Foundations of Faith… Burning Bush/Transfiguration

Introduction

Good morning family, thank you, on behalf of our Eldership, thank you for taking time out of your schedules to be with us this morning to worship in Spirit and Truth.

To our family and friends joining us via YouTube and sitting on the digital front row, know that we love you and miss you and hope to reunited with you in person soon.

How to Learn the Greatest Story Ever Told

Hebrews 10:1 ESV

For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.

We have the privilege of living in a very beautiful part of God’s world. One of the things that I enjoy is watching the sun set and rise. It is easy to do when the tallest structures around you are oak, maple, and cedar trees. Have you ever noticed, right before the sun sets, a certain point is reached when you can still see things, but not in detail. You can see the outline of the trees in your yard, you can make out your house and its roof line but not necessarily the color of your roof, you can see enough to know that that right there is a cow, but I have no idea what color the cow is, but I know, thats a cow!

In a very similar way, Scripture teaches us that this, this viewpoint, this light low light scenario, where enough light is shining for us to be able to see the outline of a subject, but not enough light to see its detailed definition is how we should approach the Old Testament law, that is fulfilled perfectly and in every conceivable detail in the Passion of Christ.

1 Peter 3:21 ESV

21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

the word “corresponds” here is talking about a type/anti-type relationship

The idea of God’s people passing through cleansing water in order to be saved from divine judgement is the idea that Peter is here highlighting for his readers. The “flood waters” are the type, the “baptismal waters” discussed in this passage in 1 Peter are the antitype, the fulfillment of what that event meant.

It is from here, using the life of Christ as our light that we can begin to see the outline, the shadowy figure of the Old Testament begin to take shape, and when we view the scriptures in this way, we begin to read and understand how to better remember, communicate, and ultimately live the Christian Faith.

So we see,

The Temptation in the Garden- The Temptation of Christ

The binding of Isaac- The Crucifixion

This is how we can and should be teaching the next generation of the Church to engage with our Divinely inspired text. As move now into the first point of our lesson we are going to follow this formula.

Moses and the Burning Bush- The Shadow of things to come

Exodus 3:1–8 ESV

1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Moses records so many wonderful details for us here. We will move through just a few for our purposes this morning.

After 40 years of training in Egypt, Acts 7:23, and 40 years of shepherding in the wilderness for his father -in-law, Exodus 7:7, Moses has developed the abilities needed, by God’s grace, to fulfill his role in leading these chosen people out of bondage and into freedom. Application: Nothing is wasted, everything you have been given, experienced, and struggled through in your life can be used to bring people into an encounter with God.

Moses answered the call! First, it is so often, especially I think, in the west, that man feels we can direct our own steps. Jeremiah 10:23 “23 I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.” Proverbs 16:25 “25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Notice, vs. 3, “I will turn aside…” very often we see biblical characters going one way only to have an interaction with the divine and then start on a totally different course because of that interaction. That is still true today, how many of us sitting here started to come to church because someone we happened to be dating or married to, and we still persisted in walking our own way, until finally, one day, something, or someone, finally caught our attention and we stopped walking in the direction that we had been walking our entire life, a self directed path, and turned our gaze, our eyes toward the one that has been calling to His people since before the foundation of the world was laid. Second, notice Moses response- “Here I am” This is the same response we see from Abraham, Jacob, and Samuel. This response shows the disposition, the posture of the heart, to be one of humility. It is only from this point that we can hear God. That the “still small voice” that the prophet Elijah hears in 1 Kings 19:12-13 turns our eyes from ourselves and moves them toward God.

Finally, we see the biblical pattern of calling, then going. It isn’t very often that we see someone have an encounter with God and then nothing happens. Generally, we see this person, move from that point until the end of their life, fulfilling the mission given by God. St. Paul illustrates this perfectly when he is on trail before King Agrippa in Acts 26:19 “19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,”. You see we encounter this light, the light of our LORD, then we go. From the very beginning of salvation History there have been three aspects included in our interaction with God. That He was, vs. 6 “Father of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob”, that He is vs. 12“I will be with you”and that He is to come vs. 15“… this is My name forever… to be remembered throughout all generations” and that has given the faithful the courage to move forward, to go.

With all of this in mind, and with the lens of shadow and substance as our interprative guide, we are going to transition from this mountain of encounter with the burning bush, to another mountain top where Peter, James, and John are allowed to witness the transfiguration of Christ.

The Substance, The Transfiguration of Christ

Throughout the brief three year period of our Blessed Lord’s public ministry, we see Him ascend three mountains. The first is to deliver the most powerful sermon ever given, in Matthew 5-7 commonly called the Sermon on the Mount. The second is here in Luke 9:28-36, and the third is at Calvary. Where the Son of Man hangs between heaven and earth to reunite us to our Heavenly Father.

