Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Mark 9:2-4 records the beginning of the Mount of Transfiguration account: “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 [transformed] before them. And His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias [Elijah] with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.” The limits of language (note the use of “as”) are in view here, for all Mark can say is that this “exceeding white” display of God the Son’s glory shines brighter than any white that we have ever seen. What this transformation demonstrates theologically is that Jesus did not relinquish any of His glory (as some liberal scholars erroneously speculate- but rather voluntarily veiled it. The presence of Moses and Elijah is further authentication of Jesus’ Messiahship. Just as Peter, James, and John provide an earthly witness, Moses and Elijah provide a heavenly witness in accordance with the principle of Deuteronomy 19:15b: “At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.” (Another heavenly Witness is revealed later in verse 7.) Moses represents the Law, and Elijah represents the Prophets: in Jewish thought, these are the two divisions of the Old Testament. Jesus specifically said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). The witness of Moses and Elijah is confirmation of the truth of Jesus’ claim. The thoroughness of Jesus’ presentation of Himself as Messiah is thus compelling and completely convincing.