Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

The Coming Attraction

Mark 9.2-9

Before the explosion of internet technology that brought every piece of information into our homes and eventually onto our phones in the blink of an eye, we had to go out to find and experience sneak peeks into what would be a reality in the near future.  

In the late 1990s, if we wanted to get a sneak peak or preview of a coming movie, we would have to go to a movie theater and watch the trailers that acted as commercials before the headlining film was shown.

I don’t remember any time, in my lifetime, that the sneak peak, preview, or coming attraction of a soon to be released film drew more of a crowd to the theaters than when the first new installment of the Star Wars saga was being released in 1999.  

The sneak peak of the coming attraction for Star Wars: Episode 1: The Phantom menace saw hundreds of thousands of people, one which was me, of course, buy a full priced ticket for a movie we didn’t want to see, only to stay for the sneak peak of the coming attraction that we had been waiting for almost 20 years.  

It was a sight to behold.  As soon as the Star Wars 2 1/2 minute preview was over, the entire movie theater emptied out with no one staying to watch the movie that we paid to see—truthfully, I don’t even remember what movie it was because it was so unimportant to me.

In this morning’s Biblical text, chosen for us by the lectionary for this Sunday, which celebrates The Transfiguration of Jesus, we are brought to the Gospel of Mark, or, in other words, the disciple Mark’s biography of Jesus.

It is in this historical record, the three disciples that Jesus brings with him get a sneak peak, a preview of the coming attraction of Jesus’ glorification into His Heavenly form.  The three men see what no one else has seen at this point, and they don’t have cell phones to take pictures to share with the world on social media what Jesus reveals to them.

This morning, let’s get the same sneak peak at the coming attraction of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and glorification that Peter, James, and John got around 2000 years ago.

Mark 9:2–9 tells us this:

[2] And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, [3] and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. [4] And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. [5] And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” [6] For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. [7] And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” [8] And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

[9] And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. (ESV)

For over 30 years now, one of the most popular toy lines has continued to exist under the tagline, “More Than Meets the Eye.” 

The Transformers began in the 1980s, when I was a wee little lad.  The Transformers had a weekly Saturday morning cartoon series and a set of toys to bring the onscreen action into the hands and homes of fans. 

The premise of The Transformers is that a civil war between two warring factions of robots has decimated their home planet of Cybertron sending the robots to earth in search of a new source of energy to power their species. The robots were able to hide on earth because they could transform into vehicles such as trucks, cars, planes, and boats.  Later on in the series, they were able to transform into animals or technological items such as cassette tapes or military weapons. 

When the humans that lived on earth looked around them, they only saw the familiar—vehicles, animals, and machinery.  However, there was more than meets the eyes.  Although The Transformers were vehicles, animals, and machinery, they were times when they revealed their true robotic form to battle for energy and save the human race from destruction.

Wow, that was so nerdy.

We are brought into our text this morning being told that 6 days have passed since Jesus made a bunch of statements that wouldn’t have been fully understood by those who heard them.

Prior to the mountaintop experience of this morning’s text, these sayings of Jesus have been spoken:

·      “Take nothing and go on a long journey traveling from city to city and village to village preaching about repentance and forgiveness while also healing the sick and casting out demons from the possessed.”

·      “Feed this crowd of 15,000 with one person’s lunch.”

·      “I am going to die and come back to life.”

·      “In order for you and God to remain in a healthy relationship, you must die every day.”

Each of these statements that Jesus made and each of the miracles that surrounded them would have caused those who were first hand witnesses to astonishingly state, “There is more than meets the eye with Jesus.”

Who is this guy that had the ability to give us the power to heal and cast out demons? 

He is more than meets the eye!

Who is this guy that can feed 15,000 people with only one person’s lunch? 

He is more than meets the eye!

Who is this guy that the world thinks is one of God’s prophets returned from the dead?

He is more than meets the eye.

Who is this guy that will die and come back to life?

He is more than meets the eye.

Today’s text is about the Transfiguration.  This was the moment in time when Jesus brought three of His disciples up a mountain in order to reveal a part of Him that they hadn’t fully seen yet. In the Transfiguration of Jesus, we learn that there is more than meets the eye with Jesus.  

