February 19, 2023 | by Pastor Peter

Peter, James & John are excited that Jesus gets a visit from Moses and Elijah on the Mountain. What they don’t realize is that it is Moses and Elijah–who have each seen God imperfectly on the mountain before–are the ones who are privileged to finally encounter God face to Face.

Moses and Elijah represent an understanding of God that is good, but inferior to Jesus’ complete revelation of God. So the traditions that are formed from their witness need to make room for Jesus, but the religious authorities won’t submit those hopes or expectations to Jesus because they are self-serving.

Jesus’ followers need to examine our own religious culture and critically examine it in light of our crucified and exalted Messiah. Like the Jewish religious leaders, we may find that some of our hopes and expectations are incompatible with what Jesus is.