DAILY DEVOTIONAL FROM PASTOR WESLEY January 19, 2024
Seeing the Kingdom
Truly understanding that Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords changes everything.
“Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Matthew 16:28; Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. Matthew 17:1-2
Jesus’ words in today’s passage sound too good to believe. He said the kingdom of heaven was at hand and promised that “some of those who are standing here” would see it. But the next day—and the five after that—were just normal days in the same dark world.
On the sixth day, however, Peter, James, and John were with Jesus for what we now call the Transfiguration. And what an amazing thing they witnessed! As their Master’s appearance changed, they saw His face shining “like the sun” and His clothes a luminous white.
The next day the three disciples awoke as usual in the world they had always known—but they were different. They had seen the promised kingdom. And they carried that hopeful memory for the rest of their days, living in the light of the kingdom Jesus had revealed.
In his epistles, Peter wrote about that hope in the King and His coming kingdom. He said that he, James, and John were “eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16). He believed what he saw and trusted that Jesus’ promises were “a lamp shining in a dark place” (2 Peter 1:19).
The Transfiguration offers us the same hope today. Since the King’s majesty has been revealed to us as well, we can endure our dark places by living in the light of the coming kingdom.
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