Transformed

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your goodness to us. We thank you for your goodness. For this wonderful Resurrection Day, that we get to celebrate you, Lord Jesus. We ask that you would give us minds and hearts to hear your word this morning, to receive from you.

We invite you, Holy Spirit, to minister to us. to strengthen us. To guide us into all truth, bless each one who's here. We pray that you would encourage their hearts this morning as we continue our time together in Jesus' name. Amen.

Okay. Thank you. You may be seated. It's great to have you with us if you're our guest. My name's Brian.

I'm the lead pastor here. Thanks to our worship team. Great job this morning. Thoroughly enjoyed our time in worship. You can take your Bibles this morning as we do each week at Lifeline.

Normally, we've been studying the book of Ephesians here, but this morning we're going to be in Matthew's Gospel, Matthew chapter 17. If you don't own a Bible, there are Bibles on the Racks underneath the chairs in front of you, and you can grab a copy. And if you don't own one, just keep it. It's our gift to you, and we want to make sure that you have a copy of God's Word. In the Christian church, historically, on Easter, I say he is risen, and you say?

Hey, look it. You guys are with it this morning. All right. He has risen indeed. What I want to talk about this morning is a little Different in some ways.

Normally, on Easter Sunday, we dip into a resurrection, overt resurrection text. This morning, I want to do and talk about a text that kind of prefigures that because what I actually want to focus on is who is He? who is risen. And we're going to look at an event that in the Protestant church we don't spend a lot of time looking at. and think about, and that is called the transfiguration.

I want to think about the transfiguration this morning a little bit because it's very much a window both into the future and sort of a glimpse back as well. And it's all about who the he is. It's all about this vision that is seen. And only if you have eyes to see and eyes to understand can you appreciate the vision. One of the things I get to do as a pastor is I get to do weddings.

And I have a unique position as I stand up in front of everybody. And the bride with her father begins to come down the aisle. And then I always look over at this clown next to me called the groom. And some of them look like they're about to pass out.

Some of them seem like they're not sure what to do. But they all have something in common. They're not looking around like this. If I see a groom looking around like this, I just shut the wedding down, it's over. All right.

I mean that guy doesn't get it. But The groom is transfixed. And at some moment, they start crying, these big bubbas up there weeping like babies. I love it. And they see a vision.

Now, everybody else goes, You look so beautiful today. to the bride. Nobody says, you know, you didn't look that great today. Um Everybody says that. She's the bride.

But this guy He has unique eyes. He sees something. You know, for Christmas, I digitized some old videos of when I was younger and when back in the day kind of videos. You're at that age now where you do that. And one of them I did was our wedding.

Our wedding video. And I surprised my wife, she didn't know I'd done it, and Christmas morning, I put it up on the screen on the TV.

Some kind of romantic guy. And there's that spot. In the video, where she comes down, and I'm thinking what every groom is thinking, and it goes like this: Wowie Zowie. Because you have eyes to see. I have a sense That we Live in a day and have for a long time where Jesus in his name, his person, discussion about Christ is thrown around.

And I'm not sure people know who they're talking about. And I'm not sure they have eyes to see. And so this morning is about getting eyes to see and seeing some people who were getting eyes, if you will, to see, but didn't fully have it.

So how we're going to do this this morning is I'm actually just going to tell you who Jesus is at the very beginning in like one minute. And then we're going to go to look at him in the text and try to see what we can see about him in a text that gives us a glimpse into both parts of him. When you and I think about Jesus, we want to start with theology.

So if you're not used to that, buckle up. Jesus is not sort of a historic good teacher. He's not a kind of Middle Eastern guru who walked around and wowed people with nifty stories so they could sit down in front of them and munch on their laced potato chips and go, man, this guy's brilliant. He was not some kind of Houdini-like miracle worker who was sort of a sideshow bob in the ancient world that people came along and watched and thought, man, he does things we've never seen before. Everybody who started with him started thinking he was sideshow Bob.

Everybody who started with him started thinking he's a brilliant rabbi. But he was much more than that. And he was much more than that because As he stood before them, he comprised one person. He wasn't two people, he was one person. Yeah.

