On the Mountain
TCF Sermon
September 19, 2010
If you have your Bibles, open with me to Luke chapter 9, beginning with vs 18:
Luke 9:18-36 (NIV) Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God." Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God." About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what he was saying.) While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him." When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen.
Here we see three disciples with Jesus having a literal mountaintop experience - that is, they were on top of a real mountain - and also what we might call today a figurative mountaintop experience, an emotional or spiritual experience.
There’s a good reason we began reading this passage just before this experience that Peter, James and John had. Note what Jesus said in verse 23:
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Jesus is telling his disciples what the norm would be for their life if they would follow Him wholeheartedly. Self denial – taking up the cross. Losing your life.
How can we say this will be the norm? Jesus did say “daily” didn’t He?
Then at the end of this discourse, He tells them that some who are there with him will see the Kingdom of God. Here’s where we see the mountaintop experience.
Though they were literally on top of a mountain, the spiritual experience was certainly even more significant.
Many of us can relate to some degree to what the apostles experienced that day. Many of us have had emotional or spiritual mountaintop experiences. These things are part of the ebb and flow of our lives.
About a month ago, Barb and I had a literal mountaintop experience, which was also more than that, as evidenced by this morning’s message. We had the pleasure of spending nearly 90 minutes on top of a 14,264-foot mountain in Colorado while we were on vacation.
I’d like to say that we climbed this peak, like Kirk Wester did Long’s Peak, which was, by the way, Kirk, five feet shorter than Mt Evans. But we took the wimpy route, and because this is the highest paved road in North America, we actually drove to near the top, and then hiked a quarter mile trail about another 150 feet up to the summit.
We spent most of this week of vacation at higher elevations – twice driving or hiking to nearly 12,000 feet, and then this time at 14,000-plus. There’s something about being so high that’s spiritually inspiring. Part of my temperament finds tremendous peace, real perspective in these settings.
But there’s always the reality that we don’t live on the mountaintop. We always come back down to earth. That’s pretty visually striking when you leave the mountains of Colorado, headed through the plains of eastern Colorado into the plains of Kansas on the way home to Oklahoma. In less than an hour, you go from incredible mountain vistas to very flat terrain. It can be somewhat of an emotional letdown.
But it reminded me of this story in scripture, and it reminded me that because we don’t live on the mountain – figuratively speaking, we must learn to live in the ordinary, day-to-day existence of the valley, the lower elevations of life.
We’ve all had some kinds of what you might call mountaintop experiences, both secular and spiritual.
- the birth of a child
- your wedding day
- winning a championship, or award - something important
- graduation
- a great vacation or missions trip
- being born-again
- "experiencing" God’s manifest presence in some real, almost tangible way
Many of us have had these kinds of things happen through the years right here in this place. We have this up and down existence, and we see it worked out in even more regular ways.
How about weekends versus weekdays? We all look forward to weekends – or times off of work – even if we love our work. We all look forward to vacations from work.
Why do we call these kinds of things mountaintop experiences? Well, in some ways, you feel like you’re on the top of the world, just like you do when you’re on a literal mountain. It’s exhilarating. It’s exciting. It’s out of the ordinary. It can teach. It can give perspective. It can give clarity. It can renew and refresh. In these ways mountaintop experiences are a blessing from God. In that they renew and restore and refresh, we could even say we need them to some degree.
When you think about literal mountaintop experiences, it helps explain why we see some things as figurative mountaintop experiences. For example, on a clear mountain day, you can see more clearly from the top of a mountain than from anywhere else - you feel like you can see for miles and miles – that’s because sometimes you can.
Scripture also speaks of mountain top experiences, both literally, as in the passage we just read, and figuratively. How about when Moses caught a glimpse of God’s presence on the mountain? He carried the literal glow of that experience with him for a while, but it did fade eventually.
All Israel had mountaintop experiences as they saw the miracles of God in their deliverance. But the spiritual boost they got from seeing those miracles didn’t last either – they were grumbling about things like their food within days.
The apostle John had a mountaintop experience which resulted in the Book of Revelation. The disciples saw the risen Lord after the Resurrection.
These kinds of experiences are a wonderful blessing from God. I believe they are meant to be encouraging, uplifting, and sometimes life-altering. Certainly seeing the Risen Lord Jesus made a difference in the lives of the apostles, and enabled them to endure a lot of things in their personal valleys.
I believe these experiences are often part of God’s purposes in changing us, shaping us, molding us, teaching us, or just refreshing or renewing us.
The fact is, though these wonderful experiences can and sometimes are an important part of our life in God, it’s what we might call “His ordinary presence” in our lives that this passage, when taken in its entire context, really emphasizes.
That’s not to say that this was any ordinary experience at all. Here we see Jesus, God made flesh, showing three human beings a glimpse of His once and future glory. In some ways, He was showing us what eternity will look like, because Revelation tells us about the eternal city:
Revelation 21:23 (NASB95) And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Of course, we know the Lamb is Jesus Himself.
Matthew Henry noted about the transfiguration, that, when it was all said and done:
"Jesus alone remained with them, and not transfigured, but as he used to be (ordinary, human)...Christ does not leave the soul when extraordinary joys and comforts leave it. Christ’s disciples have, and shall have, his ordinary presence with them always, even to the end of the world. Let us thank God for our daily bread, and not expect a continual feast this side of heaven"
We often see passages like this out of their entire context, and this is another reminder that to do this is to miss something important. That’s why we began reading before the account of the transfiguration, because what Jesus said there is important to our full understanding of what took place, as Luke says, “eight days later.”
So, let’s back up and look at Luke 9:20: We see Peter, proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah. What an amazing pronouncement! The disciples had just told Jesus that everybody else thinks He’s John the Baptist, or a prophet, but they had come to believe He was the Messiah, the anointed one.
What’s more interesting is how Jesus responded to this. You might think He would commend them: Something like: hey, you guys are pretty sharp, and it’s good to see you’ve been paying attention.
Or, hey, you guys have figured it out, so now you’re my inside circle, and we’re going to turn the world upside down for me! Instead, what happened? Jesus warned them: first He warned them not to tell anyone what they’d come to believe - and then, He started into this very low moment, talking about suffering.
Worse yet, not just Jesus’ suffering, but theirs too !
Seems like an awful way to kill the moment, huh? They go from what could have been this very high moment of declaring Him to be the Messiah, to being told they must deny themselves, cease to make themselves the object of their own lives and actions. Then, Jesus injects some hope at the end of this discourse:
"I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God"
Now, there are two primary interpretations of this statement:
1. Jesus was predicting His transfiguration
2. Jesus was predicting the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
Both were a foretaste of Kingdom glory. But the context, in my opinion, shows that Jesus was speaking of what transpired just a little over a week later. That’s because of that key, transitional phrase in verse 28: "about eight days after Jesus said this."
I believe this phrase connects the account of the transfiguration to all of what Jesus had said in the previous several verses, and especially to what he said about seeing the kingdom of God.
So let’s be sure to take note of the things that immediately preceded the transfiguration of Jesus:
(1) Jesus acknowledged the disciples confession of Him being the messiah, and told them to be quiet about it.
(2) He spoke clearly his coming suffering--and invited them to share in this
(3) He promised the coming of the kingdom of God in his own ministry.
That brings us to the actual event itself. Let’s take note of some key elements as we begin by looking at verse 28:
They were up on a mountain to pray. Now, the other two gospel passages that relate this story, Matthew and Mark, point out that His appearance was "transformed" or "transfigured." The word there is the same Greek word from which we get the word metamorphosis - which means to change into another form.
Peter, James and John were seeing the brightness of Jesus’ glory. Luke says it was bright as a flash of lightning. Mark says his clothes were "dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them." Matthew says: "His face shone like the sun and his clothes were as white as light.”
Then, they see Moses and Elijah with Jesus - just a few words on this: Why Moses and Elijah? Why not Abraham? Why not David? Why not any of a dozen other Old Testament heroes of the faith?
