Lenten Musings - #9

Mark 9
verses 9 and 10 - 9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what "rising from the dead" meant.
I like that this sort of thing is included in the gospels. There is such a sense of reality in these moments. Jesus says not to talk about these things until He rises from the dead. The disciples probably looked sideways at each other with a look of confusion, eyebrows raised, wondering, "what in the world is he talking about?" I dont' think they were expecting Him to die any time soon, and people don't usually rise from the dead. It's comforting to see that the disciples had to wrestle with Jesus' words just as much as the rest of us do.

verses 14 to 29
Here again we are presented with the idea that our belief, our faith, is somehow integral. When Jesus heard that the disciples couldn't cast out the demon, His initial response is to say, "O unbelieving generation". Later, when the boy's father says, "But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." Jesus responds, saying, "If you can?". I picture it in the sort of way I would respond to my kids if they would question my ability to do something simple. The heart of the matter, Jesus says, is "Everything is possible for him who believes." That's a pretty big statement. Although, I think maybe we're too quick to read it as, "everything is going to happen or him who believes." I don't think there's a guarantee attached to this statement, just the opening up of possibility. There is hope when it seems there shouldn't be. But hope is never a guarantee. Hope is.... well, hope. You hold on, instead of giving up. You never know, maybe tomorrow will see that which you have longed for.

verse 40
I like that Jesus says, "whoever is not against us is for us". The church has gotten a bad rap over the centuries because we haven't lived this way. Some much division has come up. Sometimes there's legitimate reasons for that division, but it doesn't excuse the way that division has been handled. Some people will focus on that which separates us. Little bits of doctrine or the interpretation of what is and isn't sinful. But I think Jesus' call here is pretty obvious. If they're not agaisnt us, then they are on our side. It seems for the most part that nowadays denominational distinctions aren't as important, which I think is a good thing. It's fine to be different, and to allow each other to be different, so long as we're doing our best to follow Jesus.