Matthew 17:1-13

Rachel Workman: I have no comments for today's reading.

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John Burnett: 17 Six days later Jesus *took with Him Peter and ^[a]James and John his brother, and *led them up on a high mountain by themselves. ² And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. ³ And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. ⁴ Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three ^[b]tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” ⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell ^[c]face down to the ground and were terrified. ⁷ And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” ⁸ And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.  I look forward to seeing His face.  Peter offering to build tabernacles for Moses and Elijah proves that the doesn’t quite get it.  There is no need to worship Elijah or Moses but only the one who is worthy, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, the lamb that was slain to take away the sins of the world.

⁹ As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.” ¹⁰ And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” ¹¹ And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; ¹² but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did ^[d]to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer ^[e]at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.  Even though the day of Pentecost had not taken place yet and the disciples had not received the Holy Spirit, we can see that the Holy Spirit is still working and enlightening the disciples as to what Jesus was teaching them.  I am thankful I have been given the Holy Spirit to identify me with Jesus Christ.