EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/07/2025 7:40 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-5 “Peter’s Eyewitness Experience”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Peter 1:16-18
Message of the verses: “16 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased" —18 and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.”
I continue looking at these very important verses from the second letter that the Apostle Peter wrote, and hope to finish this section this evening.
John MacArthur explains “At that extraordinary event God the Father, also called the Majestic Glory (a beautiful substitute name for God; cf. Deut. 33:26, LXX), gave an extremely significant utterance (audible announcement) to Christ. The Father’s utterance was ‘This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased.’ Which could refer to one of the two different occasions—the Lord’s baptism or His transfiguration (Matt. 2:17; 17:5). The apostle’s further description of the episode precisely identifies it as the Transfiguration since the utterance was made from heaven when we were with Him on the Holy Mountain. The mountain was most likely Mount Hermon, the highest mountain near Caesarea Philippi (cf. Mark 8:27), where Peter, James, and John saw the cloud of divine glory surround them and Jesus and heard the voice of God (Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35).” I suppose that when one thinks about this occasion and also the occasion of Jesus’ baptism, where the Father spoke at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry are like bookends as the Father spoke at the beginning and the end. However perhaps there is not enough emphasis when it comes to readers of the Bible to think about these two events.
“The announcement ‘This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased’ is the Father’s affirmation that the Son is both of identical nature and essence with Him (cf. John 5:17-20; Rom. 1:1-4; Gal. 1:3; Col. 1:3; 2:9) and that He is perfectly righteous (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 7:26). Thus in one concise statement God declared a relationship of both divine nature and divine love with Christ—the perfect bond of love and holiness within the Godhead—and His complete satisfaction with everything Jesus said and did. By clear implication, the Father’s pronouncement also confirmed Christ’s right to come again, at the ordained time, and receive His own and possess the kingdom that is rightfully His. As Revelation 5:9-12 says:
9 And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth." 11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." 13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever."
“There is no reason for Peter’s audience then or now to believe false teachers who deny the glorious future return of Jesus Christ. Whereas those heretics were not present on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter was an eyewitness to the second coming majesty. He, James, and John saw Moses and Elijah affirm Christ (Luke 9:30-32), and above all, the apostles heard God Himself honor His Son.”
John MacArthur’s commentary on Matthew has in it (17:1-13) a complete commentary in the transfiguration.
11/7/2025 8:03 PM
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