Holy Saturday
‘Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.’ John 14:9b
Bible reading: Matthew 17:1-8 (Go to the Bible passage)
This passage is closely linked to what had happened six days before. Jesus had rebuked Peter in public; it had been no small matter. ‘Get behind me, Satan! (…) for you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns’ (Matthew 16:23).
We might have thought Peter was a lost cause now: rejected as a Satan! But six days later, Jesus took Peter, James and his brother John with Him, and led them on a high mountain…
Whenever the thought might occur to us that we now really messed up, that God gave up on us, let us then remember that God’s loyalty is always greater than all our failings.
So, Jesus took Peter and the other two apostles with Him on a high mountain. Why had these three to witness this?
We read: ‘There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.' Rightly this passage is called: the transfiguration on the mountain. For a moment, these three men saw their Master in His glory, like we will see Him when He returns to earth.
Now He was no longer the Son of men, but the King of kings, like Paul calls Him (1 Timothy 6:15).
For a moment, the boundaries of time were broken, and Moses and Elijah - the great men of God of the Old Testament - could speak with Jesus about His departure which He was about to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). Peter did not know what to say anymore, but he was thrilled to be together with these three great men of God’s plan of salvation!
But God did not tolerate that Peter put Elijah and Moses on the same level as the Son. Therefore a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, Whom I love (…) Listen to Him!’ And when the three apostles looked up, they saw no one except Jesus…

Share This