Chariots of Fire!
Reflection: We all would like to write the script as to how we will go from this life. Yet, rarely does anyone get to do this. As we begin the book of 2 Kings, perhaps the greatest prophet this world has ever seen makes an interesting exit from this planet. As Elijah prepares for his departure, the other prophets are discussing and predicting that his end is near. Elisha, his protégé, longs to be with his mentor to his dying day. Elijah allows him to follow and in fact tells him if he sees him when he is taken, he will inherit the difficult thing he has asked for, “a double portion of his spirit.”
As Elijah is walking along he comes to the Jordan River, rolls up his cloak, and touches the river with it, and it parts. Elijah tells Elisha that if he sees him go up, he will know what he has asked for will be granted. And sure enough in dramatic fashion Elijah is taken up in “chariots of fire, with horse of fire, in a whirlwind”. Elisha now knows that the mantle of the prophetic has been passed on to him, and he uses the cloak in like fashion and the river parts. The company of prophets think Elijah has been placed somewhere else, but Elisha knows better. The prophetic torch has been passed.
In a similar way in the gospel, Jesus has been resurrected, but like the company of prophets, Thomas does not believe that He is Risen as He has said he would. Jesus knows Thomas is the kind who needs proof, so he appears supernaturally passing through the doors and presents his hands and feet to Thomas as evidence He is the real Risen Lord. Thomas sees the evidence and comes to faith with the words, “My Lord and my God!”
Just like Elisha would go on to represent his mentor Elijah, Jesus will give His Spirit to His disciples so they can carry on the ministry He started. On the day of Pentecost they will receive the same Spirit that brought Jesus back from the dead. Until Jesus returns, God has given His power through the Spirit to His children, who are inheritors of eternal life. Like Thomas there are some of us who need to see in order to believe. And though we are unlikely to have a physical encounter with the living Lord (though anything is possible with God!), we can meet the risen Lord as we live in faith and trusting in His Word and are filled with the Holy Spirit. As we step out in faith on His Word, we can be assured that He is with us. In fact through the Church, others will see that Jesus is alive and will come back to set up a new heaven and earth with those who have believed in His name.
I encourage you during this Advent Season to seek the living Lord, like Elisha sought out Elijah. As we look for the Lord and His first coming in a manger, we can be ready when He returns in great and promised glory!
Psalm 138:6-8
6 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;
though lofty, he sees them from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
with your right hand you save me.
8 The Lord will vindicate me;
your love, Lord, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.
2 Kings 1:1-2:18
Elijah Taken Up to Heaven
2 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.” 4 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. 5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.” 6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on. 7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. 9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. 10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.” 11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. 13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. 15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16 “Look,” they said, “we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.” “No,” Elisha replied, “do not send them.”
17 But they persisted until he was too embarrassed to refuse. So he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him. 18 When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”
John 20:24-31
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The Purpose of John’s Gospel
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
You are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. Psalm 25:5
Christ says, “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” Matthew 7:7
O God of our salvation, eternal hope and source of strength, let our lives be a response to your steadfast love and grace. Amen.
As Elijah is walking along he comes to the Jordan River, rolls up his cloak, and touches the river with it, and it parts. Elijah tells Elisha that if he sees him go up, he will know what he has asked for will be granted. And sure enough in dramatic fashion Elijah is taken up in “chariots of fire, with horse of fire, in a whirlwind”. Elisha now knows that the mantle of the prophetic has been passed on to him, and he uses the cloak in like fashion and the river parts. The company of prophets think Elijah has been placed somewhere else, but Elisha knows better. The prophetic torch has been passed.
In a similar way in the gospel, Jesus has been resurrected, but like the company of prophets, Thomas does not believe that He is Risen as He has said he would. Jesus knows Thomas is the kind who needs proof, so he appears supernaturally passing through the doors and presents his hands and feet to Thomas as evidence He is the real Risen Lord. Thomas sees the evidence and comes to faith with the words, “My Lord and my God!”
Just like Elisha would go on to represent his mentor Elijah, Jesus will give His Spirit to His disciples so they can carry on the ministry He started. On the day of Pentecost they will receive the same Spirit that brought Jesus back from the dead. Until Jesus returns, God has given His power through the Spirit to His children, who are inheritors of eternal life. Like Thomas there are some of us who need to see in order to believe. And though we are unlikely to have a physical encounter with the living Lord (though anything is possible with God!), we can meet the risen Lord as we live in faith and trusting in His Word and are filled with the Holy Spirit. As we step out in faith on His Word, we can be assured that He is with us. In fact through the Church, others will see that Jesus is alive and will come back to set up a new heaven and earth with those who have believed in His name.
I encourage you during this Advent Season to seek the living Lord, like Elisha sought out Elijah. As we look for the Lord and His first coming in a manger, we can be ready when He returns in great and promised glory!
Psalm 138:6-8
6 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;
though lofty, he sees them from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
with your right hand you save me.
8 The Lord will vindicate me;
your love, Lord, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.
2 Kings 1:1-2:18
Elijah Taken Up to Heaven
2 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.” 4 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. 5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.” 6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on. 7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. 9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. 10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.” 11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. 13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. 15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16 “Look,” they said, “we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.” “No,” Elisha replied, “do not send them.”
17 But they persisted until he was too embarrassed to refuse. So he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him. 18 When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”
John 20:24-31
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The Purpose of John’s Gospel
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
You are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. Psalm 25:5
Christ says, “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” Matthew 7:7
O God of our salvation, eternal hope and source of strength, let our lives be a response to your steadfast love and grace. Amen.
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