But out of that one person, he had a human nature. Like you have a human nature, which is a way of saying you have a set of attributes and properties that make you and you and you and you and you and me common to one another. It's how we communicate. It's why we can get on a scale and weigh our bodies. It's why we can flex a bicep and so forth.

We have certain things about us, even beyond our body, that are common to us as humans. We call that human nature. He had a human nature, but he also. Had a divine nature, that is to say, he had a set of attributes and properties. That were not typical of being human, but instead were characteristic of God, because he was God in flesh.

So when we think about Jesus, you have to let your mind get blown a little bit because he's not 50% man. And 50% God. He rather is 100% having all the attributes of a human, all the properties of humanness, but all the attributes and all the properties of God. Two natures in one Person, one center of activity, one subject for all the verbs. That's what a person is.

And Jesus exists in that way.

Now, that's supposed to blow your mind. You're supposed to go, I don't know that I can even get my mind around that.

Well, people who walked with him. had a hard time getting their mind. around that. Look at your text this morning. And I want you to begin in verse.

21 of chapter 16, just so that we can get a little bit of context. As you're looking there, a couple of verses just to kind of clarify for you, so you know that I'm not making this up. The Bible teaches this idea of the convergence of humanity and divinity. Philippians 2:5 through 7 says, Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who. And then it describes Jesus this way: who, though he was in the form, the morphé, and that's actually an important word for this morning when we talk about the transfiguration, because the word for transfigure is metamorph, metamorphao in the Greek.

If you have a metamorphosis, you transform. Who, though he was in the morphae, the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking on the morphé of a servant, being born in the likeness of man. He comes and he has both, is the idea. He has both. And Colossians 2:9 puts it succinctly: for in him, Jesus, the wholeness.

A whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. Everything that made God God dwells in His humanity, and they converge.

Now, I want you to look with me in verse 21 of chapter 16. From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem. And the text is saying that because to go to Jerusalem for Jesus in that phrase meant that he would go, he would suffer. He would die, he would rise again, and then he would ascend. Actually, what we sang about in the previous song before this message.

And suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

Now keep that in view. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, Far be it from you, Lord, this shall never happen to you.

Now, if you're walking with a being... Who is God in flesh? Here's something you probably should not do. You probably should not pull him aside and go, I don't think you know what you're talking about. I don't you You don't understand the implications of what you just said.

Let me give you a little correction.

Okay. But that's what Peter does, because he's Peter. But he turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan. That's not a compliment. You're a hindrance to me, for you're not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.

You don't know what in the world this whole thing's about. You're not going to stop the purposes of God. Then Jesus told his disciples, After Peter objects, you suffer and die, don't say that. Come on. He tells his disciples, If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me, for whoever would save his life will lose it.

But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his own soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

Now, There let's let me paraphrase. Peter Pulls him aside and says, Don't talk like that. Jesus says Uh stop acting like the devil. Who's going to deter What God wants to do in me. In fact, you better understand something, Peter.

Following me. means laying down your very life. Following me entails suffering. Following me is not a kind of cultural religion. Following me is the kind of thing that calls you out and calls you to be distinct.

Following me is following one who's glorious into a glorious kingdom. In fact, I'm about to show it to you. And then he stops. And we're left hanging with There are some standing here. Talking to the disciples will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

Yet, when are they going to see that?

Well, they're going to see it. Verse seven chapter 17 verse 1 and after six days This is The vision. This is the answer to that. They're going to see A vision of things to come. They're going to see Exposed before them.

The content of the person. Who they're walking with. Who, if you let your eyes go all the way over to chapter 17, verse 22, it reads: As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said, The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they'll kill him and be raised on the third day, and they were greatly distressed. This text that we're going to look at is bookended by, I'm going to suffer, I'm going to die, but I'm going to rise again. And it's in that context that he wants to give them a vision of who he is.

and what is about to happen. And how everything will be different as a result if they can possibly garner the eyes to see who it is that's coming. who he is if they can learn to treasure If they can learn to embrace him.

So, to that end, what I want to do is go through this text. We're just going to go through verse 9 and talk about three crucial truths that this transmorphing, this transformation of Jesus, teaches you and I. It's the same things that it taught his disciples. And we can be a little kind of like them on the mountain. Let's just read from verse 1 through verse 9 because how I'm going to comment, it's a little in order, but not entirely.

