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Matthew 17:1-8
In Matthew 17:1-8 is recorded the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain as He took with Him, Peter, James, and John to be witnesses of this event. As Jesus was transfigured: “His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (Matthew 17:2, NKJV). With Him appeared Moses, to whom God gave the Law of the Old Testament, and Elijah, who had been taken to heaven without experiencing physical death (2 Kings 2:11). And the witnesses, Peter, James, and John, were representatives of the new covenant in Christ Jesus. With this is represented the Law, the expectation of what is to come, and the fulfillment of God’s great plan of salvation for everyone throughout the world.
This is a promise and example of the coming together of God’s great plan of salvation in Christ Jesus.
The rules and regulations of the Law that God gave to Moses was to allow man the opportunity to prove himself worthy and able to save himself from sin and the wages of it, however, what the Law proved is that man is incapable of saving and redeeming himself – a better way is shown to be needed. We learn in Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (ESV), “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” The Law was to show man that he is not able to save himself, and to bring him to a humble submission to God. This is represented through Moses.
Elijah was a great reformer – one who saw the need for change in the way man was living outside of the ways of God, and the need to return to living Godly lives. God took Elijah in a whirlwind to heaven – he did not die a natural physical death but was taken to heaven. This is representative of the rapture when Jesus returns. The Bible teaches us in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (HCSB), “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord.”
Peter, James, and John are representative of the Church of the New Testament, which we all are a part. The Apostle Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 (NKJV), “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free – and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.”
Dear LORD,
We are beginning to see Your great plan of salvation for all of us who will put and keep our faith in You through salvation in Christ Jesus. You allowed us to see that we cannot save ourselves, and then You gave us examples of what we can expect to experience if we will trust in You and put aside the ways of this world, and then You sent us a Savior who is worthy to pay the price for all sin so that we may be set free from its bondage and truly live – in Christ. Please let it be so LORD. In Jesus name I pray, amen.