Prayer: Radiant God, source of light, as you surrounded Jesus with your glory, so you come to us in penetrating brightness. You catch us off guard and expose our weakness. We choose the limelight while you call us to explore the shadows and brighten the darkness. We seek the spectacular while you bind up the broken in countless acts of mercy. We seek to stay on the mountain or in a comfortable pew while you walk to the valleys of need. Radiant God, fill us with light and courage to carry good news into all the corners of the world and to bring back the joy of your presence.

In the passage from 1 Corinthians 13:12 Paul tells us that we do not have clear vision as it concerns the things of God. Our vision is obstructed by a darkness. It is as if we are looking through a dark glass. That darkness prevents us from seeing the fine details of what we are looking at.

The darkness is not sin but rather it is the limitation of our faith.

Hebrews 11:1 NRSV

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

When Jesus led Peter, James and John to the top of the mountain it was so that they could see a clear image of Jesus unobstructed by the darkness.

The darkness for these three Disciples was their limited faith. They had been following Jesus for nearly three years, but they still had doubts.

There are many Christians like that today. They follow Jesus but still have doubts. Their faith has not become crystal clear for them. There are things about Jesus that are cloudy for them like looking through a dark glass.

Maybe you are one of those people?

If you are don’t be too hard on yourselves because Peter, James and John also had a problem with how they saw Jesus.

Who was Jesus?

This was the very question that Jesus had put to them about six days earlier. In Mark 8:27 He asks, “Who do people say that I am”?

Strangely Jesus asks all of them this question after they have all witnessed and participated in the feeding of the four thousand with the seven loaves and a few fishes.

It was their job to collect the left overs in baskets. They had done this before when Jesus feed the Five thousand with five loaves where they each collected one basket full of left overs. This time Jesus feeds four thousand with seven loafs and they recover seven full baskets. It makes it hard to deny that such miracles happened when you are assigned as part of the clean-up team.

Jesus did this intentionally to help all of them grow their faith in Him. The left over fish and bread were things of substance they were real evidence of the miracle that they had been a part of. It’s pretty hard to deny that when you are a part of it.

Which takes us back to Hebrews 11:1 NRSV

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Still after all that they saw, they had doubts. Partly because the ruling class of religious leaders kept testing and challenging Jesus. They like us had to let go of preconceived ideas about God that they had been taught by men. They like us had to look at Jesus for themselves, they had to see Jesus for themselves unfiltered by religious preconceptions. To stress this point Jesus heals a blind man soon after they had cleaned up and started down the road.

Mark 8:22-26 NRSV tells the story.

22 They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?” 24 And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Then he sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”

It is almost as if Jesus is saying to them open your eyes and see that it is I who opens the eyes of the blind. Jesus helps us to truly see Him. We do not need to rely on blind faith because real faith can be ours if we see Him for who He is.

When Jesus asks the question “Who do people say that I am?” Peter is the only one of the 12 to offer an answer to Jesus’ question. Peter answers with four words “You are the Messiah”. Mark 8:29

Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone about him. Then Jesus explains to them how He must die and be resurrected after the third day. Peter did not like hearing that and tried to reprimand Jesus, but Jesus put him in his place and expounded on the reasons for His death.

Then Jesus explains to them that some of the Disciples standing there will not die until they see “The Kingdom of God come with power.” Mark 9:1

This was a confusing statement for them and remains so for us today who think that meant some of the Disciples would stay alive until Jesus second coming.

Dr. William MacDonald says that’s not what Jesus meant.

Source: pg. 1342 “Believers Bible Commentary” Thomas Nelson Publishers Nashville Tenn. 1980 "Jesus was announcing that some of the Disciples were about to see with their own eyes the one who is “The Kingdom of God” and His power.

That I believe is part of the reason why Jesus invites these three Disciples to join Him at the top of the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter was the oldest, John the youngest and James was John’s older brother. These three needed to have the limitations of their faith removed.

"The Transfiguration of Jesus is the miraculous revealing of Jesus as Gods Son in His glorified state. Moses the lawgiver of God is present, Elijah the chief prophet of God is present, and Jesus the Son of God is there in the flesh. However, his flesh takes on a very different look.

In Mark 9:7 it reads “God the Father arrives in a cloud and surrounds everyone with His presence and speaks to all present. “This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him”

Jesus is lit up in a brilliant white light and His face changes and begins to shine like the sun.

There is no shadow of darkness that can hide Jesus’ glory from Peter, James and John.

The Holiness is so bright as to be undeniable. Jesus is not just a law giver; He is the very Word of God. He is not just a prophet, He is the promised Messiah of the prophets, Jesus is the Son of God veiled in human flesh but unveiled by the Heavenly Father in order to expose Jesus’ divinity to these three human beings so that they will have unlimited faith in this Jesus.

Needless to say, their world was forever changed that day. Their perception of Jesus was forever changed, their doubts were washed away by the Holy light of God and their faith became eternally resolved by the voice of God.

This beloved is the Jesus we must proclaim to the lost in our world today.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 NRSV

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. 6 For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Beloved our Father’s voice echoes to us today from that mountain top. Climb up with Jesus and see for yourself His unquestionable glory and divinity. Your every doubt will be washed away by the light of His Glory. Your weak faith will be transfigured into an eternal faith that will not and cannot be dissolved or be clouded by the things of this world. For on top of that mountain is the One who reigns over Heaven and Earth. In His cloud there is no shadow of darkness, only light. Let Him reign in your heart and rule your mind as you give your body to do His will in your life. Be a mountain climber and be transfigured with Christ.

Amen

‒ Pastor Pam