The Unveiling of Christ

Mark 9:1-8

If you brought your bibles turn with me over to the gospel of Mark chapter 9. The gospel of Mark chapter 9, and in a moment we are going to read verses 1-8 of Mark chapter 9.

 Let me ask you this:   How big is your vision of God?

My goal this morning, is not to show you some new revelation from the Bible you have never seen before, or to instruct you in any of the imperatives of scripture.

There is not going to be any funny stories this morning or ironic twists, that connect us back to the meaning of the passage. No, today the magnitude of the material will not allow it; it is to stunning.

My goal this morning, is simply to inspire you to a bigger vision of the glory of God in Jesus Christ.

 You see, some of you, have a vision of God that is to small. And your thoughts about God, will only carry you from the church on Sunday morning, to the next crisis in your life. And then, you lose all sense of trust, and faith in God.

Some of you, here this morning, have a vision of God so small, just to get up, and come to a worship service this morning, felt more like an obligation, rather than the privilege God intends it to be.

My goal this morning is: to inspire you to worship. To paint a big picture of God, that will help you to stand strong and be confident in your faith.

But, it is important we realize: that can only come by knowing, and believing that Christ will return one day at the end of the age.

Currently, the world we live in is covered in darkness, but there is coming a day, at the end of the age, when the world has reached it’s darkest moment. That Christ will return and He will bring the light of the glory of God to the world.

  The first time Jesus came, He came as a lowly servant, but when He returns, He will return as the Exalted King.

The first time Jesus came there was no room for Him in the inn, but when He returns, He will inherit the earth.

The first time Jesus came, He stood before Pilate, but when He returns, The Pilate’s of the world, will stand before Him.

The first time Jesus came, He wore a crown of thorns, But when He returns, He will wear the crown of life.

That is the kind of vision of Christ we need today! The Christ who returns in the glory of God, and destroys sin and suffering and hell and death once and for all.

In our passage this morning, Peter, James, and John needed a bigger vision of God, and Jesus knew it.

So, He took them up high on a mountain, and He pulled back the veil, and He allowed them to see into eternity. He gives them a preview of the power of the power of God that will come, when Christ returns in glory.

That is what we are going to talk about today. The unveiling of Christ, because we need to see Christ glorified, so we can stand strong and be confident in our faith.

Mark 9:1–8 KJV

And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves. 

 Lets pray together,  

 Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word. We pray that as Your Word goes forth, You will speak to us clearly about how to respond to You.

I pray Lord, that if there are any hear among us who do not know You, You would draw them to you, that they might be saved!!

In Jesus Name I Pray, Amen!!

In our passage this morning, the question is not whether the glory of God was revealed on the mount of transfiguration, but why?

And the answer is: for the same reason we need to see Christ glorified today; so, we can stay the course, fight the good fight of faith, and live as believers, in a world that is hostile toward God.

So that, we can remain fully and faithfully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

If you remember, we reached a pivotal point in the gospel of Mark, chapter 8:27-31, with Peter’s great confession.

Jesus asked, “who do men say I am,” and the disciples answered, and said one of the prophets, Elijah, or John the Baptist. And Jesus asked, but “who do you say I am.” And Peter confessed you are the Christ the Son of the living God.”

 That was the pivotal point in the gospel because: from that moment on, Jesus began to teach them about the cross that was waiting for Him at Jerusalem.

He told them, He was going to suffer and die at the hands of the Jewish leaders, and if they were going to be His disciples, there would be a cross they would bare as well.

This was a difficult pill for the disciples to swallow. And knowing how difficult it was, Jesus gives them a preview.

He pulls back the veil to reveal the power and the glory of God to come, and that is what we see on the mount of transfiguration.

But, this is the vision of Christ we need to see today. We need to see Christ glorified so we can stand strong and be confident in our faith.

