After doing an astounding miracle, feeding 5000 plus people out of nearly nothing to work with – and having them all full and satisfied, Jesus was found praying. He was not doing this out of need for a refilling, but out of a desire to commune with the One through whom He was able to do such amazing displays of authority over physical laws.
Luke appears to be contradicting himself in verse 18. Jesus was praying alone but His disciples were with Him. And while they were with Him while He was praying alone, He asked them a question about other people’s opinions of Him. Now, Jesus is not insecure and needing affirmation. When He asks questions, the purpose is revelation for us not information for Him. We must, also, recognize that our definitions of prayer are somewhat divergent from the Biblical, even Messianic, examples of Divine Communion.
This is the heart of the Lord for us: intimacy, friendship, community. He was not offended by their presence while He spoke with the Father and Spirit, it did not throw Him off or hinder His relationship or standing with the rest of the Godhead. In asking them a question, it is almost as if He enjoyed them being there and wanted to bring them deeper in. Prayer is a group conversation. Prayer meetings are more like celebratory gatherings of friends than somber appointments with a stoic King who demands flawless petitions with eloquent preambles. Religious jargon and superficial praises in many cases are more related to witchcraft than to deep devotion to the Redeemer of our souls.
There is an invitation set before us to intimate friendship with the Christ of God. We read, here, in Luke 9 that after the Peter gets an inspired guess right, that Jesus tells Peter and the other disciples not to tell anyone that He is in fact the Messiah. He tells them secrets because they are His friends, who He chose and has great affection for. It is those who fear the Lord who are the keepers of His secrets (Psalm 25:14). When you read in the Word about the mysteries of God or the Kingdom, understand that these are hidden mysteries, not hidden because they are not to be found, but hidden because they are to be found. It is the glory of the kings of the Kingdom to search out a matter that has been hidden by the King of kings. There are things that are hidden for you to find that no one else may ever be able to access unless you first seek and find it. We are treasure hunters of the divine truths and realities of the Word and the Spirit. Our Guide: Jesus.
After He lets out the Messianic secret and encourages them to keep it a secret, He brings three of them up to an appointment with the authoritative figures of the Law and the Prophets – Moses and Elijah. Here He shows that He is not just talk but is truly the Christ of God. Again, He is bringing the disciples into His interior life. He escorts them into a heavenly visitation. Jesus is not like other leaders who would try to keep the hierarchy of spiritual authority very strongly established and recognized. If He is doing it, they are to be in on it. He does not change from yesterday to today on to tomorrow.
Set before every believer is a welcome mat into a higher and deeper level of intimacy, affection and responsibility. There is no limit to how far we can go in God except for the limits that we accept. He would not withhold any good thing from us, and there is nothing more good than Himself. Psalm 23 says that His goodness will follow, or stalk, us all the days of our lives. The highways of Zion are in our hearts (Psalm 84:5), the access is there, the apprehension is what is lacking. You are in control of how close you are to the King. You can chose to live in relationship to the King like the prodigal son’s brother, or you can be God’s best friend on the earth. The choice is before us.
*Christ of God, we want to be much closer to You, lead us in choosing wisely. Amen*
