JESUS STANDS ALONE
Luke 9:28-36
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: Magician Humor
1. A magician introduced an act in which he would disappear. He said to the audience, “On the count of three, I will disappear!” And he started counting in Spanish, “Uno… Dos…POOF!” And the magician was gone without a trace (tres)!
2. FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL
a. It was the first day of class and the teacher asked students about their parent’s occupations. All went normal until she came to Ethan.
b. “Ethan, what does your father do for a living?” “He’s a magician. He performs tricks, like sawing people in half.”
c. Teacher: “Wow! That’s different! Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
d. Ethan: “Yep, four half-sisters and a half-brother.”
B. TEXT
28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. 31 They spoke about his departure,[a] which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 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. 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.) 34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” 36 When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.
C. THESIS
1. PASSAGE BEGINS: “About 8 days after…” Lk. 9:28
a. Peter’s Great Confession (vss. 18-20)
b. Lord’s 1st announcement of Suffering (vs. 22)
c. Disciples devastated (Mt. 16:22; Mk. 8:32)
d. Promise: See Kingdom come in power (vs. 27).
2. The TRANSFIGURATION of Jesus is important because it:
a. Shows Christ is OUTSIDE THE REALM OF TIME. He is standing with Moses (died 1451 B.C.) and Elijah (ca. 896 B.C.).
b. It clearly shows HIS DIVINE NATURE.
c. Shows the world’s MOMENT OF SALVATION has come.
d. It shows JESUS is the LOOKED-FOR MESSIAH of the Jews.
3. Jesus does not stand in a line of peers with Abraham, Buddha, Confucius, or Mohammed. Jesus Christ is utterly unique. The Transfiguration reveals a turning point in human history.
4. We see here that “Jesus Stands Alone.”
I. JESUS’ COMPANIONS ON THE MOUNTAIN
A. JESUS’ COMPANIONS: Peter, James, & John
1. Jesus’ inner circle. There were 500 at His resurrection, 70 evangelists sent out, 12 apostles, and 3 in His inner circle.
2. Each had special giftings
3. These three were invited by Jesus to accompany Him on 3 Unique Occasions: Jairus’ daughter’s resurrection; at Jesus’ Transfiguration; and to pray with Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane, just before His arrest.
B. THE APOSTLES FALL ASLEEP
1. This is one of the three inappropriate times Peter was found to be sleeping when he was supposed to be praying. The other two times are at the Garden of Gethsemane, and when Peter was going to be executed the next morning in Acts 12:6 (when everyone else in the church was up praying all night! 12:12).
2. HUMOR: SOME OF YOU MAY FALL ASLEEP AT INAPPRO-PRIATE TIMES (like during a sermon). HERE’S THE 7 BEST THINGS TO SAY IF YOU GET CAUGHT SLEEPING AT YOUR DESK:
---"They told me at the blood bank this might happen."
---"I was just trying out the 15 minute power-nap they raved about at the time management course you sent me to."
--- "Whew! I guess I left the top off the White-Out. You probably got here just in time!"
--- "I wasn't sleeping! I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm."
--- "Gee. Why did you interrupt me? I'd almost figured out the solution to our biggest problem!"
--- "Someone must've put decaf in the wrong pot..." and the number one best thing to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk...
--- "In Jesus name, amen!"
3. IT’S ONE THING TO PHYSICALLY FALL ASLEEP, BUT PAUL WARNED US ABOUT SPIRITUALLY FALLING ASLEEP!
a. Rom. 13:11, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”
b. 1 Thess. 5:6, “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”
II. JESUS’ PURPOSE: ON THE MOUNTAIN TO PRAY
A. GOSPEL OF LUKE CALLED “THE GOSPEL OF PRAYER”
WHY? OTHER GOSPELS SAY... BUT LUKE SAYS....
1. Jesus in the Jordan when Spirit descended like a Dove. Luke says…It was while He was praying that the Spirit descended.
