Luke 9:32-33 (ESV)
[32] Now Peter and those who were
with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his
glory and the two men who stood with him. [33] And as the men were parting from
him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make
three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”— not knowing
what he said.
Peter had just seen Jesus talking
with Moses and Elijah who “appeared in glory.” As they are leaving Peter
decides they should stay and so suggests building shelters for them. They had
been talking to Jesus about his departure, his exodus. Peter was only thinking
about how to keep them there. Luke graciously notes that Peter didn’t know what
he was saying.
Maybe it’s just the first thing
that popped into his head. We don’t really know, but his words reflect our own
thoughts often. We experience God in a deep manner and we either don’t want to
leave, or we expect that if we can only recreate the setting, then we will have
the same experience again. But Peter, James, and John only had this experience
once, and to be honest they slept through most of it.
God rarely works the same way
twice. He is incredibly creative. When we experience God, it is not about us.
As soon as we go about trying to regain an experience, we make it about us and
not about God. Maybe Peter was only trying to practice hospitality. May he just
wanted to hang out with Moses and Elijah. Who wouldn’t have a few questions for
those guys? Maybe, in light of Jesus earlier words that some there would see
the Kingdom, Peter assumed that Kingdom had arrived. In suggesting that they
build shelters, he may have been thinking of the Feast of Booths which
Zechariah 14 connects with the coming Kingdom. Whatever Peter was thinking, it was
not what God had planned. Fog rolled in, a voice spoke from Heaven, and they
were gone. Everything was back to normal.
But that is where we are called
to live, in the normal. We don’t live on a mountaintop with Moses and Elijah. We
don’t live with glory and light and voices from heaven. Those times when we
experience a special closeness to God are not designed to be where we live all
the time. Those glimpses of the Kingdom remind us of what is yet to come and should
encourage us to remain faithful in the normal.
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