Thursday 03 November 2016

Psalm: Psalm 39

Background

Today we are neither going up nor down a mountain, rather we aremoving one! Jesus and his disciples have returned from the topof the mountain - from a moment of transformation, a timeapart from time, a retreat into heaven itself. Now they are back,well and truly in the midst of it. Today's passage tells of thedisciples being unable to heal a very sick boy and of Jesusdemonstrating anger and frustration, rebuking the disciples fortheir lack of faith. Jesus also offers a grave warning about hisfuture death but also hints at his resurrection to follow, leavingthe disciples deeply distressed. There is then a debate about taxesand a strange instruction from Jesus to Peter to go line fishingand catch a fish with a coin in its mouth to pay taxes for him andJesus.

The pace of the story has changed from a slow, calm and peacefultime, when there is space for God's glory to break through, to arapid, dangerous time when the demands on Jesus and his disciplesare relentless and unreasonable.

This is part of the reality of returning from a time away,whether it is a holiday, a retreat or a time of illness orbereavement. The 'in box' has filled to overflowing. The world hascarried on turning, events have continued to happen and people weknow and love have got themselves into messes or not being able todo things as well as we think we would. You can almost sense asubtext in Jesus' reaction, perhaps thinking 'I only leave youalone for a few hours and you fall apart!'. His metaphor of themustard seed can be understood too literally, the mountain does notneed to move or be moved. Jesus is using hyperbole to make hispoint: 'You don't need me around to do God's work, even faith astiny as a mustard seed can move mountains, nothing is impossiblefor God.

Jesus is in demand, with people are clamouring for his power,his teaching and his miracles. No wonder then, that earlier in thechapter, he orders his disciples to be silent about witnessing thetransfiguration (Matthew 17:9) - he is already overwhelmed byneed, spiritual, physical, political and psychological; he does notneed more attention.

In the midst of the passage the disciples are shocked by Jesusdeclaration of his death, it is as though they do not hear hiswords about rising on the third day (verses 22-23). They as yet donot have faith enough to understand or even imagine thatresurrection might be possible. It is not the faith to movemountains that they need, it is the faith to accept that Jesus istruly the Messiah, the one who will transform, not only Israel, butthe whole of creation.

To Ponder

• What part of this passage resonates most for you?

• In the midst of a busy life, how do you make space for thepossibility of encountering God?

• How do you react to the idea of a tiny amount of faith beingsufficient to do great things?