Luke 9:28-36
Your Story
Talk about how Jesus transformed your life. Did you have a big change when you accepted Jesus, or was it more gradual?
My Story and the Bible Story
I became a Christian when I was seven years old. For as long as I can remember, church has been an important part of my life. I loved going to church as a kid and I loved Jesus (and I still do!). In fact, my mother has a Christmas card I wrote in Sunday school when I was six or seven that says, “Don’t forget about Jesus!” For me, salvation wasn’t a major change. I had loved Jesus for as long as I could remember, so asking Jesus to be my friend forever and being baptized felt natural to me. Not much changed in my life after I became a Christian. But as I grew up, I started to look at things differently. I slowly started to see the parts of my life that needed to change to be more like Jesus. God started showing me the things that needed to be transformed, that needed to be changed. But still, my walk with Christ has been all about gradual changes. There hasn’t been a giant transformation, and that’s okay. I find myself more like the disciples at the Transfiguration than like Jesus.
Read Luke 9:28-43a. From the NIV: About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John, and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ (He did not know what he was saying.) While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.’ When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen.
Every time someone in the Bible comes face to face with God, they are changed. For Moses, being on top of Mount Sinai and talking to God to get the Ten Commandments meant that his face was radiant and the people were afraid (Exodus 34:29-35). When Jesus talked to God in Luke, we read that his appearance was changed as well. And Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus in glorious splendor. Can you imagine this scene? Jesus’ clothes were as bright as a flash of lightning. And there stood Moses and Elijah, radiant. What once had been an ordinary day had been transformed into extraordinary! And the disciples knew that God had done something amazing. And they wanted to stay there, to build shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, and to stay there in the midst of the presence of God. But the mystery of the presence of God is this: it’s not just in one place. God is everywhere. God is always with us. And God wants us to take God’s presence to others. Moses came down the mountain to share God’s presence with the Israelites. Instead of staying in the presence of God, Moses came down to share the Ten Commandments. Jesus, too, didn’t want the disciples to stay where they were. Everything had been transformed, but they were still called to share God’s presence with others. Later on in the story, when Jesus and the disciples come down the mountain, a man begs Jesus to heal his son. Jesus’ mission continued. He couldn’t just stay up on the mountain.
We may not have been transformed in the same way Jesus was, but our mission is similar. God has called us to share God’s love with others. And the only way to do that is to leave the mountaintop. It is great to spend time worshipping God. We need to spend time with God so that God can slowly transform us to be more like Jesus. But at the same time, we can’t just stay in God’s presence. God has called us to help others. God continues to work to transform us when we are helping others. And when we help others, we can help God transform our world.
Discussion and Prayer
- Talk about how God has changed your life.
- Ask your children to talk about how God is changing them. Encourage them by sharing ways you see God changing their lives.
- What are some ways that your family can help others and participate in God’s work to transform our world?
Thank God for transformations, big and small. Ask for courage in working to help transform the world.
Jessica Asbell is currently serving as the Minister to Children at First Baptist Church of Roswell, GA. She has worked with children in various capacities at several churches, including Winter Park Baptist in Wilmington, NC, First Baptist of Decatur, GA, and Highland Hills Baptist in Macon, GA. She has a Master of Divinity from McAfee School of Theology and a BBA from Mercer University. In her spare time she loves to read, watch movies, and of course spend time with her sweet kitty, Lucy.
