Mark 9:9-13

These couple of verses are probably packed for theologians.  "Do not tell anyone" and "Elijah must come first" has written a lot of long books.  But what do they mean to me?

I love verse 10: "They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what 'rising from the dead' meant."  So human.  Afraid to look silly asking dumb questions like rising from the dead.  My boss called me out on this a little while ago.  I tend to smile and nod when I hear something I don't understand or the name of someone I do not know.  Half the time, I'll jot down a note to look it up later.  But not asking then and there does not allow me to fully participate in the conversation.  Instead, I am just a receiver of information. 

What I love about being Lutheran is that we are charged to actively participate in our faith.  To question the things we don't undestand and to try to explain to others the things we think we do.  We aren't the receivers of these verses, we are the intepreters and the embodiment of what the words call us to do.  Just like those theologians arguing who Elijah is and what the messianic secret was all about.