"There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white,whiter than anyone in the world could bleach." (Mark 9:2-4) The next day they came down from the mountain and were confronted with chaos: a grieving father, a boy who falls to the ground, foaming at the mouth.
This week I am thinking about why Jesus came. Jesus,"Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant,...and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:6-8) I find the reason for Jesus' coming at the foot of the mountain.
I have always identified with the father who was powerless to help his son. This father had faith, but in the midst of his pain he also had doubt. He came to Jesus and humbly prayed, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief." Jesus met him where he was. He heard his cry, understood his great need and answered his prayer.
Yesterday I was remembering this scene but this time it wasn't the father I identified with, it was the son. I was eighteen again sitting huddled in the corner of a solitary confinement cell in a state mental hospital. Confused, I sang softly, "But I know who I have believed in and I'm persuade that He is able to keep what I have committed unto Him against that day." Just like the boy at the foot of the Mountain of Transfiguration, I couldn't save myself.
Today I am reminded that when Jesus humbled himself and came down from glory, it was for me. Just as He entered into pain of the father and son at foot of the mountain, He also entered into to my pain and confusion and brought salvation.
Sarah..Sarah...Sarah...You are just precious. I got an Easter card today from Draha. She wrote on the back of the card the same verse you wrote today...Phil 2:6-8
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Indeed. One of my favorite images is an icon showing what the Eastern Orthodox call "the harrowing of hell." Their belief is that - after he died on the cross, and before he rose again on Easter morning - Jesus went where all the dead up to that time had gone. The icon shows Jesus standing on the gates of hell that he's just kicked down, and he's got Adam by one hand, and Eve by the other, and he's clearly saying, "Okay, people, we're done here - let's go!" (okay, that's my rough modern interpretation)
ReplyDeleteWhat I love about that icon is what you've described here: Jesus, kicking down barriers and walking through walls and breaking down obstacles, coming into whatever horrible place I've confined myself or been confined - by sin, or by grief, or by fear - and saying, "Stop all this. Come forth. Come be with me, and leave this place."