Radiating Glory

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Luke 9:28–36 ESV

Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

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Introduction:

Have you ever been to the top of a mountain? In 1998 I had the privilege of going on a mission trip to Grindelwald, Switzerland with other students from my college. Grindelwald is up in the Swiss Alps. It might be the most beautiful place on earth. My 1998 self wasn’t the greatest photographer and it was well before digital cameras were everywhere. We worked at a camp for European teenagers and the building we had worship services in had one wall that was all windows. Those windows overlooked some of the most majestic mountain-scapes I have ever seen. We were singing “Shout to the Lord,” (that dates me) and looking at those vistas. It was a crazy experience. It’s amazing how different things can be even from as high as we were to when we rode the tram up one of the mountains to the top. It was July. It was hot. But when we got to the top, it snowed on us. Even the beauty and majesty of these mountains doesn’t capture the glory of what three of the disciples witnessed in our passage today.

As many of you are participating in a yearly read through the Bible plan, you will no doubt notice how many significant events in the course of redemptive history have happened on or involving mountains.

The Ark settled on Mount Ararat

Abraham offering Isaac on Mount Moriah

God Calling Moses at Mt. Horeb

God preparing Moses at Mt. Sinai

Solomon building the Temple on the Mount in Jerusalem

Elijah contending with the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel

God revealing Himself to Elijah in the sound of silence on Mt. Horeb

Mountains figure prominently in the era of the Old Covenant.

Mountains figure prominently into Jesus’ ministry as well.

Mount of Olives - sermon Matthew 5-7 …

Preparing to draw near to Jerusalem and His death he reveals His glory to the three disciples on the mount of transfiguration (Probably Mt. Hermon)

Thirdly, He would fulfill the purpose of God on Mount Calvary.

Mountain motifs are important in scripture with occasional contrasts set up between mountains. Why tell you all of this? I want you to pick up on these things as you read through the Word. I’m going to point out some specifics on this today. But the main idea that I want you to grasp for today is: The glory of God dwells in Jesus so we should heed his Word. To see this, I’m going to walk you through the scene with Jesus’ glory revealed, the conversation He has on the mountain, and the testimony we get about who Jesus is.

So to begin, let’s set the scene.

I. The scene - glory revealed

This passage to one of the turning points in the ministry of Jesus. As we open, Luke says it’s been about 8 days since the previous sayings had taken place. Jesus gets Peter, John, and James, His inner circle and goes up the mountain to pray. Pay attention to that. He’s up on the mountain and he’s praying. Usually when we see Jesus in this activity something important is about to occur.

As He is praying His face changes and His clothing becomes dazzling white. One writer said, “Jesus’ face and garments now accord with His divine nature.” The veil keeping Jesus’s glory from shining forth was removed for a bit and the watchers were able to see that glory emanating from within Him. Your cell phone has a backlit screen. It’s lit by little led lights under there. But a Kindle Paperwhite which uses e-ink is front lit. The light shines down on it. This glory was not shining on Jesus but was coming from Jesus. He was the source of it.

Matthew also contains this event but with a bit more detail. Matthew 17:2

Matthew 17:2 ESV

And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

And if that wasn’t wild enough, there were two men who appeared there with Him and they’re having a conversation. These weren’t any random men either. This was Moses and Elijah. These are two of the chief representatives of the prophetic tradition.

The appearance of Moses in this passage is really interesting when you contrast this event with Moses on Mount Sinai.

Exodus 34:29–35 ESV

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. 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. 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 him.

Nick Batzig writes about this contrast when he says, “ The revelation of the glory of God, reflecting off the face of Moses, was an accompanying sign of the divine source of the message that God gave him on the mountain. The emanating glory from the face of the Lord Jesus Christ was not a reflected glory. Jesus is the very revelation of God in the flesh. The glory reflecting off the face of Moses served as a marker of the authority of God, but the glory shining from the face of Jesus served as a verifying sign of his own divine glory.”

Moses put a veil on his face to shield the people from the glory that eventually would pass. The old covenant was passing away. But Jesus’ glory was veiled by His humanity and would not fade but last for all eternity. Jesus, the new and better.

