Read Matt. 17:1-13
And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” (Mat 17:4-7)
There are a number of things we can take away from this reading. The first we can take away is that Jesus is the Son of God. When we say Jesus is the Son of God we mean he is God, he is equal to God concerning his divinity. Jesus is the beloved Son of the Father. As the Son is the exact representation of the Father. If you see and know Jesus you have seen and know the Father.
The Father is well pleased with the Son. The Son, Jesus, is being obedient through suffering becoming and to become the perfect sacrifice. Jesus was and is taking our infirmities, our guilt and our shame. He becomes sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.
The Father wants us to listen to Jesus. What does Jesus say? Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Mat 11:28) “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. (Joh 14:1) Some may want to go to the commands God gives us through Jesus and those certainly are valid. But looks what follows. I believe it gives us the context of what the Father wants us to listen.
Rise and have no fear. The Father wants us to rise and have no fear. You will be in fear if you are focusing on the commandments. The commandments are used by sin to stir us to break them and then we have the fear of death because of our sins. But the Son says, “have no fear.” If we are to have no fear then we can’t be focused on the commandments of the Son but the invitation. We are called to get rest in Christ Jesus. We are already heavy laden and burdened by the commandments and our failure to keep them. We are called to lay our trouble on Jesus by believing in him, that is to say, we trust Jesus has us accepted by the Father in spite of our troubles. Without fear we can rise and stand tall resurrected from spiritual death to spiritual life. We can lift eyes above without fear as we look to the Father through the Son, Jesus.
Lord God, Heavenly Father, give us ear that listen to your Son so we may not fear sin, death or the power of the devil trusting your Son has delivered us from their power. IN Jesus Name we pray. Amen.
It’s a pluarese to find someone who can think so clearly