It’s significant that Moses and Elijah were there because of what they represent. When we read of Jesus or the disciples references to scripture, it’s often spoken of as "the law and the prophets." Moses was the lawgiver, and thus represented the Law. Elijah was the prophet who never died, but who was taken to heaven in a fiery chariot. Together, they represented the law and the prophets, the whole of scripture in that day. Moses and Elijah represented the word of God before Jesus, whom scripture reveals as the Living Word, came to earth.
It’s also important to know what the law and prophets point to: the Messiah, who now stood with them. Also important is what these three were overheard talking about: Jesus "departure" (verse 31), which he was about to bring to fulfillment.
Seems like a funny way to talk about Jesus soon-coming passion and death?? Departure? About to fulfill? But in the context of the Law and the Prophets, it’s not that odd to hear it put this way. Moses and the Prophets had spoken of it, now they speak of its fulfillment, and they speak of it with the One who will fulfill it. Jesus Himself. What an amazing scene.
It’s also interesting to note in Lk.9:32, that as Jesus prayed, "Peter and those with him were "heavy with sleep." Think of it. They almost slept through the transfiguration! I used to worry if someone nodded off while I preached, but now I realize that the disciples almost slept through Jesus, Moses and Elijah!
Ten Best Things To Say If You Get Caught Sleeping At Your Desk
10. "They told me at the blood bank this might happen."
9. "This is just a 15 minute power-nap like they raved about in that time management course you sent me to."
8. "Whew! Guess I left the top off the White-Out. You probably got here just in time!"
7. "I wasn’t sleeping! I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm."
6. "I was testing my keyboard for drool resistance."
5. "I was doing a highly specific Yoga exercise to relieve work-related stress. Are you discriminatory toward people who practice Yoga?"
4. "Gee. Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out a solution to our biggest problem."
3. " The coffee machine is broken..."
2. "Someone must’ve put decaf in the wrong pot..."
And the 1 best thing to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk...
1. In Jesus name, Amen!
But Peter, James and John didn’t sleep through the Transfiguration. That’s why we have this account, though I find it interesting that the only gospel writer who was there, John, didn’t include this story in his gospel.
However John did write in his gospel, in chapter 1:14: "we have seen His glory"
Only Peter referenced it directly, in 2 Peter 1 - which we’ll look at in a moment.
But back in Luke, verse 32, after it notes they were sleepy, it says that "when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him."
This is important too. They saw it. The Word of God is not just a bunch of made-up stories.... this "story" is an eyewitness account.
Peter referred to it this way in 2 Peter 1:16, where he wrote:
2 Peter 1:16-18 (NIV) We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
So, now, the disciples are wide awake, and we have Peter - offering to build three shelters. Here, this word shelters, means dwellings - a place to stay or live. But God had something else to say to them - and he interrupted Peter, speaking from a cloud. God had a point to all this beyond the mere manifestation of His glory in Jesus. God said, in verse 35:
"This is my son, whom I have chosen...Listen to Him."
If there are any key words in this entire passage, I think we’ve heard them here:
“Listen to him!”
Yes, the glory was awesome, yes this is a real, honest to goodness mountaintop experience, but where do we go from here? Listen to Him!
Now, here’s where we can really relate to the disciples. Just like we all tend to do with these mountaintop experiences, Peter wanted to capture the moment, to preserve it, to make it last to make it more than just a Kodak moment.
That’s understandable. Good things are enjoyable and we don’t want them to end. It is good for us to be here, said Peter. And it was! But not for the great experience of it all. Yes, that was a blessing, but it was gravy - it was only a part of God’s purpose on that mountaintop.
It wasn’t the meat, it was gravy, or it was the dessert, the extra that makes it a great experience but not the substance of what God wanted to say, what He wanted to accomplish.
What God wanted the disciples to remember about this experience is what He told them. He told them to listen to Jesus.
Our human tendency is to hang onto the afterglow and miss the fullness of His Ordinary Presence where we can really listen to Him.
