Divine Radiance (Part A)

How often do Christians think about this moment on the mountain? Abraham, he conversed with God. Moses parted the sea. Elijah could raise the dead. David slew his giant. Daniel saw way into the future in detail and multiple futures at that.

But none of them glowed with the power and the glory and the majesty. As Jesus did this day in his divinity. Mark's Gospel, chapter 9, verses 1 through 13. Peter, James and John led them up on a high mountain by themselves and he was transfigured before them.

His clothes became shining exceedingly white like snow such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. Elijah appeared to them with Moses and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles.

One for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. Because he did not know what to say for they were greatly afraid. And a cloud came and overshadowed them and a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son, hear him. Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore but only Jesus with themselves. Now as they came down from the mountain, he commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant. And they asked him, saying, Why do the scribes say Elijah must come first? And then he answered and told them, Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man that he must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I say to you, Elijah has also come and they did to him whatever they wished as it is written of him.

Divine radiance, that's what we are considering. But before we begin to look at the verses, have a little bit of an introduction, because I think this is a very significant part of scripture that we benefit from to this day. Faith, Christian faith, of course includes not turning our backs on the Lord, regardless of what we may be experiencing. Go through life, you experience various things that can challenge your faith, create doubt, perplexities, pressures, pain, grief, just seems to be no shortage of things that are trying to bump us off of our faith. But faith is supposed to have some value in the presence of doubt, in the presence of defeat. It is supposed to mean something at those times.

Faith is not just something that works when everything is, well, it does work when everything is going smoothly, but that's not the only time it is supposed to work. This transformation of our Lord, this visible transformation in front of these three disciples of his is flashing out his glory. It was meant to help these men in the days to come, even though at the very moment they may not have appreciated it, they would never forget it so long as they lived. Those days from his crucifixion, till his ascension into heaven, till their own deaths, they would recall this day, even though there's not much written about it. We will get to some of the writing about it from Peter, but it was to give them some advantage in ministry because serving the Lord involves being attacked by the flesh, and by the world, and by Satan himself in more intense forms. I can tell you before I started serving the Lord, as a Christian, things were pretty good. But once you enter into ministry, I don't mean just pastoral ministry, I mean serving as a believer.

Things intensify. And so he gives them this vision. Paul had his Damascus experience. He could always recall that day that Jesus intercepted him on the road to Damascus.

How many times these men reflected on the moment, as I said, we're not told. But when James, the brother of John, who is part of the trio that witnessed this divine radiance of Jesus Christ there on the mountain that day, when he was marched off to the slaughter, as the first of the apostles, which rocked the church, it was one thing for Stephen to be killed, but it was an entirely different matter for one of the twelve, the apostle James, to be killed, and God did nothing about it, except took him home. When it was Peter's turn to die, it was not without a life of serving the Lord, recalling such a time as this. And when Peter writes his second letter, he brings it up. He says, We didn't follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. And when he saw it flash out, he's talking about this moment, and he tells us it's this moment that he has in mind. He says in verse 17 of 2 Peter chapter 1, For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when such a voice came from heaven, from the excellent glory.

This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Now Peter leaves out the part that he was rebuked. He says, And we heard the voice which came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. He never forgot. Peter's an old man by this time.

He brings it up. We're not following things that someone just told us. We have a reason for the hope that is in us, as Peter does write also. Then when John the Apostle, when he left this life, he left behind the greatest end times revelation of them all, known to man, the revelation of Jesus Christ. And this experience on the mountain on this day was not wasted on these men. So much so that without this experience, I think the Christianity that we have handed down through the ages would have been different than what we have.

It would have been less. I do not believe for one moment that the Lord wasted this flash of divinity on these three men. He knew exactly what he was doing. He knew exactly what he would get from it, whether we know it, recognize it or not. This was no mere flash of spiritual brilliance.

Others had experienced that. This was a flash of his divinity. This statement was, I am self-created. I am God. I am God the Son.

And there is a God the Father. And this comes out in the story that we're being told, not only by Mark or Peter to Mark, more than likely. Matthew tells the story. Luke researches it and he ends up telling the story.

It is a fact. On top of his sinless life and the miracles and the matchless teachings, this, this moment. How often are you mindful of the transfiguration as a Christian? Mindful of him walking on water, perhaps, of stopping the storms, of raising the dead.

But how often do Christians think about this moment on the mountain? Abraham, he conversed with God. Moses parted the sea. Elijah could raise the dead. David slew his giant.

Daniel saw way into the future in detail and multiple futures at that. But none of them glowed with the power and the glory and the majesty as Jesus did this day in his divinity. Christ invested in these men and the gospel has survived. And I believe largely because of moves by God through Christ, just like this, for the saints, us, to make a big deal about it. We're supposed to make a big deal about God things, no matter what the world throws at us. No matter what your own flesh, the hideous flesh, no matter what it throws at you. The world being used by Satan, no matter what it throws at us, we are supposed to make a big deal about Jesus Christ. That is not supposed to ever stop wherever we go. That assignment is static.

