“Ministering to the Multitude”
Matthew 17:14-27
“And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying…” [Matthew 17:14]
From a spiritual mountaintop experience to the reality of life in this world; that is what we see in our passage this morning. Last week we ended with the Transfiguration; Jesus unveiling His glory before Peter, James, and John; but now it is the reality of life in this fallen world. Such was the case for Jesus and His disciples, and it is the same today. It is the life of faith.
The whole of the Bible is a “by faith” lesson from Genesis to Revelation. This is because we cannot see God with our physical eyes, but we can see Him with eyes of faith. David wrote, “When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ My heart said to You, ‘Your face, Lord, I will seek.” [Ps 27:8] How does one seek the Face of God? By faith.
It is by faith that we see God and it is by faith that we serve the multitude. The Lord fills us up so that we might give out to others. “Freely you have received, freely give.” [Matt 10:8] And it is for this reason that Jesus came down the mountain and made His way toward the Cross of Calvary. It would have been easier to stay on the mountain, but He chose to come down and fulfill His call to be the Lamb of God slain for the sins for the world. And this is what Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were discussed at the Transfiguration [ref. Lk 9:30-31]. Indeed “the Cross must come before the Kingdom.” [Ironside]
Before you and I can come into the presence of God, we must first go to the Cross of Calvary. Jesus bore our sins so that we might receive His righteous standing before God. We receive this by faith. We believe by faith; we walk by faith; and we see our Lord by faith. It is a faith that receives so that we might give to others.
We love the mountaintop experiences when God touches us through worship, prayer, and His Word. But may we heed the call to come down from the mountain also [i.e., to leave our comfort zone] and begin to minister to the multitude.
