What Does That Mean?

S - Mark 9:1, 9-13 (NLT): "Jesus went on to say, "I assure you that some of you standing here right now will not die before you see the Kingdom of God arrive in great power!" … As they descended the mountainside, he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until he, the Son of Man, had risen from the dead. So they kept it to themselves, but they often asked each other what he meant by "rising from the dead." Now they began asking him, "Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?" Jesus responded, "Elijah is indeed coming first to set everything in order. Why then is it written in the Scriptures that the Son of Man must suffer and be treated with utter contempt? But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and he was badly mistreated, just as the Scriptures predicted.""

O - They had certainly received an "eye and ear full" in the trip up the mountain with Jesus.  The problem for Peter, James and John, and for all of us, is to understand what Jesus was/is saying.  The issue's not the words themselves but the combination of words and the context of Jesus' life and the context of their own.  They did not understand what he meant by rising from the dead because this combination of words had no foundation in their messianic mindset and very little in their life experience (the widow's son, Jairus' daughter, Lazarus).  Isn't this the same "problem" which allowed the people/leaders to miss and badly mistreat the Elijah who was to come?  These three did not recognize John the Baptist, nor did they understand rising from the dead at this point in the timeline of their lives.  They would, however, come to fully grasp this and through them the world would see what Jesus meant.  Clearly, accurate information alone is insufficient.  What was the "game changer" for them?  Experiencing the words of Jesus. This is the intended game changer for us all … experiencing the words, the teaching, the theology, the presence of Jesus again and again.

A - The Kingdom and the King are fully interactive.  Without ongoing exchanges between my very little life and his incomprehensible life I can't understand the meaning though I can grasp, repeat and even postulate the words.  The context of all of Jesus' teaching, of all the Scriptures is the ongoing relational reality intended from the first man and first woman. The Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power (1 Corinthians 4:20).  Flesh and blood do not inherit it and neither can such understand or reveal it.  It will always take the interface, interaction of the Spirit.  This underscores the stark distinction between religion/ culture and the Kingdom.  Culture wants me to be right and the Kingdom wants me to be near.

P - Living Word, Only King and Only True Friend of the whole world,
Thank you for including us in your ongoing life, not just your history.  Thank you for wanting us near more than wanting us to be right.  Thank you for letting us partner with you but never allowing us to go solo … for flesh only gives birth to flesh and we are called (along with the whole world) to be people of the spirit.  Thank you for calling me/us to speak, to live and to embrace the reality that you still must reveal it.  Thank you for insisting that we love, believe and follow.  Lord, I'm not sure I'm right about several important things … but I am sure I'm near.  I'll stay close … the rest is up to you.
Loving, thinking, believing and following,
Steve