One commentator put it this way:

“The transfiguration does not show what Jesus can do but who Jesus is and how to interpret his [coming] suffering and death…the one who descends to the depths of disgrace [on the cross] also ascends to glory.” (Garland, 397)

Who is Jesus according to this text?

He is more than the human man that meets the eye.

Yes, Jesus is fully human.  But, Jesus is also at the same exact time, fully God.  One of Jesus’ other names is Immanuel which means God with us.  Jesus is also called God Incarnate which means, God in the flesh.  

For most of Jesus’ time on earth, His human person was clearly seen.  However, here on this mountain with 3 of His disciples, He revealed His divine person that was working through His human person to save the human race from the death and destruction that comes because of sin.

Who are you according to this text?

Sometimes, you are just like the Peter, John, and James.

Sometimes, you don’t understand what Jesus is saying or do

ing.

Sometimes, you get tired following Jesus.

Sometimes, you get impatient waiting on God to act.

Sometimes, you attempt to control God.

Sometimes, you keep silent about what you have seen and heard from Jesus because you are afraid of others thinking you are crazy or foolish.

But, despite all of those shortcomings when measured against the standard of God’s Kingdom, Jesus, God with you, God in the flesh, died on the cross to provide forgiveness for your Sin and failures.

Through faith in Jesus Christ, you are more than meets the eye. 

You are one made righteous by the great exchange that occurred when Jesus took your sin upon Himself and clothed you with His perfection.

While spending time in God’s Word on Thursday morning, I once again read about the healthy functioning body of Christ that began meeting together on Sunday mornings, shortly after Jesus’s death and resurrection.

Acts 2.42-47 describes the ins and outs of this church.

We are told,

[42]…they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. [43] And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. [44] And all who believed were together and had all things in common. [45] And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. [46] And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, [47] praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. 

Later that same day, while I was studying in preparation for this morning’s message, I read this comment about the connection between Jesus’ person and Jesus’ body, the Church:

“For [Jesus] is the Prophet who is to be heard and heeded: that is why the church, if it is to carry on his work, is to be a preaching church. [Jesus] is the royal Son, who with his wealth and power provides for all the needs of his people: that is why his church must exercise the same ministry and be a community in which members are likewise concerned with one another’s needs, caring and nourishing and building up.  [Jesus] is the Chosen, the Servant, who treads the path of suffering: that is why all those who wish to be his disciples must similarly take up the cross and deny themselves” (Mark Wilcock, The Message of Luke, 110)

On the mountain, the afternoon of Jesus’ Transfiguration, Jesus graciously gives three sinners a sneak peak of the coming attraction that that had been waiting for for their entire lives.

These three men heard Moses, Elijah, and Jesus speaking about Jesus’ death (according to a detail given to us in the description of this event in Luke’s Gospel), resurrection, and glorification.  Meaning, these three men heard that in Jesus, God has given them their Savior.  This Jesus would save them.  This Jesus was forgive their sin.  This Jesus would make their perfect for God in Heaven.  This Jesus would defeat the power of death and the devil for them.  This Jesus would give them eternal life in God’s Kingdom of Heaven.

Moses and Elijah were present because they were the representatives of the Law and the Prophets of the old covenant. 

God sent these two men into the world to tell humanity to do this and not to do that.  The Law that God gave them to give to humanity was to show us what God was like, what God expected of us to be perfect and acceptable in His eyes, and to show us the we could never live up to those standards because of the corruption and brokenness of our thoughts, words, and actions, due to the original sin that overflowed from their hearts in every direction possible.

God, in his grace, mercy, and love, not wanting to be separated from you, next sent His Only Son, Jesus, who was God in the flesh, to bring you up the mountain of the Gospel to give you the Good News that Jesus was the mediator of a new covenant in which God in his grace, mercy, and love would do everything for you that you could not do for yourself.  God would forgive your sin and clean you up through Jesus’ death on the cross.  And, God would you give Jesus’ record of perfection and righteous so that you could be accepted into Heaven from this day forward.

This Jesus would give them hope for today and tomorrow that the present hardships and sufferings of this life were only temporary and a day would come where all wrongs would be made right and all darkness would be made light.

