“He is changed in body, transfigured. And this is the english equivalent of the original greek word metamorphao, where we get the word metamorphosis…In that moment Jesus is recognizably himself, and yet totally altered. The shroud of reality is temporarily lifted and Peter, James and John see Jesus as he truly is. I think it’s really important we understand that Jesus didn’t just suddenly start glowing all bright, but that the radiance, the blinding white brilliance, the beaming bodily intensity that is so bright that it actually makes his clothing luminescent, is his natural state. He is light! Because he is himself all consuming light. What they are seeing is his natural state, so what they see the rest of the time is a glory hidden, only his human nature is visible…The rest of the time Jesus is shrouded, his glory covered, radiance veiled, just as Moses had to be veiled after he had met with the Lord.”

“…I actually want you to be offended by this. Don’t be offended if the music is too loud or not to your taste, don’t be offended if the carpets are too old, or if someone here in the church once said something to you that was hurtful. Let that stuff slide. But be offended when I lump you into the same batch as the Twelve. Because the moment that you say to yourself ‘Stupid disciples! How did they miss that Jesus just fed 5000 people and could easily feed 4’, then you are in danger more than they ever were…We need to be offended. There is great sanctification in catching yourself next time saying ‘Well, I would never do that’, or ‘At least I’m not like they are’…and then to rebuke yourself. To take every thought captive. And repent. We need to be a people of repentance…”

“Many people want to soften the words of Jesus here, calling the woman a ‘dog’…and offensive statement in this culture as well as ours…I want to suggest that this offense just needs to stand…he plainly says to the woman ‘you are not of the people of God’…still we get stuck on the word dogs, don’t we?…but look closer…the woman doesn’t see it this way. She sees this riddle for what it is. It’s a parable about timing, not inequalities…the time for the gentiles incorporation into the people of Goe is coming, but not yet…Still yet, she will not be put off…she shows dogged determination to get help for her daughter…We see stark this comparison: the self-righteous Pharisee to the self-abasing Phoenician woman…and for this Jesus commends the woman”

“The other blunder that us spiritual types tend to make is to speak and act in ways that don't honour God. But, because we are so sincere in our hearts and soft in our voices, we believe God will understand. Just because we are well meaning in our prayers or in our worship doesn't mean that our offerings are acceptable. We must not act outside of how God has said he is to be addressed or praised. Scripture tells us that we must honor God in the ways that he tells us to honour him, and not to presume upon his grace…We must not let the rule-filled life overtake the God-filled life...”

“I’m a Baptist, so I’m not a dancer. I have seen it. I can appreciate it, that it has this lovely cadence to it. But I don’t have the feet for it I suppose. I would like to say something around the realm that the Gospel in our lives is something like a dance though - where we learn something new about God, and we have to respond. And as we learn more about God we are required to submit more about we know about ourselves. And it’s this step after step after step in our lives that changes us, that completes us, as we walk this road. So this is an interesting passage that reveals more about our Lord…”