Year 9, Day 191: Matthew 17

Theological Commentary: Click Here

The transfiguration confirms the study from yesterday.  Human beings – even devoted followers of Christ – will always be caught between our desire to live in the predictable world of logic and science and our need to live in the unpredictable world of faith and God.  We find comfort and stability in science and logic.  We find personal fulfillment and genuine belonging in the realm of faith.

In the transfiguration, Peter James and John are confronted with a vision.  They see Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus.  Again, they have a choice to make.  Do they embrace the unknowing and follow or do they try to bring it back into the realm of understanding and science and logic?  Peter, much like he did in the last chapter, tries to bring it into the realm of understanding.  He suggests that they build tents to stay there.  He isn’t doing this because he is rebellious, he is simply trying to participate in what God is doing.  He’s doing it in an attempt to be proactive.

The problem, though, is that he is actually acting out of his lack of understanding.  Instead of waiting upon God in faith, he is trying to act and show his faith.  This is where the issue resides.  We should act out of our understanding and wait upon the Lord in our faith.  God cannot expect us to act upon our lack of understanding, so when He wants us to act He will provide understanding.  This is actually what we see Jesus do in response to Peter’s suggestion.  Jesus gives Peter more information so he can see why His suggestion was wrong.  Jesus tells Peter that this vision isn’t meant to keep them there, it was meant to help them understand the future events.

This is a deep concept with which human beings routinely struggle.  Even people of great faith who want to be in a deep and meaningful relationship with God often struggle with this.  We prefer to act than to be accused of inaction, which makes complete sense.  The problem, though, is that when we act without understanding we are likely to choose an action that is not beneficial.  Greater faith doesn’t necessarily help this issue because even with greater faith we still do not fully grasp the mind of God.

What do we do?  We learn that when we are in a position of lacking understanding, we need to wait and inquire of the Lord.  We need to see conscious waiting and calling upon the Lord as action.  Those who will be accused of inaction are not those who are actively trying to discern the will of God.

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