The story in our text today is recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke and I believe it’s the source of the phrase “A Mountain Top Experience. So, over the past week I went searching for stories and quotes about Mountain top experiences, and I stumbled on this comment: “The Outing Club is hosting world traveler and Mount Everest Climber, Jeff Strite.” (https://www.facebook.com/events/olin-lecture-hall-268/guest-speaker-jeff-strite/759160597582584/)
I bet you never knew I climbed Mt. Everest, did you? Well… I didn’t. But someone else named Jeff Strite did! He climbed Mount Everest. And he’s not the only one - Mt Everest is the highest mountain on earth and is a popular destination for mountain climbers. But you better have a lot of money to do this because, last I read, it presently costs climbers about $20,000 to make that trek. The famed climber George Mallory was asked Why climb Everest? And he replied: “Because it’s there”
Like I said, Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell of Jesus at the Mountain of Transfiguration, but Luke tells why:
Jesus “… took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to PRAY. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” Luke 9:28-31
Now, WHY did they go UP ON the mountain? (TO PRAY) At least… that’s why Jesus went up there. Peter, James and John probably went simply because Jesus was there, and wherever He went, that’s where they wanted to be.
But apparently there was another reason Jesus took them up the mountain. It seems He’d taken them there for a little bit of show and tell - Something they could only see… on the Mountaintop. In Matthew we’re told that Jesus “was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Matthew 17:2-3
So, what’s going on? Why did Jesus bring His disciples up the mountain for this “Mountaintop Experience?” Well, in the Bible, whenever God wanted to get people’s attention it seems He took them to a mountain.
In Exodus we read that After God brought the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt, He had MOSES bring them to MOUNT Sinai. And while they were there God came down upon the mountain with a cloud and filled the sky with thunder and lightning and He spoke with such authority that the people trembled.
Do you think God got the people’s attention? Oh yeah. In fact, it was God’s intention to get their attention to make sure that they NEVER forgot what happened that day.
And then there was ELIJAH (the other man on the Mountain with Jesus). In the days of Elijah, God once again brought His people to another Mountain (Mt. Carmel) and it was there on that mountain that Elijah challenged the pagan prophets of Baal and Ashtoreth to a contest. And in the midst of that contest, God sent fire from heaven that consumed Elijah’s sacrifice.
Do you think God got the people’s attention? Oh yeah. In fact, it was God’s intention to get their attention to make sure they NEVER forgot what happened that day.
And now here in Matthew, Jesus takes His closest disciples up on the Mountain, and we’re told Jesus “was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.” Matthew 17:2
Do you think God got the disciples attention? Yeah. In fact, it had such a powerful effect on Peter that he later wrote in II Peter 1:16-18 “… we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.”
So here is Jesus, on the Mt of Transfiguration, meeting with Moses and Elijah. But why? Why were Moses and Elijah there? Well, Moses represented the Law (That’s why it’s called the Law of Moses). And in the minds of the Jews, Elijah represented the Prophets. In fact, to this day Elijah is so important that his name is mentioned at the end of every weekly Sabbath, and he’s also a major character in the Passover feast.
So, in essence, Moses and Elijah summed up the entire Old Testament scriptures. And here are these two men Moses and Elijah, on the Mountain, talking with Jesus. And we’re told “a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’ When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise, and have no fear.’ And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.” Matthew 17:5-8
Moses and Elijah were there because God planned to have them there. God had them there to make a statement! And what God was saying was this: Moses and Elijah were important (that’s why they were on Mountain) but, when everything was said and done… they disappeared into the mist. Why did they disappear? Because while they were faithful SERVANTS of God, JESUS was the SON of God.
That’s why the voice of God declared “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him!” God wanted the disciples to NEVER FORGET that Jesus had the power, authority and credentials to demand that they listen to Him!
Philippians 2:6-9 tells us “Jesus…being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!”
Jesus was God. He had the power, the authority, the credentials, but He put all that aside so that could come down from heaven and die on the cross for our sins to bring us forgiveness.
When Moses was on Mt. Sinai, and Elijah on Mt. Carmel God’s was saying “You can listen to me… or you can get off my mountain. Because I’m not sharing you with anyone else.”
