Putting God in a Box and the Power of Transfiguration
Have you ever put God in a box? And in that box, you expected Him to operate the way in which you thought best? Have you ever considered what happens once we do that? Well, in our finite wisdom, based on Romans 11:33, God’s immense wisdom, knowledge, and beauty are unsearchable. In that box, we limit His power to our own understanding, traditions, or comfort zones. We may attempt to divine God by our thoughts, expectations, or reasonings, however it is of utmost importance to let God reveal Himself in His glory. God can’t be contained, He is sovereign, everlasting, and has at all times done the unexpected.
In the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36, NKJV), Jesus explodes the box of earthly expectations by revealing His truth, authority, and mission in ways in which confound all traditions while clarifying identity. Well, guess what? I’ve attempted to place the Lord in a box, but soon realized it’s unattainable. In this text, I explore 4 key ways Jesus breaks the box of expectations and the way it transforms our understanding of who He truly is. And for further learning, explore the PDF Bible Study Tool attached as a complement. But before you start, I actually have a matter. What boxes are you keeping Jesus in?
Breaking the Box of Human Perception: His Glory Revealed
Luke 9:28-29 (NKJV) shares the journey of the transfiguration. In Luke 9:28-29, NKJV it’s written, “Now it got here to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He gook Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to wish. As He prayed, the looks of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.” Jesus didn’t just glow, He transfigured. He revealed His glory that the disciples didn’t expect.
“Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is nice for us to be here; and allow us to make three tabernacles; one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’, not knowing what he said.” Peter, being aware of the Pilgrimage Festivals (The Feast of Tabernacles), is what Peter knew due to the Festival of Booths (The Feast of Tabernacles), where he would live, worship, and remember for per week how God sustained them through the wilderness through the Exodus.
Peter, together with John and James, saw Jesus for who He is, but still saw Him as “an ethical teacher” as an alternative of recognizing Him as being fully God. “Dive Deeper” to explore the biblical terms ‘transfiguration and transformation’ with NKJV and KJV references.
Tradition, Fulfillment, Law, and Prophets?
“And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to perform at Jerusalem.” In this encounter, we read of Moses, who represents the Law, and Elijah, who represents the true Prophets.
Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the Prophets) are two titans of the religion (had similar theophanies at Mount Sinai) who appear in glory with the Lord, but not to show or instruct. They converse with Jesus about “His decease” (His death), in Jerusalem, that He would finish. But what did the conversation accomplish, and why did it occur? As we will possibly imagine, this was no casual chit-chat, but a confirming conversation of His redemptive plan through Him, Jesus Christ. Moses and Elijah weren’t peers of Jesus; they were witnesses to the One in whom all of the Law and the Prophets are fulfilled.
Jesus, the success of the Law and Prophets
“Do not think that I got here to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I didn’t come to destroy but to satisfy.” (Matthew 5:17, NKJV ) In this moment of revelation, Jesus shows that He isn’t a continuation of the prophetic line, however the achievement of all the pieces the Law and Prophets prepared for us through Him.
Moses gave the Law, but Jesus fulfilled it entirely. Elijah called for repentance, but Jesus provided a way of escape through redemption, that repentance points to proving at Jesus doesn’t just fit into history as an event, He defines all of it, being Alpha and Omega, the start and the top by complete definition.
Prophetic Fulfillment
This moment confirms the messianic prophet and the Lord’s timeline. Moses and Elijah’s appearance affirms that Jesus is precisely who prophecy said He is by speaking first of His “decease”, which in Greek, is exodos confirming the Exodus that points to Jesus as deliver, not from Egypt on this case, but from sin and death of what He would accomplish on the cross. An appointed time spoken within the prophetic timeline of God’s redemptive plan. (Genesis 3:15 and Genesis 15:6 NKJV, Isaiah 53, ESV). This moment, confirming prophecies like Deuteronomy 18:15, Malachi 4:5, and Isaiah 53, that the suffering servant will likely be “cut off” for the sins of all people, not for his own.
Modern Misconceptions of Today
In our modern culture, Jesus Christ is commonly mingled with Buddha (enlightened teacher), Muhammad (prophet), Confucius (moral philosopher), and even modern influencers and thinkers. But it is a gross biblical error. The Lord Jesus Christ isn’t a clever teacher amongst many. He is the Son of the Living God, the Word made flesh, and the one solution to the Father.
Jesus said to him, ‘I’m the way in which, the reality, and the life. No one involves the Father except through Me.” John 14:6 (NKJV). “Nor is there salvation in some other, for there is no such thing as a other name under heaven given amongst men by which we have to be saved.” Acts 4:12 (NKJV)
This misconception and others are explored in greater depth in my book, Exodus to Unity: Bridging the Gap Between the Traditional Christians and Millennials, which challenges this very mindset offering hope to unite as one body in Christ Jesus. Grab your copy here.
Spiritual Tradition or The Foundation of your Faith?
Jesus ought to be a part of our actual routines, not only a Sunday “box-check”, the legacy in our families passed down like heirlooms and recipes or simply our moral example you quote when life is difficult, but not who leads you with His council for every step. Think about this for a moment, if He is, then Jesus us only a figure in your life, not the solid foundation of it.
When Jesus Christ is really our cornerstone, all the pieces else will align around Him, and Him alone. Our decisions, identity, purpose, peace…our entire being that rises and falls on who He is. “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:11 (NKJV).
This is where our transformation begins. Not once we selectively sprinkle Jesus over our lifestyles like our favourite seasoning. Not once we add Him to our visions, dreams, or ambitions, and even our denominational preferences, as we decide. But once we give up all! Our will, our way, our lives, and our emotions. It’s in what we are saying and live quite than what we do. “Lord, You’re not only a part of my life, You are my life.” This is when Jesus becomes our foundation, and never just tradition. He becomes our source, not a complement.
Just Another Figure?
Don’t reduce Jesus to a different figure in your life. Moses and Elijah stood in glory before Him, not overshadowing Him. They knelt before the One who is larger. Jesus fulfilled the Law. He is the voice behind the true Prophets. He is the Lamb, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/KatarzynaBialasiewicz
