Transfiguration Sunday
\nFebruary 26, 2017
\nMatthew 17:1-9<\/p>\n
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.\u00a0 There he was transfigured before them.\u00a0 His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.\u00a0 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.\u00a0 If you wish, I will put up three shelters\u2014one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”\u00a0 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.\u00a0 Listen to him.”<\/em>\u00a0 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.\u00a0 But Jesus came and touched them.\u00a0 “Get up,”<\/em> he said.\u00a0 “Don’t be afraid.”<\/em>\u00a0 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.\u00a0 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”<\/em>\u00a0 (NIV1984)<\/p>\n Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n Did you watch the Super Bowl a few weeks back?\u00a0 I think most people would agree that it was both an exciting as well as a shocking game.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t take very long for most people to think that the Atlanta Falcons were going to go home basking in the glory of a Super Bowl victory.\u00a0 The score at halftime was 28 to 3\u2014 Falcons!\u00a0 Then came the second half of the game!\u00a0 Time after time Tom Brady led his team down the field to even up the score.\u00a0 And then, for the first time in Super Bowl history, the game was decided by an overtime touchdown.\u00a0 Suddenly to many people\u2019s shock and amazement the Patriots are the ones who have the glory of being Super Bowl champions\u2014 again!\u00a0 Sadly, however, the glory of their victory will be somewhat short-lived.\u00a0 I hear that the San Francisco 49\u2019ers are already planning on being the ones who walk away with the glory of winning Super Bowl LII!<\/p>\n Down through the ages there have been certain individuals and there have been certain events that have been described as \u201cglorious.\u201d\u00a0 In the end, however, earthly glory quickly fades away and is forgotten.\u00a0 It is only by the grace of God, my friends, you and I have the opportunity to gather together here in the house of our God and with the eyes of faith witness true lasting glory!\u00a0 Today let\u2019s see how this very familiar portion of Scripture focuses our hearts and our lives on this Transfiguration truth:\u00a0 The Glory of the Lord Is Revealed!<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 As we travel to the top of the Mount of Transfiguration this morning we want to see three things.\u00a0 First, we want to see how the glory of the Lord is revealed in Jesus\u2019 Person<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 Secondly, we want to see how the glory of the Lord is revealed in Jesus\u2019 purpose<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 And finally, we want to see how the glory of the Lord is revealed in Jesus\u2019 people<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The transfiguration of Jesus Christ took place less than a year before His death and resurrection.\u00a0 The \u201csix days\u201d<\/em> referred to here in our text go back to Peter\u2019s tremendous confession concerning Jesus, \u201cYou are the Christ, the Son of the living God\u201d<\/em> (Matthew 16:16).\u00a0 And while there is some debate over where the Mount of Transfiguration was located in the end it doesn\u2019t really make any difference.\u00a0 What is important is not where<\/em> this event took place but rather what<\/em> this event is all about, namely, the glory of the Lord being revealed.<\/p>\n At various times in the history of this world the Lord God openly revealed His glory to His people.\u00a0 We think of the burning bush in Exodus chapter three.\u00a0 We think of the glory of the Lord that appeared in the cloud that guided God\u2019s people out of Egypt (see Exodus 13:20-22; 14:19, 20; 16:6-10) and then led them through the wilderness (see Exodus 40:34-38).\u00a0 We think of our Old Testament lesson for today where we heard how \u201cthe glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai\u201d<\/em> (Exodus 24:15-18).\u00a0 We think of the glory of the Lord that filled the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35) and the Temple (II Chronicles 5:11-14) in the Old Testament.\u00a0 Over and over again when the Lord, the one and only true God revealed Himself to His people that revelation centered on a glorious brilliant light\u2014 the \u201cglory of the Lord.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Peter, James and John were given the privilege of seeing the glory of the Lord in the Person of Jesus Christ there on the Mount of Transfiguration.\u00a0 Matthew tells us, \u201cThere he <\/em>(Jesus) was transfigured before them.\u00a0 His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 The Greek word which is translated here as \u201ctransfigured\u201d<\/em> is where we get our English word, \u201cmetamorphosis.\u201d\u00a0 In a way that goes far beyond our comprehension Jesus\u2019 eternal divine nature began to literally radiate forth from His human body.\u00a0 The humble unassuming Rabbi whom Peter, James and John had been following from town to town and from village to village for a little over two years now, the humble unassuming Rabbi who had amazed people with His miraculous powers, His keen insight into the sacred Scriptures and the depth of His compassion for others\u2014 this humble unassuming Rabbi was \u201cchanged,\u201d He was \u201cmetamorphosized,\u201d He was \u201ctransfigured\u201d<\/em> before their very eyes.\u00a0 Yes, the glory of the Lord, the glory of the one and only living God was openly revealed in the Person of Jesus.<\/p>\n Anyone who wants to try and maintain that Jesus is not true God, anyone who wants to try and maintain that Jesus is not the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, anyone who wants to try and maintain that Jesus is not, \u201cGod from God, Light from Light, true God from true God\u2026of one being with the Father\u201d (Nicene Creed, Second Article) is going to have to perform some rather strange mental and linguistic gymnastics to try and explain away what Peter, James and John witnessed there on the Mount of Transfiguration.\u00a0 These three men would be the first to stand up and proclaim that the glory of the Lord is indeed revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n The second point we need to take home from this text is to see and understand how the glory of the Lord is revealed in Jesus\u2019 purpose<\/em> for being on this earth.