Sensory overload

Charla Dixon

Central Truth

We’ve got to grasp Jesus in both His glory and His suffering to know who He really is. Our need to shelter a moment will break when we see our tent is too small, and He’s up to something bigger.

Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he 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!" (Matthew17:4-5)

The Transfiguration

1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 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.” 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son,^{1

17:5
Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved} with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

9 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” 10 And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 11 He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

Footnotes

[1] 17:5 Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved

Christ was going to suffer and die. This truth countered all Peter had known and was willing to face. As God turned up the decibels in proclaiming Jesus as the glorious Messiah, He simultaneously cranked up the volume of Christ’s coming suffering. Glory has two sides. Peter and the others were railing against that reality.

During a recent visit to Costa Rica, I was pretty confident I knew what a volcano looked like. I’d been to science class and seen TV pictures and movies. It’s a big black mound with red lava flowing down, right? Our hike that day ended at a ledge in thick fog. Here was the moment. I thought, “That’s it?” Then seconds later, the fog receded, and my jaw dropped. I wasn’t looking up at a volcano, but into the belly of one. Luckily, it wasn’t active in all its glory, or it would have swallowed us whole. The sheer magnitude of its cavernous center and acid lake shattered every preconception I had. It humbled me.

What Peter, James, and John experienced trumped what I saw. They weren’t just looking up at Jesus of Nazareth, they were seeing the glory of the living God. God sent His law through Moses, His plea for man’s repentance through prophets, and now His rescue through Jesus alone. All history has one aim--to point to Christ. Jesus is the focus. Luke adds the detail that the conversation among Moses, Elijah, and Jesus centered around Jesus’ death and resurrection.

When Moses and Elijah were leaving, Peter rushed to prolong the moment. But the Father interrupted him. Peter wanted to shelter something rather than to listen and let his plans be wrecked. God was up to something that couldn‘t fit inside a tent.

We’re no different. We’ll take history and let it stand in separate pieces and yet miss the one thing God’s trying to communicate. The Transfiguration was emotional and spiritual sensory overload. But at the end, what remained was Jesus. We can't avoid Christ's glory and the cross's reality because they don’t fit in our tent. Our tent's too small.

1. What‘s your response when God seems different than how you‘ve known Him before? Do you allow Him to shift your understanding, or do continue to stay loyal to your own way of thinking?

2. When was the last time you saw God break your limited understanding to show you the deeper truth of who He is?

3. What seemed good to Peter was not good to God. What Peter thought would bring God glory would not bring glory because it missed the Father‘s will. Where is it hard for you to listen to God and see His glory both on the mountain and in suffering?

4. Where is your view of God too small? Where are you trying to build tents?

FAMILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Read verse 5. Whose voice came from the cloud? What did He say about Jesus?

2. We are called to listen to Jesus, where do you learn about what He said?

3. Talk about other things that you know that Jesus said and why they are important.