Even though the young Rabbi from Nazareth was and is the Messiah, and the King of Israel, and the Son of God, and worthy of Israel’s greatest respect and honors, love, admiration and devotion, when the One who is rightly called Immanuel came among us, the majority of Israel were like parched, dry ground, far from God and spiritually blind, and were about to reject the Messiah – and Yeshua knew it. And, Messiah knew that that was God’s plan for His life. And He wanted to make sure that His disciples knew that, so when it happened, they would not lose faith in Him, and know that He was a true prophet. And so before He died, He said this to them:

“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and Torah-teachers, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”

And, what is true of the Lord will be true of His disciples, and He wanted those first followers, and also us, to know that we too must endure rejection and suffering.

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone (anyone – this does not just apply to apostles, pastors and rabbis. This is for anyone, for everyone, including you!) wishes to come after Me (to be My disciple, to join themself to Me and share My destiny, and enjoy the good things I offer), he must deny himself (give up his right to determine his life, and his personal goals and agenda, and his will, and he must submit his life to the will of God, and find God’s goals and agendas), and take up his cross daily (be willing to suffer rejection and death each and every day) and follow Me (follow My example, and take up My mission).

For whoever wishes to save his life (by living for self, living for his own goals and priorities) will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake (for My sake, for Me, to accomplish what I want done, to further My agenda), he is the one who will save it. It is a very bad deal for a man to become the richest, most powerful man in this doomed world, if that accomplishment is followed by the Day of Judgment and the Second Death in the Lake of Fire.

What will help us reject the temptations of the world, and be willing to deny ourselves, and be willing to suffer in this life as one of Messiah’s committed followers? We need to know that just as the Messiah’s sufferings and rejection were temporary, and were followed by great and lasting honor and power and happiness – our sufferings will also be temporary, and we will receive eternal honor – if we remain loyal to the Crucified One and His mission!

We need that vision of the Suffering Messiah high and lifted up, and greatly exalted; victorious and powerful and eternally alive! And, that is exactly what the Holy Spirit now gives us. Luke records one of the of greatest spiritual experiences that happened to the disciples – seeing Yeshua’s transformation on a mountain in northern Israel. That great vision was a foreshadowing of the rejected yet overcoming King in His eternal glory – and a foretaste of ours as well!

So, after Yeshua gave His disciples this warning and this call to join Him in suffering, He started preparing them for a great vision some of them were about to have. But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.

King Messiah is not talking about some of His first century disciples living until His Second Coming. He is telling them that some of them are about to experience a foreshadowing of the King in His glory, seeing the Lord Messiah as He will be after His resurrection; and when He comes again and rules the world from Jerusalem. Some of them are about to see the King Messiah as He will be throughout eternity in the New Jerusalem, that huge and glorious and eternal city that has no need for the sun or the moon to shine on it, because its source of light is the glory of God, and its lamp that lights it up is the Messiah!

Some eight days after Yeshua said these things, He took His inner core of disciples – Peter, James and John, and went up on a mountain in northern Israel to pray. And while He was praying He was transformed – the appearance of His face was different, and His clothing became white and gleamed. And suddenly two of Israel’s greatest men of old appeared with Him in a glorious and magnificent state – Moses the great Savior and Lawgiver and prophet, and Elijah the great prophet who never died, who is the forerunner of the Second Coming of the Messiah. Messiah Yeshua, radiating power and light, and Moses and Elijah, started talking about Yeshua’s upcoming death and resurrection and ascension back to Heaven.

Peter, James and John had been sleeping, and they woke up, and saw this amazing event, and then heard the voice of God the Father speak from Heaven (something that is extremely rare, and lets us know that something very very important is being communicated): This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!

The Supreme Being was communicating – not just to Peter, James and John, but to all of mankind, that Yeshua is His Son, who shares His name and nature, deity and essence, and His eternal uncreated life. Yeshua is also the Chosen One, chosen by the Father to share everything with Him; chosen by the Father to rule over mankind; chosen by God the Father to be the Messiah, the Savior, the Redeemer, the Lord, the Judge, the Life-giver and the Hell-Sender.

The Father chose this One above everything and everyone else to be close to, to be pleased with, to love, to share with, to accomplish everything through, to exalt. And, if we are to be acceptable to the Father, we must choose what He has chosen. We must choose His Chosen One too! If you do not chose the One whom God has chosen, you will find that you are not chosen by God! You may be part of the Chosen People, but you will not be a Chosen Person!

Yeshua has been chosen above all the greatest men among the Chosen People – above Moses and Elijah – great men that they are. Yeshua has been chosen above the other prophets and priests and kings of Israel; and of course Yeshua has been chosen above all the political and religious leaders of every other nation.

This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him! Yeshua has been chosen to speak for God. He, more than anyone else, reveals who God is. He is the ultimate prophet who has God’s words, who speaks to us all that God commands Him (Deuteronomy. 18:18). He is able to tell us, more than anyone else, the name of God, the mind of God, the plan of God, the salvation of God, the hope that God has for us! By all means, listen to Moses! Most definitely listen to Elijah and pay the closest attention to the prophets of Israel, but most of all listen to God’s Chosen One! Listen to the Son of God who is in fact the very Word of God, who perfectly communicates everything that God wants communicated to mankind!  God the Father, the Supreme Being, our Maker, our Creator and our God, told us that we must listen His Son and Chosen One. That is His command for all of humanity – for the Chosen People and everyone else.

Have you chosen Him above everyone and everything else?

Have you chosen to listen to Him more than to anyone else?

