In John 1:14 we find the words, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John writes, “and we beheld His glory…” Can you, like John, say that you have beheld the glory of Jesus? In this message you will find that it is indeed possible to behold the glory of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
What is glory? The word "glory" is translated from the Hebrew word kabod and literally means "heavy in weight." (Compare 1 Sam. 4:18 (the heavy Eli fell back in his chair and broke his neck); Prov. 27:3 (a heavy stone))
“Glory” is the weighty importance and shining majesty which accompanies God’s presence.
Exo 33:18 Then Moses said, "I pray Thee, show me Thy glory!"
Exo 33:19 And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion."
Exo 33:20 But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!"
Exo 33:21 Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock;
Exo 33:22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.
Exo 33:23 "Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen."
God took extra care when granting Moses’ request—in fact, God did not let Moses see the fullness of His glory—this is something He would do later as we will see in this message.
The verb form often comes to mean, “give weight to," or "to give honor” (Ex. 20:12; 1 Sam. 15:30; Ps. 15:4; Prov. 4:8; Isa. 3:5). This is the kind of honor which people give to one another when recognizing the place of the honored person in the community or society.
For example, you may not like a president's political platform but if he were to come knocking on your door, you would probably treat him much differently than if it was your “Cousin Larry” who came over for a visit. (cp. “Solomon in all his glory” - Matthew 6:29)
Glory is not so much something someone bestows on another. It is a quality of importance, which a person, group, or nation has. It is a quality of importance which one recognizes in another.
“To give glory” is to recognize and to praise the importance of another. It is to honor, respect and give regard to the weight the other carries in the community. In the Bible people give such glory to God. That is, they recognize the essential nature of His God-ness that gives Him importance and weight in relationship to the humanity that worships Him.
Psalm 86:9-10 says, “All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name. For You are great, and do wondrous things; You alone are God.
In Exodus 24, we find Moses going up a mountain with the seventy elders of Israel. Verse 10 says that “they saw the God of Israel and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity.”
Moses writes in verse 11, “Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they beheld God, and they ate and drank.” In other words, God didn’t take them out. He was merciful in that He allowed the children of Israel to see Him and live to tell about it!
Listen to what followed:
(Exo 24:12 NKJV) Then the LORD said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them."
(Exo 24:13 NKJV) So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God.
(Exo 24:14 NKJV) And he said to the elders, "Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them."
(Exo 24:15 NKJV) Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain.
(Exo 24:16 NKJV) Now the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
(Exo 24:17 NKJV) The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.
(Exo 24:18 NKJV) So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Hold that thought. Moses wasn’t the only one to have a “mountain top” experience. One day Jesus took His inner circle of disciples to a mountain. Turn to Luke chapter nine and let's see what happened.
(Luke 9:28 NKJV) Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
(Luke 9:29 NKJV) As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.
This is where we take our text. The event described here is commonly known as “The Transfiguration” because Jesus’ appearance was transfigured or changed before His disciples. At the Transfiguration four significant things happened:
Jesus’ face and clothes changed
Moses and Elijah appeared
Moses and Elijah spoke
Peter doesn’t want to leave
We will see how the word “glory” correlates with what Jesus says about His church in Matthew 5—He calls His church, “the light of the world.”
Jesus’ face and clothes changed
(Luke 9:29 NKJV) As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.
If you were a Jew standing on this mountain as this took place, you would have immediately been reminded of Moses’ face that shone after he had come down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments.
(Exodus 34:29 NKJV) Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses' hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.
No man approaches God without being affected. Moses was noticeably changed. Being in the presence of the Lord will change you; it will change me. The more we are in His presence, the more we are changed.
One day we will be in His immediate presence and will be just like Him. John says in 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.”
Let's continue with our text back in Luke chapter nine.
Moses and Elijah appeared
(Luke 9:30 NKJV) And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah,
Did you know that the bodies of Moses and Elijah were never found?
Deuteronomy chapter 34 tells us that God buried Moses:
(Deu 34:5 NKJV) So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
(Deu 34:6 NKJV) And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day.
2 Kings chapter two lets us know that Elijah did not die but was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire:
(2 Ki 2:11 NKJV) Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
The significance of having Moses and Elijah appearing with Jesus is that these two men represented two very significant revelations of God. Moses was the instrument God used when He handed down His Law to Israel. Elijah represented God’s revelation to Israel by way of the prophetic Word.
As we continue with our text we find Moses and Elijah having a conversation with Jesus.
Moses and Elijah spoke
(Luke 9:30-31 NKJV) And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Moses represented the “Law” and Elijah represented the “Prophets.” Surrounded in Jesus’ glory they speak to Him about His departure or decease. It is interesting that the Greek word for departure is exodon, or our English word exodus.
Moses led the children of Israel on an exodus from Egyptian bondage to the Promised Land and Jesus is guiding God’s people on an exodus from the slave market of sin to the Promised City!
As Moses and Elijah are conversing with Jesus, where are the disciples of Jesus? They are sleeping. It is interesting that while some of the most crucial events of Jesus’ life are underway, we find His disciples sleeping.
