The True Story
II Peter
1.16-18
”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. 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.’ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.”
Peter knows the temptation to write this story off as just another story. He’s been there before; he knows what it is like to turn and walk away, convincing himself that Jesus as Messiah is a myth, a fable, something that never really happened in his life. But he also knows, just as intimately, the return to the story – he knows what it means to stand face to face with the Lord and to have him ask: “Will you shepherd my sheep?” He started the idea of “rededicating” your life.
He also knows that not everyone is going to have that same experience, to be able to intimately know Christ and to hear the Father speak aloud to all mankind and to just three people on a holy mountain. So he passes it along – “It’s not just a story! It is reality, I was there and saw and heard, and I am not a liar!”
What are you going to trust? Will we believe the truth of the scriptures and adapt it to our lives? Or will we deny the power of our Lord and call God a liar, choosing to comfort ourselves with the inadequate pleasures the world serves up?
