Jesus' Transfiguration- Our Perspective

Matthew 17:1-13
1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2 and he was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his rainment was white as the light. 3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with hm. 4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5 While yet he spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. 7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. 9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. 10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13 The disciples understood that he spake unto them John the Baptist. 

The theme of today's talk at church was Jesus' tranfiguration- but not exactly this one. We did read this and I think it is easy to imagine the wonderment, amazement and awe that the few disciples that were with Jesus felt when this took place. The transfiguration that was being talked about this morning was the one that we see. If we merely see Jesus in one aspect (as a friend, a savior, a healer, etc.) we are missing the big picture; missing the depth of Jesus' importance. Pastor gave four points to ponder in regards Jesus' transfiguration, as it applies to our perception of him. Knowledge, Respect, Desire, and Commitment. I will try to convey the main points but if I fail to do so accurately, or adequately, I apologize now. :)

• Knowledge- We need to know more about Jesus to be able to see him in all the ways we are meant to. The best way to do this is through reading the Gospels; the entire Bible actually.
• Respect- we saw in Matthew 16:22 that Peter lacked respect when he spoke to Jesus in a way that would suggest that he, Peter, knew more than Jesus could. We must show respect to Jesus to be able to truly see him as he wants us to see him.
• Desire- We need to have a desire to see our 'deficiency'. That means that we understand that we are not moving forward towards a more accurate perception of Jesus; we need a desire to move beyond that. More than that though, we understand that we are in need of Jesus as our savior.
• Commitment- Peter said in verse 4, "Lord, it is good for us to be here." We need to be able to see that regardless of where we want our life to go, God is the one that has a plan for us. Commitment means that we accept where his plan takes us, and put aside our own selfish desires. We come to see Jesus in a different perspective.

We need to have a perspective of 1. our deficiency, 2. his deity, 3. his depth, 4. his duty. Fortunately, the pastor's wife texted me the last bit about perspective, or I wouldn't have recalled it right now.


If we feel that where we are in life is 'just fine', it may well be but it can be so much better. If we enhance our perspective. If we change our perspective. Of course, if we choose not to continue to grow, nothing changes. Our relationship can be so richer, if we choose. 


I found today's 'lesson' to be inspiring. We are always changing- sometimes when we would rather not. I want a change that is for the better.