February 23, 2020
Pastor Richard Waldschmidt
Matthew 17:1-9
It’s Good To Be Here Lord
I. To See Your Glory.
II. To Hear The Father Speak
III.
To Preview Your Victory
Matthew 17:1-9 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter,
James, and John the brother of James; and he led them up onto a high mountain
by themselves. 2There he was transfigured in front of them. His face was
shining like the sun. His clothing became as white as the light. 3Just then,
Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus. 4Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for
us to be here. If you want, I will make three shelters here: one for you, one
for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5While
he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them. Just then, a
voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I
am well pleased. Listen to him.” 6When the disciples heard this, they fell face
down and were terrified. 7Jesus approached and as he touched them, he said,
“Get up, and do not be afraid.” 8When they opened their eyes, they saw no one
except Jesus alone. 9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded
them, “Do not tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been
raised from the dead.”
”Praise be to the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Amen
Maybe you have a spot in the God’s world that you think is the most
beautiful spot in the world. Maybe it is
a cabin up north or a vacation spot someplace warm or a ski slope on a
mountain. Or maybe that favorite spot in
the world in closer to home. Maybe it is on your patio or around your kitchen
table. As nice as all those places are
they really are just little tastes and previews of the heaven Jesus has
prepared for us. Today in God’s Word as
Jesus gets ready now to go to Jerusalem to win heaven for us, we see Jesus in
His glory. We say along with the
disciples, “It is good Lord to be here.”
I. To See Your Glory. II. To Hear The Father Speak and III. To
Preview The Victory Jesus Won.
Have the valentine’s candy in the heart shape box always been what you
expected. Ever bit into one expecting
chewy caramel and tasted something walnut cherry surprise? Not really what you expected right? Things had been a little bit that way for
Jesus’ disciples. They had been
expecting that pretty soon Jesus would be getting rid of the Roman government
and that they would be sitting in high authority positions in Jesus’ new
kingdom. But now Jesus was talking more
and more about going up to Jerusalem to suffer and die. This was God’s plan for the Messiah to save
us but it was not what the disciples were expecting. Remember Peter pulled Jesus aside when he
talked about suffering. Jesus had to
say, “You don’t have the things of God in mind.” There would be changes to what the disciples
were thinking about what the Messiah would do.
In a short period of time they were
going to see Jesus tortured and killed. And so, before all that happened, Jesus takes
this opportunity to show His disciples that everything was OK. This was all God’s plan. For just a few
moments there on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus pulled back the veil and
let them get a glimpse of His glory.
In a week or two, our teachers will be going to Teachers’
Conference. So the students will get a
little bit of a break. I never was real
great in Math but I think we 2/3rds of the way through the school year right
now. But there is still a lot of stuff
to fit into the calendar. In God’s Word today, Jesus was preparing His
disciples for the long and grueling times that were ahead for them. Jesus is at
the two thirds mark in His 3 year public ministry. It had been almost
non stop action for Jesus and His disciples during Jesus’ ministry. There were important things on Jesus calendar
in the days ahead. Palm Sunday, Good
Friday and Easter were coiming. In the
face of an upcoming grueling schedule, Jesus took some time out to give Himself
and His disciples a little rest and time for prayer in preparation for the days
ahead. “Six days later Jesus took with
him Peter, James, and John the brother of James; and he led them up onto a high
mountain by themselves.” It was good to
be there. Jesus not only used this time
for rest and prayer for himself and His disciples. He also used this time to
show His disciples His power and glory.
“There he was transfigured in front of them. His face was shining like
the sun. His clothing became as white as the light.” The other Gospel writers tell us that,
"Jesus’ clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world
could bleach them" and His clothes became as bright as a flash of
lightning." I’ve been to the
dentist for work on my front teeth. They
have a palette of teeth colors there.
Dazling white like Jesus was did not appear on his color chart. Jesus appearance here is brighter than
anything we could make with bleach or whitening strips- brighter than anything
we could imagine.
Jesus pulled back the veil and let some of His brilliance and majesty as
God show through. The fact that Jesus was true God was going to
be very easy for the disciples to forget about in the coming days. Within 9
months, Jesus’ disciples would see Jesus seized in Gethsemane. They would see
His slapped in the face again and again by soldiers. People were going to spit
upon Him and insult Him. A crown of thorns would be jammed into his forehead.
They would see Jesus stagger under the weight of the cross. Blood would stream
out of His nail wounds. The breath of life would even leave Jesus’ body. Jesus’
friends might wonder, “Is he really who he said he was?” He really is! He shows them His power. He really is the God whose voice tears the
mountains apart. Jesus is the architect and builder of the streets of gold in
heaven. For just a moment Jesus allowed His disciples to see things as they
really were. His miracles were not the work of a charlatan deceiving people
with a magician’s tricks. No Jesus was indeed who He said He was, the Son of
God. As Peter later wrote, "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."
