Columbiana County Jail Sermon 02/
Notes
Transcript
The Transfiguration
The Transfiguration
Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers money, and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves , take these things away, Do not make my Father’s house a house of merchandise.
Then His disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for your house has eaten me up. So the Jews answered and said to Him, What sign do you show us, since you do these things? Jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then the Jews said it has taken 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?
But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them, and they believed the Scriptures and the Word which Jesus had said.
Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
Open your Bibles to John 2:13-25.
Let us read.
13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. 17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. 18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
Let us pray.
The significance of the Tabernacle in the later temple in the Old Testament finds its center in the presence of God. Without the unique presence of God within the temple, there is no temple worth speaking about. When we read of the Tabernacle or temple in the Old Testament, we must not make the mistake of suggesting that Israel’s religious life centered around the temple per say.
Israel’s religious life centered around the presence of God in the temple. An Israelite or Jewish religion without the presence of God, though it may have a temple, is no religion at all.
When the glory of God departs from the threshold of the temple in Ezekiel 10, it is a bad omen of judgment to come. The presence of God is the meaning of the temple. Thus , as we turn to the transfiguration of our Lord in Matthew 17 and we see Peter planning to build three tabernacles for the Lord, for Moses, and for Elijah, we might think of the presence of God, the Tabernacle, and His presence amongst His people. But what happens next is surprising.
A bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice shot forth saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased hear Him. All of this before Peter could get to his construction of tents.
All of the elements of the Tabernacle of God are present in this scene, a glory cloud representing the presence of God and divine communication, but this time without the usual context of a fabric Tabernacle or a brick and mortar temple.
We are invited here to see the temple, not in the physical structure which Peter desired to build, but in the person of Christ who is God with us.
Welcome to our service today. It is with all of my heart that I hope you enjoy the service today. Today we will focus on Matthew 17:1-13 and 2 Corinthians 6:16.
The temple and the Tabernacle are one of those themes. I would call it probably a mega theme throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament. One of those golden threads really that helps us to tie together the entirety of the scriptural Canon. There are a couple of themes like this. We think of creation, we think of temple, we think of priesthood.
You know, these kinds of themes that run throughout Old Testament and New Testament are redemptively significant and they thematically weave together all of the Bible. God’s covenant is another one of these themes that helps us to see the unity of Old Testament and New Testament and the continuity between those two sides, if you will, of divine revelation.
They really help us to see the development of God’s redemptive plan and we see this kind of come together in a climactic sort of way at the Transfiguration of our Lord in Matthew 17.
And I think the careful reader who is somewhat familiar or acquainted with the Old Testament and the religious life of Old Testament Israel as it was instituted by God Himself through Moses is going to see a couple of themes come together in this particular text in Matthew 17 at the Transfiguration of Christ.
That will go to really inform how we understand the significance of the temple, the importance and the pre eminence of God with us or the presence of God amongst His people.
Now please open your Bible to Matthew 17 if you have not already done so. Let me begin by just reading it. Now I started with John 2:13-25 because I wanted us to see the proper context , the doctrine that is running behind the scenes , sort of speak, in the redemptive plan of God and that Christ is the new temple. But Matthew 17 is going to inform how we detail this, how we understand it more fully. So in verses 1 through 13 of Matthew 17, we find the Transfiguration of our Lord. Let us read together these verses Matthew 17:1-13.
1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. 4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. 7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. 9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. 10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
As we look at this text, we notice a few striking things. But one of the things that I want to begin with is the implications of Peter’s actions. That God dwells in a Tabernacle is seemingly one of Peter’s assumptions. Though I don’t know if he has a theology of Christ or Christology really worked out in his mind here.
I doubt that he does in fact, we can tell through certain of his actions later on and even before this text that Peter is operating out of a kind of ignorance along with some true knowledge, some true understanding of what was going on in the Old Testament, what was promised in the Old Testament, what was established in the Old Testament.
And so one of the implications of Peter’s actions seems to be that God dwells in a Tabernacle. And maybe this is a point at which we could say, yeah, Peter is remembering his Old Testament. And if he does make some assumption that, you know, Christ is the Messiah that he is somehow although he wouldn’t have all this worked out in his mind most likely. that He is God with us, then it would make sense for the construction of a Tabernacle for Him to stay in, especially as he sees Him glorified here.
There is also this kind of desire in Peter seemingly for an ongoing presence not only of the glorified Christ, but also of Moses and Elijah, that Peter wants there to be an enduring kind of abiding there on the mountain.
And he expresses this through a desire to build three tents or three tabernacles. But another implication of Peter’s actions is that God is going to continue to dwell in a Tabernacle made with hands, to use the biblical language, even when God is present with him in Christ.
And I think this is where Peter forgets his Old Testament.
We are told in several places in Scripture, in the Old Testament scripture, thinking of John, or thinking of Jeremiah 31:31-34.
31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, That I will make a new covenant With the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers In the day that I took them by the hand To bring them out of the land of Egypt; Which my covenant they brake, Although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, And write it in their hearts; And will be their God, And they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: For they shall all know me, From the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: For I will forgive their iniquity, And I will remember their sin no more.
We see this is the introduction of the new covenant or the promise of the new covenant made more clear in that text where we have the presence of God with His people. And there are several texts throughout Scripture where God promises to be the God of His people and where He promises that His people will have Him as their God.
And so there are all these instances in the Old Testament where we are told that God is going to dwell amongst His people.
And we are told these things even in light of the kind of the temple driven religious life of Israel, suggesting that there is going to be kind of a further or a more intimate indwelling than what the people of Israel experience with regard to the Tabernacle of meeting or the later brick and mortar temple that Solomon constructs.
And so there is information all throughout the Old Testament that suggests to us that God is going to dwell with and amongst His people in a way that is distinct from a way He was dwelling amongst His people in the Tabernacle and the later temple.
And this brings us to really the anticipation of the Tabernacle and the temple in the Old Testament. What was being anticipated with those institutions, we are invited to, and actually urged to in the Old Testament itself to consider the thing to which the Tabernacle and the temple looks.
So what I mean by that is we are to see something more significant through the Tabernacle and the temple themselves. You know the fabric Tabernacle or the brick and mortar temple that was later built by Solomon. 1208 part 3
