THE TRANSFIGURATION – THE GLORY OF CHRIST
MATTHREW 17:1-13
MARCH 17, 2019
WE ARE CONTINUING ON OUR JOURNEY TO THE CROSS BY LOOKING AT THIS ACCOUNT IN MATTHEW CHAPTER 17. WE CAN DRAW A BIT MORE DETAIL FROM THE OTHER GOSPELS AND GET A MORE COMPLETE PICTURE OF WHAT HAPPENED THERE. IT IS ALSO NOT SURPRISING THAT THERE IS SOMETHING HERE THAT WE CAN RELATE TO AND BE CHALLENGED BY.
YOU SEE OUR LIVES CAN SOMETIMES FEEL LIKE BEING ON A ROLLERCOASTER. I’VE SEEN PROGRAMS ABOUT THE BIGGEST ROLLERCOASTER IN THE WORLD AND I CAN TELL YOU THAT BECAUSE I HAVE A FEAR OF HEIGHT ACTS HAVE NO DESIRE TO BE ON ONE. I LIKE THE CONSTANCY AND FIRMNESS OF THE EARTH BENEATH MY FEET.
OUR LIVES THOUGH WHILE WE DESIRE CONSTANCY AND ROUTINE ARE FILLED WITH UPS AND DOWNS AND SOME OF THEM CAN BE VERY GREAT. WHEN GOD ALLOWS US TO GO TO THE MOUNTAINTOP IT IS NOT WRONG TO ENJOY IT, BUT WE MUST ALSO BE AWARE THAT SATAN WILL NOT ALLOW A MOUNTAINTOP EXPERIENCE TO GO UNCHALLENGED. VERY SOON AFTER THE MOUNTAINTOP CAN COME THE VALLEY, AND MANY BUT NOT ALL OF THE VALLEYS ARE AUTHORED BY THE EVIL ONE. GOD CAN ALSO LEAD US INTO THE VALLEY, BUT THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT GOD’S VALLEYS WILL BRINE US CLOSER TO HIM PERSONALLY.
WHEN WE ARE ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP WE CAN FORGET OUR PROBLEMS FOR AWHILE. WE CAN HAVE AN INTENSE AND PERSONAL MOMENT WITH JESUS. WE CAN HEAR FROM HIM AND GAIN DIRECTION IN OUR LIVES TO WHICH WE CAN GIVE HIM GLORY AND PRAISE.
AS MUCH AS WE WANT TO, WE WILL NOT REMAIN ON THE MOUNTAINTOP. IT DOES HELP US TO REALIZE THAT WHEN WE DESCEND INTO THE VALLEY, WE CAN ENDURE OUR PROBLEMS. EVEN IN THE VALLEY WE CAN STILL SEE JESUS AND HEAR FROM GOD. WE CAN HOLD ONTO JESUS’ PROMISE.
HEBREWS 13:5B: GOD HAS SAID, “NEVER WILL I LEAVE YOU; NEVER WILL I FORSAKE YOU.”
CONTEXT:
SIX DAYS BEFORE THE EVENTS OF THE TEXT WE ARE LOOKING AT, THE DISCIPLES BEGAN A VERY DISHEARTENING ROLLORCOASTER RIDE AS JESUS INFORMED THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT HE WAS SOON GOING TO DIE AND LATER BE RAISED ON THE THIRD DAY. WHEN YOU GET NEWS LIKE THAT YOU TEND TO ONLY HEAR THE FIRST PART.
WE ARE NOT TOLD WHAT HAPPENED DURING THIS TIME, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE FAIR TO SAY THAT THE DISCIPLES USED THE TIME TO TAKE IN JESUS’ SAD NEWS. IT WOULD ALSO BE FAIR TO SAY THAT IT HIT SOME OF THEM HARDER THAN OTHERS.
WHEN JESUS WAS ON EARTH, HE WAS WITHOUT HIS GLORY. HE LEFT HIS GLORY IN HEAVEN AND ACCEPTED THE LIMITATIONS OF OUR HUMAN BODY. HE SURROUNDED HIMSELF WITH MEN WHO WERE HUMBLE AS FAR AS STATUS AND POSSESSIONS WERE CONCERNED.
TOGETHER THEY BUILT A FOLLOWING OF THOUSANDS. EVERYBODY KNEW OF JESUS AND THE DISCIPLES, AND THEIR POPULARITY WAS AT IT’S HEIGHT. NOW HE WAS SPEAKING TO THEM OF HIS DEATH AND RETURN TO HIS GLORY IN HEAVEN.
