Having successfully concluded his retreat, Jesus officially begins his mission. As soon as he came down from the wilderness, and with the withdrawal of John the Baptizer, Jesus moved to Galilee where he began his mission with the following words “the time is completed, and the kingdom of God has come, repent and believe the Gospel.” In the Gospel according to Matthew (4:12–13.17), we also read that immediately he returned from the wilderness, and as soon as John the Baptizer was arrested, Jesus returned to Galilee, went to Nazareth, then, moved to Capernaum, beside the lake, in the region of Zebulum and Nephtali, and there proclaimed the Gospel saying: “repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is the summary of how Jesus began his proclamation of the message of salvation. And all his teachings and actions revolve around this kingdom which has drawn near. The kingdom of God (or kingdom of heaven according to the Jewish expression), is a reference to the sovereign activity of God as the ruler of his creation and as One who brings his plan of salvation to fulfilment. Immediately after his preparations in the wilderness, and after the inauguration of his mission with the invitation to repentance, Jesus began teaching the people.
And he metamorphosed before them…
“And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them” (Mark 9:2–3). “And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light” (Matt 17:2). This is how Mark and Matthew described Jesus’ new look on getting to the mountain. Luke has a different presentation (cf. Luke 9:29). Jesus took Peter, James and John with him, but only he was transformed. This is interesting. The three disciples were not transfigured because they were there only as witnesses. The Greek verb stilbō used by Mark means extremely bright, hence, be radiant, shine, dazzle. Matthew uses a different verb (lampō) which, besides meaning to shine, be bright, has also a metaphorical significance, referring to the spiritual light from God, showing things exactly the way they are (cf. also Matt 5:16; 2Cor 4:6b). In this sense then, the shekinah of God radiated in Jesus before the three apostles. As a dazzling and radiant light is so bright that.…..
Conclusion
Jesus has taken over from Moses and Elijah. He is now in-charge even of my life, your life and the life of every person. Definitely, he is doing all things well. He is not like many of our politicians and religious leaders, who buy their way to the offices just to work for their selfish interests. At this point, the Nigerian current situation comes to mind. Presently, politics and politicking are on their highest echelon in many countries, including Nigeria. Politicians are using every means (especially money) to convince every Nigerian that he or she is the only rightful candidate for the various offices. During campaigns, politicians become vultures, in the sense that they are always everywhere trying to win the people over. But after the elections, Nigerians will become vultures in the literal sense. Change can never be witnessed in a country where a good percentage of the masses conceive the campaign period as a moment and as an opportunity to grab some amount of money or other gifts from the politicians. The situation is not even better within the religious realm. Christians are ready to do anything to occupy one office or the other in their various churches. Even the ordained class are not exception to this menace. Most of them are involved in more dangerous and deadly politics than politicians themselves.
FOR DETAILS, GET YOUR OWN COPIES OF THE BOOK “THE WORD OF LIFE: SUNDAY REFLECTIONS” (vols. I and II)!! The reflection for the Second Sunday of Lent (B) is found in vol. II pages 122–130. Happy reading!
For details on how to get it, contact the author on this link: https://m.me/uchennabiblia?fbclid=IwAR2yeg4a6sDGBp9QGkIvKj6FSADumMokN6lshdE0zuo-JHs6qOmlhA7jyHo or email me at: postmaster@uchennabiblia.com or simply send an SMS on 08116100926, and I will get back to you.