And after six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother. These are called the inner circle. They show up in three different occasions in Jesus' ministry where it's just Jesus and these three guys that he pulls away from the disciples. One is famously in Gethsemane when he is about to experience suffering. One is at the raising of the Jesus.

Of a little girl from the dead, the only people that are invited into the bedroom chamber. Are mom, dad, of course, this dead girl is laying on the bed, and then the three disciples and Jesus, and they're invited in to witness resurrection power, which is quite interesting that they're the three invited to that. And then this text: the Transfiguration. And he led them up a high mountain by themselves, and he was transfigured before them. And his face shone like the sun.

And his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it's good that we're here. If you wish, I will make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

Listen to him. When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. Saying, Rise, have no fear. And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, tell no one the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead. As we think about this, three crucial truths. Here's the first one: Jesus is. Jesus is, that is, the content of his person is the glorious one, worthy of all worship. If Jesus is Anything.

He is not benign. He is not a kind of religious mechanism for comfort and encouragement. Jesus. God That is the fundamental claim of the Christian Church, the fundamental claim of the Christian church. If a church does not believe that Jesus is God, man in fleshed.

as a baseline presupposition. They can carry whatever name they would like. But you cannot brandish the name Christian with any sort of historical integrity. You can't, because it is the fundamental starting point.

So he is going to put that on display. And he's going to give them a vision. Of this.

Now, I read to you what this vision looks like. His face shone like the light, his clothes became white as light. I think the best way for us to walk through this is just to see five points in this passage where you learn about his glory. And the first one is you learn about it from the light of his person. Imagine here.

Peter and James and John, they're up there, and all of a sudden appear two people: Moses on one side. Elijah on the other and there is Jesus in the middle and he begins to radiate and to shine. He sort of begins to unbutton the shirt and Out comes the glory. And they're observing this.

Now, when we see that, we go, well, that isn't that amazing. Yeah, it's amazing, but it's wildly theological. There's this whole motif of light. See, light is the kind of thing that exposes, right? Light's the kind of thing you go into a dark room, you turn the light on so you don't stub your toe.

So, you don't trip over something, so you know where the things are and you can see them. It exposes, and yet, in 1 Timothy 6:16. God is described as one who exists in Unapproachable. Light.

Well, that's interesting because light is the kind of thing that allows you to approach. Light is the kind of thing that reveals. There's an irony with what happens here. Because for God to exist in unapproachable light is to say that God elucidates all things, and yet he himself subsists and exists in a kind of mystery. You don't get him fully.

And clearly, even in this text, you'll see they still don't get him fully. They're learning along the way who this glorious one is. When John wrote his gospel, He begins in verse 1 through 18 before he gets into this whole gospel treatise on the life of Jesus. He gives a precis, like a little preview of the content of the entire gospel. And as he does that, he describes Jesus in a particular way.

Right at the beginning, he says, In him was life, and the life was the. Light of men. That is that if you'd like to know What the substance of real life is, you would need the light to elucidate you. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John, talking about John the Baptist or the baptizer.

He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. He, John, was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light, the true light, Jesus, which gives light to everyone who was coming into the world.

So, what happens here is the first witness to. His glorious person is the The absolute Essence The effulgence The majesty Of the glory of God being put on display through something that He possesses. Right?

Something that he possesses, veiled in flesh, as the old hymn says, the Godhead sea, veiled in flesh.

Now he pulls that back a bit and simply shows and exposes in his humanity and through his humanity a vision of glory.

Now, that's not all this light meant. This light says something about his future too. But for now, I want you to see that it is an exposing of his glorious person. He was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun. His clothes became white as.

Light.

Verse 3 says, Behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him. We learn about his glory in those who appear with him. Why these two? It's an odd thing. He could just show himself.

Why does he have Moses on one side? and Elijah on the other. That work of art that was up there zeroed in. You see on the one side the depiction of Moses with the tablets and Elijah's got a sword and a book. And you see These two figures from the Old Testament.

So scholars rack their brain writings throughout history: who, why Moses, why Elijah. And it's probably Probably not true to say, well, nobody knows. It's difficult to know exactly why. It's probably a number of things. I'm going to highlight one of them.

