A Glimpse of Glory

After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

– Mark 9:2 – 4

God’s omnipotence and perfection are consistent themes throughout the Bible. And since he’s the Creator of all things and we’re merely his limited creations, we shouldn’t think twice that he’s all-knowing and all-seeing of things past, present, and future. But on the other hand, what’s sometimes confusing is that his words and deeds so often contradict human nature:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,” God tells us through Isaiah 55:8, and “neither are your ways my ways.” Jesus — who happens to be God in the flesh — also has a viewpoint that opposes our modern, me-first generation. “To be first,” he declares, “we must be last.”

Christ’s bold assertion sheds new light on the ways we should treat our neighbors. And how much better would this world be if we took the time to adopt his servant’s attitude and put the interests of others before our own?

Jesus answers this question through his own example. First, he willingly surrendered his rightful privileges as God’s only Son. He entered the world through humble circumstances — a birth among farm animals in a filthy stable. And as he grew up, he made a common-man’s living as a carpenter. Christ could have lived in splendor as the King of Kings. But instead, he chose a nomadic lifestyle for teaching the Good News of salvation to all who would listen.

That’s quite a life-lesson — one taught by the One with a humble servant’s heart. And although he had just three years to save the world, he still made time in his busy schedule to touch the lives of society’s outcasts. It was this same Jesus who healed the sick, fed the hungry, and trained disciples on the way of truth. There’s good reason he’s called God with Us:

"When we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were not telling just clever stories that someone invented,” the apostle Peter declares through his second New Testament book, “but we saw the greatness of Jesus with our own eyes."

 It was an astounding glimpse of glory that we too will one day experience face-to-face.