These are the Sermon Notes for July 26, 2020. We are now meeting at the church with limited seating and specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Returning to Worship plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.
Mark 9:1-13 The Transfiguration of Jesus
Have you ever read a portion of Scripture, a story in the Bible and find yourself asking, “What was that all about?!” If you are like me and have found yourself in a scenario like that, when faced with this predicament you have two options. When you read an account that doesn’t make sense to you, you can simply shrug your shoulders and settle for, “I dunno,” and move on, or, you can dig in and try your best to figure it out and try and make sense of it.
This morning’s passage in Mark 9:1-13 is one of those passages, at least for me. It describes a fantastic event that, in the past, when I’ve read it I found myself wondering, “What was that all about?!” but my response, sadly, has been, “I dunno,” and I’ve moved on.
This is the beauty of verse by verse exposition of entire books of the Bible: I can’t skip over things I don’t understand. I am forced to deal with them no matter how difficult it is or how challenging the teaching is, or how contrary it is to my own biases and opinions.
So let’s look at Mark 9:1-13, page 844 in the pew Bibles, the account of Jesus’ transfiguration.
We are picking up right where we left off two weeks ago after Jesus had just taught the crowd about self-denial and sacrifice in following Him.
And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”
2 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. 11 And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 12 And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”
Let’s pray
So the last thing that Jesus says to the crowd that had gathered along with His disciples before leaving them was that there were some standing there that would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God coming with power… Ok… What do we do with that idea?
Some scholars say, incorrectly, that Jesus meant His Second Coming, but He that He was wrong. We know that is not correct because Jesus Himself said that He didn’t know the day or the hour, no one knew but the Father. So that could not be what He meant.
Some scholars say that Jesus was talking about the birth of the Church on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given to believers. This is certainly possible if you understand the church to be the kingdom of God and its power to be the power of the Holy Spirit.
Other scholars say that Jesus was alluding to what was about to happen six days later on the Mount of Transfiguration.
While the first idea of Jesus’ Second Coming is clearly wrong, and the Day of Pentecost would certainly make sense, I believe that Jesus was talking about His transfiguration, which is why Jesus’ statement was included right before that account on the high mountain.
The high mountain that Jesus, Peter, James, and John went up is Mount Hermon, just north of Caesarea Philippi, at the northern most part of Israel on the border with Syria.
In Luke’s account of this event he says that Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a high mountain to pray. This was Jesus’ pattern, to get away from the crowd and commune with His Father, a practice we should all certainly adopt.
While they were there up on that mountain Jesus was transfigured before them. What does that mean, what is, “transfigured?” The Greek word, “metamorphoo,” means to be changed, to take on a new physical appearance, transformed. This is the same word that describes the changing of a caterpillar to a butterfly, metamorphosis.
2 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.
The Romans had a thing for intensely white linens, they called them “candorem.” They were linens so clean and white that they almost glistened. The Jews took on this idea as well and used linens like that to adorn priests and kings. But when Jesus was transfigured before the three disciples He made those candorems look dirty. “His clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.”
He was giving His disciples a glimpse into the kingdom, just a taste of His glory. What a scene it must have been!
And to add to this glory, there appeared with Jesus Moses and Elijah!
4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
Luke again offers us more insight into the conversation that was had between Jesus and Elijah and Moses. Luke 9:31 says that they spoke of His departure, or His exodus, that was about to be accomplished in Jerusalem. In this moment of extreme brightness Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah of His coming time of great darkness. What a scene!
But the question remains, why did Moses and Elijah appear? Were they there to teach Jesus? Were they there to encourage Him or cheer Him on? Why was it Moses in particular, why was it Elijah? Was it for Jesus’ benefit or something else? Was this just a random but really cool moment?
My response has historically: “I dunno. But I bet it was cool to see!” Childlike faith or lazy scholarship, you decide!
I’m going with lazy scholarship because there is great meaning in the particulars of this event.
What do Moses and Elijah represent? When you think of Moses what do you think of? The Law. How about Elijah? The Prophets.
Peter’s response to this scene is pretty telling of what the disciples thought about Jesus and His teaching at this time.
5 And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.
My thought about this response, though they were terrified and Peter was just not the type to shut his mouth in moments like this, I think what they really wanted was to simply add Jesus on to the Law and the Prophets. Setting up camp meant setting up a new type of religion where you start with the Law, then you add on the Prophets, and to top it all off you add the Gospel.
This, sadly, is the experience of many, many, people who call themselves Christians. Their faith is based on rules, on do’s and don’t’s, and on obscure misinterpretations of passages of prophecy in the Old Testament.
But we cannot overlook the fourth person who appears in this scene: God the Father Himself.
7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
The Father Himself emphasized the distinction between Jesus, His beloved Son, and Moses, the representative of the Law, and Elijah, the representative of the Prophets. The Law and the Prophets are merged in the glory of the gospel, their glory was temporary, but the gospel’s is eternal. Jesus didn’t abolish them but fulfilled them, and now when we read them they only make sense because of Him.
John Calvin wrote, “If we would properly avail ourselves of the aid of Moses, [and I would add the Prophets] we must not stop with [them] but endeavor to be conducted by [their] hand to Christ of whom both [they] and all the others are ministers.”
From the cloud of glory the Father calls Jesus, “His Beloved Son,” because He was the only mediator by whom the Father would reconcile the world to Himself, the Fulfiller of the Law and the Prophets.
The Father said, “Listen to Him,” because he is the supreme Teacher. The Father corrected the disciples by pointing to Jesus as the One they should listen to over Moses and Elijah, that He was the One who could properly interpret the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus is the Supreme Teacher of the Church and all others, especially me, are subordinate to Him.
John Calvin also wrote, “No man can be regarded as a faithful teacher of the church unless he himself be a disciple of Christ and bring others to be taught by Him.”
There is so much going on in this scene!
First, by appearing in glory, Jesus proved to His disciples, and to us, that He was not dragged unwillingly to His death. It would have been just as easy to protect His body as it was to clothe it with heavenly glory. Peter still didn’t get this concept, right up until Jesus’ betrayal in the Garden, but this was the plan all along.
Second, The Father endorses Jesus, His beloved Son, as the Head and Teacher of the Church, that the Law and the Prophets are not added to the Gospel but are fulfilled by it. The whole Old Testament, every page, points to the person and work of Jesus Christ.
But even still the disciples still don’t get it.
9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. 11 And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 12 And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”
Jesus told them to keep silent about what they had seen until he had risen from the dead. Why? Because they would have gotten it all wrong! They didn’t understand the meaning of what had just taken place and so their recollection of the event could result in all sorts of wrong ideas and bad teaching.
They also didn’t understand the role of John the Baptist, who while he was not Elijah himself, came in the spirit and power of Elijah just as it was told of him before he was born.
Peter did eventually catch on but only after he received the Holy Spirit, and he wrote about this event and its meaning in 2 Peter 1:16-21.
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
So in thinking of the words of the Father from that cloud of majestic glory, “This is my beloved Son, listen to Him,” I have to ask you two questions.
First and foremost, have you been reconciled to the Father through faith in His Son?
No amount of rule following or good deeds will earn you a place in God’s eternal kingdom, only faith in His Beloved Son Jesus.
The second question is: do you listen to Him? Is Jesus’ voice, as recorded in the Bible, chief of all others?
The way we can tell is if we measure the words of any teacher by God’s Word before we believe it.
Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Amen