NOW HE IS GOING TO TAKE THREE, PETER, JAMES AND JOHN TO WITNESS AN OUTSTANDING DISPLAY OF HIS GLORY. THERE IS SOME CONFUSION ON THE PART OF THE DISCIPLES AS TO WHO JESUS IS, HOW COULD THE MAN WHO WAS TO BE KING HAVE TO DIE? THE DISCIPLES KNEW AND COULD RELATE TO JESUS IN HIS HUMANITY, BUT NOW THEY WOULD HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT HE WAS ALSO GOD. THEY WERE TOLD NOT TO SHARE THIS WITH ANYONE UNTIL AFTER HIS RESURRECTION. THIS APPEARANCE WAS ONLY FOR THEM AT THIS POINT.
WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT MOUNTAIN JESUS LED THE THREE TO BUT THERE IS REASON TO BELIEVE IT WAS MOUNT HERMON. IT IS THE LARGEST IN THE AREA AND LOCATED NEAR CAESAREA PHILIPPI, WHERE JESUS FIRST ANNOUNCED HIS UPCOMING DEATH.
HE TOOK THE THREE, PETER, JAMES, AND JOHN, THE SONS OF THUNDER, WITH HIM TO FULFILL A LEGAL REQUIREMENT AS TO WHO COULD TESTIFY TO WHAT THEY SAW.
2 CORINTHIANS 13:1: THIS WILL BE MY THIRD VISIT TO YOU. “EVERY MATTER MUST BE ESTABLISHED BY THE TESTIMONY OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES.”
THIS POLICY WAS ESTABLISHED IN DEUTERONOMY 17:6 AND INVOLVED CAPITAL CASES.
PETER, JAMES AND JOHN MADE UP THE INNER CIRCLE OF DISCIPLES. THESE ARE THE DISCIPLES THAT ARE MENTIONED MORE THAN ANY OF THE OTHERS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THEY ARE MENTIONED BY NAME.
JESUS LEADS THE MEN UP THE MOUNTAIN WHERE THE TRANSFIGURATION TAKES PLACE. THE GREEK WORD FOR TRANSFIGURATION IS “METAMOR-PHOTHE” FROM WHICH WE GET THE SCIENCE WORD “METAMORPHOSIS” AND THIS MEANS “A CHANGE IN FORM OR STRUCTURE. CATERPILLARS GO THROUGH A METAMORPHOSIS WHEN THEY CHANGE FROM A CATERPILLAR INTO A BUTTERFLY. CHRISTIANS WILL HAVE A METAMORPHOSIS WHEN WE CHANGE OUR EARTHLY BODIES WITH IT’S SINFUL NATURE, FOR A GLORIOUS HEAVENLY BODY WITHOUT THAT NATURE.
DURING THIS TRANSFIGURATION, THESE DISCIPLES SEE JESUS IN HIS GLORIFIED BODY. WE KNOW THIS BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH THERE IS NOT MUCH DETAIL HERE, THERE IS ENOUGH TO RELATE IT TO WHAT JOHN SAW IN REVELATION CHAPTER 0NE. THESE DISCIPLES WOULD BE THE FIRST RECORDED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT TO SEE CHRIST IN HIS GLORIFIED FORM.
CHRIST IS THEN JOINED BY TWO OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MEN IN THE HISTORY OF THE JEWISH RACE. THEY ARE IDENTIFIED AS ELIJAH AND MOSES BUT WHY THESE TWO? WHY NOT ABRAHAM AND DAVID OR TWO OTHER NOTABLE PEOPLE FROM ISRAEL’S HISTORY?
THE ANSWER IS FOUND IN WHAT THESE TWO REPRESENT. MOSES WAS THE GREAT LAW GIVER. HE GAVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE OTHER LAWS THAT PEOPLE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP.
ELIJAH WAS THE GREAT PROPHET WHO DID NOT DIE BUT WAS HIMSELF TRANSFIGURED, TAKEN TO HEAVEN ON A CHAROIT OF FIRE. WE KNOW THAT THEY WERE DISCUSSING JESUS’ UPCOMING DEATH, AND WHAT A CONVERSATION THAT MUST HAVE BEEN.
