As I was working on the final for my class on Jesus and the Gospels, I was studying Luke’s account of the Transfiguration. I was studying the format of the story. As I was detailing the progression to the story’s climax, I was dumbfounded by the fact the transfiguration itself was not the climax! Not only was Jesus being transfigured not the climax but neither was the appearance of Moses or Elijah.
The climax of that event is where God speaks to Peter, James, and John. Peter starts to speak, but God overshadows them and speaks directly to them.
God affirms what they have believed and gives them instructions. God spoke to me through this passage. So many times in my life I want God to affirm what I am doing or believing. Sometimes, like Peter I do not keep quiet. God wants me to be quiet, for me to let him overshadow me so that I can hear what he is saying. Interestingly enough, Peter, James, and John almost missed it! They were asleep. They almost missed seeing Jesus in his glory, the very presence of God, and his instructions for them because they were asleep. The image of Peter speaking to Jesus while he was in his glorious transfigurement and God quieting him is a reminder to something that God wants from all of us. God says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.”
If we can stay awake long enough, we might see Jesus in his glory.
