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Week:09, Season:1,
2015
Posted on Saturday by PCT
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The Prophecy of Resurrection
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Scripture：《
Mark 9:2-9
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2 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. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 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.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) 7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” 8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. 9 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.
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A revealed secret
“Shh! Don’t tell anyone!” A very common conversation between my childhood friends. What does it say to you？ Once I saw a child playing with his friends but he looked unhappy and tearful. After investigating the situation, I found that it was because all his friends had said to one other, “Shh! Don’t let him know our secret.” The feeling of “you are an outsider” hurts.
On the other hand, if you are one of those who know the secret, you must feel pleased as you know that you are trusted and valued by your group. The feeling of carrying a certain responsibility and mission makes you feel valued. One thing from my youth is still clear in my mind today. There was a time when my father began to receive complaints from his customers that the wrong number of the goods were being delivered by his company. My father knew that the goods had been counted every time before delivery but the truck driver said, “The number of goods was wrong and some of them were missing”, while I arrived at the customer site. One afternoon my father came to ask me, “Are you free this evening？” I said, “Yes, I am.” Then my father mentioned the situation of missing goods and asked me to follow the truck secretly to check whether his employees were telling the truth. Before I left, my father repeated, “This is very important. Shh! Don’t tell anyone!” It was the first time I had felt that I had carried the same mission and responsibility as my father. I was thrilled and excited about the idea that “I am valued by my father.” Since then, at six o’clock every evening I followed the company truck secretly until six. the next morning. I felt exhausted but because this mission was closely related to my father and his business, I never complained and saw it as a very meaningful purpose for me.
When Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up the high mountain, he was transfigured before them. After that, the appearance of the prophets, Elijah and Moses, shocked them. Before they could understand what had happened, and a cloud appeared and a voice came from it saying: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” At the time, Jesus told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. From this conversation, it is obvious that the lives of these three disciples were inextricably bound to Jesus and they shared the same mission and responsibility. This was a vital spiritual instruction to them.
The prophecy of resurrection
This passage reveals the key of the mystery of the Lord’s salvation and how it is closely related to our life. This key is also the secret of how to be saved from the bondage of Satan. The passage reveals the prophecy of Jesus’ ”resurrection.” The death and resurrection of Christ is closely related to two meanings about Christians and God:
First, you must learn from Christ how to live and face moments of sin and temptation. You “died” with Christ on the cross and you must give your life to the Lord and die again “in Christ.” This “death” means our life will be separated from the old one by Christ and in Christ; and the new life given to God.
The death and resurrection of Christ makes us live without paying the price of sin; we no longer need to live for success or failure with ups and downs in life; we no longer need to carry the suffering and pain. The risen Christ has promised us that we are able to reject hatred, shame and sin which continuously entangle us as these all died on the cross with Jesus Christ.
Secondly, you must learn from Christ to live for the glory of God and live your life well. The reason that you have been chosen to be a Christian is to reveal the glory of God. You need to think of the Word of God every day through prayer and listen to his voice. This is a life with glory and a life which will bring you richness.
The prophecy about Christ’s resurrection is not a rumour but true, the mystery of Christ which is revealed to us over and over through the time of Lent and helps us to experience God’s glory and beauty.
A sign of the resurrection of Christ in you and me
Today is the second Sunday of Lent which is one month before Passion Week when we prepare our hearts and remind ourselves to walk with Christ on the spiritual road to resurrection. This is the road of truth which God wants us to travel. The sign of the resurrection is the cross. Is there a cross of Christ in your heart which captures the glory of resurrection and keeps you wanting to live for the glory of God？ If so, what you need to do to live out the example of Christ fully is to “listen to the voice of Jesus.”
In the past, all schools in the United States hung a copy of “the Ten Commandments” in their buildings to show that their country and people were willing to follow God’s teaching. Until modern technology changed people’s thoughts about life, some justices in the Supreme Court of the United States expressed public opposition to hanging the words of the Ten Commandments in public schools. They believed that the Ten Commandments no longer served any educational purpose. These justices stated that having the Ten Commandments on the classroom wall had the purpose of promoting religion. It is sad that the Ten Commandments are no longer believed in no matter how much we emphasise their value to society. The Ten Commandments taught us about many controversial social issues: honour your parents, murder, adultery, theft, false witness, and covetousness. The first half of the Ten Commandments are related to Christians’ religious obligations, such as you shall have no other gods before Me, you shall not make idols, you shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
I am not judging whether the decision made by justices at the Supreme Court of the United States is right or wrong; at least he pointed out the reason why people no longer believe in God today which helps us to explain the fact that most people are denied to believe in the mystery of the resurrection of Christ. The purpose of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is to save us from “devastating sin” and allows our sins to be cleansed through the precious blood of Christ. It is a mystery that although we died from “human sin” but we live in “the glory of God.” I personally consider that the decision of banning the display of the Ten Commandments is wrong because no one should deny the creator God. You and I need the gospel and salvation. I encourage each of us to think again about the promise and salvation given to us from God. Let us remember that all special events happened for you through the inspiration of the Bible and that wisdom, spirituality and salvation all come from the death and resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
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For discussion：
1. How will you spend your Lent this year to remember the grace of the resurrected Christ？
2. How to pray for the knowledge of to understand the mystery of the grace of the risen Christ？
Please pray for：
1. PCT’s 150th years’ ministry and gospel work.
2. Churches to be equipped by the power of truth and for the Word of God to becomeour strength.
3. Friends who seek God. May the gospel of the Lord enter their hearts.
Prayer：
Grace giving God, please help our church to root the gospel in the hearts of more people’s. Make us a channel to proclaim the gospel. We have known the mystery of your salvation and we should not conceal it from others; instead, we should do our best to witness your glory. Please help us to be willing to answer the call to serve people and become blessing to them. In the name of Christ. Amen.
Something you can do：
1. Encourage your family members to read a Bible passage and meditate on it after dinner each day during the Lent. Make family life be filled with the grace of salvation.
2. Ask your church to plan and distribute the Lent daily Bible study schedule; encourage all members to study together and remember the passion and resurrection of Christ.
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