Glorious Day

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

GLORIOUS DAY

Luke 9:28-33

28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, 31 appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters — one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what he was saying.)

NIV

Here we have two evidences of the truth for a life lesson. First it is evidence of the divine nature of Jesus. Here we see that his face changed from the natural face of a man, to the brilliant face of God. Only God can make that kind of change. The second truth is in the everlasting life. Both Moses and Elijah returned from heaven to earth to speak with Jesus about his departure from earth and thus his return to heaven. Moses and Elijah were in a glorified condition, full of all splendor. Proof of what the condition of man will be like in heaven. If this does not lift our spirits, what will? We have the witness of three men who actually were there to see this event. Of course Peter being Peter, even after being revealed by God that Jesus was the Christ, the long awaited Messiah, he still was thinking like a man. He did not see the evidence of life after death. He did not understand the meaning of the glorious appearance of Moses and Elijah. He wanted to build some kind of human made structure for each of them. Here is another truth. We men cannot build anything which could contain Jesus, or for that matter anything or anyone of the kingdom of God. We should know we cannot contain the kingdom here in manmade anything, but that which God made, us, we can have the Spirit dwell within us. There is here on earth and there is there in heaven. Yes the kingdom of God is here, but that is in the sense that we are now citizens in the kingdom, but foreigners to this earth. We live here in the human condition, but that is only a temporary moment in time. One day we will be as Moses and Elijah, standing in glorious splendor speaking to Jesus about his departure, but we will be doing it in heaven, or perhaps rather on the new earth, in the new city where everyone who acknowledged Jesus as their Lord and Savior will live eternally in glorious splendor along with Moses, Elijah and all the other souls who preceded us in this step from earth to heaven. What a day that will be when our Jesus will we see, with his face shining all full of glory. One day he will take us by the hand and lead us to the promised land, oh what a day, glorious day that will be.