Rest in the coming attraction of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and glorification.  You have been and will fully be rescued from sin and set firmly in the family of God where you, like Jesus will one day be in the presence of your Creator and Maker, clothed in radiant white, standing in awe of the grace, mercy, love, and glory of God.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg V.

February 11, 2024.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Jesus Clean

Mark 1.21-28

Have you ever been the victim of someone’s abuse of authority and power?

While I was doing research this week to find common day and historical abuses of power and authority, I came across a very sad truth.

That very sad truth is this—the vast majority of recorded information about abuses of power and authority were centered on sexual assault.  Throughout each and every generation of human existence, the most common reason that people abused their power and authority was to receive immediate sexual gratification from those left in their care.  Whether it was a family friend or relative asked to babysit, or, a CEO of a fortune 500 company, those asked and tasked to provide safety, security and guidance for those under them, have abused the power and authority given to them in every situation imaginable to take what wasn’t theirs for their own benefit.

If you have been a victim of this type of abuse of power, I am truly sorry.  No one deserves to be used by another for their personal satisfaction.  

What time as prove to be true is that people abuse power and authority for any reason—even silly ones.

In 2013, Mexico’s Attorney General for Consumer Protection shut down a restaurant based on a complaint from his daughter. She was mad because they didn’t seat her at the specific table she wanted.

The attorney general’s name was Humberto Benitez Treviño. His daughter had gone to a popular restaurant in Mexico City without a reservation. When the staff refused to seat her at the table she wanted, she threatened to call her father and have the restaurant shut down. 

Soon after, four officials from the consumer protection agency showed up to carry out a “lightning raid” on the restaurant. They said they found some violations, including a problem with their reservation policies. They shut it down. At the same time, the daughter went on Twitter to complain about the restaurant.

Public opinion quickly turned against her. Mexico has long had problems with officials abusing their power, and this case was particularly blatant. It became a topic for discussion across the country, so the Mexican president fired Trevino, and the restaurant was reopened.

In 2017, a mayor in Florida got caught using the handicapped parking permits of dead people.

Darlene Bradley was the Mayor of Davenport, Florida. What makes her abuse of power particularly outrageous is that she stole a dead person’s identity for something as trivial as a parking spot.

She got caught after someone tipped off police, and they reviewed security footage from the parking lot at City Hall. The video showed her parking in a handicapped space and then lifting a heavy, wheeled briefcase from her trunk. Police discovered her parking permit had been issued to a woman who died in 2012, and Bradley had altered the expiration date. They eventually searched her house and found she had additional permits, including one from someone who died in 2015.

Prosecutors said the mayor’s actions showed she thought she was above the law. As part of a plea deal, she was forced to resign. In exchange, prosecutors dropped the charge of criminal use of the identity of a deceased person.

When we are talking about the proper and improper uses of power and authority, it is only fair that we also ask an uncomfortable question that requires an answer that comes from taking stock of our own pasts and possibly present.

Here it is:

Have you ever been the one to abuse authority and power given to you, making others the victim of an abuse of authority and power?

In this morning’s Biblical text, chosen for us by the lectionary for this Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, we get to hear about the use of power and authority.  Specifically, we get to hear about how God, in the flesh and bones of Jesus Christ, used his power and authority, unlike the people just discussed, for the good of those He came to.

Let’s hear from the disciple Mark’s biography of Jesus now.

Mark 1.21-28 tells us this:

[21] And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. [22] And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. [23] And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, [24] “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” [25] But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” [26] And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. [27] And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” [28] And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. (ESV)

In this piece of history recorded for us, we see and hear that Jesus, God present with us, used his power and authority to help those that came into contact with Him.

First, we see that Jesus uses his power and authority to give us hope.’

And, he does this by using his power and authority to teach and preach a message that is actually called, “The Good News.”

As we saw last week, from the text that immediately precedes this one, Jesus’ message that He was teaching and preaching was, “Repent, Believe, Follow Me, and I will make you citizens of Heaven who love God and love others!”  

This message contained in all of Jesus’ preaching and teaching brings hope because with the message of God sending a Savior, He is also annoying and showing that He is the fulfillment of God’s promise to rescue and save humanity from being separated from God forever.

