Second Look: Transfiguration
Matthew 17:1-8 (NIV)
1After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.4Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”5While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”6When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
The gospel is a message where the proof is literally in the pudding. Beginning with the historic life of Jesus, and continuing for thousands of years in the stories of those who would love and obey him, there is no denying the power of Jesus Christ to save and change lives.
The message of Jesus Christ is one of reconciliation and transformation, both of which Jesus exposed on the mount of transfiguration. Moses and Elijah appeared as representations of the Old Testament Law and Prophets that were satisfied fully in Jesus' life, miracles, coming death, burial and resurrection. He was and is the fulfillment of the law, the true bridge to relationship with God, and the ultimate means to fulfillment in life. The voice from heaven rang out, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” as a second audible stamp that He is our past redeemed, our present understood, and our future revealed. Christ's instruction gives purpose to your daily experience, his grace meeting our needs, atoning for our shortcomings, and providing direction for all that is to come.
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." ― Leo Tolstoy
As always, Jesus is the consummate example of life in perfect relationship with our Creator God. He reveals His glory on the mount as a reflection of our metaphysical reality, that just as Moses would reflect the glory of God after meeting with Him in the Tent of Meeting (Exodus 34:29-35), Jesus now brings a deeper reality that we would literally be transformed by our relationship and continual interaction with God. It begins when we are born again. It continues through the process of Christ-centered, Holy Spirit empowered, fellowship encouraged sanctification. The more we seek Him, the more we become like Him. The more we stay away from the mount, the more the glory fades.
“The world does not consist of 100 percent Christians and 100 percent non-Christians. There are people (a great many of them) who are slowly ceasing to be Christians but who still call themselves by that name: some of them are clergymen. There are other people who are slowly becoming Christians though they do not yet call themselves so. ” ― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Matthew 17:9-21 (NIV)
9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”10The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”11Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.14When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15“Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.19Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”20He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. ”
The point of the revelation of Jesus is not that we would reach some level of maturity or morality as an end unto itself, but that we'd be transformed as individuals and as a people into being the hands and feet of Christ in the world. This is His church, His body doing what He put us on mission to do.
Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither. -C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952; Harper Collins 2001) 134.
We fail to receive or bring healing at times because we've become so identified with our illness, ailment, or hurt, that we become more comfortable with it than without it (John 5). We appreciate the attention and sympathy that it affords us. We look around in the world and see that these are hard commodities to come by. Therefore, we maintain our corner on the market and settle in to what is debilitating, yet familiar, and, therefore, comfortable.
So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. (Mark 9:20-27 NIV)
In this scenario, we have become so numb by the traumas that we experience that we can not envision life without the crippling spirit. We have resigned to thinking that it is just the way that things will always be. We pray sincerely, but need Jesus to meet us in our weakness of faith. The good news is that He does upon our renunciation of our sin.
“It is not the strength of your faith but the object of your faith that actually saves you.” ― Timothy Keller
Jesus told the spirit to come out, and never enter the boy again.
How do we ensure that the house is kept clean? When we repent, we turn away from our self-centered living, and we turn toward Jesus.
How?:
1) Filling your mind with God's word to continually reorient you to the truth.
To understand the Scripture, you should look to:
Memorize the Word (Retain it so that it is available and useful.)
Meditate upon the Word (Discover its meaning and application.)
Manifest the Word (Find a way to put it into action.)
2) Finding time for friends running hard after God to recalibrate your direction
3) Finishing and beginning each day with prayer to reorganize your priorities