JESUS IS THE RADIANCE OF GOD’S GLORY

November 22, 2024

And He [Jesus] is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. Hebrews 1:3a

Jesus modeled what it could be like for a human being to experience the presence of God in his or her life. Accounts of the Transfiguration – a peculiar and fascinating moment in Jesus’ earthly ministry – are found in three chapters of the Bible (Matthew 17; Mark 9; Luke 9).  
 
Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. Matthew 17:1-2

1. JESUS’ FACE AND GARMENTS RADIATED LIGHT. This is reminiscent of when Moses came down from the mountaintop with God’s commandments. Moses was glowing, and they had to put a kind of curtain over his face because nobody could look at him (Exodus 34:29-35). The book of Mark’s account describes the moment, saying, “and His [Jesus’] garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them” (Mark 9:3). I just did my laundry and washed my white shirts separate from my colors and did my best to brighten them up. But the Bible says that Jesus’ garments were so glorious that no human could make them that bright and beautiful. We’ve seen the sunrise and sunset with sunbeams shooting all over the place. That pales in comparison to the brilliance and the presence and power of God’s glory.
 
2. JESUS’ MISSION AND POSITION WERE CLARIFIED. “And behold, Moses and Elijah, appeared to them, talking with Him” (Matthew 17:3). During the Transfiguration, Peter tried to help with his limited human understanding and suggested making tabernacles for each of them. In Jewish history, before the temple was built, they had a tent called the Tabernacle where they worshiped God with sacrifices and atoned for sins in the presence of the Lord and the Ark of the Covenant. Peter thought that the law (represented by Moses), the prophets (represented by Elijah), and now the Messiah all needed a tabernacle. But “while he [Peter] 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!’”  (Matthew 17:5). God wanted Peter, James, John and now us all these years later to know that in the past, God spoke through the law and the prophets, but now, He speaks to us through His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2). 
 
And the Word [Jesus] became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).  
 
3. WE CAN EXPERIENCE DAYS OF GOD’S PRESENCE. I went to the geographic location where historians believe the Transfiguration happened. It was fascinating just thinking about the glory of God while standing on the pinnacle of that mountain. It was a beautiful panoramic scene, but the view couldn’t compare to seeing the radiance of God’s glory. As followers of Jesus, we, too, have the opportunity to experience God’s presence. The prophet Habakkuk said that the knowledge of the glory of God would cover the earth (Habakkuk 2:14), and we are about to see some of that in these end days. I pray that you would have days of God’s presence in your life and in your prayer time. That God would come and fill you with hope, and that there would be a genuine, authentic touch of the Holy Spirit in everything you do!
 

PRAY THIS PRAYER:
God, I thank you that Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us and that we get to see His glory. I pray for Your presence, God, to cover my day, to cover my prayer time. Fill me with hope. Let there be a genuine, authentic touch of the Holy Spirit in everything I do. In Jesus’ Name, amen.  
 

God bless you,
Pastor Jeff Perry 

ra·​di·​ance, noun
Brightness shooting in rays or beams; hence in general, brilliant or sparkling luster; vivid brightness.

^{Copyright © 2024 St. Louis Family Church, All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked TPT are from The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017, 2018, 2020 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com. “Radiance, N.” Webster’s Dictionary 1828, MasonSoft Technology Ltd., 2024, https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/radiance}