Tuesday, August 4 "Walking trees"

The psalms spoke of Israel's continual rebellion and rejection of God as he revealed himself to be. They always wanted to remake him into an image they could swallow and be comfortable with; one that was more like them. They sought God's help, but rejected God's reign. The Jews acted no differently in Acts, rejecting God as revealed in Jesus. Then the passage in Mark comes. The healing of the blind man is important because for the next two chapters Jesus is revealing himself to the disciples as the Suffering Messiah. Peter confesses Jesus as the Old Testament Messiah who would establish his kingdom and rule over the earth. Jesus commended him, but Peter wasn't ready yet to see Christ for who he fully way. Peter, suffering from the disease of Israel along with the rest of the disciples, rejected a Christ who would suffer and die. He wanted to remake Christ into the Messiah, the God, he wanted. He saw enough to see walking trees. But the journey to recognize who redefined suffering as glory and slavery as greatness and love as power had a long way to go still.

I've got a long way on this journey too. I am suffering from the disease of Israel, wanting to remake Christ into my personal life coach that makes me a better me. What I should be doing is being remade into the image of Christ and dying to my desire to "come into my own." This runs countercultural to the West's value system of self-identity and self-sufficiency. Jesus boasts that the loss of self is the first step in finding the self. I'm not comfortable with that yet. What will it take, how long will it take, for me to cease my attempts at remaking Jesus and allow Jesus to make me?

Lord, be patient with me on this journey. I'm beginning to see and things are beginning to make sense, but I still see walking trees.