Peter said to Jesus,
“Master, it is good for us to be here;
let us make three dwellings,
one for you, one for Moses,
and one for Elijah”—
not knowing what he said.
Moses went up on the mountain to meet with God. He was there for forty days. And when he came down, his face glowed. Such was the glory of God.
Shortly before Jesus' crucifixion, he too went up on a mountain. Taking with him Peter, James, and John, these three disciples got a glimpse of that same glowing glory of God.
We call the event the Transfiguration. In short, Jesus' earthly "figure" was "transformed" - even momentarily - into a glimpse of his true glory.
As the disciples gazed upon this wonder - made even more spectacular by Moses and Elijah appearing in attendance beside Jesus - the disciples were overwhelmed. (Who wouldn't be?) Peter tried to say something helpful. It wasn't. Scripture says essentially that he didn't know what he was saying. (Who would?)
Look, closer at what Peter - honestly and innocently - said: "Let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." Peter was overwhelmed. He was trying to be helpful. But look at what he was saying. He wanted to contain a glimpse of heaven in a rickety little dwelling on earth.
You can't blame Peter - he was overwhelmed. You also can't blame him because God himself had once "inhabited" an earthly tent - the tabernacle in the wilderness. Further, when Jesus came to earth, John 1 tells us that God(-the-Son) "dwelt ("tabernacled") among us" in human flesh. Yes, for our benefit, the God of the immense heavens allowed himself to be "contained" in temporary "dwellings" (the tabernacle, the mortal body of Jesus) on earth. So why shouldn't Peter have suggested making three tents, right?
And yet this reveals a continual problem that we humans have. We constantly want to bring down the God of the immensities and make him human-sized. We want him to play by our rules, follow our logic, and respond in our time. And we get disappointed with God when he doesn't do things our way. Sinful beings - who constantly separate themselves from God - constantly rail against God as not being fair. (Fair would be our death. Immediately. And yet God himself gave his own life on the cross to save rebellious sinners. That is what isn't fair!)
We are like Peter whenever we - understandably and inadvertently - attempt to bring God down to our own size and make him play by our own rules. Instead, we need to look for his glory and thank the Lord that his ways are beyond our ways.
In Christ's Love,
a guy who wants to see
(and not contain) the glory
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