Humbly His

"For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.]" 2 Peter 1:16-18

There is a line of thinking – simple logic – that asks why would so many strong men, men’s men, probably mostly brawlers, would willingly give up everything – even their lives – for a stranger named Jesus. Peter himself even spurned his executioners as they prepared to crucify him, saying that he should be crucified upside down since he was not worthy of the same death as Christ.

I think we would be too if we had been eyewitnesses and “ear-witnesses” of the sight on the mountain and the voice of God! How stubborn would you need to be to ignore the visible and audible evidence of the Transfiguration? These fishermen were apparently not intelligent enough (according to some commentators) to intellectualize the reality of the reality of the promised Messiah or of God incarnate. But they did understand the tangible things – sight, sound, touch, miracle upon miracle, true brotherly kindness and love.

Peter gives a mini-sermon here (v.19-21) about the certainty of the Word of God, as transcribed by mere men like himself: “We also have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” He would know all about this, and his clarity and firmness of conviction had been made clear in his little talk that was recorded by Luke in Acts 1-2, having just witnessed the Ascension, yet another tangible event that we can only imagine.

I’ve always wondered what I would have done in the same situation, hearing the words of, and seeing the works of, this Jesus. Would I have been a “doubting Raymond”, with all this being out of reach for my typically vacuous male brain? Probably, truth be known. And yet, in the light of all this evidence, can I imagine that I would get it? My reality is that I was so intensely unclear about so many things that I would have most likely fled, and this probability is haunting, and I am eternally (literally) grateful for the overwhelming patience of a loving God, who gave me time to figure it out and get my acts cleaned up. Praise God for His compassion and His timing – frustratingly slow as we scurry through life, but so sweet after we internalize the truths of the Word of God.

I pray that He, in His sovereignty, will allow us all to have whatever time we need to allow the Truth to invade our consciousness, and give us true freedom! And let’s all say a little prayer for the intellectual elites who are so prone to re-writing His Holy Word! Or pruning it to conform to their life choices. I’m so glad that I’m simple-minded! Halleluiah!

Humbly His,
Ray

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