Transfiguration
Photo by mostafa meraji on Unsplash.
Have you ever experienced a complete change? Have you ever witnessed a complete change or transformation?
The presence and glory of God transforms everyone who encounters God and his glory-filled presence.
Jesus took his closest disciples up to a high mountain and was transfigured by God’s glory before their very eyes.
Mathew tells us in his gospel account, “After six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.” (Matthew 17:1-2, ESV).
Jesus was intimately present with his closest friends and showed them his glory, inviting them to meet with God the Father, and with Moses and Elijah.
Jesus was transfigured before them as “A bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’” (Matthew 17:5, ESV).
We are also transformed in the presence of God and his glory as we listen to God and obey his word. As in Exodus, when Moses’ face beamed with the glory of God, having spoken with God and catching a glimpse of him, so we are transformed by beholding God’s glory and by listening to him (Exodus 34:29-35, ESV).
May we experience transfiguration as we behold God’s presence and glory, and as we listen to his beloved son Jesus.
A Collect for the Last Sunday of Epiphany: Transfiguration: “O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019).
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Photo by mostafa meraji on Unsplash.
