Jesus Alone

And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

 - Matthew 17

This is the last week of Epiphany. We move into Lent, next. Lent is the preparation for Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. In Lent, we look ahead to the Cross. But in Epiphany, we have been learning about the "coming out," if you will, of Christ. He launched His ministry, He made Himself known. He established Himself as the Promised One.

And so in this last reference, from the book of Matthew, we read of the Transfiguration, which I believe was the experience of Christ's Second Coming, for the eyes of Peter, John, and James. They were the ones that "would not see death," without seeing the Son of Man coming in the clouds, with Angels. (Moses and Elijah are God's servants and messengers, they count as angels.).

And Christ ordered them not to tell anybody about what they have seen, until after He would be raised from the dead. This is another topic for discussion, which we will have to do another time!

We want our denominations and sects. We create labels that define us as "good," and others as "bad." We all want to belong to something. It is natural for us to belong to loving families that accept us. Barring that, we turn to worldly systems that may include us: clubs, fraternities, political parties, churches, denominations . . . 

But Christ says, forget about all that. In the end the Three Disciples saw only Jesus. This should be our only identifier. 

Would you turn over your life for the sake of Christ? Then you are my brother and sister.