PAUL WOULD LATER WRITE THAT THE GOSPEL HE PREACHED WAS ONE THAT THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS WOULD BOTH BEAR TESTIMONY TO.
ROMANS 3:21: BUT NOW APART FROM THE LAW THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD HAS BEEN MADE KNOWN, TO WHICH THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS TESTIFY.
THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS REVEAL THAT THE ONLY WAY THAT GOD COULD SAVE US IS THROUGH THE RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT WE OBTAIN BY FAITH. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT THIS WAS DONE BY BRINGING A SACRIFICE. THE SACRIFICE WAS THE VERY HEART OF THE MOSAIC SYSTEM AND WAS THE SYMBOL OF WHAT WAS TO COME WHEN JESUS DIED FOR OUR SINS. THE PROPHETS SPOKE OF THE LAMB OF GOD WHO WOULD TAKE AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD.
THERE ON THE MOUNTAIN WAS THE ONE WHO WOULD BRIDGE THESE BELIEFS. JESUS WAS THE PERFECT GOD-MAN, 100%HUMAN AND 100% GOD. HE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD ACCOMPLISH THIS GREAT DEED, AND HIS PRESENCE BETWEEN MOSES AND ELIJAH WAS GOD’S WAY OF SHOWING THIS TO PETER JAMES AND JOHN, AND TO US.
GOD THE FATHER ALSO REASSURED THE DISCIPLES THAT JESUS WAS WHO HE SAID HE WAS. A CLOUD CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN AND COVERED THEM. A CLOUD WAS THE VISIBLE SIGN OF GOD\S PRESENCE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. HE CAME DOWN FROM MOUNT SINAI IN A CLOUD (EXODUS 19:9), HE TOOK POSSESSION OF THE TABERNACLE IN A CLOUD AND AFTERWARDS THE TEMPLE.
THE DISCIPLES THEN HEAR AUDIBLY THE VOICE OF GOD.
MATTHEW 17:5: WHILE HE WAS STILL SPEAKING, A BRIGHT CLOUD COVERED THEM, AND A VOICE FROM THE CLOUD SAID, “THIS IS MY SON, WHOM I LOVE; WITH HIM I AM WELL PLEASED. LISTEN TO HIM!”
AT FIRST GLANCE THIS SHOULD TAKE YOU BACK TO THE TIME OF JESUS’ BAPTISM AND THE VOICE FROM HEAVEN. THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD THOUGH GIVES A COMMAND THAT IS NOT MENTIONED AT THE BAPTISM.
THE DISCIPLES ARE TOLD TO “LISTEN TO HIM” WHY? THEY ARE TOLD THIS BECAUSE IN THE DAYS AND WEEKS TO COME, JESUS IS GOING TO TEACH THEM ABOUT WHY HE HAS TO DIE, AND HE IS GOING TO SHARE WITH THEM THE MOST COMFORTING WORDS ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH THAT YOU AND I WILL KNOW. HE WILL EXPLAIN ABOUT HIS DEATH AND IT’S NECESSITY, BUT HE WILL ALSO PROCLAIM THE RESURRECTION, AND THE GLORY WE WILL SHARE WITH HIM.
CAN YOU PUT YOURSELF IN THE DISCIPLES POSITION AS THEY EXPERIENCE ALL THAT IS HAPPENING NOW. WOULDN’T YOU WANT TO DO AS PETER DID AND SUGGEST BUILDING THREE SHELTERS ON THE MOUNTAIN? DOESN’T THAT SEEM LIKE THE RIGHT THING TO DO?
IF YOU WANT TO DISHONOR CHRIST THEN YES IT WOULD BE. PAUL TAUGHT US IN:
1 CORINTHIANS 9:12B: WE PUT UP WITH ANYTHING RATHER THAN HINDER THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.
WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED HAD THEY BUILT THE SHELTERS?
1. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DISHONORING AS IN BUILDING THE THREE SHELTERS CHRIST WOULD HAVE BEEN PUT AT THE SAME LEVEL AS ELIJAH AND MOSES. CHRIST IS ABOVE ANY MAN AND SHOULD NOT BE SEEN AS EQUAL.
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN WE DISHONOR CHRIST BY THE WAY WE DESCRIBE HIM. SOMETIMES WE WILL SPEAK OF “THE MAN UPSTAIRS”, THE BIG KAHUNA, THE BOSS, OR SOME OTHER FORM THAT IS EQUALLY DISHONORING.