The first thing I want you to see in this passage is:

I. The Promise of His Glory Vs 1-2

It begins with this amazing promise of Christ, it is a promise of glory.

Notice the phrase in Vs. 1 “And He said unto them.” That connects this passage back to the previous scene.

It’s important we remember there were no chapter divisions and verse breaks in the original writings.

So, chapter 9 picks up right where chapter 8 left off. Jesus has just told the disciples they do not want to be ashamed of Him in this world, because if they are ashamed of Him, He will be ashamed of them when He returns.

That sets the stage for what we see happening in chapter 9. So, the subject here is: the return of Christ. This is all connected to Jesus challenging the disciples to follow Him.

 He begins with, “Verily, I say unto you.” This is a phrase that is unique to Jesus only.

No one else in scripture uses this phrase, not Paul, not Peter, not John. We do not find it in the Old Testament. This belongs exclusively to Christ.

Then He gives them the promise. Notice Vs. 1 He says, “Some of you standing here are not going to taste death until you see the Kingdom of God come with power.”

And Jesus was speaking specifically to three of them, Peter, James, and John. They were going to physically see the unveiling of Christ, and the power of God, on the mount of transfiguration.

 Throughout the gospels, these three formed a trusted inner circle of Christ. It was these three, Jesus took with Him when He raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead.

It was these three who would go with Him to the Garden of Gethsemane when He was arrested, and it is these three, that He takes up on the mountain for this incredible vision of the glory of God.

 These three were singled out because, they would become the primary leaders of the church when Jesus was gone.

They needed to be reassured because of what lied ahead of them. They were going to face great trials that included prison, and martyrdom.

(pause)

Now, I have to point out, there are many different interpretations of what Jesus meant, when He said, “Some of those who are standing here will not taste death until they see the Kingdom of God, come with power.”

When would that happen? When would they see it? Well, there are many different interpretations of when this was fulfilled.

Some scholars believe, it wasn’t until the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus, when He spent 40 days with the disciples. They obviously got to see the power of the Kingdom of God first hand!!

Some scholars say, it wasn’t fulfilled until the day of Pentecost, with the coming of the Holy Spirit, and they definitely saw the power of God that day!!

 And still others believe Jesus was predicting His second coming at the end of the age. But we know that couldn’t possibly be the case, because everyone standing there when Jesus said this, is long dead and gone.

So, I believe this is an obvious reference to what would happen immediately, 6 days later on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Everything from Verse 2 and beyond, is the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus in Vs 1.

Jesus makes this promise to His disciples, and to us today, to encourage us, because of all He has told us we would endure as Christians.

He wants us to know, the best is always yet to come for a believer. There is coming a day when Christ will return in the glory of the Kingdom of God and deliver us from the evil of the world around us.

And no matter what we are going through that should be an encouragement to us. Because we have the hope of the second coming as a promise.

I think Mark makes that connection clear by what he says in the next Verse. Notice Vs. 2 He says, “six days later.”

The only reason Mark would write that is: to connect Vs 2 with what Jesus has already said in Vs 1.

 Jesus brought the three, Peter, James, and John, high upon a mountain, and we don’t know which mountain, we are not given that information, but we know it was there, He was transfigured. These three got to see the Kingdom of God, before they tasted death.

The word “transfigure” comes from a Greek word that means metamorphosis. In other words, Jesus was changed from the inside out.

Beneath the body of Christ, there was the full deity of God, and for a moment He appeared on the outside as He was on the inside.

 That is the promise of His glory. As Christians we need to see Christ glorified so we can stand strong and be confident in our faith.

The next thing I want you to see in this passage is:

II. The Presence of His Glory Vs. 3-6

Have you ever had a moment in your life, when you struggled to describe what you saw? I mean words just don’t do it justice, no matter how hard you tried.

Words just can not put into context what you have just seen. I think one of those times in my life was when I watched the twin towers go down on 9-11.

