March 8, 2023: 2 Peter 1:17-18 - This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am Well Pleased

“For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” 2 Peter 1:17-18

Six days after Jesus had predicted His death and resurrection to His disciples, Peter was one of only three disciples, James and John being the other two, who were led by Jesus up on a high mountain, where they witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus:

“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. Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.’ And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.” (Matthew 17:2-13)

Peter, James, and John had seen the glorified body of Jesus Christ. Notice that God had not said for them to hear Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, but to “Hear Him!”

The description of the transfigured Jesus is reminiscent of what John wrote when he was exiled to the island of Patmos and through the Holy Spirit was given the revelation of Jesus Christ to write:

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,’ and '‘What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.’ Then I turned to see the voice that spoke to me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.’” (Revelation 1:10-20)

It is very interesting to me in John’s description of Jesus above, he says, “His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace.” Daniel in the Old Testament wrote of the time that his three friends from Judah - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego - all of whom had been exiled to Babylon, had been found guilty of not falling down and worshipping the image of gold that Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar had made and ordered that everyone fall down and worship the image or be killed. He sentenced them to death by fire in the furnace and had heated it seven times hotter than it normally was heated. When Daniel’s friends were thrown into the fire, the intense fire killed the men who had cast them into the fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar said to his counselors:

“‘Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?’ They answered and said to the king, ‘True, O king.’ ‘Look!’ he answered, ‘I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.’” (Daniel 3:24-25)

Not only were none of Daniel’s three friends killed, their hair wasn’t singed and they didn’t even smell of fire. After having witnessed this with his own eyes:

“Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.’” (Daniel 3:28-29)

Returning to today’s Scripture, God Himself had previously shown to Peter, James, and John the transfigured, glorified Jesus Christ, and it changed their lives forever. Though Peter, as prophesied by Jesus, would later deny Jesus three times before Jesus was crucified, He would later restore Peter’s faith and would tell Peter to lead His church: “Feed My lambs,” “Tend My sheep,” and “Feed My sheep.” (John 21:15-17) And that is exactly what Peter did until his death. Peter had been the first to proclaim correctly that Jesus is the Christ, and had said to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16). Peter knew this in his own heart even before he had seen Jesus transfigured on the mount.

Today, we who believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God, in whom God is well pleased, have the accounts of the disciples in the New Testament and we have the prophesies in the Old Testament that foretold of Messiah’s first coming, all of which were fulfilled. We also have the prophecies of the rapture of the church and of His second coming. We have the book of Revelation and in chapter 21, we read of the time when the current earth will be replaced with a new heaven, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem, where, as John wrote:

“But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Revelation 21:22-27)

May we remember these words that give us hope, for this world is passing away, right before our very eyes. Everything is lining up exactly as the Bible says it would, including in the prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation. May we remember that Jesus is God’s beloved Son, sent to offer the only way of salvation from sins by believing in Him as our Savior, the One when after He was baptized by John the Baptist:

“Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17)

Are you trusting in God’s beloved Son, the One in whom He is well pleased, for your salvation? ✝️