The transfiguration was a reminder of who Jesus is. That He is Lord, King and Saviour. The open heavens, the Glory, the Voice of the Father , the appearance of Moses and Elijah, were signs that the Jesus, the disciples walked with was other worldly, that is heavenly. In certain parts fear in the disciples was kindled, as sometimes familiarity is an enemy to recognize that the Jesus we walk in each day is the King on the Holy Hill. (Psalm 2).
It seems at times our preaching and teaching is mostly concerning the Gospel Jesus, instead of Jesus in the midst of His Church, by His Holy Spirit, and the Jesus who has a judicial process to fulfil for the Kingdom of God to be manifest in all its fullness. We focus on His earthly acts and forget His heavenly role, for the last 2000 years.
It seems that it needs the Son of David to be manifest to bring in the elect to be reconciled with the Messiah, they rejected, the Jews, who were so undecided when He was amongst them. For this to happen there needs to be a embracing of a Jesus which is at first glance uncomfortable, because this manifestation in the Transfiguration and the Ascended Lord in Revelation 1 lays us bare to our imperfections and shortcomings. We would cry out like Isaiah, “woe is me.” (Isaiah 6).
With all that is embraced today, contrary and out of context with Biblical truth, cultivating culture over Christ, ideas over inspiration. The embracing of a soft and weak Jesus, turn the other cheek culture where other ideologies are more respected now than the Church that supposes to represent Christ. We are like the disciples, when the Glory comes, we fall into heavy fatigue and into incoherence. We miss the heavenly conversation with Moses and Elijah. We miss the detail, and we desire to set the occasion in stone. We believe that 3 tabernacles would make the Glory rest and they in that place of liberty would not need to do much. So many of our strategies, for our meetings we need to structure so that God would make us stay in a comfort zone. Yet we miss what this is about. Its about Jesus, only Jesus, the King, the Judge of all Creation, the Saviour, is the focus. Its not the preaching or teaching, nor the worship. It is first having a clear vision and clear priority, that it is for Him and by Him we have our being.
The reason for the Transfiguration is to secure the disciples in the moments ahead of great trial. When they would flee the garden into the Upper Room, as Jesus is carried to the Sanhedrin and the King, then to the Roman governor. All the suffering that would precede Calvary, testing their own faith in Jesus. Peter denies Him 3 times, the others flee the scene. Only John is permanent presence throughout. The Transfiguration for us is the same, we must enter that same place, that same prayer mountain, to behold Him, so that in the days ahead we have a foundation strong enough to carry us through.
From this place Jesus set His face like a flint that the destination was Jerusalem. The same place that many people of God died for their faith. It is the same destination for us also, because Jesus will be recognized.
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
The spirit of grace and of supplications:
And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced,
And they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son,
And shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Zec 12:10.
Here Zechariah foretells of a day where God’s people the Jews will see their King, Messiah, but also wounded, they will remember. From Jerusalem they will embrace their Messiah, mourn for Him, and be united to Him. Maybe it will be at this point that He shall reign for 1000 years.
There is a trial in Jerusalem, that armies from the nations shall surround her, and persecute the Church and Israel, and this trial will unlock the Messianic appearance. If we fully embrace Him as King, Lord, Saviour, we shall overcome what is coming toward us. This is why we need a personal experience of Christ transfigured.
Maranatha!
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