Message from the Mount of Transfiguration
Let us meditate on Mathew 17:1 to 21. Jesus took His beloved disciples who were very close to Him in fellowship to a mountain where He was transfigured before them. His face did shine as the sun and His raiment was white as the light. There appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Jesus. Peter desired to be there and to make three tabernacles, one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elias. Then a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice came out of the cloud which said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye Him". Then the disciples out of fear fell on their face and Jesus comforted them. When they had lifted up their eyes, they say no man, save Jesus only. Jesus asked His disciples not to tell this vision to any man until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.Then the disciples and Jesus entered into a conversation regarding Elias. Jesus told them that Elias would first come and restore all things.When they alighted from the mountain and came in contact with the multitude, a certain man, kneeling down to Jesus and told Jesus that His disciples could not heal his lunatic son. Jesus rebuked the devil and the child was cured. Then He rebuked His disciples for their unfaith.
The disciples enjoyed close fellowship with Jesus and desired to be with Him always. They had the wonderful vision of transfiguration of Jesus. They had also the vision of Moses, the receiver of the Law of God and Elias, the great prophet who represented the Old Testament prophets. Peter equated Jesus with Moses and Elias as he wanted to build three tabernacles for all of them including Jesus. The voice of God the Father from the Heaven conveyed a very clear message to the disciples that they should hear Jesus. The voice did not exhort them not to hear Moses and Elias. It said, first, that Jesus was the beloved Son of God and that God the Father was well pleased. The same message holds good for us today. We should not ignore the Law of Moses and the Old Testament prophecies while meditating on the Bible. But, at the same time, we should hear Jesus in the Law and the prophets. While meditating on the Old Testament books, we should discern the voice of the Son of God. When I meditated on the book of Song of Solomon, I discerned the voice of my Beloved and wrote a wonderful book. It took nearly 15 years to write this book. If I read any book of the Old Testament, I can hear the voice of the Son of God.
Today we find many servants of God like Peter who want to build a tabernacle for Christ in the same manner as Moses built an earthly tabernacle in the wilderness and Elijah repaired an earthly altar for the sacrifice for Jehovah. They have built earthly tabernacles and confined Jesus Christ to the boundaries of their church denominations and their evangelical ministries. "Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool, what kind of house will you build for Me? says the Lord.." ( Acts.7:49). Though miracles and healings are being performed by God in the Name of His Son through such churches and ministries, God and His Son cannot be tabernacled by any servant of God. Some servants of God who have all the material resources build towering buildings or acquire costly properties in prime localities of metropolitan cities, and want to confine Christ to such earthly tabernacles. But Christ cannot be tabernacled in such perishable buildings. If they present a tabernacled Jesus Christ, they present another Jesus Christ who is tabernacled in their churches and ministries. However, He is tabernacled in truth amongst His people who abide in Him and who do the perfect will of the Father.
These days, we teach from the Old Testament books. It is good. But do we give the message of Jesus Christ to the lost world? Do we give the message of Jesus Christ to the Body of Christ for edification? We find many false christs in our midst who give their own messages which are contrary to the gospels, epistles and the book of Revelation.
The disciples ultimately saw no man save Jesus Christ. We should see only Jesus Christ in our devotional life. A dear servant of God claimed to have heard the voice of God the Father who asked him to start a television channel. We cannot see or hear God the Father save Christ Jesus. The voice of God from the Heaven had given a clear message to all of us that we should hear Jesus. Jesus Christ is the preeminent Person. He is the Word of God.
Let us not be deceived by hearing any voice from the Heaven. God the Father had spoken once and for all. He had spoken in His Son. We should hear Jesus Christ. How can we hear Jesus Christ who is now seated on the right of the Father in the Heaven? He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit who indwells us. He speaks to us through the written books of the Bible. We can hear Him only if we are sanctified through His Blood daily.
