6 Seasons of CallingSample

Called To Rest

One of the more remarkable, yet often overlooked characteristics of Jesus’ life and ministry was His apparent introversion, perhaps even shyness. Even after He burst onto the scene doing miracles and gathering massive crowds throughout Galilee, He was often trying to evade and escape the throng of the crowd. The fullness of His deity was not something He wanted to use as a lever for belief or allegiance. As Paul would explain, He took “the very nature of a servant” (Phil. 2:7). And those who would believe in Him would have to believe in Him in that form. There is, however, one remarkable exception. An episode that has come to be known simply as the transfiguration stands alone as a moment that reveals Jesus as something entirely other than human. And the reason we know about it is because three of His friends were allowed to witness it.

I find it strangely important that this revelation comes to them just after Jesus predicts His death: 0ne crushing revelation followed by an exalting one. And this revelation comes to them, in the words of Mark, “after six days” (Mark 9:2). Of course, the passing of six days is important, not just to Mark but to us. It is a full week that has passed, and it is at the end of that length of time, the same length of time with which the Father made the world, that Jesus is revealed to them as something other than a suffering servant.

“After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them” (Mark 9:2).

And so it is that after the Six Days of our lives, Jesus will take us to the place of full and final transfiguration. The secret of His identity will be fully and finally revealed, the role of faith no longer necessary, as the undeniable reality of His glorious person will be ours to behold. Whatever there is to say about life after death, this much is promised: we will behold Him. And we will know fully, even as we are fully known.

For those who love Him, whose whole life (whether we were always aware of it or not) was a yearning to be with Him, this represents the greatest possible reward. Every time we felt sad, alone, broken, torn, ashamed, or afraid, we were really waiting for this moment—to behold someone so utterly beautiful, so totally whole, that our every tear would be wiped away, once and for all. This, then, is the first connotation of the 7th Day. It is a reward for a life lived under the banner of His love and dependent on His grace. Just as the transfiguration was a kind of reward to Peter, James, and John for staying with Him in spite of an impending crucifixion, so too we will be rewarded for holding fast until the end.

So it is that the whole of our lives will have been a preparation for this one great task—to rest and reign alongside Him. To have been made worthy by His sacrifice and to see that work finally completed. It is a sumptuous hope that we hold on to, and no matter your age as you read this, no matter your stage of life or development, if you will make Him Lord, this is your wondrous future.