Epiphany, Part 4

The Transfiguration of Jesus reveals His divine identity and the culmination of God’s redemptive plan. As Jesus’ face shines like the sun and Moses and Elijah appear with Him, this moment serves as a glimpse of God’s glory, the destiny of humanity, and the ultimate purpose of creation: to dwell in the light of Christ, transformed and face-to-face with God.

Open Up the Heavens
Vertical Worship

His Glory and My Good
CityAlight

Touch of Heaven
Hillsong Worship

More Like Jesus
Passion

Matthew 16:13-14
Who do people say that the son of man is? And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

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Deuteronomy 34:10-11
“There has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt…

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Matthew 16:16
“You’re the Messiah!” He said. “You’re the son of the living God!”

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Matthew 16:21-23
“From then on, Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he would have to go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised on the third day.” (Nothing unclear about that plan). Peter took him aside and began to tell him off. “That’s the last thing God would want, Master!” He said. ‘That’s never, ever going to happen to you!” To this, Jesus says, “Get behind me, Satan!”

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Psalm 2:1-9
“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Messiah, …the LORD holds them in derision…saying, ‘As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

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Daniel 7:13-14
“I saw in the night visions, “and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

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Matthew 16:23-27
“Get behind me, Satan! You’re trying to trip me up! You’re not looking at things like God does! You’re looking at things like a mere mortal! Then he turns to the group and says: ”If anyone wants to come after me, they must give themselves up, and pick up their cross, and follow me. Yes: if someone wants to save their life, they must lose it; and if anyone loses their life for my sake they will find it. What use will it be, otherwise, if you win the whole world but forfeit your true life? What will you give to get your life back? You see, the Son of Man is going to ‘come in the glory of his father with his angels’ and then ‘he will reward everyone for the work they have done.”

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Matthew 16:28
“I’m telling you the truth: Some of you standing here will not taste death until they see the son of man coming in his kingdom.”

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Matthew 17:1-9
“And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son,[a] with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

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Patrick Schreiner
“The Transfiguration…becomes an icon of Jesus’s identity and the gospel message as a whole. It is not only about a Jewish man having a shiny face but about seeing God face to face. It is not only about three frightened fishermen but about the destiny of all humanity. It is not only about dazzlingly white clothes and a bright cloud but about the purpose of the universe.”

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Reflection #1
Seeing God face to face

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Luke 9:31
…his departure, which he was going to fulfill in Jerusalem.”

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Reflection #2
The destiny of all humanity

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2 Corinthians 3:18
“All of us, without any veil on our faces, gaze at the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, and so are being changed into the same image, from glory to glory, just as you’d expect from the Lord, the Spirit.

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2 Corinthians 4:6
‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts, to produce the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus the Messiah.”

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Reflection #3
The purpose of the universe

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1. Are you posturing as a follower of Jesus or pursuing Him?
2. Are you king of your life or is Jesus?
3. Is your heart open or closed to the transforming power of Jesus?

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2 Peter 1:12-21
So I will always remind you of these things…And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

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Kevin Vanhoozer
“Serious and sustained Bible reading…is the soul of theology and the beating heart of the body of Christ, the Church…There is perhaps no better picture of what is involved in reading the Bible theologically [than] Moses on Mt. Sinai and Jesus on Mount Tabor…accounts of humans having mountaintop experiences of God’s glorious presence. To ascend the mountain is to chart a pathway into the Holy Scriptures, up to the place where God speaks and humans listen…attending to the letter of the text in order to discern in it the light of Christ…the process of glorifying the biblical letter for the sake of the reader’s glorification.”

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