2. The other Gospels say, Jesus chose 12 apostles. Luke says it was after He spent a night in prayer that He chose them.
3. Other Gospels say that Jesus died on a cross. Luke says that while he was dying, Jesus was praying for his enemies.
4. The other Gospels say Jesus went on this mountain and was transfigured. Luke says it was while He was praying that He was transfigured.
B. NOTHING IS MORE TRANSFIGURING THAN PRAYER. Prayer doesn't always change God, but it always changes us.
1. IT CHANGES OUR VIEW OF GOD
*Isaiah prayed & saw a vision of seraphs & God’s throne.
*Paul was praying and was caught up to third heaven.
*The Apostle John was praying on the Island of Patmos when he received the Book of Revelation.
2. IT CHANGES OUR CIRCUMSTANCES. “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expect-ation for the children of God to be revealed. Rom. 8:18-19.
3. IT CHANGES OUR VIEW OF OURSELVES. When we see ourselves as God sees us, then we can be changed.
4. IT CHANGES OUR VIEW OF OTHERS. We begin to realize the people around us are saved or lost.
5. NOTHING’S AS REFRESHING AS PRAYER. When we begin our day with prayer, we’re in tune with God & all things work together for our good.
6. PRAYER BRINGS US PEACE. As the song says, "Oh, what peace we often forfeit; Oh, what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry, Everything to God in prayer."
III. 5 PARTS OF JESUS’ TRANSFIGURATION
A. A HEAVENLY ATMOSPHERE WAS MANIFESTED AROUND JESUS AS HE PRAYED
1. This presence was no accident; prayer is the connection between Earth & Heaven. You too can have the presence of Heaven surrounding you if you’ll seek the Lord. What Jesus did, we can do!
2. What was Jesus praying for? He was a. Communing with the Father, and b. Praying for His Disciples – as Elisha prayed for his servant, that their eyes might be opened to behold Heaven’s glory, and c. praying for strength to go to Jerusalem (Lk. 9:51).
B. JESUS’ DIVINE NATURE WAS REVEALED
1. THE “FORM” OF GOD SHOWN THROUGH. Greek – metamorphothe. Phip. 2:5-6, "the form (morphee) of God" shone through the "form (morphe) of a servant."
2. Col. 2:9, "... in Him dwell of all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." The deity of Jesus, previously veiled, now shone through.
3. Matthew says, "His face did shine as the sun and His raiment was white as the light." Light shone from every part of His body, making His clothes appear white.
4. This is the same light - from the face of Christ - that shown on Saul of Tarsus (brighter than the Sun); John saw Him again on the island of Patmos…
12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance” Rev. 1:12-16. John fell at His feet as a dead man!
5. POINT: IF YOU EVER SEE JESUS in all His Glory, You'll never be the same again!
C. MOSES & ELIJAH APPEARED WITH HIM
1. TWO GREATEST MEN IN O.T.
a. MOSES - spoke face to face with God, the great Law-giver.
b. ELIJAH - The Prophet of Fire, who got his own Rapture.
2. DISCUSS: "His Departure" (not decease), "Which He should accomplish at Jerusalem." They spoke of the Cross, the Resurrection, and Christ’s Ascension to the right hand of God.
3. Their Appearance -- Shows History was coming to its climax. God honored His Son with a visit from Moses and Elijah just before Jesus’ great sacrifice.
D. A CLOUD APPEARS, SURROUNDS
1. Not an ordinary cloud: "bright cloud” Mt 17:5. Luminous.
2. Shekinah Cloud, Glory of God.
E. THE FATHER SPOKE: “Beloved Son, Hear Him.”
1. Peter ready to give equal honor to Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.
2. The Father singles out Jesus! “He’s My Son! Listen to Him!”
3. So we can’t get our eyes on men: THEY FAIL. Elijah feared Jezebel and fled to Mt. Sinai. Moses struck the Rock twice and spoke unadvisedly with his lips (Ps. 106:33).
4. The Father’s statement "listen to Him", identifies him as the ultimate messenger and mouth-piece of God. Jesus is the voice of God – not Elijah or Moses or Mohammed or Buddha! Jesus is God’s ONLY SON and Heir!