With Corona viruses and nasty accusations and stray bullets in the news
seemingly everyday, maybe you are looking around this world and wondering if
Jesus is in control. Maybe you are
looking at the things going on in your life and wondering if Jesus really has
everything in the palm of his hand. It
is good to see Jesus glory in the light of the transfiguration. No matter what is going on in your life, no
matter what forces may threaten us, Jesus is still the king to whom all princes
and presidents will someday bow the knee.
The rumors about me are true. I really can turn my eyelids inside
out. I guess that is my superpower. Now I can’t think of a single situation
where ordinarily anyone would have to turn their eyelids inside out but I guess
it was just sort of a “neat trick” that I could do. Jesus was not showing off a
neat trick He could do when He was transfigured. He showed His disciples His
Glory in order to strengthen them for
the times ahead. At the same time Jesus went on to show His disciples why He
had come to earth in the first place. He didn’t just come to earth to show off
what neat things He could do but He came to save you and me. If he had been just showing off I don’t think
what happened next would have happened.
The Father speaks from heaven.
“Just then, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us
to be here. If you want, I will make three shelters here: one for you, one for
Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was
still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them. Just then, a voice
came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well
pleased. Listen to him.” At the Super Bowl, they might not be about to
have all of the former NFL greats present at the coin flip but they might have
a few representatives. Here Moses and
Elijah represent all that God had told His people in the Old Testament- all
that he had promised about the Savior. It
is good for us to see them there with Jesus because Jesus was the One that
Moses and Elijah and all the prophets had been talking about. Luke in his
account tells us that Jesus and Moses and Elijah were talking about Jesus’
upcoming suffering and death! Soon the Father would speak about that too!
But first there is some static on the line. With Jesus shining as bright as lightning, it
is easy to see why the disciples were frightened and didn’t know what to do or
say. Peter, who sometimes said things
before he thought things, said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.
If you want, I will make three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and
one for Elijah.” Peter wants to stay up
on the mountain. “Let’s build some
shelters so we never have to leave this this great place and moment in time.”
But God the Father cuts him off.
God did not have have in mind a tent on a mountain here on earth for us
while we live here on earth. He had in
mind for us to live forever with him in heaven.
That’s why he sent his son. “While
he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them. Just then, a
voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I
am well pleased. Listen to him.” It was
good for Peter to hear those words from the Father. Jesus was right six days earlier. Jesus
was doing just what the Father wanted. With
His words, God the Father assured the disciples that the sufferings and death
Jesus was talking about was all part of God’s plan.
How many times in our lives don’t we let our minds and mouths get
carried away with what we think God should do, how he shouldn’t let this happen
or how he should intervene here or there.
But God the Father’s words cut us off and remind us that God really does
know what he is doing. His voice points
us to Jesus the one who works out everything even sickness and heartache for
His glory and our good.
“When the disciples heard this, they fell face down and were terrified.
7Jesus approached and as he touched them, he said, “Get up, and do not be
afraid.” When they opened their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus alone.” The
bright cloud and the voice of God the Father were almost more than the
disciples as sinful human beings could bear and they fell to the ground
frightened out of their wits. What was
coming for the disciples would almost seem more frightening. They would see their Lord, Leader and Friend
carry a cross through the streets of Jerusalem and up a little hill outside of
town, He would be nailed to a cross and
suffer unspeakable horror. It was good
for the disciples to see this little glimpse of glory. It would be a preview for them of the victory
Jesus would win. In the Garden of
Gethsemane, on Calvary’s cross at the tomb on Easter morning, victories would
be won. Victories that tell us that
chase away our fears! On this side of
heaven when things are too much to bear, when we are terrified Jesus comes and
calms us. “Don’t be afraid.” With his words to His disciples Jesus reminds
His disciples that the victory was coming and that they had just seen a little
preview. “As they were coming down the
mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Do not tell anyone what you have seen until
the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
We might wonder why there would be a command like this from Jesus. Jesus did not want this incident to add fuel
to the fire of people coming to Him for the wrong reason. There was much more
than a glimpse of glory that was coming.
Jesus was the Son of God who came into this world to save sinners- to
die on a cross so that we might live in heaven.
This past week marked the anniversary of the final service in our old
church on 13th and Mitchell.
We have some audio recordings of the service. Those who were there might have said, “It is
good to be here.” As beautiful as the
old church was, God had other things in mind for our church family. As neat as the transfiguration was God had
other things in mind for Jesus than staying on a mountain. He would walk up another hill and pay for the
mountain of our sin. Because of what
Jesus did we will see him one day in all of his glory. Jesus’ friend John wrote
as he looked forward to heaven, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and
what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ
appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Oh Lord it will be good to be there! Amen.
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