This week’s devotions are based on Week 1 of Cross Examined: Can We Stay? (LISTEN HERE)
What if Jesus would have taken Peter up on his offer?
Luke 9:32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)
What if Jesus would have said, “Great idea, Peter! In fact, staying here with Moses and Elijah is much better than going to Jerusalem and going through the hardship that I know is waiting there for me”?
Luke gives Peter the benefit of the doubt and said, “He did not know what he was saying.” (I wonder if James and John testified to this and Peter said, “I don’t remember saying this!) Just a week earlier, Peter had rebuked Jesus and tried to deter him from going through with what he knew was waiting for him. Luke records this in chapter 9:21-22 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
Peter didn’t want to see Jesus suffer and die. Inadvertently on the mountain of transfiguration he made the same mistake. He wanted to stay in this moment with Jesus. But the result of Jesus staying on the mountain was not completing the mission his Father had sent him on: saving the world through the payment of sin on the cross.
Jesus had to move on.
Jesus’ mission depended on it.
Our salvation depended on it.
It would have been easier for Jesus to live out his days in a mountain top chalet in Israel, than on the Roman cross, but Jesus wasn’t interested in comfort, he was interested in completing the work of paying for our sins.
Peter needed Jesus to move on. Jesus doesn’t rebuke Peter, but he doesn’t entertain the thought. The moment was to clarify who Jesus was and give Peter, James and John certainty to the prophecies about him, but the work he had to do was in the future, not staying in the present.He had to fulfill everything that Moses, Elijah and the prophets had spoken about him. Anything short of completion would leave the saving of mankind incomplete.
He wasn’t going to stop short.
He was resolved to finish his mission.
So he moved on.
And I’m grateful he did. The moment was important, but his mission had eternal impact for me.
Apply: What prophecies do you think Moses and Elijah brought up as they discussed Jesus upcoming death and resurrection?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for moving on from your transfiguration to complete the work of my salvation. AMEN.