The Vineyard Church

I have a kitchen herb garden that I keep right outside the front porch of my house. It has become an easy access to gather fresh herbs in the winter for soups and stews on cold nights. Sage, rosemary and parsley are a few favorite winter selections that can quickly be clipped and brought into the house on the coldest of days in January and February. Though these tend to die off over the months, they rejuvenate again in spring for another round of harvesting. Our family has not been the only ones enjoying my herbs. I discovered that Monarch Butterflies go through their cycles of springtime transformation as they hide in the parsley as caterpillars. Without warning, they grow and change, then transform into a new life of golden wings gloriously dancing in the buddleia and lavender.

I have always thought of the transfiguration of Jesus as being a type of metamorphosis. When I consider the passage in Matthew 17 of Jesus leading a few of His disciples up that hill, I get excited about what He is about to show them. Jesus is ever trying to reveal another facet of His glory and majesty to those He is close to. As Jesus is transformed on that mountain, He reveals to us that He is outside of time, that He is the first and last and that the past, present and future are in His hands. In these moments, when we experience Christ in some new form, we need not be afraid like the disciples, instead we need to ask ourselves, “What needs transfigured in our lives?”

Throughout these passages in Matthew 17-18, Christ is challenging those close to Him to be transformed from unbelief to belief as He shares the story of the mustard seed. He encourages us to see with child-like wonder that we may be transformed in our thinking to grasp His kingdom. He expresses the desperate need we have to be transformed by forgiveness so that we can move in compassion as He did. In all these passages, the call for our transfiguration into His likeness is being expressed. We are challenged to understand His timeless nature and see ourselves changed to reflect His image like Moses and Elijah.

Paul understood this as he witnessed to those he stood before in prison and on trial. Paul was transfigured in His experience with Christ which established a platform for his testimony in Acts 26:16-18:

" 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

Paul underwent a metamorphosis that brought him from a place of hiddenness to a place of glorious freedom in Jesus. His transformation led him to be a witness to the things he saw and heard:

"But I have had God's help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen..." Acts 16:22.

Paul changed lives everywhere he went, whether on trial, on a sinking ship or to those who saw and were convinced of the life-changing ministry of the Lord Jesus. Paul had been transfigured.

As beauty reveals how a caterpillar is changed into a butterfly, the life-giving power of our Lord can bring lasting change to our lives. Whether we are concerned about the future, the past or our present situation, Christ says to us as He said to his disciples “Do not be afraid.” Christ is ready to transfigure our lives in radical ways that will transcend all our circumstances bringing freedom and transformation. As you reflect over these passages, ask yourself, “What needs transfigured in my life?”

Rebecca Holihan