PASTORAL PONDERINGS
“Jesus Only”
A Cloud Overshadowed Them…Mark 9:7
On the mountain, the Day of the Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John were overpowered by a vision of Moses and Elijah speaking with Jesus. Suddenly a cloud swallowed them up, Moses and Elijah disappeared, and they saw Jesus only.
Somehow every Christian has a personal “mount of transfiguration”. However significant in our lives are the prophets, apostles, and saints of the church, it is Jesus who is dominant. He towers above all. Our loyalties are to Him alone. We all have secondary attachments to denominations, to creeds, to forms of worship, and to various practices, but these all fade into the background- for each of us the spotlight is on Jesus only.
We might well remember why this is so.
He never ruled a country or led an army.
He amassed no wealth.
He never traveled over 100 miles from home.
After three short years in the ministry he was executed as a disturber of the peace.
A few scattered followers began telling others that Jesus had risen from the dead. The news spread. Empowered by the Spirit, their witness took on a strange power. The extravagant claims that he made for himself- that he had come to save the world- were no longer dismissed as fantasy. Those who were caught up in the story found their lives glowing with new peace and joy.
When the church becomes humdrum…
when churches are divided over doctrine…
when people quarrel…
when others seem happy and content without religion…then we may be tempted to give up the faith. We can let some things go, but we find that we cannot let Jesus go.
More deeply than we know, he has entered our hearts and minds. To lose him is to lose the one great love that gives meaning to our lives. ONLY JESUS has promised never to leave us or forsake us. With that promise our life is worth living. Go to church on February 19 and witness the transforming power of the Transfiguration in your life.
PASTOR MIKE
