The story of the transfiguration of Christ is the biblical equivalent of Friday night at your local Theater. It is a preview of what it would be for Christ in the resurrection. Jesus' face shines like the sun, Matthew tells us, and his clothes become dazzling white. Jesus is glorified right before the very eyes of Peter, James, and John as he communes with Moses and Elijah.

Previews, unfortunately, don't last long by their very nature. If they did, they wouldn't be called "previews." They would be full-length movies. But then again, this is one of the Bible's true mountaintop experiences, and as we all know, mountaintop experiences don't last very long. Every once in awhile a moment comes along that we wish we could freeze for all eternity. It's the kind of experience that reaches down into the marrow of our bones and touches us with a special feeling. We wish it would last forever, but it doesn't.