Luke 9:28–36 ESV

28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 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. 33 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. 34 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” 36 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.

Luke, guided by the Holy Spirit here records this turning point in the Ministry of Jesus. From this point forward, we see Christ moving toward the fulfillment of the Law. We see Him set His face toward Jerusalem (vs.51).

Just as in the account of Moses and burning bush, God, who would identify Himself as the “I AM” which would ensure that if His people would keep his covenant, they would reside in a land of promise, a land flowing with milk and honey. Now, Christ, whose clothes are dazzling white, whose face shone, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, at this moment allows Peter, James, and John to fully see what the burning bush meant. That God, will deliver His people, by His power, His might, His love from the powers of this world and carry us into the eternal kingdom, the place of rest, the promised land.

From our perspective then, as we move into this text, and into a new year, it can be helpful to think about Christ: Who was, who is, and who is to come. And this reality, these characteristics, are clearly shown in this passage.

The Three Movements of Christ

Past

My family, when we think about Christ in the past, it is so important, that especially to the younger generation, we do not view this, or even talk about this event as simply a legend. The coming of the Son of God, who was born in Bethlehem of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not Hercules, or Achilles, or McLintock. He is real. The Son of God actually become enfleshed, incarnate. This is such a radical claim, but it stands at the beginning of the Christian religion and at the fulfillment of the Jewish law, the Torah.

The Christ, who comes to us “in the fulness of time” brings all of these pieces that have been scattered by a people who chose to walk in their own way, and He, that is Christ, brings them together in His ministry, His life, and ultimately His body. After cleansing the temple he declares that in himself, is the place where God is to be rightly be worshipped.

It is in this transfiguration account that we see these two critical persons of the Old Covenant brought to their proper end. Moses, Israel’s deliverer, and law giver with Elijah, who represents the prophets, called to defend the worship of God, and who would appear at the end of the age to restore the hearts of the people.

It is here, this event recorded in the three synoptic gospels that Christ shows these three Apostles that all of the hope held by Israel for 1,500 years, all the war, the slavery, the wondering, the battles, and bondage, all of the tears that have been cried, everything now culminates, comes together in this one Man, who is God.

Present

Just as important as the fact that Christ moved into our world at a point in time, in a specific place, with certain peoples is the fact that He is still with us today.

Think about all of the great people in history whose stories are sung in the history books. Some of those people have left quite a mark on our present society. Think about Jefferson, Washington, and Lincoln, playing the parts they did to bring about the republic that we sometimes can take for granted.

Jesus of Nazareth however is with His people in a way that is impossible for these great men of the west to be. The Church is meant to be His living, breathing body in the world today. We are called to be members of it that carry forward the his ministry, life, and bear our cross so that people can see the light shown on this mountain, today.

The second movement or Christ shown to these three Apostles and by extension now to us in holy write, is found in the utterance of God. ““This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”- Vs. 35b

The present tense- is my Son, Listen to Him did not stop at the ascension into heaven, but continues now, here, in a real way.

Let us not for one second forget the active role that Christ plays in our lives now. Because of time I will just mention Hebrews 7:25

Hebrews 7:25 ESV

25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Christ, who can be trusted, He is actively playing a role in each and everyone’s salvation and will do so until the consummation of the world.

Future

Finally, we come to the future movement. This is so important for us to remember as Christians. History is going somewhere. It is moving toward a point of completion. That means that what we do matters, that our lives have meaning! If history was just the “endless return of the same”- Nietzsche, then nothing would matter. But for Christians, time is marching toward an end point. This world, our lives, are all part of the great story of salvation unfolding toward God’s perfect end.

Vs. 31- “Departure”- Same Greek word as “Exodus”. So Christ, is speaking about to Moses and Elijah about the new “Exodus” that He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem, which rested at the heart of the Jewish world.

We are sojourners in this land, not that this world doesn’t matter, not that the people put into it aren’t precious, but we were made for a place where we have easy communion with God. Here, we are given a glimpse of what that will look like, of what we will look like for eternity. Will be changed, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye.

The transfiguration shows this clearly, look at Vs. 29-

29 “And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.”

This of course speaks to the hope that is to come. What is that hope? The second coming of Jesus. When all of our lives, our stories, will be “gathered together into one like the pages of a great novel caught and put into order- Dante”.

Look at the very end of this text, look at the last lines of John the Visionaries Revelation and what do we read… Revelation 22:20 “20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”

That is our hope, that one day we will be made like him. That we will made into his image in the blink of an eye and finally behold the face of our Father.

Conclusion

What lights up your world? What draws your attention? What guides you as you take the next step in your life?

One final reading, Acts 6:15 “15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”

Can we help you start your journey? Can we help you continue?

Invitation