Thursday, December 12, 2013

Messianic Musings ~ A Matter of Perspective

The gospel of Matthew is peppered with accounts of the apostle Peter. When Jesus called him as an apostle he immediately left his fishing business and followed Jesus. He witnessed Jesus heal his mother and many others. At Jesus call, he walked on water. Like us, he sometimes blew it and sometimes he exhibited great faith. From what I have read and studied I think I could safely describe Peter as a man of action.

Chapter 17 of Matthew opens with one of the great wonders of Jesus' time of ministry on earth - the Transfiguration. In this passage, Peter, along with James and John, accompanied Jesus to a mountain top. "And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light. And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with Him" (Matt. 17:2-3). Peter's response was immediate, " Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" (Matt. 17:4).

I have often read this passage and confess that my underlying attitude toward Peter's actions has been a little judgmental. It seemed to me that Peter's words were spurred by his somewhat impulsive personality. After doing a little studying in the Jewish commentary I learned that there was more to this passage than my gentile mindset appreciated.

The Jewish scriptures (Tanakh), that Peter would have known well, are composed of the Law and the Prophets. According to Jewish tradition, The Law is represented by Moses and Elijah would represent The Prophets. The significance of these two men together is found in Deuteronomy/Devarim 3:17: "Moses, I swear to you, as you devoted your life to their service to the world, so too in the time to come when I bring Elijah, the prophet, unto them, the two of you shall come together".  Jewish tradition also believes that Elijah would one day appear to announce the coming of King Messiah and His kingdom.

Going back to Matthew 16:28,  Jesus had promised the apostles: "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom".  When both Elijah and Moses appeared with Jesus, this would have been a profound moment for Peter.

Let's bring another Jewish tradition into the mix. The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot),  is celebrated by the Jewish people every year. This feast celebrates the presence of God dwelling with His people. As a part of this celebration, temporary shelters would be built that the Jews would dwell in for the eight days of the festival.

Now let's put this all together and look at things through Peter's perspective. The appearance of Moses and Elijah was a sign that the Kingdom of God would soon be ushered in. Add to this Jesus' promise in Matthew 16:28. How natural would Peter's response have been? Peter's actions were not an impulsive response. He read the signs of the times and acted on what he knew based on Jewish tradition and teachings. This changed the whole context of how I viewed this passage of Scripture!

Reading through the rest of the passage, we do know that the Transfiguration was not the time that the Lord's kingdom would be fully established. That was still yet to come.  But it was a moment that the Lord's splendor was made known with a promise of things to come.

"Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness."  Psalm 29:2