October 12 - Miriam

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Mark 8:22-30; Matthew 16:13-20; Luke 9:18-20; Mark 8:31-9:1; Matthew 16:21-28; Luke 9:21-27; Mark 9:2-13; Matthew 17:1-13; Luke 9:28-36.  For less flipping, read: Mark 8:22-9:13; Matthew 16:13-17:13; Luke 9:18-36.

I've chosen to post about the transfiguration today.  Of course, I've heard the story before.  It is included in three of the four gospels.  I've never stopped to consider the significance of the story beyond God's voice coming down and telling them that this was His son. 

From http://www.bible.org/:

The Coming Kingdom After His Death by John Walvoord
The Transfiguration by Allen Ross
The Transfiguration by Bob Deffinbaugh
The Transfiguration of Christ by Bob Deffinbaugh

Prior to the transfiguration, in all three of the gospels from which we read today, Jesus asks the disciples who the people think he is and who they, the disciples, think he is.  Peter is the one who answers that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God.  Peter is known to speak without thinking and to occasionally put his foot in his mouth.  In this instance, he spoke well and spoke the truth.  However, in the story of the transfiguration, he speaks "out of turn" one might say, in suggesting that they build shelters for Jesus, Moses and Elijah, and is interrupted by God himself.  Luke, kindly, says that he did not know what he was saying.  He'd apparently just been asleep.  I know I myself have been known to say things without thinking, especially when I'm very tired or not fully awake yet.  (MORE COFFEE!!!) 

Anyway, I wouldn't have put the story of Peter's confession of Christ and the transfiguration together the way those more knowledgeable than I do.  The following excerpt is from that last commentary listed above:

(1) The transfiguration confirms the identification of Jesus as Israel’s Messiah. When God the Father spoke of Jesus as His Son, He settled the matter of His identity forever. Peter’s confession was confirmed by God, dramatically, emphatically, finally.

(2) The transfiguration also identified the “kingdom” of which our Lord and His apostles spoke with the “kingdom” of which the Old Testament spoke, and for which the Jews were eagerly waiting. Notice all of the similarities between the manifestation of the Mosaic Covenant and the “kingdom” which God established there after the exodus, with the phenomenon which took place on the mount of transfiguration. Moses was present here, as he was in Exodus (cf. chapters 19ff.). Moses went up to the top of the mountain (Exod. 19:3), just as Jesus took the three up the high mountain. In Exodus (24:16-18) there was a cloud from which God spoke, just as God spoke from the bright cloud on the mount of transfiguration (cf. also the Shekinah glory, Exodus 40:34f.). The glory of God was made visible on the mount (Exodus 19:11), just as the glory of our Lord was made visible on the mount of transfiguration. On the mount, Jesus’ face glowed (cf. Matthew 17:2), like the face of Moses shone when he descended from the mount (Exodus 34:29-35). All in all, the parallels are too many and too obvious not to conclude that the kingdom of which our Lord was King and that which was spoken of in the Old Testament were very much related.

 (3) It clarifies that Jesus is neither Elijah nor Moses, but, indeed is One who is far Greater. We know that some thought Jesus was Elijah, while others thought he was a prophet raised from the dead (Luke 9:8, 19). Moses and Elijah were not only the two Old Testament personalities most closely associated with the coming kingdom, but also those whose identity was most confused with Jesus. When Jesus was set apart from all others as “the Son” by the Father, He was also distinguished from Moses and Elijah.

It almost seems that until the Father spoke from the cloud, Peter may have viewed Jesus, Moses, and Elijah as peers, as equals. If this was so, the statement by the Father made known the vast superiority of Jesus over all others, including Moses and Elijah, raised from the dead or not.

 (4) The transfiguration demonstrates, once again, that the crown and the cross are a part of one plan. When Jesus was identified as the coming King by Peter, Peter was unwilling to accept the fact that Jesus would die on a cross. Peter was eager to have a King with a crown, but unwilling to have a King with a cross. The transfiguration welds together the glory of the coming kingdom with the “exodus” of Jesus at Jerusalem—the cross. What will eventually be made clear is that the cross was the path the Father had appointed to the crown.

 (5) Finally, the transfiguration was a testimony to the fact that God is able to raise men from the dead, to possess the kingdom. The reason why Peter rejected the cross was that it seemed incompatible with the crown. How could one who dies live in the kingdom of God. Jesus taught that the one who gives up his life gains life. The presence of two Old Testament saints, both of whom were presumed dead, alive and talking with Jesus, was testimony to the fact that death did not prevent a saint from participating in the kingdom of God to come.

 The transfiguration of our Lord played a very significant role in the unfolding of God’s plan and purpose for Jesus, the Christ of God. It affirms in a dramatic way, that Jesus is the fulfillment of the hopes of the Old Testament saint, that He is the Messiah. But what other lessons did this event have for Peter, James, and John. I believe that the application is made perfectly clear by the Father’s words, “Listen to Him” (Luke 9:35).

 The lesson may be stated as a principle with these words: IF JESUS IS THE MESSIAH, THE CHRIST OF GOD, THEN MEN HAD BETTER LISTEN CAREFULLY TO HIM

Peter had spoken well when he confessed Jesus to be God’s Messiah. He had never said anything more profound or more true. But the rest of what Peter said was neither true nor profitable. When Peter resisted the cross of Calvary, the thought as a man, and he spoke as though he were Satan. God’s words, spoken from the cloud were intended to silence Peter, to cause him to be more intent on listening than on speaking, to be more eager to learn from Christ than to correct Him. If Jesus was who Peter said He was, and who the Father indicated, then silence is more golden than speech. Peter had better speak less and listen more. God’s Messiah should be heard and His followers should be learners, listeners.  (emphasis mine)

If anyone is guilty of talking more than they listen, or speaking without thinking, it is I.  I said to my aunt this weekend at our family gathering (we were discussing age) that I had thought by now I would have learned how to keep my foot out of my mouth, but she assures me that she still tastes hers on a regular basis at 17 years older than I am, so I suppose there is little hope that I will mature out of it completely.  All joking aside, however, I think the most important part of this lesson for me personally is that I need to spend more time with the Word of God, whether it's reading it on a daily basis (thank you, Tammy, for this blog), listening to the message in church on Sunday, attending Bible study, or listening to Christian music or messages on the radio or television.  I need to be listening and understanding, not just hearing.  I need to apply the things I am reading or hearing to my life. 

"IF JESUS IS THE MESSIAH, THE CHRIST OF GOD, THEN MEN (AND WOMEN) HAD BETTER LISTEN CAREFULLY TO HIM."

Tomorrow's passage:  Mark 9:14-50; Matthew 17:14-18:35; Luke 9:37-50.