It has been said that true Christianity is not a religion but a relationship. How intimate of a relationship do you think God desires with each one of us??
If you really think about it, God has done and is doing His part to have an intimate relationship with us. God desires an intimidate relationship with each one of us. Here’s the question:
How’s our relationship with God on a daily basis?
In our passage this morning we will note the glory of God, but what I would like to emphasize is our Lord’s desire for intimacy with His disciples.
Please open your Bibles to Luke 9….
But before reading our passage, let us pray our commitment to God’s Word….
Read along with me in Luke 9 starting with v27….
As we talked about last week, Jesus actually had an intimate discussion with His 12 disciples; Jesus asked them directly “Who do you say I am?” That was a personal question for the Disciples. I believe, everyday of our lives, Jesus asks this question to every living person in the world! Have you answered Him yet? Who is Jesus to you?
Then Jesus promised to some of His disciples that they will witness the Kingdom of God before they die.
And so we read, Jesus took Peter, James, and John to give them the special privilege of witnessing the glory of God! We’ll discuss why Jesus just chose the three later. And before we note what the three disciples witnessed, let’s note what happened to Jesus.
As Jesus was praying, He became as bright as lightning!
How bright is lightning?
I did some research and I couldn’t find a measurement because lightning is so bright and fast and every lightning bolt is unique and different. But according to Doc Brown, a lightning bolt can produce 1.21 jigowatts to power a Delorean Car to another time!!
Okay, enough silliness for this morning, but what we do know is, Jesus became as bright as lightning as He prayed! Let us not forget that God is Light! Jesus is God!
And as Jesus prayed, two godly men showed up. Moses and Elijah appeared in glorious splendor talking with Jesus. Now, we can do a lot of speculation here about Moses and Elijah, but let’s stay in context. What can we note in the passage about Moses and Elijah?
- Men from earth now in heaven for they were prophets on earth
thousands of years ago
- In glorious splendor
- Disciples recognized them
- Talked to Jesus
- Disciples likely heard them (we read about what they talked about);
what did they talk about?
- Talked about the ultimate work Jesus will do
(death, burial, and resurrection for man’s sins)
And how did the disciples react to the glorious splendor right in front of their noses?
Peter said, let’s build a couple of tents!
Remember when there was a crowd gathered and Jesus told the disciples to feed them? The disciples said it would be impossible to feed the over 10000 people there because all they saw were 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread!
Here on the mountain where Jesus shined like lightning and Moses and Elijah appeared in glorious splendor, all Peter was thinking about was how to keep warm and sleep!
The disciples were still learning about spiritual things! And not only did Jesus teach the three disciples a lesson, God the Father also taught them and the teaching was done in love, wasn’t it?
Teaching with love is an indication of a desire to have an intimate relationship. Even though they were spiritually weak, Jesus and God the Father honored Peter, John, and James by revealing the glory of God to them! God’s desire is to have an intimate relationship with His Believers.
And what can we learn from v34-36?
- God the Father appeared in a cloud; what’s significant about this??
a. A clue to the Disciples (God’s appearance during Exodus)
b. Cloud signifies a spiritual God
- 2 persons of the Triune God
We see at the same moment both Jesus and God the Father, and my guess is the cloud was the Holy Spirit! When someone tells you that there is no such thing as the Trinity (3 actual Persons even though One God), ask them to explain this event!
- God can be verbally heard
- God affirms the work of His Son Jesus
- God instructed the Disciples directly to listen to Christ
Now, why did all of that happen?
Whose idea was it to take Peter, James, and John to witness all of that??
Jesus invited the three disciples to be with Him on that special night! Jesus didn’t have to bring the three; Peter even made a fool of himself by asking to build tents!
The transfiguration event happened for the benefit of the three disciples and for the benefit of all who believes it! And why just the three disciples and not all twelve? – Jesus chose twelve immediate disciples who will be honored in heaven, but Jesus chose three to reveal His desire for intimacy with His disciples!
Jesus chose Twelve Disciples to build His church but we can note over and over again in the Gospels that Jesus spent intimate teaching times with Peter, James, and John!
What Biblical principles can we note and apply to our own lives?
1. God desires to reveal His glory to people!
How does God reveal His glory to us today??
Here’s the question: Are we like Peter who missed the significance of God’s glory right in front of him? God reveals His glory in many ways right in front of us! On a daily basis, look for and experience God’s glory and presence!
Will you commit to this? Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, ask often, "How is God revealing His glory to me right now?"
2. God and Jesus are speaking, are we listening?
3. Jesus desires an intimate relationship with each one of us!
How do we know that this is true??
Let us memorize and live out Revelation 3:20….. and Revelation 2:17….
God desires an intimate relationship with each one of us. The question is, Are we allowing Jesus to be with us on a daily basis?
