9:1 Jesus informs the disciples that a few of them will witness God before they die. Most of us will understand the presence of God only after we leave the Earth. Everything that Jesus and God foretell comes into fruition.
9:2 Jesus brought Peter, James and John to a private location where He transfigured into His spiritual body. God wants us to understand that our Earthly selves are not our true, eternal selves. Rather, our bodies are a vessel while we are here for our spiritual selves.
9:3 The spiritual body is a miraculous sight and manifestation. Jesus' spiritual body is vibrant, bright, and pure. In this verse we learn that nothing can be more pure, more bright than the spirit of Jesus through God.
God wants us to know that our spiritual bodies are beautiful and resilient. They are clean and strong.
9:4 Elijah and Moses appeared, also in their spiritual bodies, and conversed with Jesus. We know that Elijah and Moses were faithful men (spirits) of God. They were able to transfigured into their spiritual bodies and unite with God. This is what God hopes for all of us.
9:5 The disciples were awestruck. Imagine seeing these spiritual bodies, directly from and of God. Immediately they wanted to worship the figures. God is perfect and our Earthly bodies have a difficult time even comprehending the magnitude of Him.
9:6 The disciples were not afraid so much as they were stunned. They did not know to react to such pure, brilliant beings. When we return home to God we become our spiritual selves too... so perfect. The disciples did not know how to react because the difference between what they were used to and the spiritual body was so great.
9:7 God Himself joins this transfiguration. He wants us to know that He is there. Notice that God does not appear as a person or figure but rather as this amazing manifestation which overshadows. God is our covering. God is always described in the Bible with comparisons to nature. God is more than simply a man or figure... he'd indescribable.
9:8 God, Elijah and Moses return to heaven and Jesus returns to His earthly body and remains with the disciples.
9:9 Jesus was teaching the disciples about transfiguration -- He wanted to explain what the spiritual body and spiritual home were like. To do that, He showed them. Jesus, and God, is open and willing show all wisdom. Jesus knows that the time for people to learn about the spiritual body will be after his Earthly death. After His earthly death, Jesus knows the children will need to hear about this perfect, eternal body and life that awaits.
Jesus knows that this knowledge would be difficult to grasp for people and He wants to wait for the perfect conditions to teach it.
9:10 The disciples are still stunned at what they've seen but they listen to Jesus and keep the experience to themselves (for now).
9:11 The scripture speaks of Elijah coming. Malachi 4:5. Matthew 17:11. The disciples have questions regarding his return.
9:12 Jesus confirms that Elijah is coming and tells them (and us) that he will come to restore things. What will be out of order? Well, people go astray and lose their faith. Near the time of God coming, people will really need help being led back to scripture.
Jesus reminds them that He also has come and will fulfill scripture. Everything God tells us is to caution us and to prepare us to deal with and recognize important times in our lives.
9:13 Here we are reminded that the prophets in the Bible were treated very poorly by people. With God, we have the strength to complete our missions and we do not fear any death because we know that we are alive in God. God gives the gifts of wisdom and perseverance. After our mission, our purpose, we are so blessed to return to Him.
Jesus reminds us that scripture will always be fulfilled as it is promised. He also reminds us that working in His name might be an uphill journey. People will not make it easy for us because they are lacking or rejecting the Word of God -- however, they never win over us. Even in death we return to life with God.
9:14 Jesus returns and gathers with the rest of the disciples who are in a dispute.
9:15 Everyone was so excited and exuberant to see Jesus return -- this will happen when Jesus returns to us again.
9:16 He asks to know the reason behind the dispute. Always communicate with God, even through Jesus. He cares and He loves to help.
9:17-18 A parent brings their son to the disciples to be healed. From the description we can deduce that the boy was having seizures. The disciples were not able to help him. We already know that Jesus has given the disciples the ability to help and heal so if they are failing to do so, the reason might be because their faith is not yet strong enough. We can do all things of compassion especially with God. We only fail or falter when we are not firm in Him. The disciples, without Jesus near, likely lost a bit of their confidence. We must always remain confident because God is always with us even though we cannot visibly see Him right now.
9:19 Jesus is saddened by this. Jesus wants the disciples to be strong and faithful so that they can do great things in God's name after He returns to the spirit.
9:20 Jesus witnesses for Himself the illness of the child. Remember also that ailment and illness are symptoms of our Earthly bodies but nothing can harm our spiritual bodies.
9:21-22 We learn that this person's child has suffered this affliction for most, almost all of his life. They ask Jesus for compassion -- we know that Jesus has an abundance of compassion.
