By Sidharth Mohandas
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. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone. [Matthew 17:1-8, NASB]
As I was meditating on this passage the Lord revealed to me something that really amazed me and caused me to be in awe of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus picks Peter, James and John and takes them to a high mountain and there He transfigures before them. Moses and Elijah also appear with the Lord. At this point Peter gets all excited about the meeting and proposes to build tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. But even while Peter was talking, we see God interrupting him and saying “This is My beloved Son, with Whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”. The disciples fall face down to the ground terrified. But here’s the place of revelation: when the disciples lift their eyes and look up, “they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone”. “Jesus Himself alone”…I believe the Holy Spirit inspired the writer to add that emphasis to reveal to us something very valuable.
Ever since the fall of man, my friends, there is one thing that Holy Spirit has been determined to do: to promote Jesus, to advertise Him, to glorify Him and Him alone. The Spirit has only one message and it is JESUS. He used Moses to get that message out, He used Elijah to get that message out, but the message was Jesus all through out from Genesis to Revelation.
The Spirit’s ministry is our model. The Holy Spirit never points to Himself, He will bring glory to Jesus (John 16:14). It’s easy to fall into that trap where we start exhibiting our ministry and our gifts; where we are tempted to glorify someone else who is being used by the Lord in a mighty way. But mark my words: if a person is taking all the attention to himself, it doesn’t matter how powerful his giftings are or how famous his name is, he is indeed working against the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Lord says, “My glory I will not give to another” (Isaiah 48:11). Let’s examine our ministries today and re-align them to the ministry of the Spirit.
Again may these words echo in your spirit: “…Jesus Himself ALONE”
Great reminder Sidharth. I have fallen into this trap before. It is so easy. As humans and perhaps even more for us guys – the visual is king. We believe in what we can see. We promote the “concrete” thing in our lives. The car, the house, the person, the friend, the minister, the pastor. We promote and elevate the people and the things that impress us visually and emotionally, all too easily forgetting that which we can not see in the flesh but is eternal. I don’t know if I am making an sense here, but it is so important to look to Christ, his life, his actions, his words AND let the rest dim and even disappear from our focus.
CHRIST ALONE!
peace & grace,
brad