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About-Him.Com Devotional 05-22-2004
Matthew 17:8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.
Our segment below is on the transfiguration of Christ. We know how that He was transfigured before the eyes of Peter, James and John. This was an experience that they never forgot (II Peter 1:18). When the glory had passed and Moses and Elijah had disappeared from view, they saw no man except Jesus. "They heard the voice from heaven saying, this is my Son, Hear Him." Friend, Jesus is all we have today!
Jesus and Jesus alone is our object of worship. He alone has the words of eternal life. My vision and my focus must be totally and absolutely on Him at all times. I simply cannot cause anything to obscure the vision that others have of Jesus. If I add to His words, the plagues will be added to me (Revelation 22:18). If my ego, or my desire to maintain status, causes others to lose sight of Him, it is idolatry, pure and simple. I think we know the penalty for that.
There is a groundswell of protest rising in both the ministry and the laity demanding that we return to the simplicity of the gospel. All of our worship and all of our programs must have only one goal. We must lift Jesus up. We must be totally transparent, so that when people look at us, all they see is Jesus. He'll do the rest.
The Life of Christ From His Baptism to His Ascension:
136: The Transfiguration Mt. 17:1-13; Mk. 9:2-13; Lu 9:28-36
Mark 9:2 And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.
3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.
4 And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.
Six (Matthew and Mark) to eight (Luke) days had passed since the Lord gave His sobering discourse on His coming suffering. His closest disciples were perplexed and discouraged. They had followed Jesus as Messiah and confessed Him as the Son of God, only to find that they were no longer welcome on Judea and Galilee. The masses had departed in great number. Instead of a conquering Messiah, here was a Messiah who talked of His own humiliating death.
To add to their confusion, Jesus also talked of rising again after three days. The Rabbin taught that when Messiah came, all of Israel who had died would be raised again and the kingdom restored to it’s former glory. They said nothing of the Messiah Himself dying and then being resurrected.
Jesus took Peter, James and John up into a mountain to pray. Perhaps it was Mt. Hermon (J.W. Shepard). From here they could see Galilee to the north and Jerusalem to the south, both places where they were not welcome.
Jesus knelt to pray and the three fell into heavy sleep. They were yet to share His burden for a lost and dying world. As Jesus prayed, the Deity within Him (John 10;30, 14:10-11, 20) began to shine through the veil of flesh that He had assumed (John 1:1,14 Philippians 2:6-11; Hebrews 2:14) and even through his clothing.
The three disciples awoke to see the glory of Jesus and Moses and Elijah talking with His of His coming death. As Moses and Elijah left, Peter spoke up impetuously and said that they should build three tabernacles, one each for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. They could worship God there in these booths similar to those used at the feast of tabernacles and forget about the troubled world that lay beneath them.
While Peter was still speaking, God gave an answer of rebuke. He appeared in a cloud just as He had at Sinai. As the cloud covered them they heard the same voice that they had heard at Jesus’ baptism and that they would hear again at His crucifixion, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him.”
They fell on their faces, very afraid. As the cloud of glory disappeared , they looked up and saw Jesus by Himself. He touched them and told them to get up and not be afraid.
As they came down from the mountain the three asked Jesus why the scribes said the Elijah had to come as a forerunner of the Messiah (Malachi 4:5). This was a traditional teaching that had them greatly confused. Elijah was to come first and restore all things. Jesus answered that he had already come in the person of John the Baptist as a forerunner of Messiah and the establishment of the kingdom of God. They didn’t recognise him and they killed him.
Conclusion and Application:
What is our conception of Jesus? Is he simply a good man or is He the Mighty God veiled in flesh. I believe that this episode points out the latter.
It pleased the Father that all the fullness of the Deity should dwell in Him bodily (Colossians 1;19, 2:9). John the Revelator saw a similar vision of Jesus, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the Last (Isaiah 44:6), the beginning and the ending (Revelation 1:17). He saw him once more sitting alone on the throne of heaven (Revelation 4:2), with all of the glory of God emanating forth from Him, just as he had seen many years before on the mountain of transfiguration.
We will see Him and Him alone when He comes in power and glory, and takes us to gather at His throne. I look forward to that day when we worship Him and cry out and worship Him as the Lord God Almighty (Revelation 4:8).
I Can't Believe I Said That!
In last weeks devotional, I stated that Marie and I had renewed our vowels. My daughter emailed and said, "Dad, you missed the whole point if you think that you renewed your vowels instead of your vows." -- sorry about that!
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Humor
Recently, I started taking piano lessons as a way to fight old age. While practicing, I thought I was doing pretty good. However, my 5 year old granddaughter, visiting from MI punctured my balloon very quickly.
She said, "Grandpa, I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but is that your best talent?"
As they say, "Out of the mouth of babes."
Keep Looking Up!
Don & Marie Spooner
About Him! Ministries
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