I was in disbelief. I don’t think any of us have ever seen anything like that before, and hopefully we will never see anything like that again.

But that is what we see from this passage. Peter is struggling to describe what he saw.

Remember Mark’s gospel is a recording of the eyewitness account of Peter. So, the words Mark writes here are the words of Peter.

Notice in Vs. 3 he says, “His raiment became shinning, and exceedingly white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them.”

In other words, Peter cannot even put this into words what he saw.

Luke 9:29 says, “He was gleaming.” Matthew 17:2 says, His face was “shone like the sun.”

Jesus in all His brilliance, was like a flash of lightning in the sky. And for a moment Peter, James, and John beheld the splendor of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

(pause)

John would write about this event later in His gospel. John 1:14 he would say, “we beheld His glory, glory of the only begotten of the Father.”

Peter would write about that day in 2 Peter 1:16 when he said, “we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”

 These three disciples were given the privilege of being in the presence of His glory. This gave them the full picture, and the liberty they needed to follow Him.

They needed to see Jesus as more than the carpenter’s son. They needed to see Him as more than the lowly servant. They needed to see Him as the King of Glory, and we need to see Him that way today.

We need to get rid of the picture we have of Jesus as a baby in a manger, and a miracle worker, walking in sandals, healing the sick, raising the dead and cleansing the leper.

We need to remember that one day, this same Jesus, will split the Eastern sky and stand on Mount Zion and reign over all the world.

Notice Suddenly, in Vs. 4, two significant figures appear with Jesus. Moses and Elijah show up on the scene, and they are there as a testimony to the Identity of Christ.

And this is truly an amazing scene taking place here. But why Moses and Elijah? Why not Abraham, or David, or Isaiah, or Daniel? Why these two?

They represent the two divisions of the Old Testament.

 Moses was the great Law giver of Israel. The deliverer of the people who lead them to the promise land.

Elijah represented the prophets, the defenders of Yahweh who would call the people to repentance and faith.

Both of their stories, Moses and Elijah, speak of the suffering of Christ. In fact, the entire Old Testament points forward to the coming of the Messiah and the redemption of man.

(Pause)

 Mark tells us in Vs. 4 they were talking with Jesus, and Luke 9:31 tells us what they were talking about.

Luke 9:31 says, “They were speaking of His departure.” And His departure is referring to His death on the cross, and His return to God the Father.

So, the presence of Moses and Elijah, on the mountain, tells us: their ministries pointed to the moment when Christ would overcome Hell and death on our behalf, and what a spectacular day that will be.

Notice Vs. 5 Peter says to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here.” In Luke’s version of the story, the disciples had fallen asleep, and they woke up to this incredible sight surprised, but Mark tells us they were terrified.

And again, we are privileged to this eyewitness account. Not only does it describe what they saw, but how they felt.

They were terrified by what they saw. It seized them. It alarmed them. There is no way to stand in this overwhelming, overpowering moment of the presence of God and not be completely terrified.

  I am reminded of John in the book of Revelation, when He heard a voice speaking from behind him. He turned to behold the glory of God and he fell on his face as though he were dead.

Well, John had seen this glory before, on the mount of transfiguration, and it was a terrifying sight.   

And Peter was right, in what he said, it was good for them to be there. There is no better place to be than where Jesus is, and there is nothing better for us to be doing, than hearing the words Christ would say to us.

But Peter didn’t know what to say and he probably should have just kept his mouth shut at that moment.

The idea of building tabernacles was a common practice of the Jews, they would build memorials to commemorate significant events in their history.

So, what Peter was saying here is, lets commemorate this moment and lets celebrate right here. Lets stay on this mountain.

But like all followers of Jesus Christ, we know, we don’t get to stay up on the mountain forever.

In fact, life is lived in the valley and there are very few mountain top experiences in life.

But there is coming a day, when all believers will share in this same mountain top experience of Peter, James, and John. In the day when Christ returns, in the glory of God with the armies of heaven.

