FRIDAY - October 23

Read. Matthew 17:1-6
Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them to the top of a very high mountain. 2 He was transformed in front of them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.
3 Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus. 4 Peter reacted to all of this by saying to Jesus, “Lord, it’s good that we’re here. If you want, I’ll make three shrines: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
5 While he was still speaking, look, a bright cloud overshadowed them. A voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son whom I dearly love. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!” 6 Hearing this, the disciples fell on their faces, filled with awe.

Reflect. Although there are always dimensions that remain mysterious, we serve a God who desires to be known. God’s self-revelation, God’s word, comes to us in various ways—through nature (cf. Psalm 19), through inner messages (cf. 1 Kings 19:11-13), through the sweeping story of the Bible (cf. Hebrews 4:12). But most of all, God spoke through Jesus, saying to us as to the disciples on the mount, “Listen to him.”
• Matthew seems to have written his gospel in terms that would speak particularly to Christ-
followers with Hebrew backgrounds. Moses, the great lawgiver, and Elijah, the prototypical prophet, were two people the Hebrews saw as especially reliable. What symbolic point might Matthew have had in mind in reporting God saying of Jesus, in the presence of those two great leaders, “Listen to him”?

• When this happened, Peter, James and John (as shown by Peter’s rather inane suggestion—when Luke wrote the story in Luke 9:33, he said Peter “didn’t know what he was saying”) were still struggling to understand what Jesus was all about. In what ways do their later lives as apostles suggest that they did, indeed, “listen” to Jesus? How has “listening” to Jesus changed your life for the better?

Pray.  God, you gave the command for us to listen to Jesus. Guide me that I may read the gospels, and the other witnesses to Jesus, more attentively and more personally. Amen.

COMMUNITY PRAYER LIST

Doug Lawson. Collier. Glenn Ethridge. Adam Funderburk.  Mary Reber.  Linda Harmon. Betty Carolyn Ward. Albert Rasanke. Lois Robinson. Ross Henley. Tiny & Donald Creasman. Bill and Barbara Buchanan. Bonnie Brenner. Baker Family. Robert McKenzie Family. Kibler family. Carolyn Harlow. Jeff Green. Earl Graves. Mickey Huff. Huff & Welch families. Helen Leigh. Paul Huffman. Schools, Teachers, Staff, Parents, Students. Church regathering plans. Layman family. Charlene Withrow. Brandon Casteel. Dirk Orr family. Smith family. Crowder family. Lillard family. Family of Floyd Eaton. Family of Eddie Rynes. Robertson Family. Harmon Family. Nancy Ryan & family. Bobby Roberts. Elizabeth May & family. Melvin Rinehart. Susan Rogers. Brandon Haugh. Sonny Bulloch. Bobby and Joyce Reed. Jerry Plaster. Julie.


Acknowledgement:
Our current teaching series, The Power of Words, was adapted from a series developed by our partners at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection and used with permission. Many of the resources and graphics are provided by our partners. During this series, our Read.Reflect.Pray. guide publishes the daily devotional guide (called Grow, Pray, Study) from our partners with minor adaptation.