The Transfiguration

Bible Passage: Mark 9:2-8

INTRO

“Soma Church exists to love the body of Christ and equip them to do the work of ministry here, near and far, all for the glory of God.”

Last week, we ended our 4 week teaching series called The Soul Winning Church, and one of the takeaways was to position yourself to see the glory of God.

Maybe you do this by reading His word, time in prayer, meditation on His word and His character.

Or maybe you were blessed like me to see God’s glory in the things He has made like Romans 1:20 tells us…

Romans 1:20 ESV

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

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This was my 3rd time going to CO and I remember when I came back the 1st time I drove my friends and family nuts. Because all I could do after having seen and experienced what I did was respond.

And for me, responding looked like telling others how great my experience was.

I don’t know about you but I believe in a God who is sovereign and in control of everything, and I believe that when He repeats Himself we should listen.

I did not plan for last week to be about response to God’s glory and then to talk about it again this week, but I do believe that God did.

So wether you were here last week or not, I wanna encourage all of us to lean in, because I think God is revealing something to our church that we need to know.

I think it could be summed up in this one question…

How Will You Respond?

BODY

When we last looked at Mark, Jesus had just got done foretelling of His own death to His disciples and of theirs as well.

Mark 9:1 ESV

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

All of this serves as a pulling back of the curtain for the disciples that gave their life to following in the footsteps of Jesus.

Men who ultimately go on to continue what Jesus began in the building and expansion of His Kingdom here on Earth.

If anyone needed to be privy to what Jesus was all about, it was His disciples.

Today’s story is no exception

Mark 9:2–3 ESV

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.

Jesus grabs what we could call the big three (Peter, James and John) and takes them to a mountain where He is “transfigured”

The word is metamorphoomai which means to change or transform the essential nature of something.

And when this happens he becomes radiant, and white as white gets. Probably because He is glowing

So what has just happened? Jesus has pulled off the veil of His flesh and is showing His disciples who He really is… God.

Up until this point, the disciples have seen Jesus but they haven’t actually seen Jesus

This illustration is far from perfect but what illustration used to describe God isn’t?

But I liken this to seeing my bride on my wedding day.

I had seen her for a year and eight months prior. And every day I thought she looked beautiful.

There had even been times when I had seen her dressed up, hair done, makeup on looking stunning. But nothing compares to the way she looked the day I married her.

I saw her in a whole new way. My perspective of her beauty increased 10x because I saw her in a new light. She was my bride and she looked beautiful in a whole new way.

What Peter, James and John got to witness was the fullness of God’s glory revealed in the Son.

Jesus was making tangible for them what they knew about God from childhood and what He had been telling them about himself.

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.

The disciples would go on to realize that what they saw was no ordinary rabbi or man but this was God. And they responded by giving their life to follow Him.

If we keep going we will see that two others joined the party that Jesus was throwing on this mountain.

Mark 9:4 ESV

And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.

The presence of Elijah and Moses serve to show the disciples and us today some things that are very significant.

First, Jesus is what these men were looking forward to in faith. Jesus is the messiah that they both were told about and told others about.

Second, Jesus is the main point of the whole story…

Third, The work of Moses and his establishment of the law of God and Elijah and the prophetic word of God is all brought to completion in Jesus.

Jesus fulfils what Moses and Elijah (as well as other prophets did)

There is this story in Luke of these men who were walking together after Jesus’ death and the resurrected Jesus appears to them and walks with them. They begin to have this conversation about who Jesus was and what He had come to do and look at what it says in Luke 24:27…

Luke 24:27 ESV

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

So up upon a mountain which represents God’s presence in scripture, these three disciples see the glory of God and the fulfillment of the promises of God all in one fell swoop.

And surely you would assume that this is the moment when these boneheaded disciples finally get it, right?

You would be wrong…

Mark 9:5–6 ESV

And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.

Did you notice the first word out of Peter’s mouth? “Rabbi”

Lemme ask you, what should it have been? ‘LORD.’

Full stop nothing more, nothing less. Just “O, my GOD.”

Now lemme as you this, what would you say?

Would you say, rabbi, teacher, sage, lunatic, good man, role model or LORD?

This is the critical question that everyone must answer in their life.

Is Jesus everything He said that He is.

As CS Lewis so eloquently put it, Jesus affords us no room to say He is just a good teacher or a wise man. He is either a lunatic or He is LORD.

So let me as you again… Who is He to you?

And how will you respond?

That question really brings you to the crux of the issue.

Because to say that Jesus is anything other than LORD costs you nothing. But if you admit to the truth that Jesus is God in the flesh then it is a call to follow Him. A commission to come and die.

Mark 9:7 ESV

And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”

The glory of God requires a response. Their is no passivity.

It either invokes faith and obedience or rejection

CLOSING

I think it is important for us to remember that though sometimes it may feel extreme or difficult to respond to Jesus and His word, it isn’t

It may look extreme at times to you and especially to a dying world but in reality you respond to things daily that you love or hold in high enough esteem.

You respond to your belly when you are hungry

You respond to your phone when it dings

You respond to your insecurities when you speak hatefully or post online for the affirmation of others you don’t actually need

You respond to your employer

You respond to your spouse

You respond to the newest Netflix drop

Most of your life is spent in response to someone or something that you think for whatever reason is worth responding to.

Yet without desiring to come across accusatory, you very seldom respond to even the most basic invitations Jesus gives you each and every day.

Only you can truly answer this question, but I wanna ask it again…

How will you respond?

Is it a step of obedience?

Is it saying no to a habitual sin?

Is it daily discipline?

Is it pursuing healing from past wounds that now are effecting others through you?

Is it to ask God for greater faith, humility, grace or compassion?

Is it to believe one Jesus as Lord and receive Him as your savior. Give your life to Him?

Whatever it is no matter if it feels gigantic or minuscule, let today be the day you look at the glory of Jesus and respond.

PRAY