Later we will find them sleeping while our Lord is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Mat. 26:36-46)
Our text says in Luke 9:3, "But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him."
Some say that the church today is asleep.
* We are asleep today because of our indifference to the things of God
* We are asleep today and have lost our passion for evangelism
* We are asleep today because Satan has lulled us into a disinterest in the Word of God
* We are asleep today and there is sin in our lives.
The church is asleep and as a result, is missing out on the glory of Christ. Paul warns his Ephesian readers not to get “spiritual mono.”
Turn to Ephesians chapter five and notice Paul’s use of the word “light” in this passage and how he ends this passage with an exhortation for Christians to “wake up.”
(Eph 5:8 NKJV) For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
(Eph 5:9 NKJV) (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),
(Eph 5:10 NKJV) finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
(Eph 5:11 NKJV) And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
(Eph 5:12 NKJV) For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.
(Eph 5:13 NKJV) But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.
(Eph 5:14 NKJV) Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."
It was only when Peter, James and John were fully awake they were able to see the glory of God!
Jesus’ face and clothes have changed. (2) Moses and Elijah appeared and (3) Moses and Elijah spoke.
Peter doesn’t want to leave
Peter, James and John awaken to see Jesus, shrouded in lightening-white glory conversing with Moses and Elijah.
When Moses and Elijah began to leave, Peter said to Jesus in Luke 9:33, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah…”
I like the commentary at the end of verse 33. Luke writes that Peter did not realize what he was saying.
All Peter knew was that he was experiencing something “good”—He wanted to stay on the mountain. He forgot all about what Jesus was calling him to do (Luke 4:18)—all he wanted to do was experience more of this glory for himself. This is what a fresh dose of the glory of Christ does for you!
Have you ever come to church and had such a great time of worship and fellowship that you didn’t want to leave? This is what the glory of Christ will do for you.
Peter didn't want to leave, he wanted to stay. Peter must have thought, "forget about going back down the mountain, we can build three tents, one for each of you (Jesus, Moses and Elijah) right here!"
Peter and the other disciples were experiencing "heaven" but God had to bring them back down to earth.
Sometimes it gets like that in the church. The worship gets so good! The fellowship is so warm. The Word of God evokes that burning sensation in your heart (Luke 24:32). You don’t want anyone to come in and you don’t want anyone to leave.
I remember several years ago hearing a sister say that she wanted our church to stay small; she didn’t want anyone to come in and she didn’t want anyone to leave.
Some are comfy and cozy with the way things are. “I am comfortable with the people who are here and don’t want anyone else to come in to mess it up”—this is the way some people in many churches think and feel. “Don’t come in here and mess it up!”
“Don’t come in here and take my chair!”
“Don’t come in here and try to steal my best friend!”
“Don’t come in here and try to out dress me!”
“Don’t come in here and try to take my place on the choir!”
“Don’t come in here and be a bigger giver than I am.”
“Don’t come in here and try to out serve me.”
Peter says to Jesus, “Let’s stay right here—don’t let anyone come up on this mountain and don’t let anyone leave; right here is just fine—we can even build a few booths to accommodate you!”
Jesus has to bring Peter back down to earth--He does so in the next couple of verses of our text.
(Luke 9:34-35 NKJV) While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!"
Imagine for a moment that you were Peter.
He had just seen the appearance of the face of Jesus altered.
He had just seen the robe of Jesus become white and glistening like it was spun from the stars of heaven.
He had just seen the glory of God the Son seeping through His humanity.
He had just seen Moses and Elijah speaking with Jesus about His impending death at Calvary.
As Peter, you get caught up in the splendor of the glory of Christ and you forget about your spouse, you forget about your family, you forget about your church and your ministry. You definitely forget about your job. You forget about life itself and all you want to do is stay and bathe in this holy grandeur.
All of a sudden while you are speaking “out of your head” about pitching tents on a mountain, a cloud comes and engulfs the scene.
The Bible says that the disciples were "fearful" as they entered the cloud. And if that wasn't enough, the Bible says, "a voice came out of the cloud" with the words, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!"
As Peter was caught up in the experience of seeing our Lord transfigured before him, God sent a cloud to come and overshadow everyone. The cloud that overshadowed Jesus along with Moses and Elijah was the same kind of cloud that Moses had once entered on Mount Sinai (Ex. 24:18).
(Exo 24:18 NKJV) So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
(Exo 25:1 NKJV) Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
When Moses entered the cloud, the Bible says that at that time the Lord spoke to him.
When the cloud overshadowed Moses, Elijah and Jesus, a voice came out of the clouds saying (vs. 35), "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!"
Wait a minute! Here was Moses the servant of God who was given the Law of God.
Here was Elijah, the prophet of God who was given the revelation of God.
Why was this happening? In order to answer this question, I need for you to tell me what was Peter’s response to seeing Jesus, Moses and Elijah? He wanted to build three booths or tents.
He says in Luke 9:33, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah…” Peter was treating Jesus as if He was an equal to Moses and Elijah.
