Forsaking All Others

Posted 7/6/15 by Donald Barnhouse
Theme: The Curtain Lifted
 
SCRIPTURE
Mark 9:2-13
 
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, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 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.” For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
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.So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”

LESSON

When that young girl at camp asked me, “How do we decide what is worldly and what is spiritual?”, she was sitting with a young man. I believe they had just been married a year. I asked her, “How does a young bride decide how much flirtation and necking she should do with other men after she’s married?”
 
There was dead silence for a moment, for the very act of marrying a man means forsaking all others to take him. That’s what you do when you believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will not have you saying, “Yes, Lord, I love You and I accept Your purchase of me with the price of Your blood, so sometime when I bum the candle down and it’s near the bottom, I’ll blow the rest of the smoke in Your face, and You can have what’s left over.” A lot of Christians have lived that way, but the call of Christ is to something far different. As Christ did not come to earth to do His will but to serve the Father, we are called to deny ourselves and find our fulfillment, our purpose, in taking up our cross and following Christ. If we lose our life, we shall find it.
 
That was the message of the transfigured Jesus. His death would lead to resurrection, His humiliation to glorification. He bids us to follow in His steps, and as we do, we too shall be transfigured—transformed into the image of Christ. May we have our eyes opened by the Holy Spirit to see our earthly calling from a heavenly perspective. And may we settle for nothing less!

STUDY QUESTIONS

  • What must we forsake in order to follow Jesus?
  • What is the cost of forsaking all other “gods” for the sake of Christ?
  • What is the cost of following Christ?
  • What is the cost of forsaking Christ? Why is that such a great cost?

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