The Transfiguration

In this message, Pastor Aaron shares about Peter, James, and John witnessing Jesus' transfiguration and his dialogue with Moses and Elijah. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

If you don't have one, you could always grab one in the seat in front of you. It's Matthew chapter 17, is where we're at today. We are in the fourth week of our Road to Redemption series. And you know, we have seen stories of people from all backgrounds that found God offers redemption to them regardless of their past. Aren't you thankful for a God who offers you redemption no matter what it is, it's in your past? You know, today is uh from a section of scripture. I don't believe I've referenced it in messages. I don't believe I've ever preached directly on this before. So I'm I'm excited to examine the scripture with you and everything it means. And so as we're in Matthew chapter 17, we're gonna be reading through verses one through 13. But before we read that today, you know, Jesus had this immediate circle, and that was his 12 disciples. Now, there were there were many people that followed Jesus that was all also considered the greater disciples, but then Jesus had this immediate group he poured into that was the 12 disciples, but then inside of those 12 disciples, he disciples, he also had an inner circle of three disciples that he poured into constantly. Those three were Peter, James, and John. And their lives are about to be marked by a transformative experience. Have you ever had something happen in your life, a God moment where you can point to and say, that moment transformed my life? Anybody? Just by a show of hands? We got a few in here that say, Yeah, I've had that. Where you witness something and you walk away with every detail just sticking with you. And it's it's such an impactful moment that it changes you. And I believe that if you live a full life, we can sometimes point to several key moments that were impactful or changed us where we say, I saw the glory of God. I was in Trinidad and Tobago at the age of 17, and I saw demons manifesting themselves in people, and I'd never seen that before in my life. And these possessed people, they were prayed for and set free. It's the it's one of the wildest experiences I ever had. And then I can think to other transformative times in my life where the day my wife was miraculously healed, and then I look back to Wendy's and my internship in Papua, New Guinea. We were there two months, and we were dropped off by a helicopter in the highlands, and we were the only English-speaking people besides two others for hundreds of miles. And then on that same trip, we we we rode up to this highlands area called Karawari, where I got really sick. But there we met a pastor and his wife whose daughter had died, and then the church prayed. And she was she was dead for over a day, and they prayed and they saw her come back to life. These moments changed my life forever, and they were all God moments. And we experience these moments, and we are marked for change, and it's not an accident, it's not an accident that God does it. He intends to strengthen your faith and prepare you for what lies ahead. And so let's read this story of Peter, James, and John being witnesses to the transfiguration. Matthew chapter 17, verses 1 through 13. Six days later, we're gonna talk about what happened before that six days later. Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus' appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as light. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus. Who's intrigued now? Peter exclaimed, Lord, it's wonderful for us to be here. If you want, I'll make these shelters as memorials, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is my dearly loved son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him. The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground. Then Jesus came over and touched them. Get up, he said, don't be afraid. And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus. As they went back down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, Don't tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. Then his disciples asked him, Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes? Jesus replied, Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, but he wasn't recognized, and they chose to abuse him. And in the same way, they will also make the Son of Man suffer. Then the disciples realized he was talking about John the Baptist. Let's pray. Father God, we've only got a small glimpse of what the transfiguration must have been like. But Lord, these three men saw your son in all his glory. And God, I I know and I believe that, Lord, just for a glimpse of your presence, Lord, our lives are changed. And so, God, I am believing that for each and every person in this room, that Lord, they can leave saying, I've been in the manifest presence of God. I thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. We're gonna start off today, and we're gonna be looking at this as they they got a glimpse of his glory. And you know, Kelton alluded