Jesus' kingdown was coming with power.
Last Sunday we ended on a hopeful note. In Mark 9:1 (NIV) Jesus promised his disciples, "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power."
This is a strange verse, because the disciples had already been watching Jesus' kingdom come in power. Right? They had watched as Jesus had driven out evil spirits. He had healed people of fever, disease, leprosy, paralysis, bleeding, blindness, and deafness. He restored a man's vocal chords, spontaneously regenerated a man's shriveled up hand, and raised a girl from the dead. He fed the 5000, then 4000. Remember how frightened the disciples were when they sensed Jesus' power in Mark 4:41 (NIV)? "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" People would just touch the edge of Jesus' garment and be healed.
At this point, the disciples have witnessed a SPECTACULAR display of power. What does Jesus mean when he says, "...some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power?" The fireworks have already been spectacular. Is Jesus suggesting that the grand finale is yet to come? That an even greater measure of power is to be experienced by Christ's followers?
What is so powerful about the kingdom of God?
The key to understanding Jesus' words is to focus on the phrase, "kingdom of God." What is the kingdom of God? What is powerful about the kingdom?
We often think of Christ's power in physical dimensions: signs and wonders, miracles and healings, the feeding of thousands, and calming of the storm. But what if in Mark 9:1 Jesus is making a shift from the physical to the spiritual? From an exterior experience of Christ's power to an interior experience of that same power? What if the rescue of a man's soul, and the interior restoration of a man's character, and the submission of men's hearts to the authority of Christ's kingship is what is in view here? What if the power of God's kingdom is interior? What if it's more about who we are becoming in Christ than what we are experiencing materially or physically?
Let me remind you that moments earlier in Mark 8:34-37 (NIV) Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Up to this point, people were clamoring after Jesus because they wanted to save their physical lives from suffering, disease, and death. Now Jesus is inviting them to surrender their lives, and to exchange the temporal for the eternal. He is inviting them to deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow him. He is telling them that they must lose their lives in order to find their lives.
How do we do this? How do we follow Jesus and experience his power? Mark 9:2-13 has some great words of instruction for us.
Get alone with God.
Mark 9:2 (NIV) says, "After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone."
Before we can have that mountaintop experience of Christ's power, we need to find a way to get alone with Christ. Throughout the gospel of Mark, Jesus would get away from everything and get alone with the Father in prayer. Before Jesus inaugurated his public ministry, he spent forty days and nights in the desert with the Father, fasting. Before Jesus rose to popularity in all of Israel, he'd escape to lonely places for prayer and renewal. Before he appeared before Pilate, he escaped to the quiet of the garden of Gethsemane to pray with his disciples.
We need to get away from our cell phones, the internet, the e-mails, the doorbell, the car horns, the distractions, the demands, and the rush of life, and just be alone with God. This is the value of Christ in Youth, church camp, retreats, and the Sabbath on Sunday. There needs to be a set time to give attention to God and to give energy to the things he is asking of us. Grab a few of your closest Christian friends and get away and get alone with God!
Let Christ lead you up the mountaintop.
Mark 9:2-4 (NIV) says, "After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus."
There is a lot of symbolic meaning in these verses. You may remember how God led Moses up a mountaintop, where he showed Moses his glory. When Moses came down from the mountaintop, his face shone with the glory of God. People could see that he had been with God.
Here, the three chosen disciples experience the glory of Christ. With brilliant clarity, they see Jesus as he really is-- as the Son of the living God, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus had come to fulfill the law of Moses. He is the one like Elijah, the Christ, sent from God to redeem sinful humanity.
All I can say is that there are these moments of euphoria, these mountaintop experiences, when after we've been alone with God for some time, he suddenly shows himself to us. Maybe we don't see Christ transfigured, but he becomes real to us nonetheless.
These mountaintop experiences are a gift. Enjoy them. Learn from them. Mountaintop experiences help us gain perspective. They help us see the ultimate realities of heaven and hell, life and death, salvation and eternity.