WE MUST PAY CHRIST THE RESPECT DUE TO HIM AS THE SON OF GOD. WE WOULD RESPECT THE QUEEN IF SHE WERE HERE. WE WOULD RESPECT THE PRIME MINISTER IF HE WERE HERE. WE WOULD SING HYMNS AND INCORPORATE ASPECTS INTO OUR WORSHIP THAT WE KNOW WOULD BE MEANINGFUL TO THEM EVEN IF WE DID NOT CARE FOR IT.
WHEN IT COMES TO WORSHIPPING CHRIST THOUGH OUR EYES ARE ON WHAT WE LIKE AND SOMETIMES THE LAST THING WE THINK ABOUT IS HOW HONORALBE OR RESPECTABLE IS WHAT WE DO TO JESUS OR THE FATHER.
2. BUILDING THE SHELTERS CAN DISTORT THE IMAGE OF CHRIST.
SOMETIMES OUR EYES MAY BE ON JESUS IN HIS HUMANITY BUT NOT IN HIS DEITY. JESUS WAS GOD AS HE WALKED ON THIS EARTH. HE WAS GOD WHEN HE PRAYED IN GETHSEMENE. HE WAS GOD AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. JESUS WILL BE GOD WHEN HE COMES AGAIN FOR HIS OWN. HISTORY PROCLAIMED HIS DEITY. PROPHECY ACCENTS HIS DEITY. CHRISTIANITY TESTIFIES TO HIS DEITY. HE IS THE GOD-MAN AND WE SHOULD NEVER DISTORT HIS IMAGE BY FOCUSING ON ONE MORE THAN THE OTHER.
3. BUILDING THE SHELTERS CAN DIVERT THE INDIVIDUAL FROM CHRIST.
BUILDING THE SHELTERS CAN DIVERT ATTENTION FROM CHRIST TO MOSES AND ELIJAH. WE CAN DIVERT ATTENTION BY FOCUSING ON GREAT SPEAKERS, OR A STRONG MUSIC SERVICE, THE BEAUTY OF THE SANCTUARY, ANYTHING THAT TAKES US AWAY FROM OUR SOLE PURPOSE OF WORSHIPPING THE LORD IN HIS MAJESTY AND HOLINESS.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:5: FOR WHAT WE PREACH IS NOT OURSELVES, BUT JESUS CHRIST AS LORD, AND OURSELVES AS YOUR SERVANTS FOR JESUS’ SAKE
4. THE BUILDING OF THE SHELTERS ENABLED THE DISCIPLES TO STAY ON THE MOUNTAIN.
YOU MAY BE ASKING WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT? THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION IS THAT IT IS A DEADLY MISTAKE. IF THE DISCIPLES STAYED ON THE MOUNTAIN, THEN THE CHURCH WOULD DIE. IT WOULD NOT GROW, ONE BY ONE AS PEOPLE DIE IT WOULD PERISH.
DOES IT SOUND FAMILIAR? CHURCHES THAT ISOLATE THEMSELVES BY STAYING ON THE MOUNTAIN, MAKE NO INROADS INTO SOCIETY. JESUS SAID HE CAME TO SEEK AND SAVE THAT WHICH WAS LOST, AND THIS CANNOT HAPPEN IF WE STAY ON THE MOUNTAIN.
IF WE MAINTAIN THE CHURCH AS SOMETHING THAT IS JUST FOR US,
IF WE CLOSE OURSELVES OFF FROM THE WORLD, THEN WE ARE DOOMED TO DEATH. IF PETER JAMES AND JOHN HAD THE SHELTERS ON THE MOUNTAIN THEY WOULD HAVE STAYED IN THE SHELTERS. THEY WOULD HAVE GROWN OLD IN THE SHELTERS AND THEY WOULD HAVE DIED IN THE SHELTERS. WHEN THEY DIED THE CHURCH WOULD HAVE DIED TOO. WE HAVE TO ALWAYS BE ASSESSING HOW WE REACH OUT TO THE COMMUNITY, BECAUSE THIS IS HOW WE TRULY GROW. GROWTH CANNOT HAPPEN BY REMAINING ON THE MOUNTAIN.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS MOUNTAIN TOP ROLLARCOASTER EXPERIENCE?