He is making the promise and fulfilling the promise all at once.

In my devotional reading this week, I once again came upon Galatians 4:4–7 which the apostle Paul tells us this very truth in this way:

[4] But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. [6] And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” [7] So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (ESV)

Second, in our Biblical text for this morning, we see that Jesus uses his power and authority to make us clean.

Now, you may be asking, who is unclean?

Well, the immediate textual answer is the man that was possessed by an evil spirit.

We hear Jesus, with His power and authority over all things that were created, command the unclean spirit to leave the man it is bothering, enslaving, and oppressing.  And, because Jesus has power and authority over all things in existence, that unclean spirit had to obey and leave the man alone just as Jesus told it to.

It is here that we clearly see Jesus using his power and authority to set a man free from bondage to all things evil and ungodly, leaving the man in a better place, and a freer place, than he was before He met Jesus.

Even though our text focuses on this one unclean man, the text is also speaking to and referring to the fact that every man and woman that has ever been conceived and born into this world is unclean in God’s eyes before they are cleaned by the work that Jesus does in their lives. 

And, that includes you and me!

We are told over and over again in the Bible that being unclean, meaning morally impure, doing the things that God says not to do and not doing the things that God says to, separates you from God, your Creator and Father in Heaven.

Most of us go on living unclean, ungodly, selfish and self-centered lives, using whatever power and authority we can get to take what we think we deserve and are owed by the people and places around us.

However, because sin blinds us to our ungodliness and convinces us that we are in fact God, we often don’t see our need to be cleaned, saved, and restored into a relationship with God our Father until we encounter Jesus face-to-face.

Without the cleaning and transforming of our lives that Jesus ALONE provides for us, we are victimizers playing the victim to further use any and all power and authority we have to benefit ourselves.

The apostle John makes clear that those who remain unclean, that is untrusting and unbelieving in Jesus as Lord and Savior do not make it through the gates of Heaven.

In Revelation 21:22–27 when he writes about what Heaven will be like.  The apostle John says this:

[22] And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. [23] And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. [24] By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, [25] and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. [26] They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. [27] But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (ESV)

Later on in his ministry, after being asked to use his power and authority for the wrong purposes—to give a two men positions of power and authority over everyone else in the Kingdom of Heaven—Jesus answered with these words:

[25] But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. [26] It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, [27] and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, [28] even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25–28, ESV)

Jesus always shows us his commitment to use his power and authority for the right reasons.

Unlike humans who use even the smallest bit of power and authority to serve themselves to the fullest, Jesus, God in the flesh, never once used his power and authority to serve himself.  Jesus always used his power and authority to serve you!

Jesus always used his power and authority to preach to you and teach you that there is hope for forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life.

Jesus always used his power and authority to wash and clean you from all of the sin that separates you from God.

And, Jesus always used his power and authority to lead you back into the eternal presence of God, your Father in Heaven, who both created you and redeemed you at the price of His own life.

Author Vaughan Roberts recalled the following:

Bobby Moore was the England soccer captain who received the World Cup from Queen Elizabeth when England won the trophy in 1966. An interviewer later asked him to describe how he felt. He talked about how terrified he was as he approached Her Majesty, because he noticed she was wearing white gloves, while his hand, which would soon shake the Queen’s, was covered in mud from the pitch … As the triumphant captain walks along the balcony, he keeps wiping his hand on his shorts, and then on the velvet cloth in front of the Royal box in a desperate to get himself clean.

Roberts continued, 

“If Bobby Moore was worried about approaching the Queen with his muddy hands, how much more horrified should we be at the prospect of approaching God? Because of our sin, we are not just dirty on the outside; our hearts are unclean. And God doesn’t just wear white gloves; he is absolutely pure, through and through.”

The only way for you to become clean enough for God to be with you today, tomorrow, and forever, is to recognize Jesus’ power and authority to say what he going to do and do what he is says he will.

In 1958, Mr. Clean, the all-purpose cleaner was introduce to the world with the slogan, “There’s no clean, like Mr. Clean!’ 

For eternity’s sake, there’s no clean, like Jesus clean!

This morning, rejoice because in Jesus “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11, ESV)

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg V.

January 28, 2024