And, then, after listening to God’s Son, you must go help rescue the rest of humanity who are part of a demonically controlled world. Take Messiah’s message to the people of the world. Deny your self, and lose your life for Messiah’s sake, and ignoring the shame, look forward to the eternal honor that awaits those who carry on Messiah’s great mission!

Messiah came down from this great mountain-top experience with Peter, James and John, who for a while, did not report to anyone else this great vision of Moses and Elijah talking with the transformed Yeshua, and the powerful statement uttered by the voice of God. I suspect that what had happened was so overwhelming that they needed time to understand it.

The next day a huge crowd met them. In the crowd was a man who had an only son who was terribly tormented by a demon. The man had asked Messiah’s followers to remove the demon, but they were not able to exorcize, But the concerned father, not giving up, asked Rabbi Yeshua for His help. Yeshua was annoyed that His disciples weren’t able to pray and have the demon removed. But unlike His disciples, their Rabbi always had enough faith, and He rebuked the unclean spirit, which promptly left. The boy was instantly and completely freed from this demonic torment!

The Lord is greater than the disciples. Leaders of Messiah’s Holy Community may fail. We may let you down, but never give up faith in the Messiah! We might fail, but you, keep seeking Yeshua! The Church might fail, but the Lord of the Church never will!

This boy is a symbol of humanity – controlled and tormented by demons, under the authority of the dominion of darkness; not at peace, in fact periodically screaming and convulsing. The Lord’s disciples are still trying to rid humanity of the destructive and dehumanizing control of these unclean spirits. Sometime we succeed and sometimes we fail. But know that the Lord of the Church will one day completely vanquish these very real enemies, and free the remnant of humanity from our long demonic nightmare!

Messiah knew that a demonically controlled world would reject Him at His First Coming. Even though prophecies about His suffering and rejection are part of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Jewish people did not understand that the Messiah would be rejected and suffer and die – not even His closest disciples. But, He wanted to help them understand, and prepare them for His rejection and suffering and death.

And so, while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men”.

He who is the Lord of Heaven and Earth, and the One through whom the universe was made and is sustained, would shortly and willingly allow Himself to come under the power of weak and sinful and cruel human beings, who would mistreat Him, dishonor Him, torture and crucify Him. Luke tells us that Yeshua’s followers did not understand this statement. Therefore they were surprised when His time of trouble came and not ready to help their King.

Instead of seeking the understanding they needed, so that they could be prepared to stand by their Rabbi and King and Friend in His hour of need, and fulfill their duty to Him, they began to argue which one of them was the greatest! Instead of denying self, and being committed to assist the Messiah and then carry on His all-important mission, the disciples were squabbling over who was the greatest – who was the most important and most deserving of the highest position and greatest honors!

This is not what being a disciple is about! This is not what following the Crucified One is about! It is about the King, not weak human beings who often fail. It is about us pointing people to Him, since He is the source of salvation. Human beings need to learn about Him, and get to know Him, and get connected to the One who is our salvation.

It is about us working together as a team under the Team Leader – Messiah. It’s about us working together as a body under the Head – Yeshua. It’s about us coming together as a mission driven community, with the mission being the focus – not us and our status. It is about us carrying on His mission, which involves rejection and suffering, even death. It is not about us receiving praise and honors! The highest praise and honors come later to those who are the most faithful, who are willing to suffer the most, who fulfill their responsibilities to the King the best.

Yeshua, close to God and hearing from God, and Himself very astute, knew what His followers were thinking, and knew their values were wrong and their attitude needed correction. And so He took a child and stood him by His side, and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great”.

Each follower of Messiah, whether he is great or small, important to many others or not very influential, is gifted by and sent by the Messiah, and represents the Son of God. It’s about Him – not us. It’s about the One who sends, not the one who is sent. It’s about the Gifter more than the one who is gifted. It’s about the One we represent – not us.

Every son and daughter of God is important, and worthy of honor and praise because they are all connected to and joined to the Son of God, who is connected to and joined to God the Father, who is supremely worthy of honor! It’s about God the Son and God the Father being honored and praised – not weak and frail and flawed and sometimes failing human beings through whom They choose to work.

The one who realizes this, and embraces this, and humbles himself, and is not concerned about himself and his status and his position, and is focused on the Messiah and His mission, and gives honor to all believers simply because they are made in the image of God, and are joined to Messiah, and represent Him as He enables them to, is the one who is truly great and in the right time will be honored by God, whose honor is worthy and lasting!

The one who is focused on the Messiah and His mission is not threatened by others who advance the Messiah and His mission – even if they are not part of their sphere of influence. John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us.” But Yeshua said to him, “Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you.”

It’s not about our name, it’s about His name. It is not about us – it’s about Him. It’s not about people coming into our sphere of influence but into the Master’s sphere of influence. It’s not about our status, it’s about His mission. If the Lord’s agenda is being advanced, that is good for us, not bad for us.

To summarize, Yeshua is the Suffering and Crucified Messiah, but also the victorious and glorified King. The is the Son of God. He is God’s Chosen One. We must listen to Him. He is the One greater than the disciples, who always succeeds where we fail. He is the One who will crush the head of the serpent, and remove all demonic influence from humanity. He willingly allowed Himself to be delivered into the control of sinful men – out of love for us, to make shalom with God, and everlasting life, possible. He overwhelming succeeding in His mission and ministry, by using truth, and humility and graciousness.

We must take up His mission, adopting the same attitudes. It is not about us – it’s about Him! It’s about humility, selflessness, faithfulness to the Messiah and His all-important mission. May these truths be fulfilled in each one of us!