Obviously, knowledge is very important to Peter. If you will remember, in verses 2 and 3, he said "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." True Christian faith does not flourish on ignorance, but knowledge of Him who called us.
In chapter 2, Peter describes these false teachers in very vivid and I must say, unforgettable terms. He calls them exactly what they are. He wants all of his readers, and all of us, to recognize false teachers when they see them. However, its not enough to know who they are, you have to be able to defend yourself against what they say. Peter is building this epistle on three lines of defense. and they're all centered around knowledge. This is why knowledge plays such a crucial role for Peter.The first is, knowledge of your salvation. Second is knowledge of Scripture. And third, is the knowledge of sanctification.
We'll get into to that more a little later, when we come to chapters 2 and 3. But, just allow me to boldly say, if you don't realize that you have you have in your hands a sure word, and go to that word as your line of defense, you are extremely vulnerable. Your defense is set when you know your salvation, you know your Scripture and you know your sanctification. Today, we're looking at the element of Scripture.
You have to believe the Bible is a sure and true word, because how can a person who doesn't believe the Scripture is the inerrant Word of God, defend himself against error? What chance does he have to defend himself? In verses 12 through 15, Peter already indicated his concern for truth, and, he discussed his zeal to remind them of the truth, so that they would never forget. Peter is very passionate that his people would know the truth.
Peter is saying, we not giving you some cleverly concocted myth, when we gave you God's Word, we gave you new revelation. It's very likely that these false teachers were attacking his teaching on the coming of Christ. This is pretty typical of false teachers. The denial of the Second Coming obviously concerned him.
In chapter 3, verses 3 and 4, he says "Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."
Nothing has changed, its the same today, those who say its been over 2000 years, and Jesus has never come, and so He never will.
At the end of verse 16, he says "We were eyewitnesses of His majesty." By the way, he uses "we" again, he's embracing the other Apostles. Because, to some degree, all of the Apostles had been eyewitnesses of His majesty. They had all witnessed His life, they witnessed His death, and, they all witnessed His resurrection. Because if they hadn't, they couldn't be an apostle. Eleven of them had been there on the mount when He ascended. So, to some degree, they had all witnessed His majesty. Peter's implication here, is that the false teachers make claims but they weren't eyewitnesses. The burden of proof is not on the eyewitnesses, the burden of proof is upon those who weren't eye witnesses, who seek to discredit them.
In verses 17 and 18, he says "For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased"— and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain." And then the Father added what Peter didn't record, "Listen to Him."
Peter is saying that we were the highest level disciples to experience fellowship with the glorified Christ in the majesty that attends His Second Coming. It was at that time, when He received honor and glory from God the Father. Honor means exalted status, glory means radiant splendor. God was there and gave glory and honor to Jesus. One identifies Him in His person, the other, identifies Him in the effulgence of His person. Effulgence, by the way, is brightness taken to the extreme.
That term "majestic glory," is used in the Septuagint, it was a substitute name for God. Jews refused to say the name of God, you remember that. They actually had many substitute names for God, one of the most beautiful, is The Majestic Glory. By verbally speaking, the Father gave honor and glory to the Son. A voice from the majestic glory Himself, God said "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased" As a footnote, that statement basically means "This is One in essence with Me." In other words, the Father is affirming the deity of the Son. It speaks of His divine essence.
And then he says we were there, we were there when it happened "and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven." We were with Him in the holy mount. By the way, that mountain wasn't holy before this event but it certainly was holy afterwards, wasn't it? We know this event as the transfiguration.
The revelation of the majesty of Christ fills Peter's mind with
awe, and he wants more than anything to share the hope of that vision
with all of us.
Turn with me to Matthew 17, "Six days later Jesus *took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and *led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
Mark 9:3 says "And His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them."
"Peter said to Jesus,
"Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three
tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." Peter was saying let's make this permanent. This has got to be kingdom glory, let's put this all together. We'll all live here. Tabernacle by the way, means dwelling place.
Jesus said some of you are going to live to see Me in My glory. And just six days later, they did. By the way, this does not contradict Luke's account. Luke included the day on each end and Matthew recorded only the intervening days, its just two different ways of looking at the same thing.
Peter and James and John, were the most well-known of the disciples, they were the most intimate with Jesus. They were also the most verbal among the twelve. And, you only need three witnesses to confirm something. These three were reliable witnesses. They were those most respected, they were the ones who were the leaders, so they could best articulate what took place. Peter was a great verbalizer, in fact, you couldn't shut him up. John was a great verbalizer, three epistles and the book of Revelation. And James, he became the leader of the church.
Luke 9, says they all went up to the mountain, and typically, they fell asleep. Jesus was transfigured before them. In other words, they woke up when the action started. He was changed into another form right in front of them. The description is that "His face shone like the sun." The Shekinah was blazing from His face. Shekinah is the glory of the divine presence. All of the Apostles witnessed the glory and power of the Lord Jesus, the glory that we too shall see.
Then, there are Moses and Elijah who showed up and they were talking with the Lord. Luke 9:31, says they were having a conversation with Jesus about His departure. They represented the law and the prophets, Moses the great lawgiver, Elijah the great proclaimer of the truth of the law.
Matthew 17:6-8 records that "When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid." And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone."
Peter, James and John saw Christ in glory and splendor, they saw Moses in glory representing the law, Moses affirmed Christ, they saw Elijah in glory representing the prophets, Elijah affirmed Christ. But even greater than that, God Himself affirmed Christ.
They saw an unbelievable kingdom preview. There even was the multitude down below, like the nations will be at His feet in the kingdom. This was an event that was forever etched into their memories.
In Closing..
Scripture is as a light and the Holy Spirit illuminates Scripture for us to guide us as we seek truth and live. God’s Word will continually shine forth, as the light that illuminates the darkness. The Bible is not merely the thoughts from the mind of its writers. Scripture did not originate in the mind of men, it was given to us by God Himself. The Holy Spirit is the author and He must illuminate and guide the minds of men, recorded on the pages so that the Word of God could bring life and light into the world. These words have brought and will continue to bring life and light into every age, until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
May it be so..
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen