The Transfiguration
Everything written about me in the law of Moses,
The prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled. Luke 24:44
Read Matthew 17:1—9
Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets. That was all that Peter and James and John could have wanted, surely, the chance to draw upon that depth of Godliness. Peter was ready to have a class with both of them. He’d have stayed on overnight. But it is Jesus he was told to listen to. In Jesus he would find what the law and the prophets were really about, who they were about, and the one they were leading up to. I take it that if I listen to Jesus, if Jesus is the controlling voice through whom God speaks into my life, I will not miss the truth I need or the depth I search for. I will not be left in the shallows, wishing I had tuned in to a more learned philosophy or a more cultured worldview or a more relevant commentary. I will not be robbed of the wisdom of the ages. I will have the fulfilment of the ages.
Father, your voice still comes to me from heaven, ‘This is my Son. He is my beloved. Listen to him. Listen.’ I thank you that you spoke this to Peter, to James and to John, the same three who saw Jesus praying in the garden, who saw, at least from the outside, the dreadful cost it was for the Son to remain faithful to the Father, to remain true to his call to suffer the world’s rejection. Thank you for his faithfulness. Now I know that I can listen to him. I am listening to the Son who is the suffering Saviour. He is brilliant. He is glorious. And every word he says is charged with life from God, and with it, life for me.