to it at the end of worship that there's there's nothing better than glimpsing the glory of God. And imagine what we might do in that, right? Maybe we're gonna have the same reaction as the disciples, where we fall fall face down and we're absolutely terrified because we realize that I am in the presence of an all-powerful God. And here in the in the disciples' lives, Jesus' identity was confirmed amongst many questions that they had before that. You saw at the very beginning of the passage where it said, six days earlier? Well, six days earlier, Jesus predicted his death and suffering. Matthew chapter 16, verses 21 through 28. In fact, Peter heard this, he heard Jesus saying this, and he rebuked Jesus. And this was the exchange between him and Jesus. Listen to Matthew 16, 22 through 23. It says, but Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. Now, before we go on, isn't that cute? Peter thinks he knows better, right? And he said, Heaven forbid, Lord, this will never happen to you. Jesus turned to Peter and said, Get away from me, Satan. You are a dangerous trap to me. You are saying things merely from a human point of view, not from God's. And then, with Jesus' prediction, it left the disciples in a bit of a quandary. Now, the prediction Jesus was offering it, it created that conflict with the disciples. And at first, and the reason is at first they envisioned Jesus as a prophet, then once they embraced that he was the Messiah, they expected a triumphant Messiah, not a crucified one. And so in their minds, they're thinking, what do we do with this information that he's giving us? And so for Peter, James, and John, this was the preview on the mountaintop of the exalted Christ. Peter goes on later, and we're going to reference this a couple times today. Peter talks about this in one of his books. In 2 Peter chapter 1, verses 16 through 18. Listen to what he says. For we are not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes when we received honor and glory from, when he received honor and glory from God the Father, the voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, This is my dearly loved Son who brings me great joy. We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. That moment was God's glory fully revealed in his son. And I sit there and God, what is your greater purpose in them witnessing this moment? You know, Jesus, he says, hey, don't talk about this until I'm resurrected. And and but but they got to witness this awe-inspiring moment. And we've got five reasons that God did this. The first is Christ's divinity was revealed. Now, this this event, it was the physical, manifested divine nature of Jesus Christ that was shown before them. They saw it all. And so they also witnessed it by God's voice, which we're going to touch on later, and Jesus' radiance. And we know that Moses' appearance changed when he was up on Mount Sinai with God, and it said he reflected God's light. I want you to hear this, Exodus 34, 29, it says, and when Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he wasn't aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the Lord. So when Aaron and the people of Israel saw the radiance of Moses' face, they were afraid to come near him. I want to tell you something. That experience Moses had and the experience Jesus had are very different. They're not the same. They're not the same. Moses reflected the glory of God. Jesus' face, however, shone like the sun. Which indicates, check this out, his light came from within his own divine essence. Fully God, fully man. The second. The reason they witnessed this, this was the fulfillment of law and prophets. It was that fulfillment. Moses' presence there represented that old covenant law. Elijah's presence represented the prophets. And this demonstrated that Jesus was the goal of completion in all Jewish scripture. So their presence, it signifies that the law and the prophets, they bear witness to the righteousness of God through faith in Christ. Listen to Romans chapter 3, verses 21 through 22. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. How encouraging to witness God's divine fulfillment. Amen. Imagine that moment. And then what's amazing about Moses and Elijah appearing, that just when Peter thinks, you know what, we need to, we need to build like altars to these guys. They go away. And so when the vision ended, only Jesus remains, and it signals that he is the ultimate authority that we must now listen to. Did you catch that? Listen, listen to it the same story, but told in Luke chapter 9, verses 35 through 36. It says, Then a voice from the cloud said to him, This is my son, my chosen one. Listen to him. When the voice finished, Jesus was there alone. They didn't tell anyone at the time what they had seen. Now we're going to talk a little bit more about something that happens before that moment here in our next point. The disciples witnessed this because they were receiving encouragement before suffering. You know, who wants to be a part of something? Like in our human nature, if we say, hey, you've got a path to choose, complete bliss or pain