Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Luke 9:28-31

I remember listening to my high school principal describe his reasoning that the school should only award one class valedictorian. He believed the purpose of the award was to acknowledge the best student in the class.

In our current day of participation medals for everyone, his message still rings true. I see it at work where every representative is ranked based on his or her performance. There is only one number one.

In the passage above, we see Jesus transfigured into His true glory and then Moses and Elijah appear and Peter speaks before he thinks wanting to honor each of them – and God interrupted them –

And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”

Luke 9:35

Moses and Elijah served their part in the redemption story, but it is Jesus who is “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

Throughout the Bible we find the thread of God’s plan of redemption of mankind. From the Garden to the Flood to the Exodus and the Exile, everthing points to Christ who is revealed in the New Testament. Everything and every one else is secondary and so that is why we should fix our eyes on Jesus.