It does not change. And now we look at verse 1. And he said to them, assuredly I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power. Really, verse 1 belongs in the previous chapter. It should follow verse 38 in Mark chapter 8, where we read, For whoever is ashamed of me, in my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation of him, the Son of Man, also will be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. And so Christ is introducing this radiance that we're not to be ashamed, that we are to preach Christ, and boldly so, as the Spirit opens the opportunities, and that there is glory attached to him. And so then verse 1 continues that thought, and he said to them, assuredly, I'm telling you, there are some standing here. Now that's not all of them. They all saw the resurrection, barring Judas, of course.

But the surviving believers, they saw the resurrection of Christ. He's not limiting it to that glory. There's another glory he's talking about that all of them did not witness.

Just these three. And of course, we know it's Peter, James, and John, because verse 2 tells us this. And so he's giving them a heads up before he gets to the mountain. He says, some of you are going to see some of this glory that I'm telling you about. When he spoke those words in verse 38 of chapter 8 about his glory in the Father, they probably didn't get it.

They did not appreciate it. So he gives them a heads up. I'm going to give you a little bit more to go along with that. And so it is this promise here in verse 1. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom. He's talking about the transfiguration. Each one of the gospels puts this wording right before the transfiguration experience.

So we do not separate it. It is a foretaste of his promised coming at the end of the age. That he is indeed the one with glory.

Now, that kingdom of God. Now some can, many good Bible teachers, very good Bible teachers, will try to make a difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven. But if you look at the gospels and how it's used, there's really no difference.

The two are interchangeable. The gospels shows, the synoptic gospels especially, that's Matthew, Mark, and Luke, gives us a synopsis of the ministry of Jesus Christ. And then you have John, an independent gospel if you compare to the three. But in parallel passages, Matthew uses the kingdom of heaven while Mark uses the kingdom of God, Luke the kingdom of God. And then Matthew uses them for the same teaching also interchangeably in Matthew 19, for example, used in the same connection. So bottom line is, as a Bible student, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, the same.

Matthew being a Jew, preferring the kingdom of heaven for his audience. Verse 2 now, now after six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain, apart by themselves, and he was transfigured before them. That's a trek up a mountain. I don't know if any of you have ever walked up a mountain. It's actually kind of a drag after a while. It's like, oh, look, there's more mountain to go.

And then coming down can be, you know, your breaks have to really be good. But Matthew and Mark say six days, but Luke says eight days. A different counting, a method of counting, a different standard. Mark and Matthew, they were Jews, they would use the Jewish standard, sun up to sun down. Luke, more liberal, as a Gentile, of course, including the half days and those events that took place in between the actual movement.

And not only that, no discrepancy, just different standards of counting the time. Matthew and Mark, as I mentioned, being Jews, are taking us back somewhat to the days of Moses. Exodus chapter 26, 24, chapter 24, verse 16, where Moses is about to make the first of two trips to the mountain that involved fasting. Now the glory of Yahweh rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

And so there might be some of that in the Jewish presentation from Matthew and Mark, because Moses is a big part of what is about to take place. He says here in verse 2, apart by themselves, and he was transfigured before them. Transformed. That word transfigured, we get our word metamorphis from that Greek word, and it means to change its appearance. Paul will use the same Greek word in Romans chapter 12, where he says, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed. Go through a metamorphis.

Go through a real change in appearance because of what has taken place on the inside. And so Paul says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Think differently. Filter everything through Christ now, not, well I think, well what does Christ think about it?

Before a Christian can say, well I think it's okay for people to do X, Y, and Z, that Christian is first going to say, well this is what Christ thinks about people doing X, Y, and Z. This separates us from the world, and this makes the world upset with us. You know, the world wants us to drink from the same punch bowl that it has sneezed over. And what is with people who drink that they, you know, they vilify those who won't drink with them. Would you like a drink? No, I don't drink. Oh, what, you don't drink? I just said I don't drink. If you were sober, maybe you would have understood it. So we're harassed for not joining the party. But we can't harass them for not joining our party.

How does that work? Well, you're going to change it, but it helps to know about it. It helps to stand up to the world. One of my favorite comeback lines is when I was in the world preaching Christ in the workplace, is when someone would come along acting like they knew the Bible and I knew they didn't.

I did not. I would tell them in front of witnesses, the only thing you know about the Bible is you don't know anything about it. And that would open doors. That would shut them up. And then they could start receiving some real Bible lessons about Jesus Christ instead of what they saw on television or read in the papers.

