Shine

29 Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. (Exodus 34:29)

The people of Israel had been disobedient. Again. After their miraculous escape from Egypt, Moses had gone up Mt. Sinai to talk with God. He came down 40 days later with the stone tablets on which the ten commandments had been etched. When Moses found the people worshiping a golden calf (made by his own brother, Aaron) he was so angry that he broke the tablets. Moses went back up the mountain and found God to be even angrier and planning to destroy the people and start over with Moses. Moses begged, and God relented. Again. This time when Moses came down the mountain with the law his face was bright - so bright that the people were initially afraid to come near him.

28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. (Luke 9:28-30)

After Peter declared that he believed Jesus was "God's messiah", Jesus tried to get the disciples to understand that his mission and calling would take him through a time of suffering and death. And that their decision to follow him could cost them the same. Jesus then took just three disciples with him - Peter, James, and John - up onto a mountain to pray. Though they fought sleepiness, they saw Jesus' appearance change before them, and he was then accompanied by Moses and Elijah. Jesus was the fulfillment of the law and the prophets - God's messiah, indeed. While they would continue to struggle to understand the suffering/death that Jesus would experience, their perspective on Jesus' power and majesty would never be the same.

When our lives encounter the risen Savior, we are never the same. Unfathomable peace, seeking justice with mercy and the humility to praise the Giver will shine the light of God's glory in an often dark world.

24“May the LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26)