December 14th - Reflection

Mark 9:9-13 (NRSV)
Questions about Elijah
As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean. Then they asked him, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" He said to them, "Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings 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 about him."

Reflection
I remember one of Luther's thoughts about reading the Old Testament or the entire Bible after all; read Christ into the Bible. You can find the gospel story all over the place in the Bible, Old and New. This passage is after a few of the disciples had witnessed the Transfiguration and were coming down from the mountain with eyes wide open and the voice of God fresh in their ears and on their brains.

How did Elijah get there? Moses for that matter too? There was no communication from them. They were just with Jesus. Then they hear about the crucifixion of Jesus, in so many words, and that Elijah had after all come as it was written.

Elijah had come in the person of John the Baptist and was rejected and killed and Jesus was going towards that same fate as John. So the story recreates itself with a Savior this time in Jesus... John found his in Ahab and Herod found Jezebel and Herodias.

The Gospel story throughout scripture!All with and only with salvation through Jesus. Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, may my life be an extension of the love and grace you offered through the Gospel Story. All about you... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen