Big Picture: Christians can have absolute confidence that Jesus will come again: at Jesus’ transfiguration Peter and the other apostles glimpsed Jesus’ future glory, and the Old Testament prophets—who are utterly reliable because the Spirit speaks through them—confirm the same truth.

1. Peter writes as if on his deathbed, reminding his readers one last time of the truth they have already embraced (12-15).

2. Peter’s eyewitness, apostolic testimony to the parousia/coming of Jesus (16–18)

• Doug Moo: “Peter, James, and John witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration, which prefigured his return by revealing him as the glorious King” (Ps. 2).

• D.A. Carson: “The transfiguration points back to the incarnation (in some ways it enabled Peter, James, and John to glimpse something of Christ’s genuine, preincarnate glory, now veiled in flesh) and forward to the parousia, the appearance of Jesus at the very end of history, when he will appear in unshielded glory and bring in the consummation.”

3. The testimony of the Old Testament prophets to the parousia/coming of Jesus (19–21)

• The God of the Bible is a God who acts and talks. He is personal. The Christian’s view of the Bible is tied to the doctrine of God, who discloses himself in deeds and words.
• The Bible is simultaneously the product of God’s mind and of human minds.

* I received invaluable assistance from D. A. Carson’s “Becoming Conversant With The Emerging Church” and Doug Moo’s “NIV Application Commentary: 2 Peter and Jude”