Day 3: The Transfiguration of Jesus

Welcome to Dripping: A 21-Day Encounter with the Anointed One!

The purpose of this devotional series is to help you encounter Jesus Christ face-to-face by invoking your holy imagination. Each day of this series, we will walk through three short exercises–see, read, and pray–that will help us draw closer to the Man, Jesus Christ Himself.

Here’s Day 3:

Today, we will read two brief Scripture passages. First, read Hebrews 1:8-9:

“Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.

And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’

While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!’ And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.

But Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Arise, and do not be afraid.’ When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only” (Matthew 17:1-8).

Please also read Hebrews 1:1-3a:

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person …” (Hebrews 1:1-3a).

See:

Enter into this scene with me using your imagination. Give yourself a front-row seat:

You are with Jesus and the disciples, and Jesus suddenly invites Peter, James, John–and YOU!–to go for a private walk with Him.

The five of you walk away from the rest of the disciples, sand and gravel crunching under your steps. The low sound of mumblings and murmurings reaches your ears as the other disciples, watching you walk away, grumble at being left behind.

After a few minutes, you’re not sure if this journey is a privilege or not.

Jesus apparently has some mountain climbing in mind, for He leads you up the steepest trail you can find. You’re in good shape, but not as good as Jesus is. He scrambles up the side of the mountain like a mountain sheep, but you’re huffing and puffing behind Him. 

“What’s His hurry, anyway?” you wonder.

Finally arriving at the top of the mountain, you sit down on the grassy, bald peak. You gaze for a moment out over the view. The view is spectacular; you can see the sea where you are. 

But suddenly, you hear a crackling noise behind you.

You turn in surprise. And when you turn, you see Jesus–but not like you have ever seen Jesus before. Jesus is lit up as if He is on fire. His face is suddenly bright as the sun, so bright you cannot even look directly at it–and arcs of static electricity shoot between His clothes and His body.

His face is truly brighter than the noonday sun. You have no idea why, and you don’t understand–but you can’t really think about it very much, either. It is a fearful sight and you simply fall back in silence.

Just when you think this couldn’t get any stranger, two men appear out of nowhere.

Both of them are wrapped in light too, but not as strongly as Jesus is at this moment. Jesus begins talking with these two men, calling them “Moses” and “Elijah.” He shouts their names with joy, wrapping them both in a huge bear hug, one after the other.

They all embrace and begin talking as if they are long-lost best friends, slapping each other’s arms with affection, laughing one minute and serious the next. All three men act as if the sparks and the light show shooting off Jesus’ skin and clothes are completely normal.

You are immediately curious, wishing you could be a closer part of this conversation.

Really, deep down, you wish you could be a part of this relationship that you see before you. Never before have you witnessed such intimacy between friends; such joy at being reunited; such closeness between brothers.

But then Peter interrupts. Silly Peter. Crazy, put-his-foot-in-his-mouth Peter. He goes off at the mouth and says, “Lord, I’m so glad we’re here. Let’s build three tabernacles for you, Moses, and Elijah.”

When Peter says that, you wish you could just shush him–but you don’t have a chance because the scene changes.

Suddenly, the light and lightning that have been so strong on Jesus, and visible even around Moses and Elijah, begin moving your way. The Light is MOVING. Towards you.

Not sure what you should do, you freeze. In moments like this, you don’t think or trust; you wait to find out what your fate will be in the milliseconds it takes for the light to reach you. 

Peter goes on rambling, seemingly unaware that either death or glory is about to hit. There’s no stopping it now; the light is on top of you, around you, and in you.

And you hear a voice: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”

The voice comes out of the light. The voice IS the light. The light IS the voice. You suddenly realize that you are standing in the center of God Himself. God is standing here, occupying the same space you are. This wasn’t just a meeting between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. It was a desperate encounter–a joyous reunion–between four friends: Jesus, Moses, Elijah, and God the Father Himself.

Four friends. Four companions who miss one another’s companionship dearly. And the fourth one is the Father.

