The Climb (What Manner of Man is this?)
Do you know Jesus? Do you really know Him? If you are born again (from above) having accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior then you do know who He is, but do you realize there is so much more to Him than meets the eye? He is amazing! In this lesson we will study events in the lives of some of Jesus' disciples and hopefully get to know Him a little better ourselves. I pray this is a blessing to each of you reading or hearing today.
Handout: The Climb (What Manner of Man is this?)
Luke 8:22-25 The Wind and Waves Obey Jesus
"22 Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." And they launched out.23 But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. 24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!"
Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 But He said to them, "Where is your faith?"
And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "What manner of man is this? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!"
This passage of scripture is so exciting! I would love to have actually seen that, wouldn't it be amazing if that could have been video recorded so that we could see it today!? Imagine a terrible storm, so terrible in fact that you are scared for your life, and suddenly the man who is at the bottom of the ship asleep, steps out, tells the wind to behave itself and suddenly…no more storm! I'm sure they disciples' mouths were on the floor! That is jaw dropping amazing! I think sometimes we read things that happened and we lack the excitement that we need to understand it. This is not fiction it actually happened and I don't know about you, but I don't see this kind of thing everyday in fact I NEVER have. Apparently the disciples hadn't seen this kind of thing either because they were stunned and were asking, What manner of man is this…who is this man?! That makes my heart jump. I have the answer!!! He is JESUS, the KING of Kings and The LORD of lords and HE CAN DO ANYTHING! That's who He is! Praise HIM!
Now we move to the next chapter, some days later after the question is asked, who is this man, and we see Jesus teaching them further about who He is.
Luke 9:18-36 Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ
And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" So they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."
He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."
And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."
Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."
Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"-not knowing what he said.
While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!" When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen."
It just keeps getting better and better and more exciting! They had seen the wind obey The LORD, now He was revealing His glory right before their eyes and they heard the voice of GOD proclaiming His Beloved Son Jesus. Wow. This is wonderful, let's go back and break this down and see what The LORD will show us about ourselves through His Word.
I love it that on the ship they were shocked and asking.who is this man.and now later, when the time was right for them to understand, The LORD GOD answered their question! Notice in verse 35. And a voice came out of the cloud saying, "This is my Beloved Son. Hear Him!" In other words I believe GOD was saying, I know your hearts and your questions. You want to know who this man is, I'll tell you loud and clean, This man is my Beloved Son, now listen to HIM!" Notice also that GOD did not just say this is My Son, He let them know how much He loves Jesus.This is my Beloved Son, I looked up the word Beloved, in the original Greek that it was written, the word is agapētosit means esteemed; dear; favorite; worthy of love.
Peter, John, and James were seeing Jesus in His glory. He was revealing Himself to them. There have been several times in GOD'S Word where we see mountain top revelations. Remember in Exodus, Moses was called upon a mountain many times and GOD would meet him there, and Moses asked to see GOD'S glory and GOD said I will let all my goodness pass before you. Another time, is in the book of 1 Kings chapter 19 when GOD told Elijah to go to the mountain and GOD revealed Himself there in a still small voice. Now here Peter, John, and James are seeing the glory of GOD on a mountain once again, and Matthew tells us that it was a high mountain. (Matthew 17)
Please think about this, JESUS invited Peter, James, and John to go with Him up to this high mountain, now, He did not supernaturally beam them up to the top of this mountain so how did they get up there? They had to climb! I wonder how long it took them, and I wonder was it rocky, however the terrain was, I'm sure it wasn't easy because verse 32 says that they were heavy with sleep.they were exhausted.
Have you ever climbed a "mountain" with The LORD? I have. If you have been saved any amount of time at all, you have climbed mountains with Him as well. See, they had asked the question on the ship in the storm, who is this man, and it was on the mountain that they were getting their answers.
He only took Peter, John, and James...perhaps they were the ones that were seeking and ready to see a new revelation of JESUS CHRIST!
Now how do we apply this to our own lives, to our own journey with Jesus? When was the last time you saw His glory?
Understand that Peter, James, and John they had been following JESUS, they lived with Him, they slept beside Him, they heard Him pray, they heard Him teach, they walked with Him , talked with Him, ate with Him and they knew Him, but there was so much that they did not know and much more that they did not yet understand about Jesus even though they were close with Him.
This doesn't mean that anything was wrong with them, it means that Jesus is deep! We could spend our whole lives trying, seeking, and studying this man Jesus and yes we would learn so much about HIM, but HE is so deep, so vast, so wide that we could never in this lifetime know everything there is to know about HIS GOODNESS! That is so exciting! He is amazing. He is a mystery waiting to be revealed, how much do you want to know about HIM? SEEK and Ye shall find, ask and it shall be given to you, knock and it shall be opened.
Peter, John, and James had been following Jesus, walking all over the place, they had left their families and everything they knew for this amazing man. They were tired and suddenly Jesus tells them they are going to climb a mountain with him. Sometimes we can be going along life, and suddenly the rug is ripped out from underneath us and there right in our path, from out of no where...is a HUGE mountain and we must climb it. We can get scared, not understanding why, and we can get angry, we can cry, scream, and even get depressed but JESUS stands there with HIS hand stretched out, with love in HIS heart and in HIS EYES inviting us, saying..."Follow Me."
HE says, I know you don't understand now, and it won't be easy, it will be very painful to your flesh at times, it will not be comfortable, your emotions will be all over the place and at times you will feel so lonely because your friends and family will not understand...but I want to reveal Myself more to you, and you will never be alone because I will go with you, every step. Don't be afraid, just place your feet in my foot prints and I will keep your feet steady and I will keep you from slipping. I will show you what to do and where to go. Look at ME, not the mountain and trust Me. I know what's best for you and I want to show you new revelations...I want to take you higher...I want to show you My glory! No, child it won't be easy, But It Will Be Worth It, and when we get to the top...you may be so tired from the climb, emotionally exhausted and totally worn out but I will let My goodness pass before you and you will see my glory and you will KNOW who I am...you will have a new understanding of me and you will fall on your face and worship and you will have a new understanding of what it means to be thankful for who I really am and your faith will grow!
Every "mountain" you face with the LORD...won't be easy, but it will be worth the climb! It is in the climb up the mountain that you will learn of HIM and at the top...HE WILL REVEAL HIS GLORY TO YOU!
Don't worry about the mountain, the mountain is a blessing, because it will take you up to a place where you can see more clearly, and understand who Your Savior is. No, This mountain is not a punishment it is an honor! JESUS is inviting you to climb with HIM, and to get to know Him and to be closer to HIM.HE IS YOUR SAVIOR.HE LOVES YOU.TRUST HIM.CLIMB!
Dear Righteous, Heavenly Father.
Thank You for Your Word. There is so much love and goodness in the pages. Help us to read and understand more of You and to simply trust You. You are good and You are faithful and You will ALWAYS do the right thing. I thank You for that today and I praise You for who You are. No matter what circumstances may come, You are still GOD and You are holding this thing together and You cannot fail! I praise Your name because You are worthy. I'm asking You today, to bless and encourage all those facing a mountain and a trial . Help them understand that You are with them and they are not alone. Help us to seek You more and to learn more about You. Help us to love You the way You deserve to be loved. Thank You for loving me. Help me to love You will all of my heart and to be willing to follow You no matter what the cost. You are life, You are truth, You are everything that is good. I praise You today.all glory belongs to You. In Your name Jesus I pray. Amen.
~*cindygirl*~
January 25, 2015