A Real Glimpse of Jesus

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 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.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. (Matthew 17:1-8 ESV). There have been thousands of pictures painted depicting Jesus. There is one of the earlier icons called “Christ Pantocrator” that now hangs in the Monastery of St. Catherine, in Egypt. As I have seen it, it doesn’t strike me as a true glimpse into what Jesus actually looked like. Some might point us to the Shroud of Turin, but that has not been authenticated as actually Jesus’ burial cloth. It is interesting to ponder his appearance. For all practical purposes, some of history's greatest minds and creative geniuses have grappled with this question. But it's worth noting that the Scripture gives us some answers to this question. It should be noted that Jesus never became God, nor did Jesus ever cease to be God. His deity, which means His divine Lordship, the fact that He was God, was pre-human, pre-earthly, pre-Bethlehem, and pre-Mary is plainly stated. In the incarnation, in that moment when Jesus came to this earth and was born of the Virgin Mary, He didn't lay aside His deity. He was God before He was born, and He remained God after He became a man. The transfiguration was Jesus showing the disciples what he really looked like as God. Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him up onto a mountain. The disciples fell asleep (as they often did at critical times), and when they woke up, there was Jesus, standing with two great prophets. The Bible says His face shined like the sun. He was radiant. To me, it wasn't a miracle that Jesus shined like the sun during His transfiguration. I think the real miracle was that He didn't shine all of the time. You see, Jesus veiled His glory. But there, for a moment, He let people see who He really was. And He was indeed God and man. That’s the real glimpse of Jesus!