Text: Mark 9:2-9
After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)
7 Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
We Get a Glimpse of Jesus’ Glory
I. His divine nature is revealed (vv. 2-3)
II. He’s the Savior we’ve needed (vv. 4-9)
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ,
A couple weeks ago I told you about my classmate Paul and his wife Ruth who was diagnosed with stomach cancer in the 28th week of her pregnancy. Because their son John was born so prematurely, he was quickly taken from them and brought to the neonatal intensive care unit. They knew they would see him again, and that it would be for a more substantial period of time. But for now, they caught just a glimpse of their young bundle of joy.
Today we celebrate the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus. Here we get a glimpse of Jesus’ glory. There’s more to come, but for now we get just a glimpse. But there’s a lot to be seen in just this glimpse. We first of all see as His divine nature is revealed. And then we see that He’s the Savior we’ve always needed.
I. [His heavenly nature is revealed.] It has been six days, so almost a week, since Jesus asked His disciples who people say He is. The disciples gave a few different answers, but then Peter gave the right one: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”[1] Jesus commended Peter for His answer but then He gives them some shocking news. He is on His way to Jerusalem for the last time. He will suffer and die there. It’s written in prophecy throughout the Old Testament, but this was Jesus’ first direct foretelling of it. Peter’s reaction was not good. He took Jesus aside and we read that he rebuked, or strongly criticized, Jesus. Jesus replied by telling Peter, as well as the rest of the disciples, that there must be a cross before His glory.
Again, that happened almost a week before the events in today’s text. Jesus is on His last journey to Jerusalem, and this will be the big one. This will be the one where He dies. It’s appropriate for us to look at this right now because we are about to begin the season of Lent. And that, in a way, is our journey to Jerusalem, to the cross where our Lord will die. And yet, before we do that, we see what Jesus shows His disciples, a glimpse of His glory. So that, even when He’s on the cross, we remember who is in control.
So we have Jesus, Peter, James, and John ascending a mountain. We’re not sure which mountain it is, it’s not important. But they’re going there to pray. The disciples are getting a little sleepy when suddenly something catches their attention. Shaking the sleep from their eyes, they see that Jesus is actually transfigured before them. The word “transfigured” comes from the Greek word for metamorphosis. Where do we hear the word “metamorphosis”? Well, when a caterpillar wraps itself in a cocoon and emerges as a butterfly, we call that metamorphosis. It’s a complete change. The caterpillar changes from a slimy little one-color worm into a beautiful, multicolored insect that can fly.
In a similar way, Christ completely changes His form. He sheds His human “wrap,” if you will, and His divine nature shines forth. Some people say the disciples were hallucinating or that it was the way the sun shone on Jesus’ face. But it wasn’t anything like that. The form of our Lord was actually changed… even His clothes showed His glory. We read that they became “dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.” This was an “out of this world” experience.
Martin Luther once spoke of a worm that covers the fishing hook and hides the hook from the fish’s eye. He said that, in the same way, the humanity of Christ covered his deity and hid it from people’s eyes. That was the case for all 33 years of Jesus’ life before His resurrection from the dead… except for this brief glimpse. With this brief glimpse, Christ displayed something that few others on this earth have beheld… His glory, the glory of God. Moses, who appears here, had actually been the last one to see God’s glory 1500 years earlier! So this glimpse was indeed a great blessing!
But why was it significant? Well for them, first of all, they were about to see what appeared to be the utter defeat of Christ on the cross. They could certainly benefit from this visible proof for strength in those times. And after He rose, and showed Himself to them, they would have great use for this testimony as they witnessed to the world about Jesus. What could embolden them more than this awesome site of seeing the Son of God in all His glory! They were eye witnesses of it!
And for us… hearing the eye witness account of our Savior’s transfiguration encourages and strengthens us, too, as we fulfill the Great Commission. Even though the pages of Scripture are completely littered with the miracles and the Words of Jesus, here we actually SEE Him in glory as the Son of God. It’s not just implied that Jesus is God; He actually shows Himself to be God.
And so we see Jesus pull back the veil of His humanity, be it ever so briefly, so we can see His glory. For this short time, we see all the glory of the Godhead that is contained in Christ! And it’s so comforting to see because He’s not just God, but He’s the God who saves us!
