Matthew Chapter 17
The transfiguration was a special vision and revelation to Peter, James and John to revealed Jesus’ divine nature. The Lord gave them a brief glimpse of the true glory of the Heavenly King.
The transfiguration teaches us that Jesus, being greater than Moses and Elijah, was the one all the prophets had been waiting for. He is the Christ and beloved Son of God who come to do the Will of God and authority is given to His words (Matthew 17:5).
Moses and Elijah were the two great prophets in the Old Testament, but they were servants of Christ. Moses represents the law and Elijah represents the prophets. Jesus fulfilled both the law and the prophets (Matthew 5:17).
Just as God’s voice in the cloud over Mount Sinai gave authority to His law (Exodus 19:9), God’s voice at the Transfiguration gave authority to Jesus’ Words.
Likewise, we must fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus alone. All servants of God, however gifted they may be, are only to help us build up our faith in Jesus.
Lord Jesus predicted His death once again (Matthew 16:21; 17:22-23). The disciples were exceedingly sorrowful. Although sorrow would be a natural response, the disciples’ reaction also shows that they still could not fully understand the necessity and significance of the suffering and death that the Lord must go through, until the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). They also did not know that the Lord would resurrect to bring salvation and life (Mark 9:10).
Today, we could still have difficulty to understand everything about Jesus. After all, the disciples spent three years with Jesus, saw His miracles, heard His Words, and still had difficulty understanding.
Reading someone’s biography will help us to get to know the person. The same is true with Jesus.
To know Him better we need to read the Bible with prayer.
So let us continue to learn about Jesus from the Bible.