IV. JESUS WAS FOUND ALONE!
A. THE GREATNESS OF JESUS
1. After all is said and done, Jesus stands alone! No one else is like Him. Jesus is in a class all by Himself.
2. When Jesus was a 12-year-old boy, He was questioned by the doctors of the Law. They were amazed at his understand-ing. One probably asked, “Son, how old are You?” “Well,” He says, “On My mother’s side, I’m 12-years-old, but on My Father’s side, I’m from everlasting to everlasting.” You see, He was both God and man. Now, on His mother’s side, He got thirsty; on His Father’s side, He said, “I am the water of life.” On His mother’s side, He got hungry; on His Father’s side, He took a little lad’s lunch and fed 5,000. On His mother’s side, He was homeless, and didn’t have a place to lay His head; on His Father’s side, He owned the cattle on a thousand hills. On His mother’s side, He wept at the grave of Lazarus; on His Father’s side, He said, “Lazarus, come forth,” and raised him from the dead. [Jerry Vines]. He was God in human form.
3. No one ever spoke like Jesus Christ, did the things He did, or made the claims He made. He was born of a Virgin. No other world teacher ever claimed to be God.
B. JESUS’ SACRIFICIAL DEATH FOR YOU
1. The One who made every tree—died on a tree. The One who made the rivers and streams, said, “I thirst.” The One who flung that sun out into space, was blistered by the noonday sun. He whose hands formed all things, his hands were pierced by man.
2. In infancy He startled a king; in childhood He puzzled doctors; in manhood He ruled the course of nature, walked upon the billows as if pavements, and hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His service.” “He never wrote a book…He never founded a college…He never marshaled an army.
3. Nineteen centuries have come and gone and today Jesus is the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind's progress. All the armies that have ever marched, All the navies that have ever sailed, All the parliaments that have ever sat, All the kings that ever reigned put together -- have not affected the life of mankind on earth as powerfully as that one solitary life. [Philip Schaff & Philips Brooks]
4. Herod could not destroy Him, the Jews couldn’t get rid of Him, the grave could not hold Him, and Hell could not stop Him.” “He is acknowledged by angels, adored by saints, and feared by devils – He’s the living, Conquering Son of God!”
5. How marvelous that HE LOVES YOU! Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you...Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:9,13.
6. ONLY JESUS has the Words of eternal life, died on the cross for your sins; rose from the dead; and at the End of Time -- only Jesus will stand!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. "Maybe you know the story of Sir John Bowring. A brilliant man who spoke five languages, Sir John was twice elected to Parliament. Knighted by the queen, he served at one time as
governor of Hong Kong. It's said he wrote thirty-six books on a variety of subjects.
2. Today he’s best known for a hymn he wrote after a boat trip, sailing along the coast of China. Passing Macao, a city devastated by an earthquake, he spied the ruins of a mission church. Protruding from those ruins was the cross which had stood atop the chapel. That cross caused him to write these memorable words:
3. In the cross of Christ I glory / Towering o'er the wrecks of time / All the light of sacred story / Gathers round its head sublime.
4. Still today the cross of Jesus Christ towers over the wrecks of time—faded dreams, lost hopes, disappointments, violent acts of terrorism, wars, and the lack of peace. In the end, the cross of Christ will triumph over all; the one unchanging Hope!
B. THE CALL
1. EVERYONE THAT JESUS TOUCHES, HE UTTERLY TRANSFORMS!
a. He touched a LEPER, and the leprosy was driven out.
b. “ “ BLIND MAN “ he could see.
c. “ “ the LAME “ they could walk.
d. He touched the INSANE and their sanity restored.
e. “ “ “ GUILTY “ “ sin were forgiven.
2. WILL YOU LET JESUS TOUCH YOU? YOU WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!
3. Jesus says, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” Mt. 11:28.
4. How many would say:
I need a spiritual Healing?
“ “ sins forgiven?
“ “ physical healing?
“ “ God to move in my life?
Raise your hands. Now come forward for prayer.