9:23 "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Build your faith, building your relationship with God because with Him you can do everything and anything.
9:24 You may and should always ask God for help.
9:25 Jesus heals the child... for good. That is the way God does things, completely and without failure.
9:26 The ailment leaves the child and everyone assumes that the process has killed him... no so.
9:27 Jesus reaches for the hand and lifts him, then he arises. Jesus does this with you also. Take His hand, let him build you up.
9:28 The disciples ask Jesus why they were not able to help the child.
9:29 Some ailments here on Earth are consequence of our mortal bodies. Jesus wants us to know that prayer and working with God is the only way to heal something inside of ourselves. And remember that God works in ways we do not understand. Every scientific or brilliant brain on Earth was given to those humans by God. God is behind all cures and healing (mentally, physically, emotionally). We have to know when something can be cured medically and when an ailment needs a direct bond with God.
9:30 Moving along, Jesus' growing familiarity and popularity crowd His ability to continue moving throughout these cities.
9:31 Jesus is preparing the disciples for His both His death and Hi Resurrection. It's important to Him that they, and we, know that His spirit will never leave.
9:32 The disciples did not understand how a person could return to life, as they knew it, after being killed. Jesus had been working for a long time to help them understand and I think they were a little embarrassed at still not being able to grasp the concept. However, it is a difficult concept for some of us to understand and God knows that and works with us when we diligently work to understand and ask Him for help.
9:33 Jesus had heard the disciples in a heated discussion and although Jesus, through God, knows our thoughts, He wanted to discuss the conflict with the disciples. For their benefit and also for ours.
9:34 Again, the disciples are embarrassed at the topic of their conversation. They were arguing about who would be the greatest disciple between them. God does not want us to strive to try to be the best and most beautiful. God wants us to strive for the well-being of others and to completely disregard any kind of ranking. We are loved equally by God. Focusing on ourselves is time and effort taken away from helping others.
9:35 A succinct lesson from Jesus: When you let arrogance rule your life, you will be considered last by God. If you put yourself first and others last, you put yourself last in Heaven.
God dedicates Himself to us, Jesus dedicates Himself to us, and we are to follow their selfless example. We find happiness, contentment, protection, comfort and love from our Guides, God and Jesus, and they are able to retain their brilliance by projecting compassion at all times.
9:36 Continuing the lesson, Jesus gathers a small child in His arms:
9:37 When you protect and nurture an innocent soul who needs protection and nourishment your actions reverberate toward Jesus and through Jesus, God. We are God's children, He feels everything we endure right along with us (whether we realize it or not). Here, Jesus is reminding the disciples to put aside their own desires for fame and popularity and to focus wholly on helping those who need it (no matter how small and insignificant they may seem to the world).
9:38 This verse is particularly pertinent to today's world. The disciples make a big mistake. The disciples notice some people (perhaps of different faith or no faith) living and working in the ways of God. The disciples are angered by this and order the people to stop because they do not identify as Christians.
God loves all of His children. What is important, is not the book that is read, but the actions that are done. A person who does not identify as Christian is not a bad person. Our actions define us. Let compassion be the unifying concept of the world's differing faiths. The world now is filled with billions of people all of different faith, culture, spirituality and religion. It is especially important for humanity to observe and celebrate our similarities. Honesty, compassion, selflessness, humility and kindness are what God stands for... and any man or woman who stands for those qualities, works in them and at defending them, is recognized and loved by God. We also must love others and not deny or separate ourselves from them.
9:39 Jesus tells the disciples not to forbid these people. Jesus is teaching them that a good act is an act of God, never a denial of God.
9:40 Remember that all people who are kind and honest are a part of God's family. Our cultures do not segregate us, rather our beliefs unite us if we take the notice to realize. The only people who are against God and not part of His family are people who are against compassion and honesty. Religions around the world are constructed to bring people closer to compassion and honesty... we may all be taking alternate modes of transportation but we journey toward the same destination, toward the same God.
Be inclusive.
9:41 Kindness toward any person is seen and acknowledged by God always -- no matter who is behind the kindness.
9:42 Never lead, tempt or manipulate a person away from God. Sometimes our actions can do this: our inability to control our temper or attitude can wear down a person's faith. When a person takes one of God's children off of their path toward Him, He is not going to be happy.
