Matthew 17: 5 -8 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
The inner circle of Peter James and John had just witness a phenomenal event. They had seen the glory of the eternal Son God shine through the flesh veil of Jesus, and observed two giants from the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah appear and speak with Jesus. For some people it would be easy to be speechless and not say a thing. I think James and John were in that category and the there was Peter.
Peter seemed to be one of those guys that just can't stand silence and thinks the void needs to be filled with some commentary and so he blurted out, "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.” The reaction by the Father with the eerie bright cloud, and what I imagine was a thundering voice, was far from what any of the disciples expected, but it was clear Peter had said the wrong thing.
Was it the fact that he interrupted such a holy moment? Was it because he thought the mountain top needed to be turned into a religious shrine? Or was it because he put Moses and Elijah on equal footing as Jesus? I would put my weight on that last one, particularly since the Father said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
Moses is a voice that we are tempted at times to put in the forefront since he gave the law and commandments. Elijah, as a representative of the prophets, is another voice we pay attention to with the pointed reminders of justice and social responsibility. But the experience of the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration reminds us what the writer of Hebrews started his message with, "God spoke in a lot of different ways through the prophets (including Moses) but all of their messages must be filtered through His Son because he is the final and fullest revelation of God" (Creative paraphrase).
When the fog cleared for the disciples on the mountain that day the scripture says that as they looked up from their terrified duck and cover move they "saw no one except Jesus."
God bless the day when we only see Jesus and stop trying to put anything or anyone in the same class as Him. He is in a class all his own.
0 comments:
Post a Comment