And here on the Mt. of Transfiguration – God saying pretty much the same thing. “This is my son – listen to Him! Don’t try to make Him just another teacher, prophet, or moral leader. He’s far more than that. In fact, He’s far above even a great leader like Moses, or even a powerful prophet like Elijah.
This is my Son! You can either listen to Him… or get off the Mountain. Peter later said in Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
You’re not going to be saved by Buddha, Hara Krishna, Mohammed, or even Moses or Elijah. Because NO ONE else can do what Jesus can do for us. No one else can remove our guilt and shame and bring us the promise of salvation.
FOR US – IT’S EITHER JESUS… OR NOTHING
What I find interesting… is how Peter responded to what happened on that Mountain. We’re going back to that passage in II Peter, but we’re going to include the verse prior: “we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.” II Peter 1:16-18
This experience shook Peter. It was like the pivot point for his faith in Christ. He was declaring I KNOW WE DID NOT FOLLOW MYTHS… I saw it, I touched it, I experienced it.
In fact, I think this Mountain top experience was what John (one of the other 2 disciples on the Mountain that day) was thinking about when he wrote “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, … which was with the Father and was MADE MANIFEST TO US — that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us…” I John 1:1-3
This Mountain Top experience shaped the faith of these disciples… and they were never the same again.
ILLUS: Years ago, I had long e-mail conversation with an atheist on the internet. He was a college professor and had his own atheist website and he told me he was going to share our conversation on his website. Do you think that intimidated me? … yeah, I was intimidated. He was a college professor, how could I possibly compete with that? But I was convinced that God wanted me to talk with him and so prayed a LOT beforehand… and I was amazed that I was able to hold my own with him. It had to be God because I’m not smart. We went back and forth for about 3 months and I suspect he was getting frustrated that he couldn’t seem to embarrass like he’d hoped he could … so he tried a new approach. He said “Up till now, you’ve been sharing what you learned in Bible College. But I’m not interested in that. What I want to know is: Why do YOU believe what you believe?”
That stopped me. I’d never thought about that before. It was a good thing this was an email conversation because I had to give this a lot of thought. All through my ministry I’ve been driven man. For me, preaching has never been just a job… it’s been a passion. But now this atheist was asking me WHY? Why did I believe what I believed? Why was I so committed to Christ? And I DIDN’T KNOW!!!!!
Different people have different reasons why they’re committed to Christ.
ILLUS: One preacher told me that his "aha" moment was one day in Sunday School, when a teacher was telling about how Jesus died on the cross and suddenly it became REAL for him … Jesus had died for HIM. And from that day on… his life changed!!!
ILLUS: Another man told me his “Pivot Point” was when he realized his life and his marriage were falling apart. That’s when he went to church and shortly after was baptized into Christ. From that day on … his life changed!!!
But I couldn't think of any “aha” moment in my life. I couldn't remember a point in my life when I suddenly decided what I believed about Jesus... so I spent the next couple days asking myself what it was that shaped my faith like that. Then I remembered a story of an experience I had while attending Purdue University in Lafayette, IN. I wrote it down, sent it to my atheist friend… and he never wrote back. And this is that story:
I went to Purdue because my brother, who I idolized, said I needed to go there for a couple of years just of the experience of being the Glee Club. Since dad was willing to pay the freight, I went and took classes I thought would be helpful for the ministry – sociology, psychology and philosophy.
One day in a philosophy class, the teacher said something that shook me. He said “Jesus didn’t die on the cross, and I can prove it. When someone dies, the heart stops pumping, and the blood begins to flow to the lowest part of the body. But in the Gospel of John we’re told that Jesus died… and then a little later a Roman soldier pierced his side with a spear and blood and water came out. If Jesus had been dead, that blood shouldn’t have been there… therefore, he wasn’t dead.”
I went back to my dorm room and sat down to have a talk with God. I said “I need you to answer this, because if You don’t, I’m going to go sell insurance. I don’t have time to preach about a Jesus I can’t defend.” And then I just sat around for the next few weeks. I didn’t go ask a preacher or the campus house ministry to explain what might be a good answer to this challenge. I figured, if God wanted to answer this, He do it when He was good and ready. And He did.
