Background

Luke chapter 9 verses 18 to 36 - And it happened that while he was praying alone, the disciples were with him, and he questioned them, saying, "Who do the people say that I am?" They answered and said, "John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again." And he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God." But he warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day." And he was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the Kingdom of God."

About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendour, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfilment at Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.) While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

The transfiguration was a significant event in the ministry of Jesus. It marked the completion of one phase and the start of the next. The primary focus switched from ‘preaching the Kingdom of God’ (Luke chapter 4 verse 43) to his death, resurrection and ascension (chapter 9 verse 22). The transfiguration is the main preparation for this new phase.

At this time there is mention of all the main events to come - Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, his second coming (verses 26,31) and the revealing of the Kingdom of God (verse 27). However the timing of these events raises queries. Even the ones that are now in history raise queries. If Jesus prioritised going to Jerusalem (verse 51), why did it take years for what could have been a five day walk?

For an event to occur a trigger seems to be required. Something needs to be completed, accomplished before the next event can occur. For the transfiguration event it appeared to require the response spoken by Peter from his heart to the question ‘Who do you say that I am?’(verse 20). Peter knew who Jesus was, Jesus had come and revealed himself and this confirmed a successful part of his mission, that he had been recognised by humanity. All humanity will ultimately recognise and acknowledge who Jesus is, Peter got there first (Romans chapter 14 verse 11; Philippians chapter 2 verses 8 to 11).

We are looking at topics that stretch our understanding, where even time seems to have flexibility (2 Peter chapter 3 verse 8). There also seems to be a requirement for a foretaste of what is to come.

When we look back with hindsight it is clear that Jesus’ death occurred at exactly the time that fulfilled all the predictions. Every prophecy focussed in on that time and place. For example, this was the time of the feast celebrating Passover, the day the people were released from slavery in Egypt, the meal where a lamb without blemish was killed (Exodus chapter 12; Luke chapter 22), the blood saving the participants (1 Peter chapter 1 verses 16 to 19). Many books have been written about this. Unwittingly, many characters assisted in the process. Similarly the time between Jesus’ death and resurrection was widely prophesied (Matthew chapter 12 verses 38 to 40). Also he knew that he only had 40 days from his resurrection to his ascension (Acts chapter 1 verse 3).

The event that obviously has exercised most minds is Jesus’ second coming. There are a number of clues but some seem to be obscure or conflicting (John 21 verses 22,23). There are warnings that people will think that it has happened. However, the bible states that when it does happen there will be no doubt.

There is another event in the Jews history that can get confused with the second coming of Jesus. There was an event that effectively brought an end to the Jewish nation as it was known at the time of Jesus. He makes a number of references to this time which was a rebellion against the Roman occupation that was strongly crushed, put down ruthlessly in about 70 AD. A time when many of those present were still alive (example Luke chapter 21 verses 5 to 24). Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in addition to many deaths. The advice from Jesus was to spot the signs and to flee before it occurred (verse 21).

This gets confused with the second coming. Jesus is talking about the two separate future events in the passage Luke recorded in chapter 21. The first was the judgment on the nation for the rejection of Jesus and his message of salvation and Kingdom of God. That generation was to be judged for bringing about his death.

The passage then mentions the second coming (verses 25 to 28). There are signs that indicate that it is near. Although it is not helpful to look for a predicted date (Acts chapter 1 verse 7), for people not looking for these signs it will appear suddenly (1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 1 to 4). For those who are watching, as it nears there will be indications, then it will be expected (verses 5 to 11).

There are passages that state that the exact timing is not known which points to there being a trigger, requirements that firstly need to be fulfilled. However, despite not knowing the exact time, there are evidently signs that can be seen by those looking that indicate that it is near. Therefore it is these signs and pre-requirements that need to be the focus.

It seems that the pre-requirements can be met within a generation. The way Jesus spoke it was clear that this was a possibility (Luke chapter 21 verse 32). There is therefore a challenge to this generation to be the one to complete the requirements. The people of Israel could have travelled with Moses through the wilderness from Egypt to their destination in about 40 days but it took them 40 years because they did not listen to, or do, as God wished. He was trying to teach them to become a type of society that would been seen as an example to others. This obedience would have been the trigger to enter the promised land. Barring a few individuals, a whole generation missed out.

There are a number of aspects that seem to require some significance on a global scale. The Genesis requirement of filling the earth with humanity is one that seems to have been adequately fulfilled (Genesis chapter 1 verse 28)! The commission Jesus gave to the disciples of making disciples had global intentions (Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 to 20).

The commission given to Jesus’ disciples before his ascension requires the gospel of his salvation offer to be taken across the globe. Some people take this to mean every person. For example, there are efforts to translate the bible into every language. Laudable but probably not the trigger. This literal type of interpretation has lots of holes in it. A purely manual or mechanical solution is very unlikely to be the answer. It requires a solution that is about Spirit not human effort. However, there does need to be a clear global impact.

The most compelling has to do with overcoming and the many people who together overcome in such a way that it is clear and obvious around the world (examples Revelation chapters 5 and 11).

God has to be true to Himself, let alone His many accusers. To save humanity from His own judgment he needed it to overcome all it’s flaws and weaknesses. Jesus did this. And through his death and resurrection we can also live like him. It is termed righteousness by John in his letters (1 John chapter 2 verses 28,29). We can be overcomers of whatever is thrown at us by being ‘in Jesus’, living and walking by the Holy Spirit. When the overcomers are united together in one expression of a new humanity and how it should live, they will have proved that Jesus has completed his mission. John writing in the book of Revelation shows that this is the trigger for the second coming. There are still lots of ‘how’s?’ and ‘what will happen’s?’ but it is important not to manufacture something artificially. This will need to be revealed through hearing, and responding to, the Holy Spirit who will bring it about.

At the same time, there is also a clear expression of humanity going its own destructive way, termed as lawlessness by Paul in his letters (2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 3,8,9). Humanity that destroys itself. It is easy to spot the negative signs but our focus needs to be on the positive ones, the overcomers expressing the Kingdom of God, new humanity.

In summary, the success of Jesus’ mission is to be seen globally through redeemed people jointly expressing what new humanity is to be like, people hearing, and walking by, the Spirit, willingly responding to the Lordship of Jesus and overcoming any obstacles, in contrast to a lawless expression of humanity leading to destruction. This can happen within a generation. We are able to hasten it (2 Peter chapter 3 verses 8 to 12).

There was a call of expectation in the early church worship of ‘maranatha’ that means ‘Lord come’ (1 Corinthians chapter 16 verse 22) echoed by John in the last words of the bible (Revelation chapter 22 verse 20).