WE
BEHELD HIS GLORY!
John
1:14
14
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of
grace and truth.
Matt
17:1-3
17:1
And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother,
and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
2
And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun,
and his raiment was white as the light.
3
And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
Those of us who make it a habit to be at
church
will admit that occasionally the ritual and routine bursts into true worship.
When worship truly happens we behold his glory although not as fully as did
Peter, James and John. On those grand occasions God seems closer and more
majestic than ordinary days. We want to save as well as savor these moments and
we strive to reproduce and recreate the experience.
Beholding His glory is
extraordinary and therefore can challenge normal reasoning. Peter wanted to
build permanent structures, monuments if you will, to every glorious person he
beheld!
Matt
17:4
4
Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here:
if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for
Moses, and one for Elias.
We shouldn’t chide Peter so much because
what he experienced was so marvelous that he simply did not want to return to
his former mundane existence. He did not want to descend the mountain. He
wanted to stay, enveloped in the splendor of the moment. We sympathize with
Peter on this point.
What Peter, James and John saw was a preview
of heaven! Their spirits, made raw by this breach in the veil,
recognized Moses and Elijah even though they had been gone for many years.
Jesus himself was no longer the carpenter that led them. He was the Lord of
Glory. His face did shine like the sun.
If we read further in Matthew
chapter 17 we see that God broke the spell of that
splendor so that they could return to their work in the valley. There the
lunatic was healed and Jesus foretold his death and resurrection. Later Peter
would cast an angle and catch a fish in order to pay taxes for himself and
Jesus. Somehow, after the vision of the Glory, none of it seemed so farfetched
as before.
Dear
Lord, show us enough of your glory today to make the mundane things marvelous.
AMEN
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