Um one I'm not going to highlight but mention to you is that when Jesus came, one of the interesting things Jesus said is he said, I came in the Sermon on the Mount to fulfill the law and the prophets. And so some think, well, Moses often symbolized the law because he wrote the Pentateuch. Elijah is a great symbol of the prophets, both because of the magnanimity of his historical, him as a historical figure, but also because he'll come in the future and he's seen as a kind of future figure as well.

So perhaps it's this idea that Jesus comes as the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. And maybe that's the case. But I think there's actually another reason. In Exodus 33, don't turn there, but in Exodus 33, Moses is on for the second time on Mount Sinai. First time he goes up, he gets a law.

He comes down. The Israelites are immersed in idolatry. They're worshiping this golden calf that they've made as a way of worshiping Yahweh, but now they're committing idolatry. Moses is mattering a hornet, and he comes down and he sees these people and he begins to go off on them. And as he does, he breaks the tablets with the law and he goes and just simply is having at it, literally, with the Israelites.

Well, he ends up going back up. He goes back up on the mountain for a second time. And he goes up for a second time. And one of the things he asks God is, can I see your glory? Yes, ma'am.

And the Lord says, you know what? I can't give you the full thing. Because if I give you the full thing, what's going to happen to you? You're going to die. But I will let you see, and in the Hebrew, he says something like my afterglow.

Right?

My sometimes some translations say my my back. But the idea is, I'll let you see a little bit of it. I'll let you see a glimpse of it. That happened on Mount Sinai. Exodus 33.

We'll come back to Mount Sinai because this incident, by the way, Is a direct parallel to something about Mount Sinai. It's very important to understand that. It's fundamental to understanding what's even going on. But that happened on Mount Sinai. You might not know.

That Elijah was on Mount Sinai.

Now, Mount Sinai had two names in the Bible, Sinai and Horeb. And Elijah, being also on Mount Sinai years and years later in 1 Kings 19, was running from Jezebel, scared for his life, felt like everything was lost. He's fallen apart at this seams. He says, God, I'm the only prophet left. Which wasn't true, but he's just in a sort of depression.

He's fallen apart. And he hides. In a cave.

Now, I should tell you that in Exodus 33, Moses, when he saw that vision, he was placed in the cleft of a rock, it says, so a cave-like thing. And if you've ever been in the Middle East at all, they're all over down there in the southern desert.

Well, Elijah gets placed in this cave. And a great wind comes by. And he thinks God's in the wind. A great earthquake happens, he thinks God's in the earthquake, and then a fire emerges, and he thinks God's in the fire, and then the Lord speaks to him. In a quiet whisper.

in a quiet whisper. And he experiences Now, how do I know he experiences God? Because the same Hebrew word is used in Exodus 33 and in 1 Kings 19 for the glory of the Lord. passing by.

So just like it passes by Moses, and he sees the afterglow. It passes by Elijah.

So on a mountaintop Two individuals in the Old Testament get a foretaste and a glimpse of the glory of God, and now, unbeknownst to these three disciples who are here who don't quite comprehend it. I mean, one of them pulled them aside earlier and said, You're wrong, let me correct you. They don't exactly understand who this is.

Now, two guys who saw a glimpse of the glory get to see something even greater, and they're there with him.

Now that's really important to note. Because The vision Of the transfiguration, listen carefully to this, is not a vision of Jesus. Moses. and Elijah. That's not the vision of the transfiguration.

This is actually what happens next. Look at verse 4. And Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it's good that we are here. If you wish, I'll make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. We first learn about the glory because here are the law and the prophets, so to speak.

Here are two that saw. a glimpse of the afterglory.

Now they get the full thing. And then there's this weird statement from Peter: like, who does this? Who goes, man, this is awesome? I gotta build some tents.

Now if you think that you're you're Brian, maybe there's more more to it than that.

Well, here's the thing. Here's what Mark 9:6 says, Mark 9 has the transfiguration. It's a parallel story. And it says, of Peter, for he did not know what to say. For they were terrified.

Luke? In Luke 9, His story of the transfiguration says, and as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it's good we're here. Let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. And then Luke puts this little editorial note in, not knowing what he said. Not knowing what he said.

