Sometimes it can feel really hard to be a Christian, can’t it? Of course you love the Lord, but you don’t like being teased about your faith by the people down the road. Sometimes you might wish that you could do some of the things your unbelieving neighbours do on Sundays. Sometimes it is just so difficult to keep fighting against the same sins every day again.

It was also a struggle for the disciples of the Lord Jesus. They also had to give up so much to follow Jesus. On the mount of transfiguration, the Father showed the glory of the Lord Jesus to reassure the disciples and us that following Jesus is worth all the struggles.

Moses and Elijah appeared on the mountain with the Lord Jesus. The disciples that went up with Jesus saw this. They saw that Jesus Christ’s whole body was glowing and bright. The bright light wasn’t just around the Lord Jesus but was shining out of him. The Father was showing them that Jesus was so much greater than the prophets of the Old Testament. Jesus Christ was God himself. The Father even came down in a cloud to the disciples to reassure them and to tell them that Jesus Christ was his only begotten Son.

The topic that Jesus, Moses, and Elijah talked about would also have reassured the disciples that they could believe in Jesus. They spoke about Jesus’ death on the cross. They talked about Jesus saving us from our sins. They spoke about the great deliverance that was to come. Peter thought that they were talking about freedom from the Romans, and so he started to make tents for them to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. But Jesus told Peter not to do that because Jesus was talking about something else. He was talking about the deliverance from sin. Jesus still needed to go down to Jerusalem, he still needed to suffer and die, and he was willing to do that to give us salvation, to deliver us from sin and to give us a new relationship with the Father again. 

Reflection with your child:

Why did Jesus shine with glory?

Source: Sermon by Rev. K. Dekker