Matthew 17:1-13
Part 2 – What Was The Purpose For The Transfiguration?
Yesterday we looked at the transfiguration and related it to a Mountaintop Experience. Today we want to consider what God’s PURPOSE Was For The Transfiguration.
Peter, in his excitement, missed what God was really trying to accomplish when Jesus transfigured from his physical body into his glorious body. Plus seeing Moses and Elijah had to have been a jaw dropping moment. Like I said, it’s not every day we see people who have been dead for a long time appear before us to chat. Perhaps that’s part of the purpose.
1. Perhaps God wanted the three disciples to see and eyewitness that death is not the end of life, but the beginning of a new eternal life: whether in heaven or in hell. All too often, people live life on Earth as if that’s all there is. So they eat, drink, and be merry. They choose to have “fun” in a lot of different ways without thinking of the consequences of their choices. If we could come to grips that life on Earth is truly temporary, and how we live our life determines where we spend eternity, then I believe it would change how we make decisions for our everyday life. If we truly understood, we would want to glorify God in all that we do and all that we say.
2. Seeing Moses (a writer of the LAW) and seeing Elijah (who represented one of the PROPHETS), was God’s way of confirming that ALL that the LAW and ALL that the PROPHETS said was TRUE.
-The LAW, which calls for perfection, reveals our sin. The PROPHETS, which spoke of the coming Savior who would save us from our sins, was indeed TRUE and Jesus is the one the prophets spoke of. Jesus, is in fact, the Chosen One who brings hope to the Lost, the Broken, the Sinner. Such news is worthy to be shared and not kept within us. May we enjoy such great news in our own lives but I pray we don’t hoard the news but are intentional in sharing it with others. God’s purpose was not for us to hide such great news, but to share it with others. Just as he instructed his disciples to share it after his resurrection from the dead.
CHALLENGE: Dear Lord, I Pray that I don’t see that life on Earth as all there is. I pray that I realize you confirmed the validity of your word through the transfiguration on the mountain with Moses and Elijah. May that event inspire me, not just to receive you as my Lord and Savior, but inspire me to share this Good News with others.
