Some Standing Here ...

What happens when your expectations are far disconnected from your reality?  For most of us, including me, my mind answers this question running towards the negative.  Life in this world has taught me, through repetition mostly, that when expectations and reality do not match up – disappointment is the next likely destination.  When I was quite young, I was fascinated by the Corvette car.  The 1975/1976 model in cherry red was a body molding type and color I just could never seem to get out of my head.  I asked my mom to buy me one.  And she did.  It was of course about 4 inches long with only a few features; opening doors, a removable hard top, and turning wheels.  I don’t quite know how I would have expected a fully working model of this car.  It cost a fortune even then.  And I had no ability to drive it at all.  So I swore, when I grew up, I would buy a real one and cherish it forever.  Nope.  A married man with several kids has little use for a Corvette (even if you have the money).  And a guy who is well over 6 feet tall can scarcely fit in one anyway without laying down and feeling miserable.  So much for my corvette dream.

But I had other expectations that developed over time.  I always imagined what it must be like to swim in the pristine ocean waters off Waikiki beach in Hawaii.  At least on this score, I never expected I would ever experience it.  In fact, my wife and I (back then my girlfriend and subsequent fiancée, then wife) used to joke about how we would “never” get there.  Neither of us had the money.  Our parents were not in a position to send us.  So that pipe dream was going to remain a pipe dream until, well until, Jesus came back and remade the whole thing in heaven.  But surprise, surprise, for our wedding gift, my father gifted us a 2-week vacation in Hawaii at two different islands, ending on, you guessed it, Waikiki beach.  We were beyond excited, and grateful.  We made it there, and all my imaginations were suddenly thrown sideways with the reality of how those Hawaiian Islands came to be.  You see volcanos made the islands.  When lava rock flows downhill, it eventually dries out, and forms what look like tiny little black volcano shapes in the ground.  Each tiny volcano is jagged, and sharp enough to cut your feet without some kind of water shoes we did not know we needed.  The sand in the water moves around, and when it does, it reveals the sharp jagged lava rock underbelly, and that makes walking on it, even in water, miserable for the naked feet.  After this trip, good old Daytona / New Smyrna beach, looked miles better to me than Hawaii ever would again.

My expectations were disconnected with the facts, with reality.  Mostly to a disappointing result.  But that has more to do with what I imagine or expect than with what reality truly is.  Knowing the facts about how things might be, would better prepare you for what to expect.  And it would allow you to better align your expectations with what truth is.  When that happens, much less disappointment, much more enjoyment is possible.  This is particularly true for me about one verse in scripture.  Luke recalls it in his gospel letter in chapter nine in verse 27 saying … “But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.”  Imagine the level of disconnect here.  Most of us read this and instantly associate the “Kingdom of God” with heaven itself.  We assume that this saying from Jesus Himself meant that at least a few of the disciples would remain alive until the second coming occurred.  That would have meant Jesus would returned in around 50-60-70 AD at most.  He didn’t.  So the truth of what Jesus meant by this is wildly different than our inherent expectations naturally fall victim to.

But knowing Jesus is the defacto Truth made incarnate.  We know Jesus was not lying to us, or them.  So then the truth is different than what we suppose it to be.  There are a few possibilities.  Perhaps the kingdom of God is not what we suppose that to be, meaning, not synonymous with heaven itself.  Or perhaps the kingdom of God is not just heaven, but more than that.  Fortunately, we don’t have to search the gospels or scripture to find the answer.  The very next few texts should serve as an answer for our disconnect.  It begins right after in verse 28 saying … “And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. [verse 29] And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.”  The personage of Jesus was altered on that mountaintop, from the humble servant we know Him to be, to the majesty of the God He truly is.  His clothing disappeared in a robe of white light, glistening as if sprinkled with starlight from many suns.  His face glowed.  This was not a full revelation of who He was, as the full revelation of that love would have consumed this sinful world on the spot.  But even the partial revelation of Jesus as He truly is was more than any human living here had ever imagined or expected.

Could that have been it?  Could just seeing Jesus as He truly is define seeing the Kingdom of God?  If so, then verses 28 and 29 answer the promise of verse 27 already.  But the story does not end there.  Luke continues this revelation in verse 30 saying … “And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: [verse 31] Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.”  Jesus needed encouragement.  Jesus was on a march towards death that was to be very miserable to say the least.  Even Jesus needed the encouragement He found there.  He was to get it from two examples of mankind now truly living in heaven.  Moses would represent all of mankind who died and was resurrected by the power of life that Jesus was.  Elijah would represent all of mankind that was translated to heaven without ever having tasted death.  Both of them were in heaven, and able to come to earth and talk with Jesus because of the sacrifice Jesus was about to endure.  Without Jesus paying our penalty neither of them could be where they were.  Without Jesus, none of us could be saved.  And so both Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus about what He was about to endure for us.  Why it was so important.  Why we needed Him so much.

