March 6/7, 2011, Transfiguration, sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Sermon text - Matthew 17:1-9
1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
5 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. Listen to him!"
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.
7 But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don’t be afraid."
8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
9 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."
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How bright was the Transfiguration scene? Let’s think of car headlights. When I drive to church in the evening and come up Grange to Forest Home Avenue, some lights can be blinding because of the incline of the road. Actually, facing oncoming traffic anywhere can be blinding if drivers don’t use their dimmer switches.
How bright was the Mount of Transfiguration scene? As we are not sure of this mount’s exact location, so I am not sure of the degree of brightness there. But I like to think Jesus must have used His dimmer at least a bit on the Mount of Transfiguration. Why? Because sinful people are not equipped yet to see the full glory of God. That is what God told Moses once, as recorded in Exodus 24:20, "You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." Seeing God’s full glory has to wait until the time when we are in glory with Him. But for now let us look at the glory that Jesus has given us to see in our text.
JESUS’ TRANSFIGURATION SCENE
I THE PARTICIPANTS (1-3)
1. Jesus took three with Him (1)
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
a) the main participant here is Jesus, God’s eternal and glorious
Son who had humbled Himself for the world God loved, who
had done that so that He could suffer and die for us sinners
b) the others were Peter and two brothers, James and John; these
had been with Jesus when He raised Jairus’ daughter from the
dead and would be with Him later again in Gethsemane; - here
is an interesting fact about them: John was the last of Jesus’
disciples to die, whereas James was the first of Jesus’ disciples
to be killed by persecution because he followed Jesus
2. Then Jesus’ transfiguration took place (2)
There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
a) think of a car headlight, and then think of it being turned on
b) so see Jesus here first looking just like you and me, but then
being "turned on" with a tremendous brightness - but probably
dimmed enough so the disciples could see and still live
3. Then two more people appeared (3)
Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking
with Jesus.
a) one was Moses, through whom God had given the Law at Mt.
Sinai; Moses had led the Israelites up to the Promised Land but
died before entering and had been buried by God Himself;
the other was Elijah who was a prophet whom God chose to
take into heaven directly in a whirlwind without first dying
b) both of these men had left the earth long before the time of the
transfiguration; but here they were, alive, talking with Jesus
4. Can we be participants in glory?
a) many people may think when life ends, when our time on earth
comes to its conclusion, when we die, then that is all there is
b) Moses and Elijah didn’t agree with that at all, and God doesn’t
either; God clearly teaches a life after this life: heaven or hell
c) we surely don’t want hell though we deserve it, and we do
want heaven though we don’t deserve it; but can we have it?
can we, after our life here, talk with Jesus, with Moses and
Elijah, with Peter and James and John? the answer is yes; Jesus
came so that we could be participants too - but let’s continue
now with what happened at the Mount of Transfiguration
II THE REACTION (4)
1. Peter was eager to be with Jesus (4)
Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
a) sometimes people ask if we are going to know each other in
heaven - please note that Peter here, without an introduction at
all, knew who Moses and Elijah were; that should be good
news for some of us who have more trouble with names as we
get older; I figure that should be great when I get to heaven
b) but the main point here is how excited Peter was, but then also
how impractical in thinking about staying there in shelters
2. But how quickly that could change
a) later Jesus warned Peter not about staying but about leaving,
denying Him, and Peter said that would not happen - but it did
b) thankfully Peter repented, turned again to Jesus for His
forgiving love, and then stayed with and served his Savior
3. How eager are we to stay with Jesus? (4a)
Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here."
a) good to spend time with Jesus? - do we sometimes instead say
that about this world and not about Jesus, loving what this
world has to offer more than we love God and what God
offers; loving the things of this world, loving money and what it
can buy to satisfy our cravings for things that often are not at
all necessary, loving that more than God who is necessary?
b) do we say we would like to talk with Jesus, hear from Him,
but then stay away from church where we could hear His
Word, leave our Bibles shut where we could hear from Him?
4. What can we learn from Peter? (4)
Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
a) he wanted to listen, was ready to do work putting up shelters
b) listening, serving - that surely we can learn from Peter
c) and when we are weak, as we all often are, again like Peter let
us also learn to be ready to repent and to listen to our Savior
III THE MESSAGE (5-9)
1. The Father also became a participant (5-6)
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. Listen to him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.
a) God broke into Peter’s talking, interrupted him
b) and now notice the change of feeling from "it is good" to
terror - would we feel much different if God interrupted us?
2. Listen to His message (5)
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. Listen to him!"
a) it was about His Son; as at Jesus’ Baptism God spoke and
endorsed His Son for His ministry, so here as Jesus was near to
completing His mission on earth God again endorsed Him as
His Son, positively identified Him as the promised Savior
b) and it was about what we should do with His Son: "Listen to
him!", open our ears to what God’s Son has to say to us
3. Now the Son spoke (7-8)
But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don’t be afraid." When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
a) "Don’t be afraid." - but in a short while they would be again;
when Jesus was arrested they all forsook Him and fled
b) but after Easter, His mission completed, again Jesus told the
disciples not to fear; He had fulfilled His Father’s assignment
4. Full understanding was not yet there (9)
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."
a) why keep quiet? - I’m sure they did not fully understand
b) and sometimes we don’t understand either, do we, when God
in His wisdom sends some things into our lives, such as
sickness or difficulties, that limit us as to what we want to do
c) so what should we do until God is ready to reveal more of His
plan for us? wait, and do what our God says: Listen to Jesus!
IV THE FULFILLMENT (9b)
1. A great victory was to come (9b)
"Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
a) was the Transfiguration glorious? more glory was to come,
the glory of Jesus’ resurrection; but first also more darkness
b) in a matter of months Jesus would be rejected, tortured,
crucified; but that wasn’t all; yes, Jesus would die; but He
would come alive again; He would prove His mission
completed by not staying dead in the grave
2. This fulfillment we consider in the next weeks
a) this Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the first of our six
Wednesday Lenten services, and then comes Holy Week
leading up to Easter which announces the fulfillment: "the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
b) while "Don’t tell until" applied right after the Transfiguration
until the first Easter arrived, it no longer applied after that
3. Since the first Easter, fulfillment is to be proclaimed
a) Peter, one of the three, clearly did that, as we heard earlier in the epistle reading from the lectern: "We 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. For he received honor and glory from God the Father
when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying,
‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain." (2 Peter 1:16-18)
b) Peter and James and John heard and told, heard and told the
same message we too are privileged to hear and proclaim today
4. It is a message of our participation in glory too
a) Jesus was raised from the dead, and He has promised us, "Because I live, you also will live." (John 14:19)
b) and we too will be transfigured, as God’s Word promises, "By the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, [the Lord Jesus Christ] will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." (Philippians 3:21)
c) then, when our transfiguration happens, not only Peter and
James and John will be in glory talking with Jesus and with
each other; we will join them, join Moses and Elijah and all of
God’s people in a glory that will never fade away
The Transfiguration scene faded away. Car headlights can burn out and be dimmed completely. But heaven’s glory, our transfiguration, will never end. With Peter we too can say as he said in his first letter (1 Peter 1:3-4), "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you."