and suffering. What path are you going to choose? Who's up for pain and suffering, baby? Like, I want all of it. Like, like we don't say that in our flesh, right? Like we might be, we might be saying, yeah, you know, in the spirit, I get it when we learn the word of God. But before that knowledge, we're like, I don't want anything to do with that. I'm good. And the transfiguration had occurred right before Jesus' journey to the cross, and it was to ensure the disciples would not lose hope during that suffering. And so it served as this visual counterpoint to his shocking news that preceded his that his death was coming. The Gospel of Luke records that Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus about his departure. Remember how I said a little bit earlier in Luke 9? Listen to this. Luke 9, 31. They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. So we get an idea of what Moses and Elijah were talking to Jesus about. It was a moment of encouragement. And so this moment also frames Jesus' death as it's this deliberate saving act of liberation. Pretty cool. Number four. Previewing God's glory and resurrection. In that moment, they saw Jesus in this sneak peek of his resurrected glory. Don't you pray sometimes, Lord, give me a glimpse of heaven. Let me see what it's like. Let me get an idea of what it is like to be in your throne room. And here, the three disciples, they get they get this preview of him in his resurrected glory. And some scholars believe that this is a direct fulfillment of a promise Jesus made earlier. Listen to Matthew 16, 28. It says, I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. And it foreshadowed the future transformation of all believers. Listen to Romans 8.29. We that we are conformed into the image of his son. We are also changed into his glory. I don't have it up on the screen, but listen to this. And so God, in doing this with the disciples, he was establishing eyewitnesses, and this moment was foundational for the message that they would go on to share. Peter used this moment to defend his faith. Again, listen to this, 2 Peter 1, 16 through 18, for we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when we received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. We ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. God's voice speaking from heaven provided the verification. Everything that Jesus Christ had done, they had these eyewitness accounts of. And these eyewitness accounts could not be refuted. I've seen it with my own eyes. I know it's real. And they took that with them to their deaths. You know, we've heard a lot. We don't die for a lie. And eleven of the twelve died for their faith in Jesus Christ. Number two, second thing we're talking about today is they heard they heard God's voice and they heard this affirmation in his son. And who knows when God speaks, we better listen. When God speaks, he speaks with great purpose, and it's important. Church, listen to what I'm about to say. Don't ignore it, don't pass it off. It is intentional and it carries us through the trials of this life. When he speaks, it will sustain you in spirit and it bears witness to others. Because we see when it's confirmed, like, God, you prepared me for this. You prepared me for it. This week I went to a conference in Orlando, and the flights were an absolute nightmare. Left Monday morning, supposed to get there Monday afternoon, didn't get there till late Tuesday night. And yeah, it was a zoo. But I was like, God, I don't care about getting there late. I don't want to get home late. Like, I want to get home on time. And praise God for smooth connections. And I'm on my last flight, and there's this female sitting next to me. And you know, when I'm on a plane, I'm not one for chit chat. I'm not one for getting to know the person next to me. I'm putting my earbuds and go to sleep or zone out. And you could tell that was her agenda, too. Right. She slept for a while and she had headphones on, and I decided that I was doing a bunch of research and I'm just using my phone and looking a bunch of stuff up, and she's not paying attention to me at all. Then right as we're descending, she looks over at me and she's like, I've got a weird question for you. I'm like, wow, that's that's quite an introduction. Okay. And she says, Are you a pastor? I said, Yes. When you answer yes to that question, you don't know what's coming next, right? And I said, Yes. And she said, God has something He wants to tell you. And she said, This might not seem like much to you, but it was everything to me. The work that you are doing is good. She didn't know that I've been in a spiritually dark place. She didn't know that I've been wrestling with doubt for months and questioning myself. And then God speaks. Church, when God speaks, listen. Listen. There is nothing more comforting than the Father's voice. There is nothing on this earth more comforting than the Father's voice. And it's always our lifeline for our connection with eternity. That is God's lifeline. And there is nothing more rewarding than the Father's affirmation. And that's what