Now, there has been much discussion and debate about what exactly it means that these two men showed up in this moment on the mount of transfiguration. Whatever God’s full reason for it, we can at least note a few important points. Moses as the one who delivered God’s law to the people and Elijah as the great prophet appearing at this time seems to point to Jesus as the fulfillment of the both the Law and the Prophets. The Old was passing and something new had come. A new covenant in Jesus’ blood.

Their appearance confirms the continuity of their ministry with Jesus’s life and ministry. It points to Jesus as the pinnacle of God’s revelation of Himself and plan for salvation.

They hold audience with Jesus in such a posture as for us to understand that Jesus is the greater. A couple of years ago I preached through the book of Hebrews and we spent about 9 months on the superiority of Christ. Christianity is exclusive. That’s not very popular to say today. Jesus Christ alone is the one who saves. Not Moses, not Elijah, not anyone or anything else. It’s exclusive. There is one way. One God.

1 Timothy 3:16 ESV

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

The appearance of Moses and Elijah also refutes the incorrect assumptions or guesses about the identity of Jesus made by the people. Do you remember some of the suggestions that were made? Elijah was one of the guess. This refutes that.

They didn’t simply appear but we find out they were having a conversation.

II. The conversation

Luke 9:31–32 ESV

who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.

I think that would snap me awake as well! It says they were speaking with Jesus about His departure. That’s a little unusual of a word for what was about to happen to Jesus in Jerusalem. The word that is used there and translated as departure, is the word exodos. Literally, it’s exodus. Some of you just had a little alarm go off in your brain.

Let’s look at the definition:

departure (exodus) n. — the act of coming or going out of a place; especially referring to the departure that the Israelites made from Egypt.

We have here a connection to the exodus in the wording used. Exodus was an incredibly important time in the history of the nation of Israel. In fact, it’s one of the main things God used to establish them as a nation. They were enslaved to a tyrannical Pharoah in Egypt. God sent a deliverer by the name of Moses to set the people free. God used Moses to lead the people out of the land of Egypt. However, because of their sin, they ended up having to wander in the wilderness for forty years. During that time God gave Moses specific instructions for how to build a tabernacle or a tent for His presence to dwell in among the people. To imagine this whole thing, imagine the biggest family reunion you’ve ever seen and when you wake up the morning after the party, you’ve got to pack up the tents and all move to the next location. Oh and there are thousands and thousands and thousands of you. And if that’s not enough to imagine, you’ve got to set up the tabernacle very carefully when you get there and God will dwell in it among you. He led them by a cloud by day and fire by night. So, Luke telling us that Moses and Elijah were speaking of Jesus’ exodus in significant.

The exodus delivered the Israelites from bondage to Egypt. This departure or exodus of Christ would deliver sinners from bondage to sin. The Jewish people would look back on the time of the exodus and remember the time God rescued them and set them up as a nation. But Christians look back now on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as the time when He set us free from slavery to sin and established the New Israel, the church, His chosen people. So incredible!

Now, let’s move on to the last point I want to focus on. The testimony about Jesus that we hear in this passage.

III. The testimony about Jesus.

If you’ve been following along in chapter 9, we have seen some testimonies about who Jesus is. Herod wondered who He was. The people had some ideas about who He might be and we got a very strong confession from Peter about Jesus being the Christ. But now, we get a third testimony, not from the people or the disciples from from God the Father.

Luke 9:33–36 ESV

And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

Peter is overcome and suggests that they build three tents for Jesus and the two visitors. When it says that Peter didn’t know what he said, it’s more of a statement that he didn’t understand what he was saying or the implications of it. In other words, there’s more truth there than he realized. Let’s jump back into the book of Exodus to help us figure this out.

Exodus 40:34–35 ESV

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

How does this connect?

The word used for tabernacle in the Greek translation of Exodus is the same word used in Luke 9 for the tents that Peter wants to build. You’ve also got glory present in both. God filled the tabernacle with His glory in Exodus and on the mount, Jesus radiated glory.

