Behind the Scenes
Notes
Transcript
Pastoral Prayer
Father, we praise you as Lord of heaven and earth.
There is nothing greater than your mercy for us, nothing more amazing than your grace, nothing like your love and faithfulness, you forgive us more than we deserve and you bring justice to the oppressed. We sang three songs as a small small way of telling you that we love you and we ask Holy Spirit that you would bring about more of that love in us towards you. Help us this morning to see you as you are and to worship you.
Good morning, Gateway Chapel!
If we haven’t met before...
If you want to take notes on the sermon, there are these sermon notes handouts in the seat backs as well as a QR code that will take you to our connect page on our website. If you want to hear about community groups, or learn about serving, or need prayer, those emails go directly to me and I’d love to serve you.
If you want to take a next step in making Gateway Chapel home, come to a membership class. Because of Jesus, we are adopted and members of God’s family. Church membership is a way of reflecting that reality in the local church. We’re hosting another one this next Sunday, October 1st. We’d love to serve you lunch and provide childcare. Please RSVP by Wednesday to info@gatewaychapelpnw.com
And on that note we have another new member to announce this morning and so give a warm welcome to Jonathan Lowell.
Jonathan tell us how long you’ve been coming to Gateway and why you chose to be a member of Gateway Chapel...
Scripture
Does anyone still own DVD’s?
Little round circles. Pretty cool.
We still own a few DVD’s. I think they used to be under the TV but that’s been replaced by Isabelle’s toys so I don’t know where they are now. But my favorite part about DVD’s was the special features. My favorite part of the special features was the behind the scenes clips. Watching Harry Potter is so much better when you can see exclusive behind the scenes footage of how they made the movie happen. I think it’s fascinating. How did they pull off that stunt or how did they create that visual effect? Going behind the scenes transforms how you see something.
I took a broadcasting class in high school and got to go behind the scenes of what it’s like to make a news broadcast happen.
Bonney Lake high school Panther News Network - hard hitting journalism. It was cool to see behind the scenes and learn and it changed how I watched TV.
Have you ever gotten to go behind the scenes somewhere? Maybe at a job or a concert or maybe a behind-the-scenes show you watched?
What was that like? How did it change how you saw things?
Today in Matt. 17:1-13, Jesus takes his disciples behind the scenes.
Peter, James, and John get an exclusive behind the scenes look at Jesus.
Jesus wants them to know who he is and what he must do.
On the mountain, they see who Jesus truly is.
Jesus changes his appearance for these three men. Why? What is he trying to show them? How is our view of Jesus supposed to change as we read this passage?
On the mountain, they see who Jesus truly is.
And so this morning we’re going hiking with Jesus. We’ll break our passage up into the climb, the summit, and the descent...
We’re in Matthew in 2023
turn to your neighbor and in your own words, tell them what Matthew is all about.
Matthew wants to convince us that Jesus is the ultimate King and invite us into life with him in his kingdom.
And the last two Sundays we were in Caesarea Philippi where we Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ but then Jesus lets him know he must be crucified. Jesus is King but he must be killed in order to be raised to life. And to be in his kingdom means being willing to suffer a similar fate.
How can power connect with suffering? How does glory go with shame? How does life go with death?
Jesus says let’s for a climb.
1 Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.
Here we see the when, who, and where of our story...
When - six days later - links us with the previous two passages in Caesarea Philippi,
Who - Peter, James and John, three of Jesus’ closest disciples,
Where - a mountain which are sacred spaces in Scripture they are places where people encounter God. It’s likely this mountain is Mt. Hermon, which is nearby to Caesarea Philippi and is over 9,000 feet high so this is a serious climb.
Mountains are special in Scripture and they’re special in Matthew - Jesus is tempted on a high mountain, gives his sermon on the mountain, he will transform on this mountain, he will be crucified on a hill, he will give his Great Commission on a mountain in Galilee.
Interestingly, each of these details correspond with things Moses does in Exodus…it’s after six days in Ex. 24 that Moses goes up on the mountain to be with God, he takes with him his right hand man Aaron, and two brothers, Nadab and Abihu, and they go up the mountain of God.
So why is Jesus climbing up this mountain with his disciples?
The climb, and then the summit
2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.
Jesus brings them on the mountain to show them who he truly is.
And what they see is FIRE.
When I read, “his face shone like the sun” I think a pleasant shorts and t-shirts kind of vibe. But remember, the sun can cook an egg on the street from 96 million miles away.
16 The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud.
17 And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top.
The Israelites saw the glory of the Lord from a distance and it appeared to be like a wildfire. But now Peter and the brothers see Jesus face to face.
Not only this, but in Exodus when Moses speaks with God on the mountain his face shines.
It’s no wonder that in the next verse we read...
3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
Moses AND Elijah - why are they here?
One - Moses and Elijah are both men who don’t have a body in the ground.
In Deuteronomy it says, “We don’t know where Moses is buried!” And in 2 Kings Elijah didn’t die he is carried off by a heavenly chariot…which is definitely how I want to go.
Two - Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament
And everything in the Law and the Prophets pointed to Jesus.
Three - Moses and Elijah are characters who point towards the Messiah.
In Deut 18:15
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.
And Deuteronomy ends by saying, “You know what, we’ve never seen a prophet like Moses…hmm...”
And the prophet Malachi says that Elijah must come before the Messiah.
So Moses and Elijah in their own way point towards the coming Messiah.
Matthew is stacking up the evidence - he wants us to go on the mountain to see who Jesus really is!
4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
Super easy to rag on Peter.
