 | Dr. John Click, has been the Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church for 27 years now he is the pastor emeritus. He’s a graduate of Baylor University with a BA and Southwestern Seminary with a BD. He received his DMin at Midwestern Seminary. He has served in numerous positions in the Southern Baptist Convention, including: President of the Kansas/Nebraska Convention, Executive Committee of SBC, North American Mission Board, International Mission Board, and Houston Baptist University Board. He has traveled to preach in Europe, Central and South America and the Far East. Dr. Click is the founder and first President of Harvest Communications, which is a TV production company specializing in producing teaching materials for Para- Church organizations. You may contact him for comments or questions by e-mail at: Jcclick99@aol.com. |
Religion
2009-04-01 14:39:00
Purpose behind the Transfiguration
Question: My question deals with the Transfiguration. Most of the things I read about in the Bible or have heard our pastor discuss, I can understand why the event occurred. I cannot however understand the purpose behind the Transfiguration. As He did with our Lord’s Baptism, God the Father let us know this was His beloved Son in Whom He was well pleased, but other than that…why did this event occur?
Answer: We cannot with certainty say why things happened to Jesus since He was unique. Some happened to Him for His sake and some, at least partially, for the sake of those with Him. This may be true of the “Transfiguration”. Jesus was a human and may have needed some “human experience” with God. He was also incarnate God, the second person of the Trinity...and beyond our understanding of His needs. Was this activity for Jesus’ needs, the disciples’ needs or for the need of God-the-Father...or some combination? The Scripture gives no clear answer!
Here are some possibilities. Jesus took three disciples with Him, so there must have been some benefit for them. They saw a reality of Jesus’ being that we could not otherwise know.
They -and we- are thankful for this view of Jesus. Jesus seems to have benefited from the connection with the Old Testament Prophets. The disciples saw this connection also...they (and we) were shown His superiority over them. The purpose of God is seen! Jesus was not acting alone; He was the fulfillment of centuries of history!
How thankful I am that the disciples have shared this experience with me through the Bible.
