16. Who is Jesus?
December 05th, 2010
The Transfiguration
God made man to exist in community with Him. Out of His love for us He desired to be loved in return. Love cannot be forced it has to be chosen. So God knew that in order for us to love Him we had to be able to choose not to. Sadly we made that choice and sin was born into the world. Sin separates us from God as it defiles us. It prevents us from being able to fully share in the community of God because God’s glory is so great that in our sinful condition being in the full presence of God’s glory would be devastating. In Exodus 33 Moses goes up on Mt. Sinai to meet with God and he expresses a desire to see the glory of God. God tells Moses that no one may se Him and live so what God does is He has Moses go into a cave which He covers with His hand until He has passed by and then He would remove His hand and Moses could see His passing glory. When Moses came down from the mountain having been in God’s presence His face was so radiant that people couldn’t really look at Him. If you spend a lot of time outdoors you might get tan. Being in the presence of ultra violet light changes your appearance, so does being in the presence of God. When you are in God’s presence He rubs off you. Moses face was so lit up after being with God that He had to wear a veil for people to look at Him. That is how powerful God’s glory is. Even the reflective radiance of someone who has been in His presence is blinding.
We sometimes times lose site of the fact that Jesus was human just like us and limited in the same ways that we are. If we are careful however we can also lose site of the fact that Jesus is God. He is not just some guy who we can ignore when it is convenient. He is our King and we are His subjects. Citizens don’t have the right to tell their king no. They live to do the bidding of their king.
We are in Luke 9:28. This is perhaps the most significant event in Jesus ministry prior to the cross. Between Jesus birth and His death the transfiguration is the most significant moment in His life. This is the pinnacle of Jesus earthly ministry. To transfiguration is similar to transformation it is to change the outward appearance of something. Jesus transfiguration is a supernatural and glorious change in appearance. Through this point the disciples have seen Jesus as a man with the power of God. They have not seen Him as God.
When we left off Jesus and company were in Caesarea Philippi which is in Gentile territory. Here Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah but didn’t really understand what that meant. Jesus came to this earth with a mission. Part of that mission was to die on a cross for our sins. Jesus identity as the Messiah is intimately connected with His death. Without dying Jesus cannot be the savior that we need.
Imagine the kingdom of earth that we live in is separated from the Kingdom of God by a curtain. Jesus is God, He is the eternal king who has stepped down from His throne to live as a man. Jesus ministry is all about lifting the curtain between our two kingdoms so that man can see and one day through Him enter into the kingdom of God. The transfiguration is a glimpse of the glory of God slipping through the curtain. It shows us that Jesus is not just a man but that He is the eternal God. This is foreshadowing of Jesus return to glory where we get just a peak at what He will look like when He comes back to bring about the fullness of the kingdom of God.
Lk 9:28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. Lk 9:29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Lk 9:30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, Lk 9:31 appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.
Just over a week after Peter’s confession and Jesus tells the disciples that He is going to die Jesus and Co. make their way back towards Capernaum. Just to the northwest of Capernaum there is Mt. Miron which is the tallest mountain in Palestine at almost 4000 feet high. While this is not a tall mountain it would take a considerable amount of time to climb to its peak. So it is likely late evening when they arrive at the summit to pray together. The seclusion of the mountain top makes a great place for prayer. It is one of the only places where Jesus and His disciples wouldn’t have to worry about distractions or interruptions.
After Jesus self revelation to the disciples a week before Jesus brings His inner three: Peter, James, and John, for a whole new level of revelation as they are still seeing Him as a human Messiah not as the incarnation of God. They go up to Mt. Miron to pray. It is late and hiking up a mountain can be exhausting, especially in the desert heat so the disciples are tired. They try to stay awake as they are praying with Jesus but one by one they fall asleep leaving Jesus praying alone. Jesus isn’t just saying a quick goodnight prayer. He probably prays for several hours going well into the night.
While the disciples are sleeping Jesus’s changes: His appearance undergoes a radical transformation and His face and clothes become like light. This is the first time we see Jesus looking divine. At this moment Jesus is radiating the glory of God. This is not really Jesus being transformed. This is just Him reverting back to His true identity. Jesus has clothed Himself as a man to be fully human. In this moment He has shed that covering and reveals just a portion of His true glory. The next time we see Jesus He will be returning in the fullness glory. When He comes back He will not look like a man He will come back in His glory as God.
