Page 38 - Back to Bethlehem

wrote just before he died, he said, “I want to show you how to
see Jesus in the Bible.”

If you were Peter and you looked back over your life, and
you had to choose only one event, what would you choose?
Would you think about when your brother introduced you to
Jesus? Would you think about the miracle of the coin lodged in
the fish’s gill? Would you think about Lazarus being raised from
the dead? You are ready to die. Would you tell them how you
one time walked on water? Would you tell them about
Gethsemane and about your failure? Would you tell them about
the resurrection or about the ascension? You were there when
you saw Him rise. Would you tell them about Pentecost when
He came in the Person of the Holy Spirit? Would you tell them
how an angel set you free and you got out of prison? There were
so many events in Peter’s life and as he’s ready to die he looks
back and he says, “Of all of those events, there is one I want you
to know about.” He chose the transfiguration. To him that was
what the people needed to hear before he died.

I just want to review the facts about the transfiguration
and then we’ll look at the principle. This record is written in
Matthew, Mark and Luke. Listen to Matthew 16:28, “Truly I
say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who
shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His
kingdom” The event begins with this strange promise. He said
that there were some standing there who would not die until He
came back. Many refer this to the second coming of Christ. But
Christ still hasn’t come back. What did he mean, “Some of you
standing here will not die until you see the Son of Man coming
in His glory?”

Many commentators believe that the answer is the
transfiguration. One week after Jesus gave that promise, the
disciples – Peter, James and John – went up with Him on the
mountain. Some say that is like the second coming in a picture
because Christ is in the middle and the three disciples,
representing the Jews, are there and the world is at the base and