Good Morning Friends,
If a Gallup poll was conducted by asking the public today’s question, we would get a wide range of answers and more than a little waffle language about who Jesus is for them and what he has done for their lives. Some would say Jesus was an ancient philosopher, which is rather lame. Others, that he was a powerful religious leader or an influential social reformer. A few might even deny that Jesus ever existed. The Lord conducted His own poll by asking his followers what others thought. Not surprisingly, Jesus got a wide range of answers. But Jesus was most interested in what His followers thought. So, we begin this devotional by asking the question about who Jesus is against the backdrop of the evidence of the transfiguration. You see, when Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, Jesus shone with the love and radiance of the glory of God. Peter, James, and John were so astonished by the presence of God’s glory that they were nearly stupefied. Perhaps they even tacitly knew, though they could not altogether understand it or articulate it, that they were in the presence of God even before the resurrection. So, Are You Being Personally Transformed By A Relationship With Jesus?
Scripture: Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and who repays in their own person those who reject him. He does not delay but repays in their own person those who reject him. he will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock, in the land that he swore to your ancestors to give you. You shall be the most blessed of peoples, with neither sterility nor barrenness among you or your livestock.
Deuteronomy 7:9-10, 13-14 (NRSV)
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain. So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
2 Peter 1:16-19 (NRSV)
Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” —not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
Luke 9:28b-36 (NRSV)
Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They answered, ‘John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered, ‘The Messiah of God.’ He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone,
Luke 9:18-21 (NRSV)
He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18 (NRSV)
Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
Philippians 3:17—4:1
Message: We have a certain freedom as humans and darkly abuse it. Some of us have grown up in a church all our lives and still get the priorities wrong and really do not know Jesus. The Transfiguration should open our eyes to the glory of God and remind us that Jesus is not only 100% human but also 100% God. We voice this collectively in our Creeds. And today’s text gives insight to this belief. For here we get a glimpse of Jesus’ pre-incarnational state of being talking to Moses and Elijah as well as Peter, James and John. Contemplate this mountaintop vision in contrast to the valley healing that was to follow, and it is the story of all stories. The full text shows both and should remind us of who God really is, for in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. Artists have depicted this event with Jesus wearing His pre-Bethlehem and post-Resurrection wardrobe. And here is the deal, there is a metamorphosis in the story that has implications for our own transformation and healing but through the process and for our personal as well as collective relationship with Jesus. The proposition for us is to believe that Jesus is more than just a good teacher. He is more than an influential leader. He is more than a superb role model. He is more than a profound ethicist. He is a prophet, a priest, and king…the culmination of the law and the prophets. But he is first and foremost … God in human form so we might believe because we now see. What is revealed in the Transfiguration is Jesus’ power but also that Jesus is to be the priority for all people but especially the Jews. There is no longer to be a focus on Elijah or Moses. The focus is to be on a powerful, personal and passionate Jesus that heals us if we would just make him the priority. This makes it clearer what we are to think of Jesus and to embrace his divinity and humanity. This gives us an open door to the clarity of thought and insight that gives us a glimpse of heaven through a relationship affirmed both privately and publicly that we have a Lord and Savior in Jesus, but also a friend.
And So, The Gospel–indeed, all three of the Synoptic Gospels–tells very clearly of this transfiguration of Our Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit acting to give each of us the opportunity for one or more moments of personal transfiguration through a relationship with Jesus. We get a sense of it in our own baptism but also in the baptism of Jesus. Those may be moments of ecstasy, of vision such as the deacon Stephen had while the Jews were stoning him to death. He saw the heavens open, and the glorified Jesus at the right hand of the Father. Remember that Jesus experienced His own transfiguration as a prelude to His passion. And So, our relationship with God through a friendship with Jesus is to be personal but not private but above all a priority. Our lives are transformed through the grace we experience and the growth in our individual and collective faith though those called to be part of the Body of believers that put God first. We may not fully comprehend this until the day of our own death and resurrection, but we do get glimpses of it when we too are honored to glorify God.
Pray we listen to Christ on the mountain top experiences of our lives as well as the valley visions. Pray the Holy Spirit reveals to us the divinity of Jesus as well as his meaningful humanity. Pray we know and believe this truth. Pray in our hearts we can say that Jesus is the Christ of God, the Messiah, fully human and fully God. Pray therefore for a time when the Jews acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah. Pray that we make Jesus the priority…that Jesus would be preeminent in our life. Pray we realize that there is no other way to God than through Jesus. Pray we realize that this relationship is not based on being good and following rules and regulations but rather making Christ the focus of our attention. Pray that Jesus would live on in our hearts.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 