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...he is high above all peoples.

- From Psalm 99

As we proceed through the Old Testament, we see distinct development of the character of God. Like any good novel, we learn more about Him as we go along. At the beginning, he is walking with Adam and Eve, in the Garden. He communes with them. He laughs with them. He taught them. He shared with them. He was very familiar to them. It is the paradigm of how God wants to be with us. A literal reading of John chapter 1 would say that the Word "was returning" to God. There is a return . . . a going back to the way God longs for it to be: just walking, fellowshipping, with Him, in His garden.

He had personal connections with Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, with whom He wrestled. But as time goes on, as humans reject Him, He shows different sides to His character. He shows traits that would not make sense in a human. He becomes what He needs to be, for us to grow and prosper.

By the time of David, we read Psalms of His majesty, his immense presence. His omnipotence. His greatness. We see Him high and lifted up. We see Him upon a throne. He is King, Creator, war-maker, peacemaker.

He is Love. He is Justice. He is equality. He is excellence. He is purity and holiness.

He is superlative, in every comparison to humanity He is what He hopes we aspire to.

And at the Transfiguration of Christ . . . He displays all of that, around and among His Son. He places Moses and Elijah with Him, in conservation. The full splendor of God's greatness is shining all around Christ. And Peter, John, and James are there to see it.

Having shown our need, and then identified the One in History that will satisfy our greatest need (life and holiness), God then puts an exclamation point on it, by way of the Transfiguration.