Three Years in 30 Days: Jesus' Life and MissionSample

Jesus is God’s beloved Son

“A voice from the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.’” (Matthew 17:5 ESV)

There are approximately three years between the beginning of Jesus' ministry and today's Bible passage. Years in which Jesus taught, performed miracles, and called people to believe in Him as the Son of God. Shortly before the event we read about today, Jesus told His disciples which path He would have to take; a path of suffering and death (Matthew 16:21). The disciples found this difficult to accept. Surely suffering and death did not belong to Jesus as the Savior?

A few days later, Jesus took three of His disciples up a mountain. Before the eyes of the disciples, the heavenly glory that Jesus had as the Son of God came upon Him. The disciples saw Jesus in the company of Moses and Elijah. These two spiritual leaders had been very important in the history of Israel. The glory of God that Jesus showed here demonstrated that Jesus was greater than the greatest leaders of Israel. Once again, God's voice confirmed who Jesus is. (Matthew 17:5 and Matthew 3:17)

This event was important because Jesus' disciples were not to doubt Jesus when they themselves had different expectations of Him. Jesus would fulfill the eternal plan of salvation in God's way.

Read Matthew 17:5 again and think about it for a few minutes.

• What expectations did you or do you have of Jesus?