Pastor Leighton continues teaching us from the gospel of Mark this morning, preaching on the transfiguration of Christ in Mark 9:
“He is changed in body, transfigured. And this is the english equivalent of the original greek word metamorphao, where we get the word metamorphosis…In that moment Jesus is recognizably himself, and yet totally altered. The shroud of reality is temporarily lifted and Peter, James and John see Jesus as he truly is. I think it’s really important we understand that Jesus didn’t just suddenly start glowing all bright, but that the radiance, the blinding white brilliance, the beaming bodily intensity that is so bright that it actually makes his clothing luminescent, is his natural state. He is light! Because he is himself all consuming light. What they are seeing is his natural state, so what they see the rest of the time is a glory hidden, only his human nature is visible…The rest of the time Jesus is shrouded, his glory covered, radiance veiled, just as Moses had to be veiled after he had met with the Lord.”