The Lost Week

Moving on to another section (Matt.17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36), I am confronted with a new thought, i.e. a lost week in the ministry of Jesus. Now, I know we "lost" much of Jesus' childhood from 2-12, and much of his teen and young adult years, 12-30. But, since His ministry has started I don't recall this kind of gap of 6-8 days. Matthew and Mark says "6 days later" and Luke says "some eight days after these sayings." Since we do not know what "later than what" is and since there may be some consideration between coming to the mountain and climbing to the summit, not much should be made between six and eight. Most think the mountain was Hermon in northern Israel now shared by Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. The summit (actually there are three summits) is 9, 230(2) feet, the highest point in Israel. We don't know if Jesus took them to the summit. If He did, this was a real climb, and shows some real strength on the part of these men. All three synoptics agree that Jesus was accompanied by Peter, James and John, and no reason is giving for these three being chosen. They did have this privilege on at least two other occasions, at the raising up of Jarius' daughter (Mk.5:37; Lk.8:51) and at Gethsemane (Mt.26:37; Mk.14:33). We know that many ancient temples are found on this mountain. We also know that there is a myth that an oath was made on the mountain by some fallen angels to accept the consequences for marrying the sons of men.

But back to the so-called lost week. I don't like that. I don't want to lose a week of the life of Jesus. I want to know what He was doing and saying. I know John tells us that many more books could have been written, but why do we have to have a gap of a whole week? What insight is missed? What truth is buried in time? What example is gone forever? What Sunday School story will never be put to flannel graph? What scene will forever be left out of a film on His life? What was He doing? And why did He keep me and you out? Did he escape for a week out of sight of all human beings? Were there no eyewitnesses to record the events of this week? Did He tell the disciples to keep quiet and they actually did? Just as two lovers do not want to be out of each others presence for long, I feel empty that I cannot journal my thoughts about this lost week. I am sure He had a good reason for leaving me and you out of it, but I don't like it. Why didn't the Holy Spirit give us a peak into this week?

In some ways I am very happy that I saw this, and that my reaction is as stated. I could have said, "Good, one less week to have to study and to journal about!" "I can finish my Challenger Deep study a little sooner." But, I don't feel that way. It is like being told there is a section of the temple that is off limits to me. There is a door that is locked. There is a part of the tour that I can't take. There is a secret I cannot know. Will I get to ask Him about this lost week one day? Will he tell me what I missed? So for now I will have to be content with picking up the story on the mountain without knowing how He got there. I just pray there are no more gaps in the story. I don't want to miss anything.