Devotions

This is My Beloved Son. Listen to Him!

by  • 

Jesus takes three of the apostles with him to pray, they are tired and sleep and wake to she Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah. Jesus tells them “Get up and do not be afraid” and Peter says lets make a shrine. That was not God’s plan, and the Father speaks, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!”. Even now, this is good advice. As they come down from the mountain there is a demon possessed boy, and this demon uses this boy to stir up the crowd. Jesus simple commands the demon to come out and the boy is immediately whole. Why hadn’t any of them taken the authority themselves?

He Was Transfigured Before Them

Mark 9:2-13
Matthew 17:1-13
Luke 9:28-36 

This is My Beloved Son. Listen to Him!

Mark 9:2–13
Jesus often went to the mountains or just alone to pray. Here we get a glimpse of his prayer life. Jesus wasn’t just talking to himself because in

Mark 9:4 (LEB) And Elijah appeared to them together with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.

Peter often answered quickly and his first reaction in Mark 9:5 is “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! And let us make three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”. but that wasn’t what they were there for. It was not to make a shrine for Jesus. It was for Jesus to get direction, for him to connect with the plan of redemption. And here Jesus is standing with “Moses was the supreme law-giver of Israel. To him the nation owed the laws of God. Elijah was the first and the greatest of the prophets. People always looked back to him as the prophet who brought to them the very voice of God. When these two great figures met with Jesus, it meant that the greatest of the law-givers and the greatest of the prophets said to him, ‘Go on!’ It meant that they saw in Jesus the consummation of all that they had dreamed of in the past. It meant that they saw in him all that history had longed for and hoped for and looked forward to”.1 And then comes the confirming voice of the Father, in

Mark 9:7 (LEB) And a cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!”

Sometimes we need to suspend our active minds and listen to hear what Gods plan is before we go off with our own. 

Get Up and Do Not Be Afraid

Matthew 17:1–13
Our natural reaction when we have an encounter with the glory of God is to fall. Whether it is the presence of an angel, or simply the glory of God on Jesus, they couldn’t stand in that presence. Men talk of the glory we see in nature, in Gods creation, but even the vast greatness is nothing next to the light of His Glory.

Psalm 19:1–3 (LEB) The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands. 2 Every day they pour forth speech, and every night they tell knowledge. 3 There is no speech and there are no words; their sound is inaudible.

Romans 1:19–20 (LEB) because what can be known about God is evident among them, for God made it clear to them. 20 For from the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, both his eternal power and deity, are discerned clearly, being understood in the things created, so that they are without excuse.

Two Men Were Talking With Him About His Departure

Luke 9:28–36
Jesus was coming to the end of his earthly ministry. He was coming to the time of his sacrifice, his death on the cross. As it says in Luke 9:31 “which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem”. Peter may not have known what was ahead as they stood on the mountain, but he does recount the events in 2 Peter 1:15–18 with full understanding.

A Spirit That Makes Him Mute

Mark 9:14-32
Matthew 17:14-23
Luke 9:37-45

Your Disciples Could Not Expel It

Mark 9:14–22
The crowd is in turmoil as Jesus comes their way, in Mark 9:18 it was “a large crowd around them (the disciples) and scribes arguing with them”. This is what evil spirits do, cause turmoils, drama, arguments. Jesus asks in Mark 9:16 “What are you arguing about with them?”. And the boys father steps forward and says, “I brought to you my son who has ⌊a spirit”. The father goes on to describe the symptoms in Mark 9:17-18. Then Jesus rebukes them all for their unbelief. Hadn’t they gone out two by two and returned saying the demons were subject to them? (Yes, they had!)

I Believe! Help My Unbelief!

Mark 9:23–32
So, what is the problem here? This spirit was one that wanted to command attention. Even in its last moments in Mark 9:25 as Jesus said “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and enter into him no more!”, in Mark 9:26 “it came out, screaming and convulsing him greatly”. What? This deaf and dumb spirit came out screaming. This spirit used this boy to control the lives of this family and everyone around them. But it could not continue usurping authority over that boy as his father made the request and Jesus answered. 

Lord, Have Mercy On My Son

Matthew 17:14–23
Everyone agreed this was a bad situation. Everyone knew that this was not the kind of life God intended for this boy or for his family. But in Matthew 17:16 “they were not able to heal him”. It wasn’t healing that he needed. It was deliverance. Someone had to have the faith to stand up and rebuke that demon. You have met people who behave like that demon haven’t you? They talk louder they are more aggressive and every conflict escalates until everyone else backs down and they get their way. But not so with Jesus, in

Matthew 17:18 (LEB) And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him and the boy was healed from that hour.

They Were All Astounded

Luke 9:37–45
No one had been able to do anything to help this boy and his father. But the power was right there for them to use, if the they had only believed, the power of God’s kingdom always rules over sin and death and every evil spirit. Didn’t Jesus say “I have overcome the world”.

Who Will Be the Greatest

Mark 9:33-37
Matthew 18:1-5
Luke 9:46-48

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Mark 9:2-37
  • Matthew 17:1-23
  • Matthew 18:1-5
  • Luke 9:28-48

The Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ – The Gospels

This series follows the order of readings from the Tyndale One Year Chronological Bible. Covering these events chronologically as they happened, gives a much different context and helps us understand the move of God as He is introducing the Saviour, the Light of the world, Jesus Christ. This series begins with Return To Me And I Will Return To You at the end of Malachi and introduces the “Witnesses” writing the Gospels.

Operation Exodus

is helping Jewish people return to their homeland. You might fund one that desires to go home. http://operationexodususa.org/Overview

References

  • 1. Barclay, W. (2001). The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark (p. 244). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.