Riding the Brahma Bull
ONE DAY WHILE JESUS, Peter, James, and John were on retreat on a mountain, the nine disciples left behind got into a hot fight with the scribes over ministry techniques. It seems the disciples botched an exorcism on a vicious, intractable demon that had possessed a boy for many years; the demon often cast the boy into fire and water.
The scribes observed the tragedy like a holiday and with perverse joy seized the opportunity to attack the disciples and, by inference, the entire mission of Jesus. The scribes questioned the integrity of the exorcisms the disciples claimed to perform up to that point. They splashed the Law—like acid—into the disciples' faces, citing Jesus' lax attitude toward the Law as the reason the devil withstood their ministry. This forced the nine into a two-front war.
Outwardly the disciples defended their ministry while inwardly they questioned why their exorcism techniques failed. If they were at all like many pastors today, the disciples probably took a lot of the blame onto themselves—and secretly wondered if the scribes were right: maybe they needed to observe the Law better to get the ministry results they wanted. The demon controlled the argument by distracting the disputants away from the tortured boy and his exasperated father to generalities about the Law, demonology, and exorcism.
Meanwhile Jesus, Peter, James, and John had clambered up a mountain where Jesus was transfigured before them. He stood flanked by Elijah and Moses clothed in shimmering white raiment. The three great ones spoke amiably while the three disciples watched, confused and terrified. Thoroughly flummoxed, Peter felt a need to establish Transfiguration procedures. He suggested a building program as a way of preserving the experience. ...
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