9:43 We are going to examine these next few verses metaphorically. Jesus wants you to realize that when some aspect of your life is causing you to make poor choices, you must remove yourself from that thing. You should not really cut off your hand. To solve any problem, you must adjust and heal your mind. Our temptations and our bad decision all take place in our brain, not in our hand or other extremity. God wants you to know that even if it's difficult, leaving a place or a habit or a friend, we must do so if that place, habit or friend is causing us to be unkind or harmful to the world.
9:44 I do not believe in eternal Hell (and no such place exists in the Bible) however God wants you to know that no evil act will ever stand the chance of returning. While evil people are removed, blotted out of existence, the ability for evil will be constantly subdued by God. Their worm does not die, the evil which they produce will be ever weakened and imprisoned by God... it can never escape nor return. God wants you to know that He keeps a keen and constant eye on evil and separates it entirely, eternally.
We deal with evil now because we are here to become our authentic selves: God wants to know who each of us truly are when we have the ability (freedom) to be anything we want to be. Unfortunately some choose evil and there are repercussions but in Heaven, the good and evil have been organized and anything which is not good is banished.
9:45 Jesus reiterates that we must fix ourselves, remove ourselves from bad decisions, people and situations. We must do our best not to be manipulated by temptation or evil.
9:46 Again, evil will never escape it's punishment. But God does not torture souls, God is a loving God. He completely wipes evil souls from existence. The possibility for evil though, God sets fire to forever.
9:47 Be aware of your perception. You must always strive to be compassionate and observant. Do not hate others because of a limited perspective. God welcomes all people into His house, He gives everyone a chance who asks for one. We must be open and welcoming to new and different ideas and people. We have so much to learn from each other.
Do not protect your own beliefs and deny another person's...God has abundance space in His house for so many different varieties of love and compassion.
9:48 Evil will never triumph or return in Heaven. Find peace in that and comfort in the fact that your God abolishes evil. Take comfort in the fact that your God does not allow suffering, even of His enemies; because of His compassionate heart... they lose existence. And it's quite a loss for them. In an eternity we will live with our Father and will be loved and protected and nurtured by Him.
9:49 In the first part of this verse we learn that God will test all of our souls (not with literal fire). Metaphorically speaking, God needs to weed out the true strong, pure, compassionate souls from the brittle, corrupt and evil souls.
Our salt is our spirit. Our spirit brings influence into the world... the seasoning of the world. We must decide what influence we are going to bring.
9:50 An evil soul loses it's spirit and therefore is harmful and useless to the world. Jesus teaches us to have a strong, beautiful spirit and to be inclusive and loving with others.
So many people look to divide and separate others based on age, religion, ethnicity, heritage, socioeconomics... there are an endless amount of difference humanity focuses on. Jesus wants you to know that compassion is compassion is compassion, no matter how it's clothed.
9:30 Moving along, Jesus' growing familiarity and popularity crowd His ability to continue moving throughout these cities.
9:31 Jesus is preparing the disciples for His both His death and Hi Resurrection. It's important to Him that they, and we, know that His spirit will never leave.
9:32 The disciples did not understand how a person could return to life, as they knew it, after being killed. Jesus had been working for a long time to help them understand and I think they were a little embarrassed at still not being able to grasp the concept. However, it is a difficult concept for some of us to understand and God knows that and works with us when we diligently work to understand and ask Him for help.
9:33 Jesus had heard the disciples in a heated discussion and although Jesus, through God, knows our thoughts, He wanted to discuss the conflict with the disciples. For their benefit and also for ours.
9:34 Again, the disciples are embarrassed at the topic of their conversation. They were arguing about who would be the greatest disciple between them. God does not want us to strive to try to be the best and most beautiful. God wants us to strive for the well-being of others and to completely disregard any kind of ranking. We are loved equally by God. Focusing on ourselves is time and effort taken away from helping others.
9:35 A succinct lesson from Jesus: When you let arrogance rule your life, you will be considered last by God. If you put yourself first and others last, you put yourself last in Heaven.
God dedicates Himself to us, Jesus dedicates Himself to us, and we are to follow their selfless example. We find happiness, contentment, protection, comfort and love from our Guides, God and Jesus, and they are able to retain their brilliance by projecting compassion at all times.
9:36 Continuing the lesson, Jesus gathers a small child in His arms:
9:37 When you protect and nurture an innocent soul who needs protection and nourishment your actions reverberate toward Jesus and through Jesus, God. We are God's children, He feels everything we endure right along with us (whether we realize it or not). Here, Jesus is reminding the disciples to put aside their own desires for fame and popularity and to focus wholly on helping those who need it (no matter how small and insignificant they may seem to the world).
