Be Ye Transformed / Metamorphoo
This is the third in a series of blogs on some of
the wonderful Greek words used in the New Testament. The word this time is metamorphoo and
it comes from a couple of passages in the New Testament, and it is an absolutely
exciting word!
The first use of
this word is in Matthew 17. The event
takes place shortly after Peter’s famous confession of Jesus being the “Son of
God”. I think that the Lord was going to
show them what that really means. Starting
in verse 1, it says that Jesus went up to a high mountain with three of His
closest friends, Peter, James, and John.
Something happened there that was incredible.
After six days Jesus took Peter,
James, and John (the brother of James) and led them up a high mountain where
they could be alone.
Jesus' appearance changed in front of
them. His face became as bright as the sun and his clothes as white as light. " (Matt. 17:1 GW)
The Greek word that is used to
describe what had happened to Jesus at that moment was metamorphoo. This word means to change, to be transformed, to change into another form. It is where we get the word “metamorphosis”,
which describes the change from a caterpillar into a butterfly, or the tadpole
into a bullfrog.
The various versions of the Bible say, “his face became as bright as the sun and his clothes as white as light (God’s Word Translation), “His appearance changed dramatically in their presence; and His face shone with heavenly glory, clear and bright like the sun” (Amplified Bible). I love the translation from the message Bible “His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. Sunlight poured from his face. His clothes were filled with light.”
I
believe that what happened at that moment is that Jesus allowed His spirit to
be seen in a physical manifestation. The
Bible tells us that man was made in the image of God. Since God is a Spirit (John 4:24), then man
was also given a spiritual nature. The spiritual
things of life are generally not seen in a physical way. In John 3 – Jesus compares the spiritual
dimension of life to the wind. You do
not physically see the wind, but you feel and see its effects. Jesus was fully God and fully man. I believe, just for that moment, Jesus
allowed His closest friends to get a glimpse of His internal nature.
The Bible states that we
have three natures.
We only see the physical
nature of man, but we can see a little bit of the soul and spirit through a person’s
eyes and smile and demeanor and by their actions.
At that moment, Jesus allowed the
disciples to see His Spiritual nature.
Here is a drawing of what was going on.
The verses state that when this happened Jesus’ face shone like the sun and His clothes turned bleach white. One version stated that it was whiter than any bleach could make them. As Jesus allowed his Spiritual nature to be seen physically, it made a dramatic difference to His physical appearance. Here is a wonderful thing about this story. Romans 12:2 tells us that the same thing can happen to us! It is the same Greek word metamorphoo.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (KJV)
When we become a Christian, God’s Spirit comes to live inside of
us. As we grow in our faith and obedience
to the Lord we can become more and more like Christ in our soul and spirit, and
it can even make a big difference in our body.
We may smile more, we may say more encouraging things to people, the
words coming out of our mouth may not include harsh and profane speech, we may
see things in life that other people may not notice, and people may even sense
a more loving and brighter spirit within us.
As I was studying this topic years ago, I was wondering if it was ever
recorded in the Bible about a Christian actually becoming physically
transformed like Jesus was, that day on the mountain. I found out that the answer is yes! The story is told about an early believer in
Christ whose name was Stephen. He was a
servant among the early believers and not necessarily a big leader in the Church,
but he had a great testimony. In Acts
6:5, it states that he was full of faith and of the Holy Ghost. In Acts 6:8, it says that he was full of faith
and power, and he did great wonders and miracles among the people. When he became publicly well known, it got some
religious men stirred up against him.
They began to falsely accuse him and caused the crowd to come against
him. It is remarkable how a person who
is full of the love and kindness of Jesus – can be attacked by people who
should be supporting them! Well, right
in the middle of this story in Acts chapter 6 – it has a remarkable verse. It states that the Spirit of God inside of
Stephen made a physical difference in his appearance!
And all
that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had
been the face of an angel. (Acts 6:14 KJV)
Stephen is one of my heroes of the Bible. He was a great example to all of us, of what can happen if we allow God to fill our hearts and our lives. We can be transformed, just like him.
Written by Lee Malden 2022
For more information: email lmalden@hotmail.com
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