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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Friday, 26 March 21:
Mark 9:2-4 – “And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.”
Jesus is transfigured on the mountaintop before His three closest disciples. As previously discussed, we shouldn’t miss the point that, while Moses didn’t make it to the Promised Land in his temporal state, He received that reward and so much more in glory. God’s ultimate goal for Moses was not a piece of terrain but rather Himself. Beyond that point, we should also make note of the significance of these two specific people appearing with Jesus:
“It is very significant that these two men appeared, for Moses was the mediator of the old covenant, the giver of the Law, and Elijah stood at the head of the long line of Israelite prophets. In summarizing the testimony of the Old Testament, Scripture often speaks of the Law and the prophets. Thus, we see here the confluence of the Law and prophets with the Messiah whose coming they foreshadowed. Finally, a cloud, a symbol of God’s presence, overshadowed the scene, and God’s voice was heard urging the disciples to listen to Jesus. They were to stop hesitating and embrace His mission to go to Jerusalem to suffer and die for His people.” (Tabletalk Magazine)
- Matthew 5:17 — “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
- Matthew 22:37-40 — And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
- Luke 24:44 — Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
- John 1:45 — Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
- Acts 24:14 — But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets….
- Acts 28:23 — When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.
- Romans 3:21 — But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
The Mount of Transfiguration reveals agreement between the Law, the prophets, and Jesus; and Jesus’ preeminence and fulfillment of the Law and prophecy. Jesus did not abolish God’s previous words but embodied them. The heart compelled by the love of Christ need not be compelled by commands and fear of punishment, because obedience is the natural product of love, which is all powerful over motivations of fear or duty.
A final point from Ligonier Ministries – “Peter was on a mountaintop spiritually, and he wanted to stay there. But his experience was designed to send him into the world to participate in the death and humiliation of Christ. Consider how your spiritual mountaintops—at worship, at a Bible study, or during a retreat—should drive your walk with Christ.”
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 26 Mar 21: Share your mountaintop experience in Christ with everyone you can today.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 