“I Have Some Bad News and Some Good News” -
Matthew 17:22-23, NRSV - As they were gathering in
Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human
hands, and they will kill him, and on
the third day he will be raised.” And they were greatly distressed.
Before we get to the main reflection today, I want to comment
on something some of you might have noticed.
In most modern translations, there is no verse 21 in Matthew 17. This speaks to an issue that Bible
translators have to deal with when they are rendering a new translation of the
Bible. Generally speaking, translators
try to use the oldest manuscripts of the original handwritten texts available
in the original language. In this case,
it is Greek. There are a few ancient Greek
manuscripts of the New Testament Books.
The problem is, there are differences between those different manuscripts. We’ve stumbled onto one of them today. Some have verse 21 and some don’t. When translators come across something like
this, they have to make a decision. Do
they include it or not. That decision has
many complex issues to consider that we don’t have time to consider today, but
what I will say for now is that the majority of translation teams of among the
most trusted English versions of the New Testament chose to omit verse 21. This is why I chose not to cover it in these
reflections. But I did want you to be
aware of the issues that are involved in bringing a new translation of the
Bible to you and me.
So
moving into our reflection, Jesus gives the disciples a dose of “good news-bad
news.” They get the bad news first
because the bad news will occur first;
Jesus will be killed. The good
news is that, three days later, He will be raised from death. To be fair, this is not the first time they
have heard this bad/good news. If you remember,
in Chapter 16, he begins to tell them this:
(suffer many things at the hands of the
elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be
killed and on the third day be raised to life.” (16:21)
You should know that Jesus will tell them about His death
and resurrection two more times before it actually happens (20:17-19 and
26:1-2). It seems clear that Jesus knew that
His disciples would take a while to wrap their mind around this coming
event. We have the advantage of looking
back on something that has already happened.
We were taught this story with the “happy” ending already in place. For the disciples, who don’t have this hindsight
advantage, all they can hear is that Jesus says He is going to be killed. They have found the Savior that their
grandparents, great-grandparents, and dozens of previous generations have hoped
for and now they are told that Savior is now going to be taken from them.
Imagine
what pregnancy would be like if you weren’t sure that it would end with a
precious child being born. Imagine going
through 16-20 years of education with no idea whether it would be useful when
you received that degree (probably not too hard to imagine these days). Imagine your most beloved family member telling
you that they have only months to live and not knowing how you would be able to
go on living without them (my guess is a few of us have already experienced that). Our human tendency is to latch on to the bad
news right in front of us. When Peter
objects to hearing the bad news in Matthew 16, Jesus tells him, “you do not
have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”(16:23) While Jesus is patient, (telling His friends
the same thing at least four different times)
He calls us to stretch to embrace a longer vision. The bad thing that has you filled with dread
right now is NOT the last thing, no matter how it plays out.
Most of us have seen this play
out. Pregnancies most often end with
sweet bables, but sometimes they don’t and it is bitterly painful. But I know parents who have tasted that bitter
pain and found joy again. I have seen
people spend those two decades of education getting the degree (even an MD certification
in a couple of cases) and never work in their field of expertise because they
found something even better. And on
occasions too many to count, I have seen people who hoped against hope that the
terminal diagnosis would incorrect and ultimately be devastated when it proves
to be accurate. But over time, they find
themselves experiencing peace on the other side of the loss they didn’t think
they could survive.
Jesus needs us to know that “in
this world, you will have trouble.” (John 16:33) We can’t skip to the good part. But especially in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus
would have us see that there is always deeply good news on the other side of
that thing that has us “greatly distressed.” (17:23). The invitation is to embrace that long vision
of life even when it’s so hard to see. The
worst thing is NEVER the last thing.
Question: How would
you live differently than you live right now if you knew that no matter what
happens, the end of your story is “exceedingly good news?”
Prayer: Holy Spirit,
inhabit our hearts so that our minds could embrace your long vison of Good
News. Help us to hold onto the hope that
the worst thing is never the last thing for your children. Amen,
Prayer Focus: Pray
for someone you know who is struggling to hold onto hope right now.
Song: At the Foot of
the Cross (Ashes for Beauty) - Kathryn Scott
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