You Need Jesus' Transfiguration

Matthew 26:36-37 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
 
HERE is Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, about to be arrested. Notice who he takes with him - Peter and the two sons of Zebedee - James and John . Yes, these three especially chosen disciples would go to pray that the Father might show them his glory and that he would come in power to deliver them from the evil one. 
   Together, Jesus, Peter, James and John had also met the Father on the Mount of Transfiguration: “After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.” (Mark 9:2-3) Jesus entered fully into the Father’s presence at that moment. The three disciples saw and worshiped their Lord. They didn’t want to leave: Mark 9:5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
   But on that day in the Garden, it was time for Jesus to enter into the Father’s presence through a different kind of transfiguration – a most profound demonstration of God’s glory. He would endure the agony of the cross and the sorrow of death. The disciples saw and turned away. Peter and James did not want to stay with Jesus. They left the Garden in fear and despair. Only John watched Jesus die at Golgotha.
   But then came the transfiguration! Jesus’ dead body rose from the grave into his resurrected glory. Through Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension all of Jesus’ true disciples would fully see God’s glory on that magnificent day.
   Jesus knows you need to see the sorrow of sin’s penalty. He knows you need to see the glory of his resurrection. “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” (Matthew 28:6-7)
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