Friday after the Transfiguration of our Lord
Posted on January 29, 2021 by under
Scripture: Romans 15:14-21 (NKJV)
15:14 Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. 15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, 16 that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God. 18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient—19 in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20 And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation, 21 but as it is written:
“To whom He was not announced, they shall see; And those who have not heard shall understand.”
Devotion
In spite of St. Paul’s manifest intellectual powers and works of loving service for the Gospel, he remained a humble man. Our text emphasizes that the faithful apostles of God did not see the Church’s work as a competition or means for personal glory.
Whether in the first garden, or in the synagogues, or in the present Church, Satan still slithers in the midst of God’s people. The Serpent tempts us to see ourselves as lords or heroes who accomplish great things, think great thoughts, and deserve great wealth over those who do less or are worse off in their sins. But the real glory of the Church does not encourage vanity. The real glory in the Church is Christ’s work of love and forgiveness toward all who will hear and believe in Him.
In Mark’s Gospel our Lord teaches the disciples not to pose as lords as unbelievers do, but to be humble servants, as He exemplified in His incarnation (10:42-45). There is to be good order and proper respect of vocations in the midst of the saints, but it all works together according to His will. His commandments and His examples to the apostles compose a big picture, similar to how the members of the Church are built up into one Body. And the glory of that picture and Body is our Savior, Jesus Christ!
Prayer: O God, who in the glorious transfiguration of Thy Only-Begotten Son hast confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the testimony of the fathers, and who, in the Voice that came from the bright cloud, didst in a wonderful manner foreshow the adoption of sons, mercifully vouchsafe to make us coheirs with the King of His glory and bring us to the enjoyment of the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