The next month I was in another Philosophy class. The class had ended and a few students had gathered around the teacher’s desk. So, I went over to see what they were talking about. As I approached his desk, the professor said “I just heard the most intriguing thing this last weekend. Do you remember when Jesus died on the cross?” (Now he had my attention) “And do you remember when it says that the Roman soldier pierced Jesus’ side with a spear and blood and water came out.” (Now, he REALLY had my attention).
He explained that there was a condition known as “Cardiac Tamponade.” It is a rare thing, but it is possible for a person to endure so much stress and pressure that their heart can literally burst. Around the heart is a sac called the Pericardium. The liquid in that sac has the appearance of water. If the heart burst and blood mingled with the liquid of the Pericardium – and you were to pierce that sac – what you’d see come out would have the appearance of blood and water.
That makes sense for 2 reasons. 1st – if I were to cut your arm, blood and water would not come out… only blood. 2nd – the Bible tells us that Jesus didn’t die from the cross. He literally gave up control of the body… and He died. Since the Scriptures teach us that all the sins of mankind – with all of the guilt and sorrow and heartache that accompanied those sins – were placed on that one man, at that one time, on that one cross… once Jesus gave up control of the mortal body, the stresses on that human heart would have been unimaginable. Of course His heart would break.
I was excited. This was great stuff! So when I went to Bible College the next year, I was determined to share this gem of knowledge with the professors there. But… there’s a reason why Bible college professors are professors. They’ve heard most of this before. So when I mentioned this discovery to one of my professors, he replied: Oh Jeff, it’s even better than that! When Jesus died on the cross, He was placed on the cross at 9:00 in the morning, and He died at 3:00 in the afternoon. At the Temple, the first sacrifice was made at 9:00 in the morning… and the last sacrifice was offered at 3:00 in the afternoon.
Now, Passover was a major day of sacrifice. People were lined up around the block to offer their lambs and other sacrifices to God. With all that sacrificing, there was a lot of blood on the altar, the floors and the utensils. How do you think they removed all that blood? Well, they’d developed a technique where they would pump water up from underneath the Temple and they used this water to wash down the altar, the utensils and the floor. This liquid then was carried by trenches out beneath the city walls into the Kidron Valley (the Kidron Brook ran between the city of Jerusalem and the Garden of Gethsemane).
People that have visited the Holy Land tell me that the banks of the Kidron are still red from all the blood from the many sacrifices over the centuries. Farmers would go to the Kidron and collect mud from its banks to spread on their fields – it was a rich fertilizer for their crops.
Now, if you’d been standing outside the walls of Jerusalem about 3:30 in the afternoon… what do you think you’d have seen coming out of those pipes? (Blood and water).” If I’d been God, there’d have been more than 21 chapters in the book of John. If I’d been God there’d have been at least another 10 chapters talking about all the applications of that one verse. But John didn’t care. His comment about seeing blood and water come out of the side of Jesus wasn’t all that important to him. All John wanted to prove was that there had been no need to break Jesus’ bones. Why? Because Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb. John knew that that kind of lamb would be unacceptable to God if its bones were broken. So, John says “I KNOW Jesus was dead! I SAW the Roman soldier pierce His side, and blood and water came out.”
Like I said, when I sent that information to the atheist, he never wrote back. How could he? This wasn’t theology… this was reality.
And this was the point where I finally decided I believed what I believed. That was my “aha” moment. And not everyone has a story like that, but that doesn’t matter to God. All that matters to God is that YOU know why you believe. Do you know why you believe what you believe? Do you remember the moment that this whole understanding of who God was shook your entire existence? Do you remember that? You see, that’s your witness! Not your theology, not what the preacher said on a particular Sunday morning. It’s – what difference did it make for you. Because, that’s what people want to know. And that is your witness. It’s the one thing that people listen to, because now they know that Jesus changes lives, because He’s changed yours.
But if He hasn’t changed your life – that’s why we offer a time of invitation.
INVITATION
