Sunday next before Lent
Collect
2 Kings 2: 1-12
2 Corinthians 4: 3-6
Marks 9: 2-9
‘He ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen’
… and perhaps Peter then said ‘Why not? Of course I should tell people what I’ve seen and heard!’
‘You will’ said Jesus. ‘But not yet. You’ll have to be patient. If you tell people now, at best, they’ll ask for evidence – some will dismiss you as deluded – and at worst, they will arrest you for lies and Blasphemy.’
Peter is to be the rock on which the Church is built – but he needs the full story before he is going to be capable of so doing. He has seen miracles. He has heard Jesus explain about the Kingdom of Heaven. He has experienced teaching about the coming Messiah. And now, he is present at the fulfilling of the prophecy of Elijah’s return before the day of the Lord arrives. All of these are things of wonder – but tempered by Jesus’ continuing to talk of His death. If Jesus is to die, how would Peter maintain his belief in the one who he proclaimed to be the Christ? It would erode just as the memory of Jesus would erode, and He would simply become understood as another in the long line of Jewish prophets.
The story has to be complete for Peter’s faith become integral to his very being – if Jesus dies and that is the end of it, so what? But resurrected, that’s what. It’s not the end. It’s the beginning of new covenant for all God’s created people. In the knowledge of Jesus alive and the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, Peter does now have the whole story and is equipped to be that rock.
It’s the same for us – we cannot build our faith on just one or two aspects of Jesus’ story. The fundamental truth we need to accept that He is risen from the dead and He is Lord, alive. Unless we believe that with our whole heart and mind, our faith is fragile. If we do believe – there is nothing we cannot do in His name.
Previous Posts
Praying Together 10th August 2025
And while we think of the things we value most, do we remember that we are of such value to God, that His Son was prepared to go into the flames for us?
Praying Together 27th July 2025
In a word, it is all prayer, a rich sequence, choreographed in different moments of gathering, praise, listening and communion.
Praying Together 20th July 2025
Jesus comes to us in many ways and with many faces. Are we aware we may ‘entertain Angels without knowing it?
Praying Together 13th July 2025
May we never miss meeting your gaze,
in the eyes of our sibling, the stranger.
Praying Together 6th July 2025
Always remember that ‘success’ is simply doing His will – it’s not necessarily achieving the outcome we would ourselves consider to be ‘successful’. Leave that definition with Him.
Praying Together 29th June 2025
Jesus is looking for commitment. Absolute, unconditional, commitment. When I think of what that means, I’m always minded of Martina Navratilova’s remark: “The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed.”
Praying Together 22nd June 2025
As Christians, may we never regard mercy and compassion towards others as weakness, naivety or gullibility, but display the traits which demonstrate that we follow a Saviour who came to rescue those left behind.
Praying Together 15th June 2025
You couldn’t fly a kite inside a church building –for the Kite to fly you’d have to go into the windy street outside. Where does that place the need for the Spirit to act?
Praying Together 8 June 2025
Of all the strange things happening on the Day of Pentecost, perhaps the most puzzling is when God appears to have second thoughts. In Genesis 11, He makes it difficult for people to understand each other’s language
Praying Together 1st June 2025
The song by Mary Black, ‘Bless the Road’, while written as from a parent whose child is leaving home alone for the first time – maybe first day at primary school, going to college, beginning an independent life – always puts me in mind of the thoughts and blessing of Jesus as He prays for His disciples before His Ascension.
Praying Together 25th May 2025
‘Peace I give to you… do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.’
His peace is not remote and only there at the end of things – His Peace is with us now.
Praying Together 18th May 2025
So the commandment is a challenge. To love those who betray you. Those who jeer. Those who wield the whips embedded with flint, hammer in the nails, pierce your side.