Read: Luke 9:27-36
When they became fully awake they saw his glory. (v. 32)
The Disney film Tangled is about a lost princess who embarks on a journey to discover her true identity. Along the way she picks up a companion. When her royal heritage is revealed, he is first awed, but then he feels awkward, unsure how to relate to her.
Luke 9 includes the account of the transfiguration. This event is prefaced by Jesus’s statement to his disciples: “I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God” (v. 27). Shortly thereafter, Jesus leads three of them to a mountaintop. There, they see Jesus in a radical new light. It’s not that Jesus becomes someone different so much as Jesus’s identity is fully revealed. Having seen Jesus in the light of heaven, the disciples are unsure how to relate to him.
How should we relate to Jesus? As an accessible, empathetic human companion, or as a heavenly conqueror and king? He is both. He came to reclaim lost people. He also came to reestablish heaven’s authority on earth. He is the friend who offers his undivided attention. He is also the king who demands our undivided devotion. The transfiguration gives us a glimpse of Jesus’s true nature: he is fully human and fully God. It also provides a preview of a restored creation: earth and heaven brought together in the presence of its rightful ruler. Jesus, your friend and Savior on earth is also Jesus, the King of heaven. When we embrace him for all that he is, we experience his kingdom on earth.
As you pray, find comfort in Jesus’s friendship and his kingship.
About the Author
Ben Van Arragon
Ben Van Arragon is a preacher and writer based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He preaches and teaches the Bible in church, online, and anywhere else he has the opportunity.