1. JOHN SAW HIS GLORY:
WE MUST REALIZE THAT JOHN SAW JESUS IN HIS GLORY. IN ACTUALLITY HE WOULD SEE HIM IN HIS GLORY TWICE, ONCE HERE AND ONCE IN REVELATION 1. BOTH PASSAGES CONTAIN MANY SIMILARITIES.
WE ASK JESUS TO HELP US IN MANY SITUATIONS, BUT DO WE REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING WHEN WE DO. “THIS JESUS WHO PATTED ME ON THE BACK WHEN I WAS DISCOURAGED – THIS JESUS WHO PRAYED FOR ME – THIS JESUS WHO WAS SO CONCERNED ABOUT MY FAMILY – THIS JESUS WHO WAS SO CONCERNED ABOUT MY FEELINGS WHEN I WAS LONELY AND TIRED – THIS JESUS I KNOW AS MY FRIEND – THIS JESUS IS GOD. HE IS ACTUALLY GOD IN HUMAN FLESH.
2. WE NEED TO RECOGNIZE THE GLORY OF GOD
AFTER THREE YEARS OF BEING WITH JESUS AND SEEING HIS AMAZING MINISTRY, THE APOSTLE PHILIP SAID THIS:
JOHN 14:8-9:
PHILIP SAID, “LORD, SHOW US THE FATHER AND THAT WILL BE ENOUGH FOR US.” 9 JESUS ANSWERED: “DON’T YOU KNOW ME, PHILIP, EVEN AFTER I HAVE BEEN AMONG YOU SUCH A LONG TIME? ANYONE WHO HAS SEEN ME HAS SEEN THE FATHER. HOW CAN YOU SAY, ‘SHOW US THE FATHER’?
WHEN WE SEE JESUS WE KNOW WHAT GOD IS LIKE. JESUS CAME TO REVEAL AND REFLECT GOD TO US. WE NEED TO SEE GOD AND LISTEN TO HIS WORD. WHEN WE MINISTER IN THE NAME OF JESUS AND FOR HIS GLORY, THEN WE SEE HIS PLAN AND CAN MARVEL AT THE WAY HE WORKS.
WE NEED TO REALIZE WE HAVE A SHARE IN HIS GLORY.
IT IS NOT WRONG TO VISIT THE MOUNTAIN, IT IS WRONG TO SETUP RESIDENCE THERE. IN JOHN 17 JESUS PRAYED FOR HIS DISCIPLES AND ALL WHO WOULD BELIEVE ON HIM.
A LITTLE LATER HE WOULD PRAY
JOHN 17:22-23:
I HAVE GIVEN THEM THE GLORY THAT YOU GAVE ME, THAT THEY MAY BE ONE AS WE ARE ONE—23 I IN THEM AND YOU IN ME—SO THAT THEY MAY BE BROUGHT TO COMPLETE UNITY. THEN THE WORLD WILL KNOW THAT YOU SENT ME AND HAVE LOVED THEM EVEN AS YOU HAVE LOVED ME.
THIS GLORY IS SOMETHING WE CAN SHARE BECAUSE WE ARE CHRISTIANS, BECAUSE GOD WORKS A CHANGE IN EACH OF OUR LIVES. THEN WE CAN SHARE IN THE GLORY THAT JOHN SAW ON THE MOUNTAIN.
CONCLUSION:
WHY DID THE DISCIPLES HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE RESURRECTION TO TELL OTHERS WHAT HAPPENED ON THE MOUNT? IT WAS BECAUSE IT WAS PART OF THE GOSPEL, PART OF THE GOOD NEWS. THE GOOD NEWS WAS NOT COMPLETE UNTIL THE RESURRECTION.
THE RESURRECTION TELLS US THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD. THE TRANSFIGURATION SHOWED JESUS IN HIS GLORY. IT SHOWED US THAT JESUS WAS THE ONLY SPOTLESS LAMB, ONE WHO HAD NEVER SINNED, WHO COULD DIE A DEATH OF SUBSTITUTION FOR US. HE WAS TOTALLY HUMAN, AND ON MOUNT HERMON, IN HIS TOTAL HUMANITY HE WAS TRANSFIGURED TO ALLOW HIS DISCIPLES TO SEE THAT HE WAS TOTALLY GOD.
JESUS CAN BY YOUR SPOTLESS LAMB TODAY. HE CAN BE YOUR SAVIOR. HE IS THE HOPE OF THE WORLD, AND HE CAN BE YOUR HOPE AS WELL.