We see it a lot in the church today. It’s as if the Holy Spirit has landed in some particular place, and nowhere else. It’s almost implying that you can box and move the Holy Spirit, the very presence of God. Taken to its logical conclusion, this line of thinking also says that the experience of God in certain places is such that if you’re not there, you’ve missed God altogether.
If we understand it this way, we can never, will never, be satisfied with anything less than that particular kind of experience of God. I think that can be a real problem, because the reality of our Christian existence is that, what we have most of the time, is not His extraordinary presence. Most of life is not a mountaintop experience, in case you haven’t noticed.
But all of life can be lived in His ordinary presence. Does that discount joy? Does that deny experience? No!!!, or as Paul would say, may it never be! But, who says His ordinary, everyday presence is any less special than His extraordinary Presence?
We cannot deny the words of Jesus who said: “I am with you always,” and “I will never leave you or forsake you,” and “wherever two or three are gathered in My Name, there am I with them.”
So, while mountaintop experiences are great, we don’t live there on the mountain. We live in the valley. And God’s with us there, too.
How we view the experience of God will make a difference in how we live our lives. The experiences are a means to the ends God wants to accomplish in our lives. We lose something when the experience is an end in itself. Then, we’re like the Pharisees that Jesus chided for always "looking for a sign."
God can reveal Himself in these mountaintop experiences, but we can all learn what the disciples learned on that mountain that day. Listen to Him. If we’re so wrapped up in the charge we get from these experiences, we may never really learn to listen to anyone, let alone Jesus, the Living Word.
That’s why God interrupted Peter when Peter said, let’s camp here - let’s stay here - let’s make this experience last.
So here we see Jesus’ disciples. They’ve gone from the challenge to join Jesus in his sufferings, to the unimaginable heights of this mountaintop experience, and now back down again.
That’s why it’s important to note how this account of the transfiguration ends: verse 36: "when the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone."
Charles Spurgeon preached a great sermon once on the transfiguration - let’s listen to some of the things he said:
The best thing after all for Peter, was not the excessive strain of the transfiguration, nor the delectable company of the two great spirits who appeared with Jesus, but the equally glorious, but less exciting society of "only Jesus." Depend on it, brethren, that ravishing and exciting experiences and transporting enjoyments, though they may be useful as occasional refreshments, would not be so good for every day, as that quiet but delightful ordinary fellowship with "Jesus alone," which ought to be the distinguishing mark of all Christian life. As the disciples ascended the mountain side with Jesus alone, and as they went back again to the multitude with only Jesus, they were in as good company as when they were on the mountain summit, Moses and Elijah being there also; and although Jesus Christ in his common ordinary attire might not so dazzle their eyes as when they saw his raiment bright as the light, and his face shining as the sun, yet he really was quite as glorious, and his company quite as beneficial. When they saw him in his everyday attire, his presence was quite as useful to them as when he robed himself in splendor. "Only Jesus," is after all upon the whole a better thing than Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. "Jesus alone," as the common Jesus, the Christ of every day, the man walking among men, communing in secret with his disciples, is a better thing for a continuance while we are in this body, than the sight even of Jesus himself in the excellence of his majesty.
One other thing I want to note from this narrative. Because Jesus revealed His glory that day, the disciples had just a taste on that mountain of what to expect in eternity. Sometimes, mountaintop experiences are worth it because it helps us remember that someday, we will live in an eternal mountaintop experience, with the eternal glory of Jesus lighting our daily existence. And we won’t ever have to come back down to the valley.
But in the meantime, we do live in the valley, and the mountaintops are wonderful, though fleeting, experiences. Let me close with this brief anecdote:
A little boy was out in his backyard, throwing a ball up in the air. An elderly passerby, not accustomed to such youthful delights, asked the boy what he was doing. He replied, "I am playing a game of catch with God. I throw the ball up in the air and he throws it back."
Now, I don’t know if God plays catch with little boys, but He created the laws that made it possible.it’s predictable, and true of our Christian lives - what goes up must come down – call it spiritual gravity, since our lives are not lived in the air but on the ground. In other words, let’s learn to live in, and yes, even delight in His ordinary Presence.
Pray
