The Transfiguration Part 2 - Matthew 17:6-13
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. 9 As 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.” 10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” 11 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But 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.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
Reflection: In part two of the Transfiguration story, Jesus "touches" the disciples, and they get up from the ground. Note when we get a glimpse of God's glory and power. it causes us to fall to our knees in worship and awe. Now it was time to come down the mountain. Note, there is always an end to our mountaintop experiences, and a time to go back to life as usual. But we go back having been changed having encountered the living God. Note, Peter would later remember and relate to his mountaintop experience in the letters he wrote to the early church.
The disciples are still struggling in spite of this experience to put it all together. Then, Jesus relates it to Elijah the prophet, and the role of John the Baptist to give them a point of reference, or "ladder of inference". The basic point Jesus is making is that if the prophets before him like Elijah, and by application John the Baptist, suffered at the hands of men, so would he. Even though the mountaintop experience would give them a vision of the glory he would one day have, they still were of and in this world where there would be troubles. And yet, as Paul tells us in Romans, "The sufferings of this present are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will one day be ours in Christ Jesus."
So Jesus took the three on the mountaintop not only to give them a glimpse what the glory of heaven would be like, but also to prepare them for what was ahead so that the vision and glimmer of heaven would sustain them in their trials here on earth. As we say the kingdom has come in Jesus, but not yet been fully consummated. We live in the in-between times. Jesus gives us glimpses of His kingdom coming here on earth as it is in heaven as a foretaste of the feast to come to sustain us in our pilgrimage here on earth.
Jesus take us to the mountaintop, as we pray, as we worship, as we commune with you; give us a foreshadowing of the glory that is reserved for the sons and daughters of God. As we struggle in this life, remind us that our citizenship is in heaven and is reserved for those loved by and called by you! Amen.
Reflection: In part two of the Transfiguration story, Jesus "touches" the disciples, and they get up from the ground. Note when we get a glimpse of God's glory and power. it causes us to fall to our knees in worship and awe. Now it was time to come down the mountain. Note, there is always an end to our mountaintop experiences, and a time to go back to life as usual. But we go back having been changed having encountered the living God. Note, Peter would later remember and relate to his mountaintop experience in the letters he wrote to the early church.
The disciples are still struggling in spite of this experience to put it all together. Then, Jesus relates it to Elijah the prophet, and the role of John the Baptist to give them a point of reference, or "ladder of inference". The basic point Jesus is making is that if the prophets before him like Elijah, and by application John the Baptist, suffered at the hands of men, so would he. Even though the mountaintop experience would give them a vision of the glory he would one day have, they still were of and in this world where there would be troubles. And yet, as Paul tells us in Romans, "The sufferings of this present are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will one day be ours in Christ Jesus."
So Jesus took the three on the mountaintop not only to give them a glimpse what the glory of heaven would be like, but also to prepare them for what was ahead so that the vision and glimmer of heaven would sustain them in their trials here on earth. As we say the kingdom has come in Jesus, but not yet been fully consummated. We live in the in-between times. Jesus gives us glimpses of His kingdom coming here on earth as it is in heaven as a foretaste of the feast to come to sustain us in our pilgrimage here on earth.
Jesus take us to the mountaintop, as we pray, as we worship, as we commune with you; give us a foreshadowing of the glory that is reserved for the sons and daughters of God. As we struggle in this life, remind us that our citizenship is in heaven and is reserved for those loved by and called by you! Amen.
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