I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 15-17.

    At the beginning of today’s passage the Pharisees confront Jesus because His disciples do not follow their traditional interpretation of how to follow the Law of Moses. When Jesus replied to their confrontation over keeping the Sabbath, He told them that their traditions went too far because they did not understand the purpose of the Law. This time He is less gentle. He tells them that they have developed their traditions as a way to get around the Law. Following the traditions had become more important to them than following God’s Law. There is value in traditions, but we must never allow tradition to prevent us from doing God’s will.

    As with the previous passages I have read in Matthew this year today’s passage is dense in lessons for us. I am not sure how to transition into what I want to write about the Transfiguration. What I have to say is not particularly original, but I think it is important. The experience comes shortly after Peter, on behalf of all of the disciples, acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God. It also occurred after Jesus started teaching His disciples that He would need to die. It was a high point for those present. However, like all such experiences in this life, it did not last. I believe it energized Jesus for the hard part of His ministry, which was about to begin, and provided Peter, James, and John an experience to look back on when they truly began their ministries. Experiences such as the transfiguration are wonderful, but any attempt to make them last will rob them of their meaning.

    When Jesus came down from the mountain where He was transfigured, He was met by a father whose son was demon possessed. The disciples who had not joined Jesus on the mountain had been unable to drive the demon out of the boy, but Jesus was able to do so easily. When the disciples later asked Jesus why they were unable to do os, Jesus told them it was because they lacked faith. Then He told them that if their faith was as big as, but no bigger, a mustard seed they could tell a mountain to move and it would do so. I have come to believe that there are two aspects to the faith Jesus is talking about here. The first part, which most people understand, is that we must believe that God is able to do what ask and that He will do so. The second part is that we need to believe that what we are asking for advances God’s will. It seems to me that we often overlook what this second part means. If we believe that it is God’s will that this mountain move from where it is to some other place, we will not wait until God miraculously moves it. We will grab whatever tools we can obtain and start moving it, even if those tools are nothing but shovels. Sometimes God will miraculously move the mountain, but sometimes He will provide us with the tools to do so.