And Peter's that way, right? Not knowing what to say. He says You have Peter here who says, let's build three tenths. What is weird about that? Besides, it's just bizarre.

There's something Peter misses. Peter thinks that the vision, Before him? is a vision of Jesus Moses And Elijah. It's not. Listen carefully.

It's only a singular vision of the glory of God in Jesus. Moses and Elijah came to see what they were there to see. They just had eyes to see it. This isn't. The three of them, and the idea that he wants to build three exposes the fact that he doesn't understand who the one in the middle is.

He thinks it's a vision of three. It's not. There's five of them there. To C1. There's five of them to see one.

to see him. In all his majestic glory, Peter misses the force of the singular, unique glory of Jesus. How do I know that? Because he gets corrected. Verse 4 again, and Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it's good that we're here.

If you wish, I'll make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. He was still speaking. He's still saying this when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. I'll come back to that. And a voice from the cloud said: So Peter's words get interrupted by God.

Enough about the foolish tense. This is my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased. Listen to him, you're missing it. You're missing it. We learn about his glory in the Father's state.

When else have you seen? In Scripture, this kind of statement. This is my beloved son.

Well, if you're familiar, it's Matthew 3. I'll read it to you, verse 16 and 17. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I'm well pleased. Pleased.

In that statement then, listen to him. Right. Here. in this text. A vision of the Father identifying the Son, the eternal Son.

Do you understand, Peter, who this is? You want to build tents to commemorate Elijah, Moses, And Jesus, as though we got three equals up here in a vision of glory, you're missing it. He Is the eternal Sun Who is here before you? See him, have eyes to see him, treasure him. It's added to, by the way.

Bye. The presence of the Spirit.

So, how do I know that's the Spirit? You say, well, it just says he was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them.

Well, you do have a parallel with the baptism. In the baptism, you have this dove that comes down and descends, and the same language is spoken.

Okay. The same word overshadowed is used in Luke 1 of Mary when she gets pregnant. With Christ in the virgin birth, the Spirit, it says, overshadowed. Same word. Her.

In the Greek version of the Hebrew Old Testament in Exodus forty. The language of overshadowed is used of the presence of God that comes down upon the tent of meeting where Moses goes in to pray. But How do we associate a cloud with the spirit? I'll show you. There's a text in the Old Testament that brings all this together.

Isaiah 63. But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. Therefore he turned to be their enemy and himself fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up?

Out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock. Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit? He's talking about back in the Exodus when Moses was leading the people. What were they led by? A pillar of what by day?

A pillar of cloud. A pillar of what by night? A pillar of fire. What goes in between them and the Egyptians behind them, where the Egyptians are coming? They're coming to the Red Sea, and behind them, the pillar of cloud goes and positions itself behind them.

This is telling you that pillar of cloud was the presence of God via the Holy Spirit, who caused his glorious arm to go out at the right hand of Moses. Who? Divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name. Who led them through the depths like a horse in the desert? They did not stumble, like livestock that go down into the valley.

The Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.

So you led your people. To make for yourself a glorious name, what was leading the people? A pillar of cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night. What protected the people? A pillar of cloud between the Egyptians and the Israelites.

What was that pillar of cloud? It was the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that overshadowed Moses, came upon Mary, and here is present just like at the baptism. And it is, and we have this vision of Trinity. The Father speaks, the Spirit is in a bright cloud. That's even weird.

A bright cloud. It's luminescent, but mysterious. And here the spirit settles. And here is the Son. Everything is pointing to a glorious vision of God, the Son, in this moment.

Can Peter, James, John, you, and I have eyes to see. Moses and Elijah did. Luke tells us they talked about what was going to happen in Jerusalem with Jesus. They talked about his sufferings, his resurrection, and his ascension. They get it.

They get the mission. They're the only ones there that understand it. They have eyes to see. Do we?

Well, what do we need to see? And it brings us to our second point. We need to see that Jesus brought something. It's a glory, but he brought something to us. What this vision is.

To these disciples, who will witness in a little while. His sufferings, who will witness in a little while their own waffling faith, who will witness in a little while betrayal, who will witness in a little while the depression of what we call Holy Saturday, and who then will witness the miracle of resurrection in his reappearance. Do they understand what he's bringing to them? What he's bringing to them.