he gave to Jesus. And you know, we can find in Scripture three times in Jesus' earthly ministry where God audibly affirmed Jesus. When he was baptized in Matthew 3, 17, he said, This is my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased. At the transfiguration in Matthew 17, 5, he says, This is my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased. Listen to him. And then Jesus' prayer after the triumphal entry in John 12, 28, Jesus said, Father, glorify your name. Then a voice from heaven said, I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. But there's no denying that when God speaks, especially when he speaks audibly, his presence brings a holy fear. Where I know that when God is here, when God is here and his presence is so strong, I don't want to dare speak a word. I don't want to dare move. I just I just want to be still in his presence because what happens is that this I almost get terrified, but it's the kind of good fear, you know what I'm saying? It's it's not the fear like I gotta get out of here. It's the fear that I can't leave. I can't leave. Matthew 17, 5 through 8. It says, But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is my dearly loved son who brings me great joy. Listen to him. The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground. Then Jesus came over and touched them. Get up, he said, don't be afraid. And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone and they saw only Jesus. They were hit with this holy fear. Make no mistake. When you are in the true presence of God, you are awakened to how small you are and how big he is. And in this holy fear, they hear God say, My son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him. Listen to him. All the persecution talk, Peter, that you've been rejecting. Listen to him. All the times you three have questioned him, listen. It was a command of obedience, even through the cross and suffering. Are you seeing that, church? That was God's command of obedience. And Jesus goes on to instruct him. He's like, stay silent until the resurrection. This is for you. And so for Peter, James, and John, God's voice would fuel perseverance through denial. God's voice, his presence would give them perseverance through martyrdom. They didn't deny Christ. Give them perseverance for John's case through exile. It moved them from being fearful to being bold. In church, God's voice is still speaking. And so many people in church today, they're like, I just want to hear God's voice. And I'm going to tell you, you can today. You can today. You just need to crack it open. You can hear the voice of God. I know, I know we read about experiences like this, and we're like, I want that. I understand that. I understand desiring that. But God has given us his written word, which is still living. It's still breathing. It's still working today. Commit yourself to it. It's for you. So what I'd tell you is, listen to him. Listen to Jesus. And his affirmations in your life. What he speaks into your life, it will redeem your fears into faith. When God speaks, he doesn't speak to make you feel this big. He speaks to reignite you to keep going. Last thing we're going to talk about today. Facing the valley. I can't imagine witnessing all this and uh experiencing Jesus' full radiance and hearing the voice of God and like, hold on, we've been talking about Moses and Elijah our whole lives, and we just saw them. Right? That's better than seeing your favorite ball player or whatever. Like, like we have heard about them forever, and now we're actually witnessing them. And this moment fades. And Jesus is like, Well, time to go back down the mountain. No, I'd rather be right here. I'd rather stay here in this moment. Whatever we got going on up here, God's gonna take care of us. But God's affirming voice and Jesus touches them as they're terrified. He says, get up, don't be afraid. And I can only imagine the look on Peter's face, a guy who wore his heart on his sleeve. Don't be afraid. Do you realize what we just saw? Don't be afraid. But the presence of God is the most welcoming, awe-inspiring, and terrifying in a good way the presence that we can ever experience. But descending the mountain always brings us into having to deal with these present realities, but now through the lens of God, through God's lens. And here's the thing: Jesus did already give them a glimpse of what was ahead. He'd spoke to them about that. And then they they witnessed the power and presence of God revealed completely in Jesus Christ. And we know that even after this moment, Peter would go on to deny him three times, later to be restored by a resurrected Jesus. And then he would lead boldly at Pentecost in Acts 2. Now, Peter, he would eventually face imprisonment and in his own crucifixion in Rome somewhere. It was between 64 and 67 A.D. Sometime in that point, he said, Don't crucify me like my Savior. I don't deserve it. Crucify me upside down. Put me upside down. I'm not worthy to die in that manner. James was the first apostle martyr. He was the first one. He was beheaded by Herod Agrippa around 44 A.D. We can