Glimpse of Glory

“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

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 at 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 covered 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 did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen .Luke 9:27-36 NIV

"his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning." Luke 9:29.

Our Lord was modeling the uniform of glory which shall be the clothing of the mature saints in eternity, Revelation 3:4-5. These believers are designated as "winners" in Christ's messages to the Churches in Revelation 2 and 3. These believers have lived their lives with locked-in positive volition toward the plan and purpose of God.

The believer is anyone who was born again by faith in Jesus Christ

The winner believer is he who overcomes the distractions and hindrances of the Old Sin Nature to fulfill God's purpose for his life.

Volition is individual free will. Each human makes decisions regarding what he believes.

Positive means willing to learn and believe God's Word.

Locked-in: Stable. Confidently certain of God's grace. Always grateful and receptive to God's perfect plan. Loves Jesus Christ and His perfect work.

The winner believer has unshakable faith in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ


The "some standing here" turned out to be Peter, James and John. They seem to have been Jesus' inner circle of disciples. They would be with Him later as He agonized in the garden (Mark 14:32-34). Wow. This was a momentous occasion. As Jesus prayed, they saw that He had been transfigured into His glorious state. Moses was there with Him, and Elijah. These two men were known to have been taken to heaven by special acts of God. Moses had died in Moab, alone with God, who we are told buried him there (Deuteronomy 34:5-6) and his body has never been found. Elijah was taken away in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11-12). These two are also prominently involved in the prophesies of the 2nd advent of Jesus Christ (Revelation 11:3-6). They were also in glorified splendor, and discussing with Him His coming "departure" which would occur at Jerusalem.

Jesus came into humanity knowing what awaited Him here. He steadfastly fulfilled the Father's plan for redemption of the human race, which had been corrupted by the disobedience of our progenitor, Adam. Jesus wasn't in this alone, but He was the only one who could execute the final plan. Peter, James and John were chosen to witness this conference, for reasons known only to our Lord, and perhaps Moses and Elijah.

Peter's reaction: "Let's stay here! We'll pitch tents for the three of you and just bask in this glory!" Luke points out that Peter had no clue. It was his natural exuberance speaking. After all, he had just awakened and this was what he saw. God the Father intervened and put a stop to the nonsense. "This is My Son. My Chosen One. YOU listen to HIM." And then Jesus was alone with them.

We want to cling to our moments of glory. It feels SO good! But that is not our mission. The glory will come, but we first must live out our assignment here, in these corrupted bodies, with the Holy Spirit indwelling. As with the apostles earlier on in this chapter, we each have an assigned territory to serve in our present form among others of our same nature. We have a message to proclaim, and if they won't receive it from us, it just won't be received. That is God's chosen means of evangelism: human to human, as we live day by day in the earth and serve our purpose in the angelic conflict.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves..(2 Corinthians 4:7).

Oh, and guys? Nobody is gonna believe what we just saw, so it's best we not even speak of it. Let's just keep it to ourselves.