So what's happening is like a layered piece. On the one hand, you have the historical happening of God the Son revealing himself on this mountain. And then you have the recording of that in Scripture that is tying that off to something even sort of even grander in the flow. of the Bible's revelation. Um There's a great parallel that's happening that if you're not careful, you'll miss between what happened on this mountain.

And what happened, and one of the reasons why Moses is one of the two that showed up. on this mountain back in Mount Sinai. I mentioned that to you. And I want to point out something to you. In Exodus 34, 15 through 18, just look at the connections that are made in the literature and in the description.

In Exodus 34, we read: then Moses went. Up on the mountain. Where are they? Up on a mountain. What mountain?

History says Mount Tabor. We don't know for sure whether that's the case. Mount Tabor is kind of down near Nazareth. It's possible, but we don't know for certain. Moses goes up on the mountain, that's Mount Sinai, and what covers it?

The cloud. What do we have on this mountain? Cloud? The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai. What is on this mountain?

The glory of the Lord on display through the sun. And the cloud covered it. Six days. How many days? did we start off this passage with?

Six days like the Bible isn't by happenstance The narrative is highlighting particular details for particular reasons. And on the seventh day, he called out to Moses. He called Moses out of the midst of out to him out of the midst of the cloud.

Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of all the people. And Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. There's a parallel to something.

Now why does that matter? Why does that matter?

Well, it matters quite intensely because the guiding light for all of the people in terms of their ethical life and how they ought to live has been what was given on that mountain. The law. And Jesus said, I came to fulfill the law and to fulfill what the prophets pointed towards. And as the Bible continues, you see this continually revealed. After Second time he goes up on the mountain.

He gets the law again after he got upset and broke it. He gets the law again. And he comes down. Look what happens when Moses comes down the mountain. He comes down from the Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, and he came down from the mountain.

Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he'd been talking with God. He has a reflected glory. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. Afterward, all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai.

And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Keep that in mind. Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, The people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was shining, and Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went in to speak with them.

So he goes up on a mountain and what's he come down with? A reflection of glory. A reflection of glory. Now I want you to notice a difference. Moses is the moon.

Moses reflects the glory of God. Jesus is the sun. G and by that I mean both the S O N and the S U N. Jesus is emitting the glory he possesses. The Father transfigures him, if you will.

That's the language. He metamorphosizes him. And in doing that, he exposes a glory that was in Christ. Moses reflects something. It's not Moses' glory.

He's the moon. Jesus is the sun. Jesus is the one who is emitting glory. All of this comes together. In the New Testament, this is what Paul is actually teaching.

in this passage. In 2 Corinthians 3, he's going to talk about the glory of Moses coming down the mountain from Sinai, and he's going to say, but you've seen a different glory. And he's hearkening actually back at the end of this passage to the Transfiguration. You'll see it. And how do I know that?

Because there's only four places in the whole New Testament where that same word for transfigure is used. Two of them are in two of the Gospels where it describes a transfiguration. One of the others is in this passage.

Now, if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, the ministry of death is the law. Why was it a ministry of death? Why does Paul talk about it that way? Not because it was bad, but because it exposed sin. Right?

It exposes sin. Laws expose your transgression. Laws almost stir you up. To violate them at times. Don't touch the wet paint.

You never thought about it until you saw the sign. Which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory, he's saying. Jesus came bringing something that was a fulfillment of the law, and that something has even greater glory. Then the glory of the thing that made Moses' face shine.

Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory the law, Much more will what is permanent have glory, the revelation of the glory of God in the person of the one who is sacrificed for your sins. buried and risen again. Since we have Such a hope. We're very bold.

For not like Moses, who put a veil over his face, we just read that.

So that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end, but their minds were hardened. For to this day, when we read the old covenant, they read the law, that same veil remains. They don't get it. They don't understand what the law was pointing forward to, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day, whenever Moses has read a veil over their hearts.

But When one turns to the Lord the veil is removed.

Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and with the Spirit of the Lord, there's freedom. You're not bound up trying to keep a bunch of rules. And we all now. With unveiled face. Look at, look it, look at.

What is it that changes us? Knowing Who was on the mountain. Beholding the glory of the Lord, our being, and we get the same word. But who's the transformation happening to now? You.

