The Transfiguration
Psalm 51
"There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light."
(MATTHEW 17:2)
A church commemorating the transfiguration rests on Mount Tabor, many miles west of the Kinneret, the Hebrew name for Lake Galilee. But more scholars today believe the site of the transfiguration was on the snow-capped Mount Hermon. It was probably here, after passing by Caesarea Philippi, that Jesus led the disciples to the place where He was enveloped in a bright cloud. "There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus" (Matthew 17:2-3).
The color of the cloth was significant, for in the first century clothing could be dyed many colors, but never white. The color signifies purity, holiness, righteousness. It's the color Jesus wears in His glory and that with which we will be robed in a time to come. "For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10). Robes washed in the blood of the Lamb turn white.
INSIGHT
"A VOICE FROM [HEAVEN] SPOKE, 'THIS IS MY SON, WHOM I LOVE; WITH HIM I AM WELL PLEASED. LISTEN TO HIM!'"
(MATTHEW 17:5)
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Numbers 29-30
Psalm 76
John 18
Psalm 51[a]
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is[b] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.
18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 51:1 In Hebrew texts 51:1-19 is numbered 51:3-21.
b. Psalm 51:17 Or The sacrifices of God are
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE - LUKE 23:32-43
He sinned, repented, believed in Jesus, and received salvation. This is the story of the thief who met Jesus on the cross. But it's the same story we can all have when we have faith in Jesus Christ.
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