Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Matthew 17:5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
THE ONE THING WE NEED ISN'T A THING
Peter was talking: "Lord, it is good to be here. If you wish, I will put up three tents--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." Of course, Peter didn't know what he was saying, and probably did not mean to put Jesus on the same level with Moses and Elijah, just as we do not always know what we are doing when we go to church as just another job, or another form of entertainment.
In one way Jesus *was* like Moses, for Moses had promised in Deuteronomy: "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him" (18:15).
But while Peter was still speaking a cloud suddenly enveloped them, and a voice was speaking: "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." And echoing Moses in Deuteronomy: "Listen to him!" As if to say, "You don't need three tents. This one (my Son, whom I love) is all you need. He is not just another Moses or another of the prophets. He is the one who came to take your place. I sent Him from heaven to be tempted in all ways as you are, but without ever falling into the trap. He lived the perfect life for which Adam and Eve were created, and He alone in the history of the world is by Himself truly fit to be glorified in His body and also in His human nature to be translated to the heavenly realms."