Because you've seen the vision, he says. You understand the God-man who died, buried, rose again. Are being transformed in the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. Just a few verses later. He's going to say Some of you can't see this because the God of this age has blinded you.

2 Corinthians 4, 4. What has it blinded you to? For God, who said, Let light shine of darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God. Where? Where?

Where? See it? in the face of Christ. This text is loaded with the backdrop of transfiguration. It's this idea that if you knew who it was that you needed to trust, you would simply let go of your life and calling your own shots, you would know that he's calling you to a greater glory that you in all of your prowess, all of your capacity, all of your ability, and all of your impotence and all of your failure and all of your weakness would never be able to obtain.

Okay. If you could just see him. For who he is.

So that takes us to our final point. Jesus is inviting us into an eternal glory. Look at the text in Matthew 17. Verse 7, but Jesus came and touched them, saying, Rise, have no fear. Which is interesting.

His glory is not the kind of glory you should have fear with. Which is different, he said, according from the glory of Sinai. When they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only, because this is all about Jesus' glory. And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, Tell no one the vision until. The Son of Man is raised from the dead.

The culmination of this is when Jesus raises from the dead. Mm-hmm. Takes on his own glorified body. which Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, is A window. into the kind of glorified body a believer will one day have on a new heaven and a new earth.

And Paul says, if you Don't think. That Jesus rose from the dead in 1 Corinthians 15. What does he say? Then you have no hope. of any resurrection of your own.

In fact, if he didn't raise, Paul says, any hope that we would have is just wishful thinking. It's a coping mechanism to get through a difficult world. It doesn't actually mean anything because Jesus' resurrection pioneered your own resurrection. Jesus' resurrection glorified body is a vision of. what your resurrected, glorified body will be like.

And he makes those kinds of connections.

Now, there's one other text about the transfiguration that's tucked away in the Bible outside of the Gospels, and it's written by Peter, who saw it. Peter's thinking about the second coming of Christ, and where does it take his mind? back to the glory he saw. For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus. When we were talking about the second coming, we weren't making stuff up.

For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, transfigured, the language is transfigured by God. It's a passive verb in Matthew 17. God the Father is transfiguring him. 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'm well pleased. We ourselves heard this very voice, born from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

He's talking about the transfiguration. That gave us a glimpse into what's coming. That gave us a glimpse into what it'll be like. That gave us a glimpse into glory. that we're invited into.

So, John, who also's up there on the mountain. Said, Beloved, we're God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself. as he is.

Pure. Where's your hope? Is it is it in a vision? Of Christ. Is it in a vision that That one who would go from that text we read in Matthew, be crucified, buried, raise from the dead, ascend, and will one day come again, is the God-man who paid the penalty for your sins but didn't stay dead, but rose again in glory and in power.

Final verse. But our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a Savior. The Lord Jesus who will transform. It's a different word. Instead of metamorphao, it's meta-schematizo.

Think of a schematic. The scheme of it changes, the schematic changes, who will transform our lowly body. To be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

So here's the final point. Listen, Claire, carefully. When Jesus exposes... His glory on that mountain. It is an exposing of who he is as the God.

Man. And I don't want you to forget the last part. Because it's also a vision forward. It's for them to see. Wait a minute.

This is what glorified humanity looks like. This is what resurrection brings about This is what happened. happens when at the end of all things The God who could have left you and I in our sin, doesn't leave you and I in our sin. But dies, rises, ascends to return in glory. If you're here this morning and you aren't sure who Jesus is, I would just say to you.

that he is not a guru, he is not a moral teacher, he is not somebody who's intending at all to come alongside and put his arm around you and make you feel really good about yourself. But what he is He's the God-man who reigns in glory. and who invites you. To acknowledge your sin before him, to humble yourself, to turn your life over to him, and to find that one day that resurrection of him from the dead will have secured for you a future glory. to trust in that.

to believe in that and to rest in that. Pray with me. Lord, we thank you for your goodness. Your mercy for us, your kindness toward us. And I pray that you would bless each of these that are here this morning, encourage their hearts in you, lift them up before you.

I pray, Lord, that you would draw them to yourself, to a vision of your glory, Lord Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen.