Elijah is a hero of the faith. When we think of people of faith and obedience to God, he would be near the top of anyone’s list. He is one of only two people to appear with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.
Interestingly, though, he isn’t listed n the “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11. I don’t know why Elijah isn’t mentioned in Hebrews 11, but (perhaps) we should not be as enamored of Elijah as we might want to be. I say that with due respect to Elijah, an unquestioningly bold man of great faith.
On the Mount of Transfiguration, God the Father exalts Jesus the Son of God in the presence of Elijah and Moses. When the Father declares, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him,” the Father echoes the words of Moses to Israel: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You shall listen to him.” (Matthew 17:5; Deut. 18:15)
Then, Elijah and Moses disappear. Only Jesus remains.
Elijah and Moses are the champions of the old covenant. Jesus came to announce a new covenant, a better one, a covenant that dates back before Moses to Abraham, when God counted his faith as righteousness. The disappearance of Elijah and Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration is not just symbolic; Jesus introduced a new covenant, a new way of relating to God, and a new purpose for the people of God.
People have always loved power and spectacular displays of power, but we do not see God most accurately portrayed in Elijah or even Moses. Only Jesus is the exact representation of God (Hebrews 1:3), and Jesus reveals God in a way that is much more nuanced and strikingly different then the way we see God through Elijah or Moses.
Not that God is any different of course. God does not change. It’s just that our perspective of God changes when he sheds his glory and becomes man in the form of Jesus. In the stripped-down version of God in human form, we see the character of God as it is displayed on our level.
In this context I want to look again at the story of Elijah and the lesson God sought to teach him on Mount Sinai – a lesson that did not resonate with him, but which is told for our benefit. It is a lesson we should grasp as we seek to follow Jesus as he walked and as he told us to follow him.
I apologize upfront for the length of this blog post, but there is so much in the text that I want to pull out and examine. I don’t think I could do it justice in a shorter blog post. To be honest, I think a whole book could be written about this.
Continue reading “Lessons from Elijah”
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