II. [He’s the Savior we’ve needed.] Where do we see that here? Well we see Moses and Elijah there, right? Speaking with Jesus. This wasn’t just for theatrical value. These men represent all that Jesus would fulfill. Remember how in Jesus’ Day, the Old Testament (which at that time was all of Scripture) was called the Law and the Prophets? Well Moses was the giver of the Law, and Elijah was the best known of Israel’s prophets. So we see Jesus with the Law and the Prophets, talking about His approaching death… the fulfillment of Scripture. But why would this King of Glory die?
It’s because the world needs to be reconciled to God. Back in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve sinned and created a rift between God (and His glory), and us. You could say that a giant chasm was created between us. And our relationship with Him was ruined. And we can’t just blame it on Adam and Eve because we’ve all contributed our own countless sins to this chasm. Every time we’ve followed Eve’s lead and tried to make ourselves into God. Every time that I do what I want so that I feel better, regardless of what God says, I’m contributing to that chasm.
And because of this chasm and ruined relationship, no human can help but be frightened when they’re in the presence of God, or even angels. Think about how every time that an angel appears to someone, the first thing they have to say is, “Don’t be afraid.”
Here we have a similar situation, though to a greater degree. The disciples witness God’s glory and Mark records that Peter didn’t really know what He was saying here because he was frightened! Finding themselves in God’s glory, these disciples realize what any of us would hopefully realize… that we are completely unworthy of a God who is so glorious.
Despite the fact that these disciples are frightened, this is an amazing site to see! And so Peter does note that it is good for them to be there. They are witnessing divine glory. It’s the glory that befits the King and Savior of the world!
They hear the voice of God the Father speak from heaven and identify Jesus as that one for us, just like He did at Jesus’ baptism. This is His Son, our Savior. The One who would fulfill all of the Old Testament prophecies. The One who would die and close the rift and chasm between us and God. Jesus is the one who will fix that relationship. And because we see that Jesus is God, we know that His sacrifice is sufficient to cover the sins of the world. The difference between the declaration God the Father gave at Christ’s baptism, and the one He gives here is that this time He adds that we must listen to His Son. The disciples couldn’t just stare at His glory; they also had to listen to His Word, just as we do. Faith comes from hearing the message,[2] right? God the Father here puts his stamp of approval on everything Jesus says. Listen to Him who is the way, the truth and the life.
Suddenly the disciples come to their senses and they no longer hear a voice, they no longer see Moses and Elijah, they’re left with just Jesus. And that’s all they, or we, need. Through faith in this God-man, and this God-man alone, we know we are saved eternally. We know we can say to the death that stalks us… and to our guilty conscience. We know we can say to the devil who wants us to doubt God’s love and forgiveness. “Be quiet. I have a Savior and his name is Jesus.” He lived and died so that my relationship with God might be repaired, and so that I can look forward to an eternal life of glory beyond the grave.
In the same way that my friends Paul and Ruth can look forward to much more than a glimpse of their little John, we can look forward, with certainty to much more than a glimpse of Christ’s glory. We will see Him, fully glorified, in heaven. And, as the apostle Paul assures us, our lowly bodies will also be glorified like His.[3]
Jesus and His disciples descend the mountain. As they do, He commands them not to tell others what they have seen. As with the other times that He gives this command, it’s because people (even these disciples) still have wrong ideas about the kind of Messiah He is. They think He’s a political savior and if their fellow Jews catch onto this idea, it could actually be counterproductive to Jesus fulfilling His mission on the cross. So He tells them not to tell others what they have seen until He’s risen from the dead.
The beauty for us is that we know that He has indeed risen from the dead. And He’s given us the opposite command. Not that we are to keep the Good News of our Savior a secret, but that we are to go and make disciples of all nations.[4] And what a joy it is to spread the good news of our Savior who we know is so glorious! Here we have the eye witness accounts to prove it!
And so we see a glimpse of our Lord Jesus’ glory. But it’s a sad, anti-climactic story if that’s all we ever get to see. Fortunately for us, as believers in Christ, we have much more than a glimpse of His glory to look forward to. We can look forward to seeing Christ in all His glory one day in heaven, and in sharing in that glory. Until then let His transfiguration be your strength and your hope, just as it was for these three disciples. Knowing that we have such a glorious Savior, we follow where He leads until the day we get to live with Him for eternity. What a glorious day that will be! Amen.
[1] Matthew 16:16.
[2] Romans 10:17.
[3] Philippians 3:21
[4] Matthew 28:19