Dealing With Changes | Matthew 17
Matthew 17
Please comment below with your conversation with God and/or insights from today’s Scriptures.
You can answer the following:
What are your overall thoughts about the chapter?
What is your impressions about Jesus’s transfiguration?
What is your prayer to God brought on by this chapter?
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Chapter Notables:
Jesus’ transfiguration - verses 1-13
Faith as small as a mustard seed can make a mountain move - verses 14-20
Jesus speaks of His death - verses 22-23
Jesus tells Peter to fish for a fish that had a coin in its mouth, enough to pay taxes - verses 24-27
Inside Out | Lemuel Ayudtud
Some people are resistant to changes; there’s a fear that they will lose something when they change. There are some changes that are needed, some changes that can define who we become if we embrace the change. Sometimes the change reveal who we really are on the inside.
The remarkable event recorded in this chapter is known as the transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus went from human form to His face shining like the sun and His clothes became as white as light. Not only that, both Moses and Elijah appeared beside Him.
What an intense moment it must have been for His disciples. They were shook!! They didn’t know what to do with themselves outside of babbling about making a monument for all three: Jesus, Moses and Elijah. Then a bright cloud covered them with a voice from heaven that declared, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” With that, they fell down on their faces to the ground until Jesus touched them.
What would you have done if you were one of the twelve? Probably the same thing they did, right? Of course, there’s no other way to respond to this event than to be totally shook and taken by the event. I’d probably be utterly speechless in shock and awe. Jesus had turned inside out and revealed to His disciples Who He was, God in the flesh. It was a change they did not expect. Sure, in the chapter before, Peter had declared Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah, and here He was truly revealing beyond their words Who He truly was. So from one event to another they go from acknowledging Jesus in faith to seeing Him in Person as God.
During the time they had been with Jesus, probably a few years now, all they heard were His teachings and seen His dramatic miraculous works. They believed Him to be the Teacher and the Miracle Worker. They had hopes that He was the answer to Israel’s Roman Empire issues, but who Jesus truly was they did not fully know. Only until this time did they get to see the power of God in Jesus. (They will further realize the depth of it after His resurrection.)
When we consider this chapter we see the power of the inside. Is it possible that hidden within this chapter is God’s desire of us to look deeper? I mean, we have discussed the transfiguration of Jesus above, but when we look at the Lord’s dealing with the man whose son could not be delivered by the disciples, Jesus speaks of the mustard seed faith.
This mustard seed may be small (again, the power of potential) but if one have even that level of faith, they can tell a mountain to move and it will move. What may seem difficult and impossible, a little faith can overcome it. Then Jesus commands Peter to go and fish to pay for the tax that people had expected from them. Except instead of selling the fish for money, Peter finds a coin in its mouth.
Is it possible that the Word of God is showing to us the power of the inside? Maybe it’s the inner person or the deeper thing or the internal treasure that we have to pursue? Externally we are one thing, but given the chance, or maybe given the change, we will find something or someone incredible on the inside?
What if God in revealing Himself to His disciples on the mountain, followed by the revealing potency of even a little faith, and how the fish revealed the coin that met their taxation needs, God is choosing to show us that there is greatness inside of us that is revealed all together through change?
If you’ve ever driven a car with manual transmission, there is one thing that you have to understand: there is no getting faster unless you change gears. Changes are needed to go from gear 1 to gear 5 or even gear 7 (depending on the car). You may get to your destination staying on one gear, but it’s going to be with incredible effort and time. And, the reality is is that the car is not intended to stay in one gear, it is meant to go from one gear to the next until it meets its final change
Jesus had to change in order to reveal who He really was on the inside. The disciples had to change their faith perspective to see that even how small their faith maybe, it is enough to make a powerful impact. And the fish? There was literally change inside it.
Lord, help me to embrace changes that may come to my life. Help me to yield to the changes You direct me to. Lord, help me not to be afraid of what You’re doing inside of me to reveal the potential and the power that is resting in me. Lord, lead me and help me to follow. In Your Name, Jesus, I pray, amen.