But what’s interesting is that in Exodus, the next chapter after Moses goes up the mountain to see God, God commands Moses to build a tabernacle. So on one hand, Peter is just following the playbook. Oh, Jesus! You’re doing a Moses thing. Let’s build a tabernacle. But Jesus is up to something else.
5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”
Again we see the connection with Moses.
God comes in a cloud and rests on the mountain. Now God comes and overshadows these men and SPEAKS.
And we’ve heard these words before in Matthew...
After Jesus is baptized in Matthew 3, a voice from heaven said these exact same words.
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified.
When's the last time you were terrified? Freaked out? Spooked? Unnerved?
Was that fun? Do you want to relive that experience?
When I think of encountering God or mountain-top spiritual experiences, I think of calm, serenity, and peace. But in Scripture, when people see God they think they’re dying!!
7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.”
8 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.
On the mountain, we see who Jesus truly is.
He is the Son of God. The divine one. The glory of the Lord. John will write down later on that before time began Jesus was with God and WAS God.
And, he’s the one who comes to us, touches us, and says, “Do not be afraid.”
How do we know this happened?
For modern Americans we are skeptical of any miracle or anything that is unexplained. People may read this story and say, “That’s ridicilous. Obviously these guys were on drugs or made it up.”
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales 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, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”—
18 and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
The disciples died believing this story and passed it on from generation to generation through the inspiration of Scripture.
The climb, the summit, the descent
9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”
10 And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
Jesus once again orders his disciples - zip your lips!
Why? It’s not his time yet.
Don’t tell anyone until I’m risen from the dead.
And you might expect the disciples to say - wait, rise from the dead? What do you mean? Like a zombie? I don’t think they knew about zombies.
But instead they ask...
Why do the scribes, the teachers of the Old Testament, why do they teach that before the Messiah comes, that Elijah must come?
Jesus - we just saw Elijah…if you’re the Christ, then why haven’t we seen him until now?
Jesus says let me give you another behind-the-scenes look...
11 And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things;
12 but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”
Why does the OT say Elijah must come first when it looks like Jesus, YOU came first?
Jesus says - Elijah DID come, and no one recognize him, so they killed him. Jesus is saying John the Baptist was the promised Elijah to come.
But instead of celebrating, “Elijah is here! The Messiah must be coming!” They killed him.
SO ALSO, I am the Messiah. But instead of celebrating, “The Messiah is here!” I am going to be rejected and suffer and die.
I’ve taken you on the mountain to show you who I am, I brought along Moses and Elijah, God spoke out of a cloud, I came and touched you and you only saw me, do you see?
And the disciple’s response...
13 Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.
Do they get it? Not sure.
But they don’t stay on the mountain. They come down, and they’re still figuring it out as they go. It’s a very relatable story for us.
On the mountain we see who Jesus truly is.
Why doesn’t Jesus just walk around Jerusalem with his face shining and his clothes white as light?
Why do this on a lonely mountain? If he wants people to believe in him, to enter into his kingdom, to trust him, why not just take everyone up the mountain? Why give the behind the scenes look to all people?
Because of sin, we don’t want to be near God.
This started way back in the Garden of Eden, which the Bible describes as a mountain. Adam and Eve sinned and they hid from God’s presence. They didn’t want to be on the mountain anymore.
When people in the Bible encounter God they think they are dying. In Exodus, the people don’t want to go near the mountain. Sin keeps us from God.
And yet God wants to show us who he truly is.
God wants to be with his people. He loves us.
So how will God remedy the fact that he wants to be with his people and yet they are terrified of him?
God comes down from the mountain.
He comes as Jesus. The light of the world became a human. He dwelt among us.
In Exodus 24:8
8 So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
Moses went up on the mountain to bring about the first covenant of blood between God and Israel.
Now Jesus will go up another mountain to shed his own blood to bring about the eternal covenant between God and people of all nations so anyone can be near to God.
Jesus knew that he must go up another mountain - a little hill outside of Jerusalem - to Calvary, to the cross, to show the world who he truly is - God in the flesh. And God would shed his own blood to forgive our sins, come and touch us and say “Get up, don’t be afraid.” And he could do this for us because just as Jesus promised, he rose from the dead.
On the mountain, we see who Jesus really is.
And this story also shows us that as followers of Jesus we don’t stay on the mountain.
Maybe you’ve had the mountain-top experience where things just made sense. It clicked. God’s love for you…it was really real.
How long did that last?
Similarly, the disciples go back and forth between getting it and not getting it.
And I think Matthew shows us the point is not - do you understand everything? - but, do you trust Jesus? Even when you don’t get it all the way, if he leads you up the mountain, are you going with him?
Do you see that apart from Jesus, you are separated from life with God, but with him you have true life?
And if you trust him, Jesus sends us his Holy Spirit to help us understand him more.
Peter, James, and John didn’t fully get it yet but the Spirit comes and read 1 and 2 Peter, read John’s gospel - the Holy Spirit shines more light onto who Jesus is. Similarly for us, following Jesus is a process, and the Spirit helps us see who he is.
On the mountain, we see who Jesus really is.
When I took that broadcasting class, Mrs. Carr-Cohen said “you are never going to watch TV the same way again!”
And it’s true, taking that class changed how I watched TV forever.
When we see Jesus as he is - God in the flesh who died and rose again - nothing is the same. We are forgiven, adopted, given a new heart and the Holy Spirit, given a new purpose and hope. We see God.
And for now, seeing him is a bit foggy. But there was another guy who saw Jesus’ shining face, his name was Paul. Seeing Jesus was such an intense experience he was blind for 3 days.
But Paul puts it like this...
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part;
10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.