This offers us another possibility.  Was the sight of Moses and Elijah and what they represented about mankind, and what they spoke of to encourage Jesus, also a definition of what the Kingdom of God was?  Imagine it.  If so, this would mean the Kingdom of God is not just a place, but an expression of love and encouragement for those who need it.  Even when it is our God who needs it.  Peter, James, and John were there to witness these events.  But again memories are fogged by human frailty.  Luke continues in verse 32 saying … “But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. [verse 33] And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.”  Peter believes they should erect three churches, or three tabernacles, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.  This was Peter saying something, when he was not sure even what he was saying.  In truth what Peter suggested was that Moses and Elijah were in some way equal to Jesus and just as deserving as Jesus.

The first church of Israel would have supported Peter’s idea.  The first church had strayed away from how salvation was to come, and had instead venerated the saints of the past, such as Moses, and Elijah.  Those men were but servants of God, not gods in any way.  But they were worshipped by the first church and reverenced by the first church to unhealthy levels.  It is hardly different in our day.  We reverence the great pastors of our day, and days gone by.  We reverence the “founding fathers” of our various denominations, instead of seeing these men and women for what they were – servants of God.  None of them perfect.  None of them right about everything.  Imperfect tools, that were willing to be used by a perfect God.  That is the state of mankind, imperfect, but God still sees the potential in each of us.  And if we let Him, He could use each of us in a manner just as important as Moses, or Elijah, or Luther, or Ellen White.  Perhaps the scope of our audience we serve may be smaller.  But it is no less important to God.  Each soul of infinite value to Him.  And could this not be a further definition or expansion of our definition of what the Kingdom of God means?  Could it be that the Kingdom of God is made up of servants of God, who work in concert to point others to Jesus.  We stop looking at the people who serve.  And only look at the Jesus they point us to.

But God the Father was not content to let Peter or the others believe Jesus was merely equal.  He was not.  He was more.  So Luke continues in verse 34 saying … “While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. [verse 35] And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. [verse 36] And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.”  God the Father recognized Jesus as His only Son.  Jesus was more.  Jesus was special.  God did not descend to these disciples in a cloud upon this mountain to simply outline the accomplishments of Moses and Elijah and tell the disciples to go back and read the word of God to figure out what the Law said and how to obey it.  He could have.  He didn’t.  Jesus was all of that rolled up into one living being, the Son of the Living God.  Jesus was the word of God.  Jesus was love.  Jesus was the Law.  He is our creator.  There are no inconsistencies in the life of Jesus Christ, because Jesus is our salvation.  The only means of it, we will ever have.  Without the sacrifice of Jesus there is no salvation for Moses, Elijah or you and I.

This effectively kills the ideas of many pathways to God.  There is only one.  His name is Jesus Christ.  For He is both God and our Savior.  But again could this expand our definition for what the Kingdom of God is, to hear the literal voice of God Himself proclaiming Jesus His Son, as “who” we should listen to?  All of this was witnessed by Peter, James, and John right after the words of Jesus that some would not taste of death until they saw the Kingdom of God.  So imagine what the Kingdom of God may well be.  More than just a place like heaven.  It may be seeing Jesus for who He truly is.  It may be seeing love and encouragement in action by mankind towards God, even when God needs it.  It may be seeing the effects of salvation on both kinds of men, those raised, and those who were and are to be translated.  It may be hearing the literal voice of God.  It may be directing all our attention to Jesus Christ alone for our salvation for He indeed is the ONLY path to God.  All of these ideas and perhaps considerably more might comprise aspects of the Kingdom of God that are far more than a place we call heaven.  It might also explain for us what Jesus means when He continues to say the Kingdom of God is come, its here, its was in front of them.  That does not imply a future state, it implies a state in the here and now.

So, was this a huge disappointment to the disciples who witnessed it?  I very much doubt it.  It was rather a huge encouragement to their faith, and to ours.  Just because we are not in heaven, does not mean we cannot learn to experience the Kingdom of God in this world, right now, in the here and now.  Living in the now as God would have us live is life altering.  Loving like we will in heaven and for all eternity is both liberating and exhilarating.  We who are alive now, need not regret misaligned expectations, we need to align our truth with His Truth and see what is possible today.  Salvation is not just about future state.  It is about the freedom that can be experienced in this time and place.  It is about becoming more than who you are today, unbound by your past, and disconnected to the wickedness that plagues your motives and desires.  Jesus can free you from all of that.  Jesus can replace all of what was, with what He intends you to be, to the benefit of your life now, that nothing else can touch or diminish.  That is the power of the Kingdom of God.  That is what becoming like a toddler can see you enter into today.  This is the whole good news message of the Gospel.  It can effect change in you, that you could not achieve.  Relax.  Find the humility to come to our Father God, through Jesus, and watch what submission can bring to your life.  You will bear His fruit in doing so.  You won’t be able to help it.  His love is infectious.