Cairo: Jesus in Egypt & God's Unusual Leaning
God seldom gives us all we need to understand, but He always gives us what we need in order to obey. The story of Jesus in Egypt as a boy offers a...
Sometimes we need a good dose of hope and encouragement. We can get so obsessed with the weight of our cross that we forget Jesus showed us what lies beyond it. Today’s hardships can distract us from tomorrow’s hope.
(Photo by Andrew Storms Happiness CC-BY-SA-2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Jesus’ Transfiguration wasn’t some sideshow He did one day for fun. It came at a point when the disciples desperately needed some hope.
Scripture records it to offer us the same thing.
Some hope when we need it most.
Jesus had just dropped an emotional bomb on His disciples at Caesarea Philippi. For the first time, He revealed that He would die in Jerusalem, and be resurrected (see Matthew 16:21).
But they only heard the bad news.
They had all their hopes in Somebody who had just said He would die. Talk about a need for finding hope!
It’s interesting that apart from Jesus’ Transfiguration on Mount Hermon, the only other time Matthew’s Gospel mentions a “high mountain” is at the temptation of Jesus. Satan took Jesus “to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” (Matthew 4:8).
We often find ourselves wandering in the valley between these two mountains, don’t we?
Does the life God has given you often overshadow you with discouragement? You are not alone.
Jesus’ Transfiguration showed a group of disillusioned disciples the glory on the other side of the struggle. The event showed them the glory they would experience with Jesus one day.
This would prove critical for them in the days and years ahead—a lesson in motivation and finding hope Peter would return to again and again in his writings (mouse over these references and read what Peter wrote: 1 Peter 1:3-9, 13; 4:13; 5:1; 2 Peter 1:16-19).
Finding hope to go on comes from looking beyond today’s pain to tomorrow’s promise. (Tweet that.)
The Transfiguration gives us hope because it shows us our future.
And it’s a good one.
Tell me what you think: Have you ever thought of Jesus’ Transfiguration as a window of hope? To leave a comment, just click here.
This post is adapted from Wayne’s book, Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus: A Journey Through the Lands and Lessons of Christ.
• Enjoy an engaging, inspiring, and humorous travelogue that mingles the life-changing truths of Jesus with a walking tour of the Holy Land.
• Experience the Holy Land through the sights, sounds, and tastes of this personal travelogue, and discover how these sacred places influenced the lessons Jesus taught.
You will discover lessons Jesus has for your life.
Click here to leave a comment.
God seldom gives us all we need to understand, but He always gives us what we need in order to obey. The story of Jesus in Egypt as a boy offers a...
Roads are often built for one reason, but God uses them in our lives for another altogether. The Appian Way in Rome proved this so in the life of the...
Two gardens in the Bible, Eden and Gethsemane, provided the settings for two choices that brought opposite results. The Bible wildly contrasts these...