This is my Son, and I love him

This is my Son, and I love him

Scripture:

After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John the brother of James with him. He led them up a high mountain. They were all alone. There in front of them his appearance was changed. His face shone like the sun. His clothes became as white as the light. Just then Moses and Elijah appeared in front of them. Moses and Elijah were talking with Jesus.

Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters. One will be for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud surrounded them. A voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, and I love him. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!”

When the disciples heard this, they were terrified. They fell with their faces to the ground. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. They came down the mountain. On the way down, Jesus told them what to do. “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen,” he said. “Wait until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” Matthew 17:1-9

Observation

Suddenly, their Lord and Master changed in front of them. His face started to shine exceedingly brightly, like the sun. Even His clothes became so white, as white as light. Then incredibly, Moses and Elijah appeared and started talking to Him. Feebly, not knowing what to do and probably trembling as he spoke,  Peter offered to put up three shelters for them, but even before he finished speaking, a great and loud voice came out from the cloud saying “This is my Son and I love him. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!” 

The three disciples fell to the ground, terrified, for they had heard the voice of the great God of Israel, the great Yahweh Himself. They remained there in fear until the Lord came and touched them, telling them not to fear. Bewildered, they suddenly realized that the heavenly visitation had passed. The Lord then instructed them not to mention this appearance until after He had been raised from the dead.

Application                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Looking at this passage, we first note that the Lord brought only three of His disciples, the inner circle of Peter, James and John. Later, these three disciples became very prominent in the leadership of the early church. Although the Lord chose twelve disciples whom He spent time with and taught daily, there were a further three He selected from among them whom He mentored on an even closer level, allowing them to experience even the most wonderful revelations such as the Transfiguration which happened here. For us too who are in positions of leadership, we do best to mentor a maximum of twelve on a regular basis, but to specially mentor up to three at a time on a far deeper way, sharing our innermost thoughts and imparting our most precious lessons.

Secondly, the Transfiguration showed the disciples for the first time the divine nature and appearance of the Lord as He truly was, resplendent in glory, full of light and purity. When we think of the Lord, we often imagine Him in human terms, carrying little children, touching the blind man, dining with tax collectors. However, while on the earth, His true glory was veiled and only in this instance did the three disciples see Him as He truly is. For us too, even as we worship Him, we ought to picture Him as He truly is, glorious, resplendent, full of light and brightness. Indeed, for some of us who seek Him diligently, perhaps one day we may be most blessed to see the Lord in all His wonderful glory!

Thirdly, the appearance of Moses and Elijah assures us of the continuity of life in Heaven, after we leave this earth. As we pray and commune with God here on earth, so too in Heaven, we will continue to commune with Him. The late D.G.S Dhinakaran, a truly great man of God who was known as the apostle of India in his heavenly visitations, spoke of seeing the Lord having conference with great saints like Moses and Paul and King David, discussing the affairs on the earth. Life for us certainly does not stop here, but continues on in Heaven for those who believe in Jesus Christ!

Fourth, we see that great, loving relationship between God the Father and God the Son in His words “This is my Son, and I love Him. I am very pleased with Him. Listen to Him”. God is the one who instituted family, fathers and sons, parents and children. Just as we are naturally drawn to love our children, we get an idea of how much God loves His Son. God the Father not only loves the Lord Jesus but is also very pleased with Him, and the Son only seeks to do His Father’s will. On earth, our children are not perfect, but we must firstly always remember that we love them, and wherever possible, we need to let them know that we are pleased with them. Encouragement of the children is so important from the youngest of ages.

Just like God the Father loves Jesus, He also loves us, and is pleased with us when we follow His will. Let us seek to follow His will, and walk in His pleasure. How wonderful it is when our earthly father loves us and is pleased with us. How much more then our Heavenly Father?

What is the best way to please our Heavenly Father? Well, what did He say? Listen to Jesus! So let us study what Jesus said and listen to Him in obedience! Then both our loving Father in Heaven and our great Savior and Lord, our Big Brother Lord Jesus will be pleased with us. We are in God’s royal family! How wonderful indeed!

Prayer:

We praise You, Father in Heaven, for You love us, just as You love the Son. You teach us love through the family institution, through how parents love their children. We thank You that You chose us, precious Father, to be part of Your family, to enjoy Your love and Your pleasure. Help us follow Your will O Lord. Help us follow our Lord Jesus that we may please You! Help us to love our children too, physical or spiritual, and be loving fathers and mothers to them, showing them our pleasure in them.

We thank You, Lord, that this life is only the beginning, and we have an eternity in communion with You, as You planned for us. You are glorious and wonderful, Lord Jesus, bright and resplendent, full of glory and honor! Blessed be Your name O Lord! We praise You and love You. In Jesus name, Amen!