Transfiguration

• Peter
• James (Jacob)
• John
• Elisha
• Moses
• Jesus

They saw Jesus in his glory. The word glory carries a different meaning today then it did in the First Century. Glory did not mean radiance or shining brightly it meant reputation what people thought of you. The bright light came from God--His reputation. It is real and not scary; it is very joyful.

There is a question of leadership that arises from Peter's statement. This question comes to us today from the Presbyterian Church on who should be the Church leaders and who are the natural leaders. According to one expert the leaders should be the tall steeple pastors. These are the white males who are pastors in larger churches--the ones that used to have the tall steeples. These are the men who live in large houses and drive nice cars.

A tall steeple pastor is a golden boy who might come from a well-to-do family and is a charismatic leader. He is chosen or preferred above other's. The golden boys can bring in the gold through fund raising. They are good looking and they look the part. They sound good and look good and they don't have to be smart, in fact, intelligence is not required nor sought out in a golden boy, because the golden boys maintain the status quo and don't push for change. Golden boys are the ones who are blamed when things turn sour.

Is Jesus a golden boy? No! He opposes the status quo and stirs things up. He was crucified. Crucifixion is not for a golden boy. After his baptism, Jesus is cast out into the wilderness, just as a demon is cast out of someone. Jesus is tested and took the form of a slave and as Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians that every knee will bow. Jesus was raised up by the power of God the Father. No golden boy would even consider risking that.

Many can be raised up with him.

Leadership--the voice in the cloud saying, "This is my beloved son, listen to him" or better yet, "obey him." If you don't obey then you haven't listened. This is hard for Protestants to get. We are told to obey the Bible. The Bible is to be obeyed only because of Jesus. We are not used to listening to Jesus. The responsibility is on us. We need to become like him--the glory, his reputation. We have to let go of our selfishness.

He is the Son of God; he is that because he never turns His glory for his own good but turns it only to serve God and to help us learn to do as well.