 In this passage we have seen: the promise of His glory in Vs. 1-2. And we have seen: the presence of His glory in Vs. 3-6.

What we learn is: As Christians we need to see Christ glorified so we can stand strong and be confident in our faith.

The next thing I want you to see in this passage is:

III. The Purpose of His Glory Vs. 7-8

Why did all of this happen? What was the purpose?

Notice Vs. 7 it says, “There was a cloud that overshadowing them.”

It is not hard to imagine being on a mountain top and being covered by a cloud.

But this was something different, they were consumed by the shekinah glory of God. This same glory would lead Israel through the wilderness, with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

This same cloud of glory would protect them, from the armies of Pharoah, as they crossed the Red Sea.

This same cloud of glory, would depart from the temple of Solomon, when Israel rebelled and were carried away to Babylon.

 Notice Vs. 7 tells us, there was a voice that came out of the cloud.

It was the same voice that spoke at the baptism of Jesus and said, “this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Now the voice says, “this is my beloved Son, listen to Him.” This voice is not one of the prophets, this voice belongs to God the Father.

The command He gives us in Vs. 7, is in the present tense, meaning that we are always to “listen to Him!”

To hear Jesus and obey Him, because to hear Jesus and not obey Him, is to: not listen to Him at all, but to ignore Him.

I can’t help but think, this reminds me of when I was young, and my mother would tell me to do something.

She would say, “did you hear me?” In other words, do you understand what I am saying?

That is what God the Father is doing here. He is telling us, we are exclusively to listen to Jesus.

Don’t listen to religious leaders of the world. Don’t listen to culture or society, but listen to Christ.

In Matthew’s version of the story, 17:6. It tells us the disciples were so blown away by what they heard, they fell on the ground and prostrated themselves before Him.

They were shocked and in awe, and Jesus had to touch them and tell them not to be afraid.

 Notice Vs. 8 says, “Suddenly, when they looked around, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.”

This is symbolic, yet it is intentional. Moses is gone, Elijah is gone, Only Christ remains. He is the Master, Teacher, Redeemer, and Lord, and He will not share His glory with anyone.

He is to have preeminence in our lives alone. Our response must be the same as John the Baptist when he said, “I must decrease so that He can increase.”

So, now Moses and Elijah are gone and all the remains is Christ and they will follow Him, all the days of their lives.

The same thing must be true for us today. Everything else must step aside. This world and all the competing voices and all of the competing people must take a backseat to Jesus.

They must fall into the background and it must be Christ alone. For salvation is found in no other name for there is no other name given among men by which we must be saved.

 There is but one God and one mediator between man and God, Christ Jesus who gave Himself as a ransom for all.

We can only look to Jesus. We cannot look to a church, and we cannot look to tradition. We must fix our eyes on Him, fix our minds on Him, and make Him the centerpiece of our life and not look back to the world again.

 That is the message of this great passage. Jesus challenged His disciples to follow Him, and then He allowed them to look past the humiliation and rejection of the cross, and to see the crown of glory.

And that is what He calls us to do as well. He calls us to look past the difficulty that follows the life of a believer, and to look to the coming Kingdom of God and the glory of Christ that will be established when Jesus returns.

So, the question we need to ask ourselves today is; when Christ returns, will you be one of His? Will you be found faithful?

Are you walking the narrow path that leads to life, or are you on the broad path that leads to destruction?

What is your vision of who God is, and is it bigger than your vision of the world?

Lets pray together,

Heavenly Father, I pray You would fill our hearts with a bigger vision of You than we have of the world.

We know Lord, that the world and all it contains, is only temporary. It’s a flower slowly fading.

So, Lord I pray You: show us Your glory. I pray You would fill our hearts and our minds with a hunger for Your return.

I pray Lord You would help us to stand strong and be confident in our faith.

I pray these things in the Name of Jesus, Amen!!