Luke 9: 28 – 36
About a week later, Jesus took his disciples Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus. They were amazing to see! They were speaking about Jesus’s transition from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. I would have loved to have been there to witness this!
Many years ago, along my journey, I was learning how to meditate and about positive affirmations. I had landed in a Science of Mind church, where everyone would hug each other before and after service. There was even a point within the service where we were instructed to turn to the neighbor next to us to introduce ourselves and say “hi.” I had a hard time with this part as I liked my personal space and had built Fort Knox up around me to protect me from others. I was OK saying hi from a distance, but when I felt like someone invaded my space, I would back away and was very hesitant to be around them again.
This was noticed by others and after opening up about it to one of the members, she recommended that I practice boundaries with others in my meditations. She said that when meditating, imagine people coming up to me and just walking by me, and to make eye contact as they walk by. As soon as I was comfortable with this, then watch them walk by with their hand out and to take their hand and shake it as they walk by. The next step was shaking hands and saying “hi,” and the next step was giving them a hug.
I decided to try this as I had a very strong fear of people and was having trouble listening to the message for fear of my personal space boundaries being broken at some point during or after the service. I sat down on my back porch and closed my eyes. I envisioned people walking up to me in a line. I moved very quickly through the whole process and had a feeling of peace I had not had before with others. When I opened my eyes, I had the most amazing experience for about a minute. Everything in front of me was very bright! I was on the third floor of an apartment, surrounded by trees. When I looked at the trees, there was no end and no beginning to them – no form whatsoever! There was no beginning and no end. Everything just blended in with each other. For a brief second, I thought I must be in heaven as this is how I envisioned it from what I had heard. I then wondered if I was alive, but these were just very quick thoughts and did not have any fear associated with them. The feeling of peace I had was incredible – and the view was something that words just cannot describe!
When I read about the Transfiguration, it brought me back to that experience. Like Jesus, the appearance of Moses and Elijah were almost blinding. The light I saw was like no other I have ever seen and seeing objects without a form was just memorizing! All this took place in under a minute, and then it was gone. Everything went back to normal. I have tried to recreate this over the years but cannot. I am so thankful for that experience. I reasoned that God was pricking my heart at that time – and he definitely got my attention!
The disciples had fallen asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus in his glory, along with the two men standing with him. As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, “Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials – one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” As he was saying this, terror gripped them as a cloud started to cover them. A voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.” When the voice finished, Jesus was there alone. They did not tell anyone what they had seen.
After my experience, I can so imagine what they saw when they awoke and how Peter spoke without even knowing what he was saying. Peter was trying to prolong the amazing experience he was having by building shelters as a memorial. What he didn’t realize is that by building three equal shelters, was placing Moses and Elijah on the same level of Jesus, not worshiping Jesus exclusively, and it was time for Jesus to go to Jerusalem to be crucified and there was no room for delay in God’s plan.
And then – the cloud appeared. It is so easy to get wrapped up in all the amazing signs and wonders that we experience that we forget what they are there for. It is so easy to get caught up in the experience and not the lesson. God was wanting them to focus on the lesson and not just the experience. Jesus commanded his disciples not to tell anyone about what they experienced until after his resurrection.