During the exodus, God’s glory dwelled among the people in the tabernacle, a physical tent. But now what we can see is that the place where the glory of God and the presence of God dwells among His people is in Jesus. Jesus is the new and better tabernacle.

John 1:14 ESV

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John uses that same word for dwelt that was used for tabernacle and tent. Jesus came and tabernacled or encamped among us. Amazing!

So we have this new exodus and this new tabernacle. But then God speaks and gives us a not so new command but one that is key. He says that Jesus is His Son and the Chosen One. And He tells them to, Listen to Him! In other words, give attention to His teaching above all else. Jesus is God’s Son. He shares deity with the Father. He is God. He is God’s spokesperson. Moses and Elijah had been there sure, but God is saying that Jesus is the one you need to pay attention to. It’s interesting that the two men were parting when Peter spoke up and then came the voice of God. Our attention should be paid to the one who speaks from God and is God’s Son. The sense of the word is to heed. We should listen and obey the things that we hear. Take heed of what Jesus says.

Hebrews 3:3–6 ESV

For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

The NT doesn’t look favorable on Christians who turn their back on the commands of Jesus.

Conclusion:

Imagine the solitude and silence felt after the Word of God was heard and then it was no longer heard.

Kept silence in those days contrasts the situation they were in, in Jesus’ day with that of Luke’s day as he was writing this account. This was during the time after Pentecost when Peter, James, and John freely proclaimed about this very event. In fact, someone had to tell Luke about it so he could record it here for us. They needed new words and a new tongue to accurately proclaim what they had seen. They didn’t have that yet.

When we look at this passage in it’s immediate context we can see a combination going on of glory and the conversation about the death of Christ. It’s a way of teaching the disciples and the rest of us that true glory and the cross are not incompatible. For them this would have sounded wild. Seeing this glory manifested on the mountain was in preparation for the disciples as they would face Jesus suffering and dying in Jerusalem. They were being prepared to watch Jesus endure the cross knowing the glory that was in Him.

Jesus was about to turn to Jerusalem to die for sinners. He had probably thought a lot about what lay ahead of Him. Here the Father was putting His stamp of approval on Jesus again. It was similar but different to the scene at His baptism. Both were turning points in Jesus’ ministry.

The Transfiguration was a glimpse at the glory of Jesus, the prophets of old acknowledging Jesus as Christ, and the Lord Himself as bearing testimony about Jesus the Son.

Yet one other contrast can be seen in this passage. Mike McKinley points it out.

“It is hard to imagine that the Jesus that we see here is the same Jesus that suffered and died for us - that the transfigured Jesus on the mountain is the same as the disfigured Jesus on the cross. Here on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus' clothes are bright like a flash of lightning (Luke 9:29); at the crucifixion Jesus' clothes would be soaked in blood and divided among wicked men (23:34). On this mountain, Jesus is surrounded by Moses and Elijah in splendor (9:30); there he would hang between two criminals (23:33). Here he is enveloped in the cloud of God's presence (9:34); there he would hang on the cross in utter darkness (23:44). Here he hears the voice of his Father expressing his delight in him (9:35); there Jesus would be forsaken by the Father for us (Matthew 27:46).”

The transfiguration puts the glory of Jesus on display in a way that is obvious to those looking on. But at the cross, the humility and love of Jesus shines through in a way that is perhaps harder to perceive at first, but ultimately is even more breathtaking. 

So Christian, will you listen to and heed the words of the one who had such glory and still laid down His life for you? Isn’t He worth it? The glorious one has all of that power and glory and can carry you through your self denial, your daily taking up your cross and following Him.

Maybe you’re sitting out there and you have never heard this about Jesus. Maybe you don’t understand how God could come and die on your behalf, as a substitute for your sin and rise from the dead three days later. But you’re here and you’re wondering. Why do you suppose that is? Could it be that God is trying to reveal Himself to you in the person of Jesus? I want to challenge you to start asking questions of whoever you came to church with. Ask others here. I’d love to talk to you about Jesus.

Let’s Pray.

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