“Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James, and his brother John, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. …[A] bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him!” Mt. 16:28-17:5
Now this … was spoken through the prophet…“Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold your King is coming to you,
Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
And they brought [the colt] to Jesus, and they threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. Now as He was going, they were spreading their cloaks on the road. And as soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting:
“Blessed is the King, the One who comes in the name of the Lord;
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”…
When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known on this day, even you, the conditions for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will put up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground, and throw down your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
Mt. 21:4-5; Lk. 19:35-44
Two nearly back-to-back gospel stories about the coming of the kingdom arrest our attention. Jesus is in the middle of both. Yet the stories are completely different in nature. The first, proceeding directly from the Savior’s mouth, is centered on a revelation and entrance into eternal heavenly glory. The second, derived from an Old Testament prophecy, is centered on a natural appearance of kingdom glory, but does not actually reflect the heart of the Lord.
These two stories have different names. The first is called the “Transfiguration.” The second is called the “Triumphal Entry.”
Again, both stories are about the “coming of the kingdom.” Of the Transfiguration, Jesus Himself said those standing with Him would see the kingdom coming. Of the Triumphal Entry, the Old Covenant prophet said “Behold, your king is coming…”
Examining these stories carefully, we see that, though both use the same terms (“coming kingdom”), they describe completely different intents and realizations as far as the Lord is concerned. The Transfiguration communicates the direct heart of Jesus from His own lips about this phrase. It coincides with the presentation of His kingdom given in John’s Revelation. It is the eternal kingdom of a glorified Lord and His glorified saints (as Moses and Elijah) destined to overpower the earth at the expense of the demise of every other human kingdom.
The Triumphal Entry, on the other hand, given through a mere “prophet” of an imminently past era, communicates the indirect Mind of Christ. In this, Christ’s carnally apparent “kingdom come” is indeed one only of appearance. Being an apparition or mirage—one which surfaces exclamations of human glory based in false expectations—this glory is about to collapse on itself, which collapse is to result in the death needed to produce the true kingdom to be realized through the Transfiguration. As we can see from the Lord’s own words about this “coming,” His heart is absolutely not in it. Instead, He is predicting its very fall.
Now consider also the disciples relative to these two stories. First, only three of the twelve are even granted the honor to witness the Transfiguration. The other nine were not deemed worthy enough to engage this eternal glory. And yet, hardly does the demonstration pass, but that all the disciples are back to arguing over positions in the carnally realized kingdom which, unknown to them, is the signal of its own imminent collapse. (Let me repeat: the demonstration of the Triumphal Entry is the signal of its own imminent collapse.) That demonstration was never intended to succeed at fulfilling the expectations it stoked.
All this is prophetically allegorical for our time, especially for those of us in America, a land which so many treat as the “second Israel.” We have heard much over the last few generations about the “coming kingdom.” But the reality is, there are two different “comings” and purposes about their meaning. One is based in a Transfigural glory expectation. The other is based in a Triumphal glory expectation which will collapse on itself. Both are of God. But only one contains His true heart. The other is a mirage.
One comes as an eternal proclamation to the worthy of heart able to receive it, internalize it and pursue it without distraction. The other comes by way of a mortal “prophetic” of a nearly past era falling on titillated ears. The one comes “not with observation” but from within the secret place of the disciple’s heart. The other comes by the blaring of prophetic trump-ets over the world’s social media airwaves. The one comes as an internally birthed kingdom that cannot be shaken unto its glorified manifestation. The other comes as a worldly expectation, however accurately “prophesied,” whose fulfilment heralds its own imminent collapse.
The issue today is, not which of these is from God (they both are), but on which do we want to hang our very destiny? We have the opportunity to choose which glory we will pursue. Will it be the internally transfiguring Voice of the Lord Himself? Or will it be the outside voice of worldly mortal prophets whose time, though anointed, is on its last legs?
To those with hearts to perceive, ears to hear, and eyes to see, the two glories stare us in the face, especially amid the raging “American controversy” leading to the prophesied rise of a certain triumphant but “untransfigured” man—one whose elevation signals his own soon demise, and the scattering of all among us who have put our prophetic hope in him.
Choose wisely. It may be your last opportunity to prove your worthiness for inheriting the eternal kingdom, power, and glory forever, spoken directly by the Lord Himself.
Amen.
Chris Anderson
First Love Ministry
- a ministry of Anglemar Fellowship
http://www.firstloveministry.org11/24
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Page created February 3, 2025
