Revealing Light

Good Morning

I had a friend the other day tell me that things could be worse. I could be in a hole in the ground filled with water.

I knew he meant well.

If anyone wants a daily devotional, I have a stack of them you can go through.

I am so glad that you chose to be here on the first Sunday of the year. You made a decision to be obedient to the word of God. It shows your love for Him through your obedience to Him. I am excited to see what God has in store for us in 2025. We did a lot of good things last year and I am looking forward to building on that momentum. We have to keep moving and keep reaching out to the community. I is through us going and telling that the kingdom of God is expanded and our church will grow. I promise no one is coming just to hear my sermons!! LOL

Today we are going to be in Mark 9:1-8. I hope you are enjoying this journey through Mark. It has been really fun for me to study Mark.

Last week we saw what Jesus said it takes to be a follower of His. We have to deny ourselves, we are to reject our old selves, the old things that we used to do. We are to pick up our cross, be ready to suffer with/for Him. We are not promised an easy life. We are to follow Him, do as He did, become fishers of men. We are to go and tell the Good News. That is why we are still here. To go and tell.

This week we are going to look at the transfiguration. This is a magnificent event in the life of Jesus. Jesus had just asked the most important question to the disciples, who do you say that I am. Then He told them that He must be rejected by the religious leaders and then suffer and die. Then He will rise on the 3rd day. I don’t think they every hear that part. Then He tells them what it takes to follow Him. Jesus is laying it all out for them. Showing them who He is and what they must do. Next He is going to show them His glory!

Please stand as we read God’s word.

Mark 9:1–8 NASB 2020

1 And Jesus was saying to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God when it has come with power.” 2 And six days later Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; 3 and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 And Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. 5 Peter responded and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here; let’s make three tabernacles, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know how to reply; for they became terrified. 7 Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud: “This is My beloved Son; listen to Him!” 8 And suddenly they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.

V 1. Why is this verse here and not at the end of chapter 8?

Is Jesus saying that some of them are going to be very old?

Did Jesus make a prediction that didn’t come true?

Jesus is talking about the transfiguration.

This promise by Jesus is placed right before the transfiguration in all 3 of the synoptic gospels.

It is clearly referencing the event right after it, not the return of Jesus that so many claim that He is talking about.

3 of the disciples are going to see Jesus in His glory and power. He is only going to let the closest 3 see this magnificent event, not all of them.

V 2. Six days later. Is this significant? Some say that this is a reference to Genesis and creation. This would have on the seventh day after speaking to them. Just like creation to 6 days and on the 7th God rested.

They went up to a mountain top. Amazing things happened on mountain tops in the Bible.

Abraham and Issac.

Moses meeting with God and the Law was given.

It says Jesus was transfigured before them. While they were looking at Jesus, He changed.

This word used for transfigured is the same word we get our word metamorphosis. Like when a caterpillar changes to a butterfly.

It is an outward change that begins on the inside. Jesus wasn’t changed, but He revealed His glorified self. He let His true nature be seen.

His light began to shine out of Him. From with in

v 3. His clothes looked whiter than any white we or they could ever imagine!

We can not see light.

Light reveals what is there.

When we turn on the light switch, we don’t see the light. We see what was hidden.

Jesus let His light out to reveal who He is.

When we repent and believe, His light comes into us and reveals things to us and about us.

v 4. Then out of nowhere, Elijah and Moses appeared and they began to talk to Jesus. We aren’t told what was said, just that they were talking.

Why Elijah and Moses?

Elijah is a representation of the prophets. He is considered the greatest prophet of Isreal.

Moses is a representation of the law. Moses was given the law by God. It is referred to as the Law of Moses.

Together they represent the Law and the Prophets. The Jews did not have the whole Old Testament. They had what they called the Torah, the law and the Prophets. These 2 represented what the Jews had. This is to show that the Old Testament points to Jesus. The 2 that represented their scrolls, were talking to Jesus and were different that He was. Jesus is the only one mentioned that was white and radiant. He was greater than them.

v 5. Good old Peter. When he gets nervous, he opens his mouth without thinking. What he said wasn’t necessarily bad, just not the right thing to say at the time. He was wanting to build 3 tents for them. He wanted to be hospitable to them. He wanted to make them feel welcome. Hospitality was a huge part of their culture and the Bible. He missed the point again. He was not supposed to be focused on all of them, but on the glory of Jesus.

How did the 3 of them know who Elijah and Moses were. They had never seen them before.

That is apart of the power of God.

When we get to heaven, we will know who everyone is.

We won’t have to go around and ask who are you?

They not only saw the glory and power of the kingdom of God, they got to experience it.

v 6. Mark tells us that they were terrified!

That would be an understatement.

To see what they had just seen! People in the old testament died when they saw the glory of God. God had to hide Moses in the cleft of a rock when He walked by to protect him.

They were standing there watching everything. Seeing Jesus change before their eyes!

2 dead people showed up talking to Jesus!

Not just any 2 dead people either. Elijah and Moses!!

v 7. Then we see a very familiar sign for God in the Bible. A cloud formed. All through out the Exodus, God was represented by a cloud. A pillar of cloud during the day lead them through the wilderness. When Moses met with God to get the 10 commandments, a cloud came on the mountain.

When Moses met with God in the tent, a cloud came down on it.

There would have been no way for them to mistake who was talking to them.

It was God

He again said this is my beloved Son. Just like when Jesus was baptized.

God told them to listen to Jesus.

The law and the prophets all pointed to Jesus, Jesus is the way and the truth. He is the only one we should listen to. His word is our truth, not what the world calls truth.

I think this would have been enough for me to listen to Him.

I think that would have made me more scared than anything else.

God’s voice coming out of the cloud.

v 8. And then they were alone with Jesus again.

I can’t imagine the looks on their faces when they got back to the rest of the group.

What questions did they have for Jesus as they were walking down the mountain.

Just as fast as it all started, it was over.

We serve such an amazing King.

The light reveals what is hidden!

Have you recieved His light?

Has His light revealed you?

When we repent and believe, we receive His light. It is that light that reveals the sin in our lives and we walk the path of righteousness. The more we mature our faith, the more the light reveals to us.

When we read the Bible, the light reveals it’s truth’s to us.

When we pray the light helps us to speak with our father.

Just like in our day to day life, the light is a good thing. It is hard to walk around in the dark.

When we receive the light, we realize how good it is.

When we are telling others about Jesus, they can’t know how good He is until the repent and believe. Then they will get the light and realize how good it is.

We should not be able to contain the light that is within us. We should not try to either.

We need to let it shine like Jesus did on that mountain.

Let’s let Duncan see our light!

Lets shine our light to the ones around us!

We only have one light in us. We have to let it shine.

Let’s pray