Yes! There is Good News! 4.15.17

Did you read 2 Peter 1:16 - 18? You did? Well, good; then you know that Peter was talking about his experience with the two brothers, James and John when Jesus was transfigured before them. This episode, “The Mount of Transfiguration” and is found in Matthew 17: 1 - 13. To paraphrase the story, Jesus takes Peter, James and John on a mountain and in verse 12-15, he tells them he wants to “remind them” (Verse 12), “refresh their memories” (verse 13) and have them remember these things (verse 15). I would say he felt this to be important! But he also wants them to know that he is not pulling these directives from thin air. He wants to give to them his qualifications for this admonition.
There were many things Peter could have drawn from in establishing his credentials; he saw the healings, the lepers cleansing, the blind receive sight and Lazarus raised from the dead. He watched his Lord die on the cross and then saw Him resurrected. He stood with the others upon the Mount of Olives and watched Jesus rise up into the clouds to be at the right hand of the Father in heaven. But the event he used was the transfiguration. “We were eyewitnesses of His majesty,” Peter wrote. “We saw Him receive honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, Whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.’ ”

Peter’s template, the type he chose to use in this letter, was not one that illuminated the past, but one that clearly shows forth into the future. His experience on the Mount was for him a guarantee of the return of Jesus in all His glory. He experienced the vision of Jesus in the company of the resurrected Moses (representing the Law) and Elijah (representing the Prophets). And he heard the voice of the heavenly Father say, “This is my Son...listen to Him.” And so he gives us this “type” that perhaps changed his life, then he tells us to “Pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (verse 19). Friends and Brethren, I told you some time ago that this episode would not be just good news, but great news. I, for one, am humbled by Peter’s words.

Until next time...