Scripture

But even as he spoke a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.”

Observation

Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a high mountain. The men see Jesus’s appearance transformed and His face and clothes shine like the sun. Then Moses and Elijah appear.

Peter doesn’t know what to do. So he offers to build three shelters. But then a bright cloud comes over them, and a voice says, “This is my dearly loved Son.

The disciples fall down in terror. Jesus comes to them and tells them, “Do not be afraid. “

They go down the mountain, and Jesus tells them not to tell anyone about this experience until after the resurrection.

Application

There is a tendency by some believers to want to make Jesus more user friendly. We keep his human features at the forefront and put his divine features onto the back burner, so to speak. We want Jesus to be our friend, our mate, someone we can approach when we need help.

Jesus is the Beloved Son of God. That is not to make him less human, but it is the reality.

When we say, Jesus is Lord, we are affirming that He is truly God. He is the Creator, the Judge, the Ruler over all things.

We can approach boldly the throne of grace and find help at any time. But we must also recognise that it is a throne of grace, not a bar stool. When we approach Jesus, it is like approaching an absolute monarch who holds our eternal destiny in His hands.

We all need a revelation or a deeper understanding of who our Lord is.

Prayer

Lord, Jesus, thank you for saving me. Please help me to approach you always with godly reverence. Amen.

Scripture

They all ate as much as they wanted.

Observation

After three days of teaching and healing, Jesus tells His disciples that He is concerned that the people have no food left. The disciples reply, “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness?”

Jesus tells the people to sit down, and He gives thanks to God for the bread and fish that He has. He gives them to the disciples to distribute the food to the crowd.

Everyone has as much food as they want, and there is a huge amount of leftovers – seven baskets. There are four thousand men plus women and children.

Application

The footnotes in my Bible say this crowd was mainly Gentiles while those at the feeding of the 5,000 had been mainly Jews.

The blessings of the Kingdom flow out to the whole earth because of Jesus. We should be thankful for this because we are now able to enter God’s kingdom.

I was struck in this passage by the references to God feeding the Jews in the wilderness during the Exodus from Egypt. In particular, the Bible tells us in both cases that everyone could eat as much as they wanted.

God’s vision is never stingy or limited. He always gives more than enough. Our responsibility is to receive what he gives and pass it on to others. In God’s kingdom, there is never a lack because He gives enough for everyone.

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, for your grace. Thank you that there is always enough to share and that the blessings continue to multiply. Amen.