You know it’s the Father because you recognize the voice. You know because you hear the voice; you hear Him claiming Jesus as His Son. And you feel Him, too. You feel more loved than you have ever felt. You feel safer than you have ever been. But somehow, mysteriously, you also feel closer to death than you have ever felt in your life. 

You feel the terror of the Lord. 

And you fall.

After what seems like eternity, you wake up.

Jesus is leaning over you; it’s He who touched you and woke you up. You gaze around you, groggy. The sun is lower in the sky now; hours have passed.

Jesus is still glowing, but the glow has mostly faded. The air still crackles with electricity, but you see no one there other than Jesus and your companions.

Jesus’ countenance looks totally different, though; He looks greatly encouraged. He looks like He has thrown all His cares upon the Father; His countenance seems a thousand times lighter. Joy radiates from His face, and somehow you sense that the joy has eclipsed all His sorrows.

“Don’t be afraid,” Jesus says. “Get up. It’s all right.”

You clamber to your feet, brushing dirt off your robe. You can’t stop staring at Jesus, even while He wakes the other disciples out of their stupor on the ground. Something is different, and you haven’t figured out what it is yet.

Then, suddenly, you realize. Jesus is always telling you and the other disciples that He and the Father are One. Of course it makes sense, then, that They would crave each other’s physical companionship–and you understand that you just got to see Them meet, in person, on earth. 

But it’s more than that. You also realize that, when you saw Jesus all lit up like that, you saw who He really is.

The Father is light, and you saw the Father meeting with Jesus. And when Jesus was transfigured before you, not only were you seeing the Father’s presence on Jesus and with Jesus, but you also saw with unveiled face how glorious He really is.

Peter, James, and John follow Jesus down the mountain path, but you remain behind. They don’t seem to understand what they saw, and you aren’t sure that you completely did either. One thing you know, though: you have just seen something you will never forget; something that makes you both love the Holy One and be more terrified of Him than you have ever been in your life.

Jesus stops and turns around in the path. “Are you coming?” He calls back to you.

Mutely, you nod. How could you say no? This Jesus, the Man called the Christ, deserves to be followed and worshipped forevermore. He is the Son of God.

Gazing at His back and unable to move your eyes off Him, your feet follow in His steps. You turn toward Him and head down the mountain, knowing that you will never be the same–for you have seen the Christ as He really is. 

Pray:

“Abba Father, I come to You in Jesus’ name.

Father God, I thank You that You are Light, and in You is no darkness at all. I thank You that Jesus is the very brightness of Your glory and the express image of Your person. And I thank You that You have chosen to reveal Yourself to us through Jesus, so that we may know You.

Abba Father, as I stare at Jesus today–and at the light of YOUR presence, also, Father–I ask that You would glorify Yourself in me too.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Help me to walk worthy of the divine calling to which I have been called, with behavior that is a credit to the summons to Your service. 

Abba Father, glorify Your name in me.

I ask, Father, in Jesus’ name, that You would so glorify Your name in me that You would be made famous over all the earth. I pray that everything in me that is dark, You would fill with the light of Your presence.

Teach me to know You, Lord, and to know Your ways; that I might know You as much and as well as Jesus does. Help me to be Your friend, Abba Father, as much as Jesus is. I thank You that He is my Brother, the Firstborn among many brethren; and I pray that, through His blood, I would love You and know You and honor You as much as He does, my whole life long.

Abba Father, there’s nothing I want more than to meet with You. There’s nothing I want more than to be with You, to love You, to know You, to honor You, and to be Your friend. Please help me, and I thank You that as I seek You with all my heart, I will find You.

Thank You, Father. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.”

Related: Read this short series about how much God loves you, and how to give your life to Jesus and receive forgiveness for all of your sins and a new life in Christ.

Did you enter into this scene with me about the transfiguration of Jesus using your own holy imagination? What did you see? How is Holy Spirit speaking into your heart right now? Leave a comment below!