"But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise and have no fear." And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only." - Matthew 17:7-8 [ESV]
What a night Peter, James, and John have experienced. They saw Jesus' face shining like the sun while he stood and chatted with Moses and Elijah. Then, a cloud descended and the Father spoke to them from the cloud. Their response to all of this: "When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified." TERRIFIED!!! What a crazy evening!
So, Jesus does what he knows he needs to do in this moment: he goes to the disciples and tells them to not be afraid. Isn't that amazing? We do not worship a God who lets us freak out just so we'll freak out. He is quick to come and reassure us at the perfect time. He will allow us to go through some scary stuff because he has something to teach us through those experiences, but when we have seen and learned what Jesus wants us to, he will come to us and tell us, "Don't freak out. I'm right here."
But then notice this last verse: "And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only." Here's my question: Is Jesus enough? No face shining like the sun. No prophets from days of old. No Father of heaven speaking to you from a cloud. No crazy experience. Just Jesus. If at any point "just Jesus" feels like you got the short end of the stick, there's a problem with your view of Jesus. May we come to the point where "just Jesus" is the greatest thing we could ever want.
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