HIDDEN REALITY (12 OF 52)
Scripture: Matthew 17, Matthew 17:1-7
This content is part of a series.
Hidden Reality (12 of 52)
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Matthew 17:1-9
How good are you at keeping secrets? There are certain things we like to keep quiet. We have to get comfortable with people to share some of the more critical secrets we carry within us. The time has to be right. The stage needs to be set. We have to gain a measure of security around other people before we can be comfortable becoming vulnerable by sharing too much. When it comes to an issue we want to share, we may still need to prepare the groundwork for others to be ready to hear what we have to say. It would appear that Jesus had secrets, too. He needed to set the stage before the larger world would be ready to hear them.
The first night I met Karen, I had a deep sense that she was the woman I wanted to marry. We played cards and talked for several hours. Before I left her in the dorm lobby, I was pretty sure where I wanted our relationship to go. By no means, however, did I tell her that. I was afraid that would have been showing too much of my hand, it would have made her uncomfortable, and it might have run her off before we could build enough rapport with one another for her to be comfortable with a conversation about marriage.
I had never been in a dating relationship before. I was not comfortable knowing how to move to a second step in our relationship. I was pretty sure, however, that before I talked about marriage she needed to better understand who I was. She needed to learn my character, work alongside me, and feel comfortable in my presence, looking upon me as much more than a stranger with whom she had spent an evening playing cards at the beginning of our seminary career.
Jesus had some secrets he did not reveal all at once. Rather than start with the most disconcerting elements of what he had come to convey, he spent three years of ministry laying the needed groundwork for his disciples to grasp those deeper realities. It is not so much that ...
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Matthew 17:1-9
How good are you at keeping secrets? There are certain things we like to keep quiet. We have to get comfortable with people to share some of the more critical secrets we carry within us. The time has to be right. The stage needs to be set. We have to gain a measure of security around other people before we can be comfortable becoming vulnerable by sharing too much. When it comes to an issue we want to share, we may still need to prepare the groundwork for others to be ready to hear what we have to say. It would appear that Jesus had secrets, too. He needed to set the stage before the larger world would be ready to hear them.
The first night I met Karen, I had a deep sense that she was the woman I wanted to marry. We played cards and talked for several hours. Before I left her in the dorm lobby, I was pretty sure where I wanted our relationship to go. By no means, however, did I tell her that. I was afraid that would have been showing too much of my hand, it would have made her uncomfortable, and it might have run her off before we could build enough rapport with one another for her to be comfortable with a conversation about marriage.
I had never been in a dating relationship before. I was not comfortable knowing how to move to a second step in our relationship. I was pretty sure, however, that before I talked about marriage she needed to better understand who I was. She needed to learn my character, work alongside me, and feel comfortable in my presence, looking upon me as much more than a stranger with whom she had spent an evening playing cards at the beginning of our seminary career.
Jesus had some secrets he did not reveal all at once. Rather than start with the most disconcerting elements of what he had come to convey, he spent three years of ministry laying the needed groundwork for his disciples to grasp those deeper realities. It is not so much that ...
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