A visit from a loved one is so special! The arrival of someone you care about is such a joyful experience.  We always plan fun activities with this dear friend or family member who we haven’t seen in ages as they prepare to come.  Excitement builds as we prepare a place for them to stay in our home so we do all we can to make their stay special.  We clean out the closets, spruce up and decorate that part of our home where they will stay.  We fill the fridge with good eats that we know they love. And we cancel everything else in our schedules so we can sit and enjoy each other without interruptions.  It is a joy to please those we care about and serve them in ways we know will please them.  It’s not about us, it’s about them.

What if we knew when the arrival of Jesus was going to happen, in all His glory ready to display the Kingdom of God?  

Are we ready? 

Are plans being made to please Him now and then when He comes? 

Are we ready and willing to serve “in the wait”?

Is our excitement building? 

Are we anticipating Him with “joy unspeakable and full of glory”? (1 Peter 1:8-9)

Yesterday we read this as a precursor to Jesus driving the point home about our “soul trading.”

“Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?

“If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I’m leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you’ll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels.”  Mark 8:34-38

Mark 9, The Message

Then he drove it home by saying, “This isn’t pie in the sky by and by. Some of you who are standing here are going to see it happen, see the kingdom of God arrive in full force.”

In a Light-Radiant Cloud

^2-4 Six days later, three of them did see it. Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain. His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. His clothes shimmered, glistening white, whiter than any bleach could make them. Elijah, along with Moses, came into view, in deep conversation with Jesus.

^5-6 Peter interrupted, “Rabbi, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials—one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah.” He blurted this out without thinking, stunned as they all were by what they were seeing.

⁷ Just then a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and from deep in the cloud, a voice: “This is my Son, marked by my love. Listen to him.”

⁸ The next minute the disciples were looking around, rubbing their eyes, seeing nothing but Jesus, only Jesus.

^9-10 Coming down the mountain, Jesus swore them to secrecy. “Don’t tell a soul what you saw. After the Son of Man rises from the dead, you’re free to talk.” They puzzled over that, wondering what on earth “rising from the dead” meant.

¹¹ Meanwhile they were asking, “Why do the religion scholars say that Elijah has to come first?”

^12-13 Jesus replied, “Elijah does come first and get everything ready for the coming of the Son of Man. They treated this Elijah like dirt, much like they will treat the Son of Man, who will, according to Scripture, suffer terribly and be kicked around contemptibly.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus’ three closest disciples, Peter, James, and John, got a foretaste of the arrival of the Kingdom of God in “full force” of glory and power—a glimpse of what it means to be transformed from this life to our forever Kingdom life.  Wow!  Pause to take it all in!

Peter, still learning, interrupts the majesty of the moment—just like that student in class who is asks questions or offers comments before all the instructions are given.

But God interrupts Peter!  It’s almost as if God is saying to Peter, “Quiet, listen to your Teacher!  “This is my Son, marked by my love. Listen to him.”

Who is a Peter?  I am!  I don’t know about you, but God must interrupt me with thoughts of higher, heavenly thinking more often that I care to admit.  God’s Holy Spirit calls me to truly “be still,” let go of self, to gain more of God so I can know Him intimately.  (Psalm 46:10) God interrupts my agenda to remind me of His ultimate purpose and plan.  God loves me enough, more than enough, to interrupt and remind me that His plans are “not meant to harm me but to prosper me” in my relationship with Him and with others. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Oh, how I love God/Jesus/Holy Spirit even more when He does this because this helps to remind me of His promise to always be with me.  My puny plans cannot come close to the glory and power of what He wants to do in me and though me.  Like Peter, it took me a while to learn to “listen to Him”!

The three closest to Jesus, after seeing the transfiguration of the Son of Man as the Son of God, still did not understand what “rising from the dead” meant—but they will.  And because of their passionate testimony of Jesus while passing on the Truth about Jesus death and resurrection—we do!  Or we should.  This is what Peter will preach (and write in a letter) later—

“What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.

I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.

 You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation”. 1 Peter 1:3-9, MSG

Jesus rising from the dead is the victory over death, enabling all who believe in Him to have eternal life.  Jesus is our Hope!  Jesus’ work on earth changes everything for us for eternity!  And Jesus is coming back! 

Are we planning and preparing for the Great Arrival of the One who loves us most? That will be the Day!

Lord,

You restore hope in us as we read this passage today!  Your Word and Spirit living in us remind us who we are in you, why you came, what you did on earth to make a Way—the only Way to reconcile us in relationship with You, God, the Father.  Help us to love like you love us.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your new mercies for today, interrupt as often as needed, remove what offends you in us, and restore the joy of your salvation at work within us.  Now, I’m ready for your arrival!

In Jesus Name, For your Glory, Amen