Luke 9:28-36 — Glimpse of Heaven

READ THIS: Luke 9:28-36

28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. 31 They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 

33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.) 34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” 36 When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

Eight days after Jesus said that some of the people standing before Him would see the Kingdom of God before they died, Peter, John, and James witnessed the transfiguration (what church people call the way Jesus changed in appearance in these verses). They got to see a glimpse of what the Kingdom of God truly would look like. People will have new bodies that reflect the glory of God, and even those we thought were long dead will be alive in Christ. 

After this amazing experience, Peter doesn't want to leave. He saw what Heaven looked like, and wanted to camp out in it. But, he didn't realize what he was saying. By saying they should stay, he was saying that that little taste of heaven just for his buddies and him was enough. He was saying the rest of the world didn't need it, and that they didn't need to move forward so that Jesus could sacrifice Himself so that we might ALL have the chance to be in Heaven for REAL. 

When we get little glimpses of Heaven, sometimes we just want to stay right there. Like when we feel that overwhelming joy on Christmas day when the family is all together, or like when we're singing a worship song full volume at a concert, or like when we're hugging someone we haven't seen in forever. We want to just stay in that moment and soak it up. But, if we stay, then that little glimpse of Heaven just stays with us. We don't get to go out into the hard moments and the hard people and show them Heaven. We don't get to hand out invites to eternity if we just stay. Jesus knew that there was more to be done, and so He didn't stay on that hill. He moved forward to actual Heaven, leaving behind the mere glimpse. 

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. What are some of your "glimpse of Heaven" moments?

2. If we can't stay in those moments, why does God give them to us?

TRY THIS:

Ask someone today about a time that he/she felt like they glimpsed heaven! (This is a great question to ask people who don't really believe in Jesus because everyone still knows what you're talking about, and it's not scary to answer!)

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