You know, those were the days when many Christians would say something righteous and then apologize to the news for saying it. And it's like, ah, man, that's not Christianity in action. The renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Well, how do you prove what is the will of God? Under fire.

Under pressure. Obedience is proven in the face of temptation and temptation is real. You cannot tempt me with certain foods. I don't like them. But the ones that I do like, you can tempt me with those.

I should make a list and publish it in case you guys want to donate. Verse 3, his clothes became shining exceedingly white like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. Yeah, I struggled with that word, launderer. When do you say the word?

I mean, the tongue is not ready to make those kind of moves. Anyway, his appearance was pure, unlike anything they ever saw. Never saw something so white, so clean, so bright as this. We sing in the song, blessed assurance, oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Well, this is a foretaste of glory divine for these men. Heir of salvation, purchase of God, a beautiful song. Well, it anticipates the resurrection.

When his identity is unveiled, this is who I am. After the resurrection, he had to sort of roll it out slowly to them. They not being the sharpest knives in the drawer, but we would have been no different. And here, he's giving them a glimpse of something they've never seen before.

I don't think they appreciated it right then. They come down the mountain, they're chit-chatting, but I just, you know, you don't get the feeling that they really were awestruck or as awestruck as they should have been. Verse 4, and Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. It's sort of like a dream. You know who characters are in a dream without anybody saying it? Well, then this is a vision, and it is a real experience, a real vision.

It's really happening, and it's miraculous. And there's Moses and Elijah, and they never saw these guys before. They didn't have pictures of them. And yet, they knew who they were because God was operating in the vicinity, you could say. And these two characters, it's not by mistake that it's these two men. It's not Isaiah and Malachi. It's not Abraham and Enoch.

It is Elijah and Moses, and that tells the Bible student, well, it sends an alert out, there's more stuff here because these are key characters to the Jewish mindset and to Christianity. Elijah represents believers who will be raptured, caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord. Elijah departed from the earth without dying, taken up in a chariot. He paid his dues. He was tired. And God said, go anoint Elijah. And after he anointed Elijah, soon after, God took him out and up to heaven. 1 Thessalonians 4, but I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have died.

Now, he uses falling asleep as a euphemism, but I'm going to use the word died because that's what he's talking about. And it keeps the point in front of us. Concerning those who have died, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. Now, you're not saying we don't sorrow.

We do sorrow, but we have hope in our sorrow. He continues in Thessalonians, he says, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who died in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who died.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be. Therefore comfort one another with these words. You can't comfort one another with these words if, no, you're going to go through the Great Tribulation period and you're going to be tortured every single day of your life. We're going to be deliberate from the Great Tribulation that will come upon the whole earth. Where he says, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Does that remind us of the 23rd Psalm?

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, world without end. So Elijah, who was again the one that departed from this life without dying and was the emblem of the prophets, the Old Testament prophets to enforce what Moses said. That was the role of the prophet.

They were enforcers in that sense. And we know Elijah was a fierce character. If I be a man of God, let fire come down from the sky. And he did it again.

It wasn't a lucky shot. Moses, on the other hand, represents the saints who have died and are alive with Christ, raised from the dead. Jesus Christ is God of the New Testament believers as well as the Old Testament believers. It's not like, oh well, you know, Moses and Elijah didn't come under the blood of God.

Oh yeah, they did, else they'd never get before God the Father. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 51. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all die. We shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. The trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible.

That is without rotting and decay. He continues, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. I will receive a body, you will receive a body that is fit for the heavens, that can go into the atmosphere without imploding or anything else happening to it. We will be fit for heaven. And so will our minds.

You know, again, I joke about it. I hope there's not a receiving department in heaven for rookies. You know, you kind of, you get to heaven, that's for the beginners, you got the classes, what rooms you can go into, what rooms you can't go into. It's not going to be all of that. I'll be so glad. Who wants to, you know, be walking around with a cadet uniform in heaven?

I want to go in as a journeyman. Anyway, maybe you all don't wrestle with things, like who makes the sandals? They're things to ponder. Moses represents the law, Elijah the prophet. Malachi. Malachi says to the Jews, remember Moses? Remember Elijah?

Because you people have departed from what these two men were all about. Malachi 4, remember the law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded him in Horeb. For all Israel, with the statutes and judgments, behold, I will send you, Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of Yahweh.

He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. Thanks for tuning in to Cross Reference Radio for this study in the book of Mark. Cross Reference Radio is the teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia. To learn more information about this ministry, visit our website, crossreferenceradio.com. Once you're there, you'll find additional teachings from Pastor Rick. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. When you subscribe, you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross Reference Radio. You can search for Cross Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. That's all we have time for today, but we hope you'll join us next time as Pastor Rick continues to teach through the book of Mark, right here on Cross Reference Radio.