Then out of nowhere Moses and Elijah show up. Like Spiritual ninjas they just kind of appear. When they do appear they appear in glory. They have been dead for some time so what the disciples see with Moses and Elijah is them in their glorified new creation as citizens in the kingdom of God. The life that Jesus brings is not just an eternity like life minus some hardships and trials. He comes to make us into new and glorified creation. Jesus is God who comes looking like a man to transform men so that we can look more like God.
Moses and Elijah appear and are talking with Jesus. How the disciples knew it is Moses and Elijah we are not told. We have to assume they are addressing each other by name. That or they had name tags. Moses represents the law and Elijah represents the prophets. The law and the prophets are not just all about Jesus, but Jesus is the fulfillment of everything spoken about in the law and the prophets. The temple is about the presence of God and Jesus is the presence of God. The law is God’s Word, Jeus is God’s Word. Prophets speak the message of God Jesus is the message of God. What the Jews believed in, what we believe in, everything that exists in this world is all about Jesus. The transfiguration is the law and the prophets coming to be with Jesus.
Moses delivered the Israelites from captivity in Egypt. Jesus comes to deliver man from captivity to sin. Moses brought about the Passover with the blood of a lamb spread over the door to spare the Israelites from death. The Passover is just about seven or so months away where Jesus is going to become the perfect Passover lamb sparing all of us from our penalty of death. Moses started the nation of Israel but Jesus is the fulfillment of Moses work. He delivers His people. He makes a new kingdom. Jesus is the fulfillment of Israel’s past, present, and future hope as God’s people.
Lk 9:32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. Lk 9:33 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.)
Either the talking or the light wakes the disciples up but when they come to they are pretty amazed by what they see. You have to love Peter because he is easy to relate to. Peter always seems to have the wrong thing to say. On occasion he gets it right but here Peter pulls out a fail blog moment. This was an incredible experience for the disciples. When Moses and Elijah are leaving Peter wants to hold on to that moment. He suggests they build three tabernacles one for each man to commemorate this moment. This is a bad idea for two reasons: one it ignores Jesus supremacy. Though Peter has not realized it yet, Moses and Elijah together can’t hold a torch to Jesus. They may have been honored patriarchs of the past but they are nothing compared to the Son of the living God. Two: holding on to this moment would hinder the progression of Jesus ministry. As glorious as this moment was there is a greater glory to come.
What Peter is doing is what we often do as humans. We have a great experience with God but instead of enjoying it and moving on we try to relive it. We try to hold on to the glory that is passed instead of longing for the glory that is to come. This thinking is what so often gets us out of synch with God. We tend to look at the glory of the past and try to hold on to the moments. We reminisce over how great things use to be. How wonderful it was being a part of a church that was alive an active and instead of following the moving of the Spirit of God as it progresses towards God’s coming glory we search for a formula to try to get back to the glory of how things were before the Spirit moved on. It’s like instead of letting ourselves get caught up in the flow of the stream of life in the Spirit we try to stop the stream from flowing. Building these shelters as Peter suggests would prolong this moment and prevent the progress of Jesus mission. This is our error: we constantly look to the splendor of the past when God is looking forward to the glory to come. We want to hold on to a passing moment instead of moving forward to the next one. We look back, Jesus is looking forward.
Lk 9:34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. Lk 9:35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” Lk 9:36 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.
To show the disciples the error of this idea a cloud appeared, perhaps like the cloud that led the Israelites by day in Exodus. In Exodus the cloud was God leading Israel where He would have them go. It is wrong to try to hold on to the moments of the past. Holding on to the moments that are passing prevents us from moving on with the direction that Jesus is leading.
Out of the cloud came a voice saying the same thing that He said during Jesus baptism: This is my Son, whom I have chosen, whom I love. God is declaring that Jesus is His Son, that Jesus is God. Then there is another phrase added: listen to Him. Perhaps the most important command in Scripture, listen to Jesus. Don’t listen to sin, to the world, to false teachers or religious leaders, listen to Jesus.
When the cloud lifted and the disciples who had fallen down on their faces were once again able to look up Jesus was standing their alone. The work of the law and the prophets is done and now only Jesus remains. When we see Jesus as a man all the things He said and did are truly inspiring. It is not until we see Jesus as God that He starts to transform our lives. When Jesus is glorified the power and the presence of sin are nullified in our lives that we might be brought into a state of glory. Jesus came from glory so that He could lead us into an eternal glory with God. His glory is revealed to us so that the world may come to see it through us. Jesus transforms us so that we can transform the world. Through love, grace, mercy, compassion, and kindness we reveal the love of God to the world. God’s glory is revealed to the world through us when we live, love, and look like Jesus by listening to Him and following His example.
