And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. 2Pet.1:15-18
Peter, James, and John were allowed to accompany Jesus up to the Mount of Transfiguration where they caught a glimpse of his glory as he shone in splendor before them and Elijah and Moses appeared, also. They heard the voice of the Father instructing them to listen to Jesus and on the way down the hill, Jesus instructed them not to tell anyone about this account until He was raised from the dead, which it's clear they did not understand but they did keep it to themselves it appears.
Now, many years after the resurrection and having the Holy Spirit inside to make sense of things, he understands the resurrection and the purpose for Jesus coming, and he wants desperately for everyone to understand the gospel and the truth of his teachings especially since he won't be around much longer. That's why he is writing these things down and telling about the Mount of Transfiguration and what he saw. It wasn't a dream because two other people saw it, too. Another reason that we know it really happened, besides the fact that other people can corroborate it, was that when pressed, at risk of death, he insisted it was true and died for it.
Compare this for example to the Book of Mormon as written by Joseph Smith. He stated that he found gold tablets with ancient writing on them in a different language which was interpreted to him as he wrote the pages and handed them to 2 friends waiting outside the room. When asked if the friends also saw the tablets they answered, "yes" but when pressed later they said they saw them with the eyes of faith. Joseph Smith died for his beliefs but in a different way than Peter. He was accused in a newspaper by an article written by ex-mormons that "Smith was practicing polygamy, marrying the wives of other men, teaching a "plurality of Gods", and alleging that he intended to set himself up as a theocratic king." Smith burned down the printing press declaring martial law and was imprisoned by the state of Illinois for treason and killed by a mob in jail while awaiting trial as he tried to escape out a window shooting a gun at the mob. This is quite different than all but one of the disciples choosing martyrdom rather than denouncing what they had seen and heard from the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
We have to conclude that since all these disciples witnessed the truth and were so sure it was true that they died for it, it has to be true. They had nothing to gain by believing it other than a life of poverty, servanthood, mockery, physical abuse, imprisonment and death. Contrast that to Joseph Smith who was amassing sex, power, money and was even going to run for president.
Peter is saying, believe the truth of the gospel and never doubt it. Do you believe it?
No comments:
Post a Comment