When God says in verse 35, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” He was setting the record straight concerning His Son. He was instructing the disciples to take their eyes off of Moses and Elijah and place them on His Son! He was saying here was that Jesus is the literal fulfillment of both the Old Testament Law and the Prophets.
God's Law that came through Moses was good and by it God made the point that man needs a Savior.
Prophecy that came through Elijah and the other prophets was good but it only was designed to point Jews and Gentiles to the Savior who was to come.
When the Savior Jesus finally comes on the scene, God says, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!" God says the same thing in Hebrews chapter one:
(Heb 1:1 NKJV) God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
(Heb 1:2 NKJV) has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
(Heb 1:3 NKJV) who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Remember our definition of glory? Glory is the weighty importance and shining majesty which accompany God’s presence. It means, “give weight to," or "to give honor.”
In our text, God is in the act of escorting His people from the habit of ascribing weight and honor to Moses and the Law and transferring it to His Son who is the "brightness of His glory." Throughout the New Testament we see this as a “work in process” in the church.
(2 Cor 3:7 NKJV) But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away,
(2 Cor 3:8 NKJV) how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?
(2 Cor 3:9 NKJV) For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.
(2 Cor 3:10 NKJV) For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels.
(2 Cor 3:11 NKJV) For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.
(2 Cor 3:12 NKJV) Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech;
(2 Cor 3:13 NKJV) unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.
(2 Cor 3:14 NKJV) But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.
Throughout the New Testament we see God moving His people from attributing weight and honor to the Law and the prophets and ascribing it to His Son.
(2 Cor 3:15 NKJV) But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.
(2 Cor 3:16 NKJV) Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
This is probably where the expression, “I see the light!” comes from. When we turn to the Lord, the blinders are removed and we begin to behold the glory of Christ. We are then transformed into this same glory as we become more like Christ.
We behold this glory and are transfigured into it and are called to let it shine.
(2 Cor 3:18 NKJV) But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
As Christians we are to reflect the light of Christ to the world. The closer we get to Jesus—the more we see the glory of God in the face of Christ and the more we reflect His glory in the world
(2 Cor 4:6 NKJV) For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Last week we examined the words of Jesus as He told His followers that they were the salt of the earth. We learned that salt prevents decay; salt creates thirst and salt seasons. As “salt” Christians were to do the same in the world.
In the same passage of Scripture found in Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus says not only are you “the salt of the earth,” “you are the light of the world.”
(Mat 5:14 NKJV) "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
(Mat 5:15 NKJV) "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
(Mat 5:16 NKJV) "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
The closer we get to Jesus—the more we see the glory of God in the face of Christ, the more we become like Christ and reflect His glory in the world
Again, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
When you and I look into a mirror we see an image of ourselves with all our blemishes and facial imperfections, spots, warts, moles, hair where you don’t want it to me and skin where you want hair to be.
When, as a Christian, we behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory… In other words, you are being sanctified, changed, and transformed into the Lord Jesus’ glorious image.
As you draw nearer and nearer to Christ, you begin to look and act more and more like Him.
* When He moves, you move.
* As He smiles; you smile--As He cries; you cry.
* The things that make Him angry make you angry.
* The things that bring joy to His heart bring joy to your heart.
* As Jesus purposed to do the will of His Father, you purpose to do the will of God the Father.
* The Bible says, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve;” you come to serve.
* The Bible says, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost;” you seek the lost so that they can be saved.
* As He suffered, you suffer.
Christ has gone back to heaven. How will people see Him and trust Him? I believe you already know the answer. They will see His glory through His church! This is why Jesus says to His church, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Where do you and I get this light that we are supposed to shine? We get it by hanging out with Jesus. By spending time with Jesus. By eating up the Scriptures that tell all about Jesus.
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Satan blinds men to Christ’s glory
2 Cor 4:3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
2 Cor 4:4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
This passage, while speaking about the unbeliever, isn’t speaking to the unbeliever; it is speaking to the believer.
God wants us to know that there are people among us who are blinded from seeing the glory of Christ. In other words, they cannot see the glory of Christ on their own. They need someone to show it to them.
How do we show it to them? How do we shine it on them?
The answer is found in 2 Corinthians 4:5-6 where Paul writes, “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
There is a lot of preaching going on in many of the churches today but it is not about Christ. This is why we are seeing our culture degrading right before our eyes.
Most bacteria, mold and other microorganisms grow best in the dark. So does sin.
I remember as a teenager, when we went to house parties and the clubs, it was dark—a lot of sinful stuff happens when it is dark. In California they want to save energy and cut out some of the lights at night—opponents of this measure say crime will increase. I agree.
In John 3:19-20 Jesus says, "And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”
Doctors are using lasers to kill skin growths. Laser is nothing more than amplified light. The term "laser" is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Now they have begun to use lasers inside the body to destroy cancer cells.
In the same way, the light of the glory of God destroys darkness of sin, error and deception. John 1:5 says, “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Church, as salt and light you have a great Evangelistic Potential. Be salt! Be light! Bring glory to the Father in your community and beyond!
