"When you open its mouth you'll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for Me and you." (Matt. 17:27b)
Who or what do you trust in? As I type I look out of my window and see around 5 inches or more of fresh powdery snow resting quietly on the ground. To get to work this morning, I entrusted myself to my father-in-law whose 4-wheel drive F150 sure beat my Toyota Camry option. As we drove, my father-in-law was in full control. Even driving through the snow bank on the sides of the roads to push back the snow and widen the path, he had very little difficulty. I confessed that I would be going half the speed and driving as near to the center as possible had I ventured out alone in my family car. But my father-in-law was in control and enjoying it.
Somehow, I see this same sense of confidence from Christ throughout this entire chapter. We are entering the latter half of Matthew's gospel and Christ's earthly days are becoming numbered, yet this Messiah was on top of His game; leading, asserting Himself, and demonstrating His authority and headship over all creation.
It was not quite the same confidence my father-in-law displayed; it was grounded in something fundamentally much deeper. My father-in-law's confidence rested in his powerful, well-prepared F150 which was known for handling a little snow. It wasn't confidence in himself, but his instruments. For Christ, His authority rested in His identity. He was the God-man, He needed no help or tools, His power was innately His.
He could ask Peter to catch a fish and provide tax money for them both. (I wish I could do that!) In this chapter alone, He was creative, majestically transformed, authoritative over demons, and omniscient in His knowledge of the events surrounding His earthly ministry.
This again is Someone I can trust. His headship in my life grants me peace and comfort. As the song goes, "Because He lives I can face tomorrow. Because He lives all fear is gone."
Who or what do you trust in? Repent today of anything less that the King of kings and the Lord of lords, Christ Jesus. He is trustworthy.
2 comments:
Jesus again doesn't allow them to say anything about their visions of God, Moses and Elijah. It has to be that He had full knowledge of his accounts on earth, even before they happened!!
Question : Elijah and John the Baptist. One in the same?
In verses 12 and 13, Jesus speaks of Elijah and in 13, they understood that He spoke of John the Baptist.
Malachi 4:5 "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD."
Brad, I don't profess to be an end-times guru of knowledge, but this much I understand. John the Baptist was a type of Elijah. He is certainly not one in the same. He came as a forerunner to Christ's first coming, as potentially the Elijah taken up in the worldwind may well come back before Christ's second coming. Remember my last comment from yesterday. There is a certain mystery and overlap between Christ's first and second comings. I'm not too sure if anyone thought there were going to be two comings when the first originally happened, thus the picture of the second coming in many respects is reflected also in His first coming. In Matthew 11:14 Jesus refered to John and Elijah there as well... this may be why the disciples here make the connection. But they have just seen who they believe to be Elijah on the mount. They did not say, "Hey there's John!" so there is certainly distinction. John was a type of Elijah.
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