Different on the inside

Jesus took Peter, James and John up a mountain. As they watched, He began to change. His face and clothes got brighter and brighter, until they couldn't even look at Him! Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus, and God's voice said from heaven, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him." Then the light went out and they were alone with Jesus again. "Don't tell anyone about this yet," Jesus said.

People are more than their outsides show. Under your skin, there are veins and arteries that carry blood through your body. There are muscles and bones that help you move. Further inside, there are organs like your heart and your brain, that pump blood and think and keep you alive.

If we're that complicated and we're just people, imagine how complicated Jesus was! In this week's Gospel (Mark 9:2-10), His closest friends got a peek at what Jesus really looked like.

If you've ever seen a picture of the inside of a human body, you know that underneath, we all look pretty much alike. We've all got muscles and bones, hearts and brains.

Jesus was a real person like us, but He was also God, so He was also a little different from us. In the Gospel story, the Apostles saw what He looked like as God: as bright as the sun, surrounded by famous people from the Bible -- and close to God the Father, who shouted from heaven about how much He loved Jesus.

You have more than just bones and muscles inside you. You also have things that can't be seen, like your soul and all the love you have for other people. In the Gospel story, that's what shone through Jesus: the brightness of God, of God's love. Jesus knew that what's important is always on the inside!

(03-13-03) [[In-content Ad]]