How exciting it must have been for Peter, James and John to have witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus Christ! One minute they were climbing a mountain and the next they were standing in front of a radiant Jesus as He spoke with Moses and Elijah!
At the very least, the transfiguration would have confirmed for the disciples that Jesus was going to die and be raised to life again, because Moses and Elijah stood on the mount speaking to Jesus about His upcoming death and the fulfillment of God’s plans through Him.
As this event unfolded, James and John stood by and silently took it
in, perhaps in awe of what they were witnessing as they listened to
Jesus and the others speak. Peter, however, began to make plans and
suggestions, moving toward Jesus, Moses and Elijah with the ideas he had
in mind. While Jesus was yet shining like the sun before him, Peter
verbally spilled out his ideas into the holy and sacred atmosphere on
the mount.
“It’s good that we’re here together, God is in this! Let’s set up camp here and get comfortable. We can make this our permanent home ministry base. Let’s build an office for each of you! And.........….” (Paraphrased Matt. 17:4).
And even as Peter was speaking, God interjected His thoughts into the situation. Matthew tells us the God interrupted Peter’s harangue, telling them to listen to Jesus: “While he [Peter] was STILL SPEAKING, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said: This is My beloved Son. LISTEN TO HIM!” (Mark 9:7).
In Peter’s defense, we’re told that he was so stunned by the glory of Jesus and magnificence of the situation that he wasn’t sure what he should say (Mark 9, Matt 17, Luke 9). But it appears that God’s plan was for him to say nothing: all he was supposed to do was listen to what Jesus was saying…ALWAYS!
God’s plan will always come to pass, but we may miss the magnificent manifestation of it if we are too busy making our own plans and talking over Him. We may miss the moment of awe that He has set in place for us to experience and learn from if we can’t be still before Him. If we’re set on showing Jesus our ideas for the current situation, then we have it backwards and have missed the voice of God: let us first hear His voice, then build accordingly!
“It’s good that we’re here together, God is in this! Let’s set up camp here and get comfortable. We can make this our permanent home ministry base. Let’s build an office for each of you! And.........….” (Paraphrased Matt. 17:4).
And even as Peter was speaking, God interjected His thoughts into the situation. Matthew tells us the God interrupted Peter’s harangue, telling them to listen to Jesus: “While he [Peter] was STILL SPEAKING, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said: This is My beloved Son. LISTEN TO HIM!” (Mark 9:7).
In Peter’s defense, we’re told that he was so stunned by the glory of Jesus and magnificence of the situation that he wasn’t sure what he should say (Mark 9, Matt 17, Luke 9). But it appears that God’s plan was for him to say nothing: all he was supposed to do was listen to what Jesus was saying…ALWAYS!
God’s plan will always come to pass, but we may miss the magnificent manifestation of it if we are too busy making our own plans and talking over Him. We may miss the moment of awe that He has set in place for us to experience and learn from if we can’t be still before Him. If we’re set on showing Jesus our ideas for the current situation, then we have it backwards and have missed the voice of God: let us first hear His voice, then build accordingly!
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