find that in Acts 12. It was swift, but it was a brutal end to his life. John. John endured through exile on the island of Patmos, which is just off the shores of Turkey. I've been by it. It was a really cool experience, but John got to witness the church's growth. He wrote of Christ Christ's glory in his gospel and in letters and in revelation. Expressing who Jesus Christ was. Here's the point. Their lives weren't easy after they had been on the mountain. Persecution, loss, and suffering. It awaited them, but witnessing the glory of God, it marked them forever. Church, there is always a valley we must face before we reach eternity. I do. But let those moments sustain you. Don't forget them. Don't allow yourself to disregard it because of present circumstances. You hold on to what God has done, knowing that He is sustaining you into eternity. That's so important. Listen to Romans 8:18. It says, yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. Church, when fear grips you, listen to the words of Jesus. Get up, don't be afraid. Listen to those words. It's life-giving. It's like if you believe in me and you believe in what I am capable of, you don't need to be afraid of anything. I have told you everything that's going to come, I've told you everything that's going to happen. You just need to get up, don't be afraid, and follow me. And here's the thing. I minister to Christians all the time who are gripped with fear. And I try and be as loving as I can, but I get tired of it. And the reason I get tired of it is because every time I turn into the word of God, Christ promises these things are going to happen. And at some point we got to mature. And I think where maturity really sets in for us, because I don't, I don't mean to, I don't mean to tear anyone down. We have to accept his glory is better than anything for us here on this earth. You have to accept that. Embrace it. Look forward to it. And that these present realities are like a passing vapor. Here today, gone tomorrow. And God is calling you to trust Him, listen to Him, don't take your eyes off Him because it's easy. Church, it's easy when the bombs are going off, isn't it? To take your eyes off of Him. It's easy when the world is in chaos to take your eyes off of Him. But God is saying these present sufferings can't compare. Trust me, listen to me. I have something good for you. I have glory that awaits you if you just embrace it in Jesus' name. And I know you might be reeling in the fact that the pastor just told you basically that it's time to accept suffering. But I would tell you instead is something much more welcoming and true. Bear all your burdens to Him and let Him carry you and sustain you. Those burdens, once we fully embrace Jesus and who He is, his burdens are pretty light. It's easy to get through life when I know something better awaits me. I'd like you to bow your heads and close your eyes. There have been things that have happened to you that have been horrific. Things that have stuck with you and it's hard to get to God. There are things ahead in your life that you don't want to face. And I wish there was something I could say that could heal that. But here's what I know about the glory of God. He can. I can't. He can. Sometimes I just have to accept that I'm I'm tired of holding on to it. And I need to let go because that's the only way God's going to sustain me. And my encouragement to you, no matter how weighty it is, let go. And I realize you might be saying, you don't know the offenses I carry? You don't know where I've been. And I'm going to tell you: if you believe in Jesus Christ, you serve a Savior that carried every offense, every sin on the cross. Lay it at his feet. And you're going to find rest. You're going to find relief. You're going to find yourself redeemed. If you're here today, you're like, Pastor. The burden's been so great. And I need prayer. I need God to take it away. I want you to know this altar is for you. It's for you. And I encourage you to just come and kneel at the altar. You're going to find people coming up behind you and praying for you. And what they're praying for you for is that they are they are believing that God is going to break this bondage. Set you free. I'd ask everyone to stand right now. And I'm going to pray. As Kelton leads us into worship, you know, uh, I could come down to the altar and say, I'm surrendering it all to you.

unknown 40:59

Let's pray.

SPEAKER_00 41:02

Father God, I just thank you for each and every person that is here today. And Lord, I believe that God. Trust in your son and listen. And Lord, I know that throughout my life, God, there's been so many times I just need to get out of my own way and let you work. And for some, that might be the very need today. But Lord, ultimately, coming to your throne is just an admission of God, I need you. And I can't do this on my own. And a full embrace of your Son Jesus Christ. People here will find that relief. I thank you and I praise you. In Jesus' name. If you feel like you're facing the valley right now, I just encourage you to come to the altar. I want to pray with you.