苦難，但耶穌的榮耀是真實的—他完全的榮耀正在來臨。

榮耀歸給神！

Greg Waybright 博士

主任牧師