he disciples soon forgot the chill that dark brought to the air and stars that spangled the sky. For above them a few feet unbelievably white light cascaded from Jesus, bathing everything in sight into noon-day. Then, in a flash, he greeted two ancient servants he identified as Moses and Elijah as they stood beside him. The men listened raptly to their shared conversation. It all centered on the exodon Jesus would accomplish in Jerusalem. His exodon--DEPARTURE. His exodon—DEATH! The very word that struck terror in the Twelve just eight days before, Luke 9:28. In response, they appointed Simon to apprise Jesus of their common agreement: his death being the one word they couldn’t imagine appropriate to him.
But on the mountain they heard Jesus, Moses and Elijah discussing it in a blaze of light that Christ’s very nature had produced. In pure light, the word exodus-death perfectly fit his life. In pure light, only he had the holiness to suffer death that could forgive the sins of all humanity. In pure light, all three of them overlooking the shame crucifixion imposed to gain the Honor and Glory God bestowed on Jesus for enduring it Hebrews 12:2—the duo’s brilliance seeming to glow brighter, as if they also would benefit by Christ’s death. As if to say to the disciples, “Forget your opinions and trust Christ’s words. Forget what you KNOW by tradition and accept by FAITH what you can’t understand.” As if to say to us now, whenever God’s people gather around the Table of Jesus, eating the bread and drinking the grape, we should celebrate, not mourn, his sacrifice. As if to say, “Don’t leave Jesus on the Cross, since he stayed only long enough to provide forgiveness of sin; then by resurrecting, empowered discipleship; then...glory, glory...new bodies and minds in the world to come.” Stick a cross to a lapel as an expression of faith in Jesus, but understand that only self-denial is our personal evidence that Jesus LIVES! Since God released Jesus from the Cross in six hours, and from the Tomb in three days, he won’t tolerate having Jesus nailed to a crucifix now. Don’t revere the crucified man when the angels commanded the women, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said....go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead....’” Matthew 28:6-7 End Part II
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