“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” Matthew 17.5

A glory-filled moment
Was there ever a more glory-filled moment than what Peter, James, and John experienced on the mount of transfiguration?

Think of the wonder, excitement, fear, and joy they must have felt! Suddenly, before their very eyes, Jesus began to be transformed. His garments and visage turned the most brilliant white. Light radiated from every aspect of His being. Then Elijah and Moses showed up, discussing Jesus’ pending death and resurrection.

Certainly Peter had never seen anything like this. This must be what Jesus had called them to know! This must be the fulfillment of their discipleship! Obviously believing as much, Peter concluded that it was good for them all to be there – too bad about the other guys, I suppose – and why didn’t he just build a few tents for them to, you know, camp out together in perpetuity?

Peter was passionate to linger in the presence of Christ’s transformed glory. Surely this one thing is why Jesus had called him. It would take a spoken word from God to redirect Peter’s passion to where it ought to be.

One more thing
Seeing this glorious sight was not as important as one more thing, which God Himself declared when He commanded the terrified disciples to listen to the words of His Son, Jesus Christ. For a few moments of glory on a mountain are fleeting, and not the kind of experience all the followers of God should expect to know. If we exhaust our passion in pursuit of such “peak experiences,” we’re likely to be disappointed. The Christian life does not consist in knowing happy times, exciting times, fun times, or any kind of mountain-top experiences.

The Christian life consists in knowing the Lord, and for this to happen, we must be passionate about hearing Him.

Peter himself would later observe that there was one thing “more sure” than even such an experience as this, and that one thing was the Word of the God, the very Word of Jesus Christ Himself (cf. 2 Pet. 1.16-21). The Word of God in Scripture is where we may expect to encounter the living Christ with greater presence, power, and transforming effect than if we had such mountain-top experiences of His glory every day (2 Cor. 3.12-18).

For in the Word of the Lord, the Word of God concerning His Son, Jesus Christ, we discover the face of God Himself, and we learn about His greatness, holiness, and power. There we meet the Lord in His glory, as the Spirit parts the veil that separates time from eternity, and ushers us into the divine presence. We tremble before His immensity and might, and we are humbled with gratitude to know that this glorious and awesome God has set His love on us. We see Him in His glory, as the Spirit takes the revelation of Christ and works within and upon us to transform us into that same image.

Filled with fear and joy and love at the beauty we have beheld, we go forth with glad hearts to wait on the goodness of the Lord in obedience to His every Word. No wonder Jesus explained to Martha that listening to Him, abiding in His Word, was more important than all the frenzied works we might do in order to please others and meet their needs. These matter, to be sure; but they are not as important as the one thing God commanded those glory-struck disciples.

This way to knowing the Lord
In the Lord’s command to Peter, James, and John we find nothing other than a clarifying of what He spoke to Israel through Moses, and what David was seeking in the presence of the Lord. God the Father calls us to listen to Jesus Christ, to seek His presence in all of Scripture (Jn. 5.39), to discover in Him the realization of all God’s promises (2 Cor. 1.20), the embodiment of all God’s wisdom (Col. 2.1, 2), and the very radiance of the divine Being Himself (Heb. 1.3).

By hearing Jesus in the Scriptures we come to know God, for whoever has known Jesus has known the Father, as Jesus Himself explained (Jn. 14.9).

We can only know God through Jesus Christ, and we can only know Jesus Christ as God is pleased to reveal Him to us through His Word and His works. Listen to Him! Listen for Him, in every section of Scripture, in all the works and wonders of creation, in the 10,000 places where, as Gerard Manley Hopkins explained, Christ “plays” every day before us.

The one thing any of us can do that will endure forever is to sit like Mary in the presence of Jesus Christ, as often as we may, and listen to Him as He speaks to us, and shows us in His glory-filled face (2 Cor. 4.6) the Father of all glory Himself.

One thing is needed: Jesus is speaking in His Word, leading us into the knowledge of God. Let us hear Him.

Next steps: Do you find reading, studying, and meditating in Scripture to be a “mountain-top” experience? Why or why not? What are some things that can keep us from being passionate about know Christ in His Word? Talk with some Christian friends about these questions.

T. M. Moore

Additional Resources

This week’s study, Kingdom Passion, is the third of an eight-part series on The Kingdom Turn, and is available as a free download. T. M. has written two books to complement this eight-part series. You can order The Kingship of Jesus by clicking here, and The Gospel of the Kingdom by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.