\u00a0 That all-important purpose is brought out in verse three of our text, \u201cJust then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Moses, the great representative of God\u2019s holy revealed Law, and Elijah, perhaps the greatest of God\u2019s Old Testament prophets suddenly appeared there on the Mount of Transfiguration and were \u201ctalking with Jesus.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 What were they talking about?\u00a0 For that we turn to Luke\u2019s account of the Transfiguration.\u00a0 Luke tells us, \u201cTwo men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus.\u00a0 They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem\u201d <\/em>(Luke 9:30-31).<\/p>\n Within about nine months Jesus would enter into the depths of His humiliation.\u00a0 The eternal Son of God would be betrayed by a friend.\u00a0 The eternal Son of God would be deserted by His disciples.\u00a0 The eternal Son of God would be beaten and publicly humiliated by mortal human beings.\u00a0 The eternal Son of God would be stretched out and nailed to a cross by sinners.\u00a0 And it was all a part of the purpose for which Jesus came to this earth, my friends.\u00a0 How does that purpose reveal the glory of the Lord?\u00a0 The glory of the Lord is revealed in the fact that Jesus, the eternal Son of God, did not have<\/em> to allow any of that to take place!<\/p>\n Think about it, my friends.\u00a0 Jesus did not have <\/em>to be born as our true Brother.\u00a0 Jesus did not have<\/em> to live a perfect life as our Substitute.\u00a0 Jesus did not have<\/em> to suffer and die in our place.\u00a0 It is only because of His grace\u2014 His undeserving love for us\u2014 that the eternal Son of God lived and died and rose again for our eternal salvation!\u00a0 For all the times that you and I have rebelled against the Almighty by shattering the Law He gave to us through Moses, for all of the times that you and I have not trusted in the promises which the Lord has made to us through His prophets\u2014 through men such as Elijah\u2014 for all of that and more the Lord our God made and carried out a plan<\/em><\/strong> for our salvation.\u00a0 That plan was embodied in the humble unassuming Rabbi whose true glory as the eternal Son of God became visible here on the Mount of Transfiguration.\u00a0 Can we see the glory of the Lord revealed in Jesus\u2019 purpose for coming to this earth?\u00a0 Absolutely, my friends!\u00a0 Absolutely!<\/p>\n How then is the glory of the Lord revealed today?\u00a0 The glory of the Lord is now revealed through us\u2014 His people.\u00a0 In the closing verse of our text Matthew tells us, \u201cAs they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, \u2018Don\u2019t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.\u2019\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Even though Jesus had very clearly told His disciples exactly what was going to happen to Him in Jerusalem and why (see Matthew 16:21ff) the disciples still did not quite understand Jesus\u2019 purpose for being here on this earth (see also Acts 1:6).\u00a0 And since so many of the Israelites were still hoping that Jesus would be a political Messiah, someone who would drive out the hated Romans and restore the nation of Israel to a position of power and prestige, Jesus did not want Peter, James and John to tell anyone<\/em> about what they had seen and heard until after<\/em> Jesus\u2019 physical resurrection from the dead.\u00a0 Once Jesus had completed His mission, once Jesus had died to pay for the sins of the world, once Jesus had raised Himself to life to prove that He had indeed won the victory over sin, death and the devil, then<\/em> Peter, James and John were to tell everyone<\/em> what they had seen and heard here on the Mount of Transfiguration!<\/p>\n In humble obedience to their Lord Peter, James and John did exactly what Jesus had told them.\u00a0 For the next nine months they kept this \u201csecret\u201d to themselves.\u00a0 But once the Son of Man had been raised from the dead these men told\u2014 and are still telling\u2014 millions of people about who this Jesus of Nazareth is and what this Jesus of Nazareth has done for our eternal salvation!\u00a0 Think back to our Epistle lesson for this morning (2 Peter 1:16-21).\u00a0 The Apostle Peter tells us, \u201cWe did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.\u00a0 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, \u2018This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.\u2019\u00a0 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 And in the very first chapter of his Gospel account the Apostle John writes, \u201cThe Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.\u00a0 We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth <\/em>(John 1:14).\u00a0 Yes, to this very day the glory of the Lord is being revealed through the words and through the witness of the men who were there on the Mount of Transfiguration.<\/p>\n Now it is our turn, my friends.\u00a0 There are millions of people today who look at Jesus Christ as just another prophet, just another holy man.\u00a0 There are millions of people today who do not even know Who Jesus is or what Jesus has done for them!\u00a0 They haven\u2019t even heard that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, this world\u2019s only Savior from sin.\u00a0 Among those millions of people are individuals whom you see and talk to on a regular basis.\u00a0 Let the glory of the Lord be revealed through you, His people.\u00a0 Through your words and through the witness of your day-to-day life take people to the top of the Mount of Transfiguration so that they can see the glory of the Lord revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 From the top of that glorious mountain point them to the cross on the top of Mount Calvary so that they can see that the glorious purpose for which Jesus came into this world was to save them from their sins.\u00a0 Then point them to the glory of Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, so that even when they are walking across the plains of a routine mundane life, even when they are struggling through the valleys of hardship and difficulty they will always have the comfort of seeing the glory that the dear Lord Jesus has waiting for them in His eternal heavenly home.<\/p>\n Truly, Transfiguration Sunday does indeed empower us to say:<\/p>\n To God be the glory!<\/p>\n Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Transfiguration Sunday February 26, 2017 Matthew 17:1-9 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.\u00a0 There he was transfigured before them.\u00a0 His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.\u00a0 Just then there appeared before them Moses and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":781,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780\/revisions\/781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}