Lastly, the disciples who had seen the wonderful vision of the transfiguration of Jesus on the Mount in the company of Moses and Elias could not cast out the devil when they alighted from the mountain. Today we see wonderful visions of Christ and enjoy His presence during our worship services. We lift up our hands and worship Him. It is good. But we fail to cast out the devil from the persons possessed by him. What is important is not the vision that we see but the output that we produce in His vineyard. We have to bear fruits. Our ministry will be measured or judged not in terms of input but in terms of output. It is not the hours of Bible Study or prayer that we spend but the output that matters here. Do the people around us see Christ in us? Do the people around us get saved through our ministry? Does the Church get edified through our ministry? I was sending email devotionals to about 4000 people through our email ministry in InJesus.com. I thought that I was doing a wonderful ministry. When I asked these 4000 people to give me a feedback, only 150 responded and wanted me to send them daily messages. Only about 200 people were reading our messages daily. Others must have either deleted these messages without opening the same or glanced through the same in a few seconds.
They saw Jesus only
On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James and John, the three disciples of Jesus, who were very close to Him, saw the wonderful scene of transfiguration of Jesus before their eyes. There Moses and Elias also appeared. Peter desired to make three tabernacles, one for Jesus, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. Then a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice of the cloud said, “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him”. On seeing the supernatural manifestation, the disciples fell on their face and were sore afraid. When Jesus came and touched them, and said, “Arise, and be not afraid”. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. (Matt.17:1-8). At the end, they saw only Jesus Who remains for ever. Moses represented the law and Elijah the power of God through prophecy.
Though both of them appeared, the Person of Jesus with His face shining and with His raiment appearing white as the light was outstanding. At times, we lay undue emphasis on certain dos and don’ts of the Bible likened to the Ten Commandments quoting from the Word of God but fail to perceive the marvelous and unique Personality of Jesus. The result is that we see people being saved wonderfully through the Blood of Jesus Christ but, in due course of time, these people would become stiff-necked like the children of Israel. We preach about the salvation through the Blood of Jesus Christ but hardly do we present His entire Personality to the unsaved people.
When I was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the book “The Voice of My Beloved” over a period of 15 years, the blessed Holy Spirit opened my eyes to the marvelous Person of Jesus Christ and His Body, the Church, through the Song of Songs. At times, we are very zealous of serving the living God so as to bring down the fire of God on the works of the Devil as Elijah did on the Mount of Carmel. I have seen some of our Television ministers filled with the power of God display His healing power on their evangelical stages. But they fail to focus on the wonderful Personality of Jesus and His glorified Body, the universal Church, through their ministries. They lay emphasis on His miracles but do not present His marvelous Personality and His glorified Body.
No doubt, we need the sound doctrines of the Word and the power of God. But, above all, we need to grow in our fellowship with Christ and His glorified Body. Peter, John and Peter saw the glorified Body of Christ even before His ascension into the Heaven and His subsequent glorification. Why cannot we see through our prophetic eyes the marvelous Body of Christ today? Christ sans His Body is incomplete. Nevertheless, Christ with His Body is complete.
These days, we worship and adore Christ in our churches but do not recognize His multi-member Body all over the world. We do have fellowship with the members of our local churches but do not strive towards the gathering of the scattered members of His Body in His one Body. At times, we despise or look down upon the members of His glorified Body in other churches or in other nations. Neither do we help the poor saints who are of His Body nor do we strengthen the weak sheep that are of His Body. Does our nationalism, our culture, our race, or our church doctrine blind our eyes, thereby preventing us from beholding the glorified Body of Christ all over the world?
We cannot equate the wonderful Person of Christ Jesus with Moses and Elijah. We cannot have three tabernacles. “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him”. Do you hear Him daily as you personally meditate on the Word of God and pray? Do ye hear Him through His Body, the universal Church? No doubt, you may be hearing Him, partly through your local church or through your fellowship. This is not enough. You should also hear Him through His apostles and prophets, who are the foundation of the Church? Today, the Holy Spirit is giving you a revelation of the glorified Body of Christ on the Mount of transfiguration. Let us behold His Body and hear Him. Instead of confessing, “The salvation of Christ is mine; the healing of Christ is mine…”, let us confess, “My Beloved is mine and I am His” (Song of Songs 2:16).
- Job Anbalagan