Learn to follow Jesus in everyday life.
Mark 9:5-7 (NIV) continues, "Peter said to Jesus, 'Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters-- one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.' (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) Then a cloud appeared and enveloped 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 except Jesus."
Notice that Peter's first impulse is to cling to that mountaintop experience of Christ's glory. He wants to hold on to it and make it last as long as he can. So he offers to build a shelter for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. But just as suddenly as Christ had been transfigured, and the cloud appeared, and Moses and Elijah appeared, they hear the voice of God and they no longer see anyone except Jesus.
So here is the deal. Our desire (temptation) is to cling to those mountaintop experiences, to draw them out, and to preserve them for ourselves and for others. Let's build shelters! What God desires is that we learn to listen to Jesus and follow him in everyday life. The mountaintop experiences are great! We have a whole bunch of teens who have been on the mountaintop all week long with Jesus and one another at the Christ in Youth conference. Praise God! But the truth is that we don't live on the mountaintop! We don't live at CIY, or at church camp, or at a church building, or in isolation from the world.
We must come down from those euphoric mountaintop experiences and learn how to experience God's power as we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus in the world.
Ultimately, we trust Jesus unto death.
Mark 9-13 (NIV) says, "As 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. They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what 'rising from the dead' meant. And they asked him, 'Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?' Jesus replied, 'To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as its written about him.' "
Our obedience comes down to one fundamental issue. What do we truly believe about Jesus? About his identity and his relationship to the Father? Is he the Christ? Do we believe in the resurrection? Do we believe in eternal life? Is there more to life than what we can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch with our hands?
If we disbelieve the resurrection, we'll never let go of our desires, the love of money, or the lusts of the flesh. We'll always hold back in our obedience to God.
The story of Oliver.
A week ago we had a man who showed up at our church one afternoon. He had walked up to our church during one of those torrential downpours.
Oliver was an interesting fellow. His pockets were full of rocks, mud, washers, road debris, and small metal trinkets he'd found or been given. He carried a knapsack stuffed full of everything from clothing to religious tracks. We noticed that he had feathers stuffed into his Miller Light ball cap. He told us that he'd eaten a dead bird off the road earlier. I guess the feathers were his proof? He offered to make a $5000, then a $10,000 contribution to our church.
One thing was positive about Oliver-- as we spoke, he would spontaneously break into song or prayer. He perfectly quoted dozens of scriptures to us. He told us the gospel message accurately. He was convinced that the King of kings and Lord of lords was about to return at any moment. He was on his way to warn the entire population of the city of St. Louis that their eternity lay in the balance. He knew we loved him. He kept saying to us with a smile, "You're showing me tough love."
We thought it best to call the police to help Oliver find a safer place. Mark Gannar and Patti Clendenny were amazing. They convinced Oliver to give up his rocks, his washers, his metal trinkets, and the dead bird, and go with them to a better place.
This is why Jesus showed himself to his disciples! It is why Jesus shows himself to us! God has so much more for us than dead birds, rocks, mud, and worthless trinkets. If only we could understand our destiny and our eternal hope, we would surrender the things of this life at once! We would learn to deny ourselves, take up our crosses daily, and follow Jesus unto eternity. We'd experience the greatest measure of Christ's power possible.
Our resurrection hope.
It's only when we understand our eternal hope that we would consider giving up the things of this world. It's only when we see that on the other side of life, through death, that God has something greater for us. That's when we would deny ourselves, and take up our cross, and follow Jesus.
The resurrection transforms the way we live. It's the secret of the power in which God wants us to live. It's the secret of the kingdom. Our resurrection hope makes us forget about the things of this world.
Until we get our minds around this resurrection, it's doubtful that we'll experience Christ's power in the way that we could. That power is experienced through faith and through trusting God and living and following him in everyday life. That's when he shows his greatest power to us. That's an interior reality. The reality of God's power is not in a mountaintop experience. It's an internal experience.