9:38 This verse is particularly pertinent to today's world. The disciples make a big mistake. The disciples notice some people (perhaps of different faith or no faith) living and working in the ways of God. The disciples are angered by this and order the people to stop because they do not identify as Christians.
God loves all of His children. What is important, is not the book that is read, but the actions that are done. A person who does not identify as Christian is not a bad person. Our actions define us. Let compassion be the unifying concept of the world's differing faiths. The world now is filled with billions of people all of different faith, culture, spirituality and religion. It is especially important for humanity to observe and celebrate our similarities. Honesty, compassion, selflessness, humility and kindness are what God stands for... and any man or woman who stands for those qualities, works in them and at defending them, is recognized and loved by God. We also must love others and not deny or separate ourselves from them.
9:39 Jesus tells the disciples not to forbid these people. Jesus is teaching them that a good act is an act of God, never a denial of God.
9:40 Remember that all people who are kind and honest are a part of God's family. Our cultures do not segregate us, rather our beliefs unite us if we take the notice to realize. The only people who are against God and not part of His family are people who are against compassion and honesty. Religions around the world are constructed to bring people closer to compassion and honesty... we may all be taking alternate modes of transportation but we journey toward the same destination, toward the same God.
Be inclusive.
9:41 Kindness toward any person is seen and acknowledged by God always -- no matter who is behind the kindness.
9:42 Never lead, tempt or manipulate a person away from God. Sometimes our actions can do this: our inability to control our temper or attitude can wear down a person's faith. When a person takes one of God's children off of their path toward Him, He is not going to be happy.
9:43 We are going to examine these next few verses metaphorically. Jesus wants you to realize that when some aspect of your life is causing you to make poor choices, you must remove yourself from that thing. You should not really cut off your hand. To solve any problem, you must adjust and heal your mind. Our temptations and our bad decision all take place in our brain, not in our hand or other extremity. God wants you to know that even if it's difficult, leaving a place or a habit or a friend, we must do so if that place, habit or friend is causing us to be unkind or harmful to the world.
9:44 I do not believe in eternal Hell (and no such place exists in the Bible) however God wants you to know that no evil act will ever stand the chance of returning. While evil people are removed, blotted out of existence, the ability for evil will be constantly subdued by God. Their worm does not die, the evil which they produce will be ever weakened and imprisoned by God... it can never escape nor return. God wants you to know that He keeps a keen and constant eye on evil and separates it entirely, eternally.
We deal with evil now because we are here to become our authentic selves: God wants to know who each of us truly are when we have the ability (freedom) to be anything we want to be. Unfortunately some choose evil and there are repercussions but in Heaven, the good and evil have been organized and anything which is not good is banished.
9:45 Jesus reiterates that we must fix ourselves, remove ourselves from bad decisions, people and situations. We must do our best not to be manipulated by temptation or evil.
9:46 Again, evil will never escape it's punishment. But God does not torture souls, God is a loving God. He completely wipes evil souls from existence. The possibility for evil though, God sets fire to forever.
9:47 Be aware of your perception. You must always strive to be compassionate and observant. Do not hate others because of a limited perspective. God welcomes all people into His house, He gives everyone a chance who asks for one. We must be open and welcoming to new and different ideas and people. We have so much to learn from each other.
Do not protect your own beliefs and deny another person's...God has abundance space in His house for so many different varieties of love and compassion.
9:48 Evil will never triumph or return in Heaven. Find peace in that and comfort in the fact that your God abolishes evil. Take comfort in the fact that your God does not allow suffering, even of His enemies; because of His compassionate heart... they lose existence. And it's quite a loss for them. In an eternity we will live with our Father and will be loved and protected and nurtured by Him.
9:49 In the first part of this verse we learn that God will test all of our souls (not with literal fire). Metaphorically speaking, God needs to weed out the true strong, pure, compassionate souls from the brittle, corrupt and evil souls.
Our salt is our spirit. Our spirit brings influence into the world... the seasoning of the world. We must decide what influence we are going to bring.
9:50 An evil soul loses it's spirit and therefore is harmful and useless to the world. Jesus teaches us to have a strong, beautiful spirit and to be inclusive and loving with others.
So many people look to divide and separate others based on age, religion, ethnicity, heritage, socioeconomics... there are an endless amount of difference humanity focuses on. Jesus wants you to know that compassion is compassion is compassion, no matter how it's clothed.
