Today’s reading: Genesis 24-25, Psalm 4, Mark 9
In my day job, I do a lot of work with third parties. These are people who provide service to my organization, but are employed by a different company. While the folks I work with are bound to uphold the contractual provisions to which we agree, third parties always have divided loyalty between the organization to which they are providing service (my company) and the organization with whom they are employed.
My teams’ day to day management of third parties involves a lot of metrics and data. Some of which comes from the third parties themselves and some of which comes from my company. We spend a lot of time evaluating whether data elements are useful (or not) for decision making. Often times it comes down to the authoritative source of the data. To be fit for decision making, data must be sourced from within the company , or when it comes from the third party, the data must be corroborated/validated with internal data. Making decisions about third parties using data they provide is like letting the fox watch the hen house!
Our text for today begins with Mark’s account of the transfiguration. This short passage reveals to us God’s perspective on the authoritative source for how to obtain salvation and spend eternity with God in heaven. Let’s take a closer look.
Jesus took Peter, James and John with him up the mountain. When they got up to a place where they were alone, Jesus transformed into a heavenly being. Elijah and Moses also appeared. As a devout Jew, Peter knew Elijah and Moses to be heroes of the faith, great leaders who God used to do significant work for his kingdom. While he was a little tongue-tied, Peter wanted to show respect and offered to make shelters for all three of the heavenly beings – Jesus, Elijah and Moses. Notice how God responds in verse 7.
Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” (Mark 9:7).
In no uncertain terms, God affirmed the authority of Jesus, the name above all names, over Elijah and Moses.
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Fortunately for us, we have Jesus’ teachings at our fingertips daily. The Bible, the inspired work of God, can be our roadmap for daily living. Thanks for embarking on our 2023 journey to read it cover to cover. I promise we will all benefit from better knowing God’s word.