Page 40 - Back to Bethlehem 2-7-19
P. 40

ever wrote was 2 Peter, and the last words he ever wrote were,
        “That you might grow in the knowledge of Christ.”  So, as he
        writes the last letter he ever 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
        about 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 to this as 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,
   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45