Transfiguration
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2 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, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.
The Mystery of the Transfiguration:
The Mystery of the Transfiguration:
Mark 9.2-
The NIV Application Commentary: Mark The Transfiguration (9:2–8)
Jesus
Moses
Jesus takes three disciples up the mountain (Mark 9:2).
Moses goes with three named persons plus seventy of the elders up the mountain (Ex. 24:1, 9).
Jesus is transfigured and his clothes become radiantly white (Mark 9:2–3).
Moses’ skin shines when he descends from the mountain after talking with God (Ex. 34:29).
God appears in veiled form in an overshadowing cloud (Mark 9:7).
God appears in veiled form in an overshadowing cloud (Ex. 24:15–16, 18).
A voice speaks from the cloud (Mark 9:7).
A voice speaks from the cloud (Ex. 24:16).
The people are astonished when they see Jesus after he descends from the mountain (Mark 9:15).
The people are afraid to come near Moses after he descends from the mountain (Ex. 35:30).
Introduction:
Echoes are fun as a kid...
Echoing conversations
Birth stories
Wisdom Teeth
Hiking
How many of you have ever climbed a 14er?
I wanted to share in the glory of hiking this mountain
I wanted to share in the glory of hiking this mountain
I wanted to be able to echo one of those hiking stories
And in 2010 I decided to climb a 14er. However, my climb was not what i was expecting.
my story of climbing pikes peak (14,114)
When i got to the top i was so cold it took hours to finally warm up.
So when Mark does use time markers such as “after six days” we should be alert to its significance.
When I got to the top of the mountain I was expecting to experience a certain kind of glory I hear hikers talk about. Yet, it was dark, and I was so cold I felt no glory.
Even to this day when hiking comes up, if I do echo the conversation in telling about my hike of Pikes Peak, it remains without glory.
In our passage this morning we see Jesus Peter James and John hiking a very high mountain (mt. hermon 11,000ft) and when they reached the top it was the most glorious experience any hiker has ever experienced.
Not only that, but when mark tells the story, he echoes some other great stories from the OT.
2 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, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 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.” 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. 11 And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 12 And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”
This time marker alerts us to three important events in the bible
So this morning we are going to look at:
The Echoes of The Transfiguration
Creation
Moses
The Glory of The Transfiguration
So before we look at the echoes of the transfiguration lets look at the context of this story. What happened before the hike.
Before the Hike...
Before the Hike...
Mark is very intentional with the placements of his stories within his gospel.
We have seen this time and again in Marks gospel how he wraps stories together, he puts stories next to each other, and he sandwiches stories together in order to better tell the great story of Jesus and his kingdom.
And this passage is no different
So lets look at the context and see Mark prepares us for this glorious hike
So lets look at the context and see Mark prepares us for this glorious hike
Notice what Mark says, “after six days”
2 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,
Mark is not one who often uses time markers in this way - Mark moves through his gospel at a breakneck speed usually moving from one story to another by saying, “immediately”
So when Mark does use time markers such as “after six days” we should be alert to its significance.
Part of what Mark is doing is calling our attention to the previous six days, or the context that comes right before this story.
Previously Peter confesses Jesus to be the Christ, and Jesus for the first time tells them what is to come of the Christ, that he will suffer and die.
Which peter rebukes Jesus for, thinking Jesus can have the glory without the suffering. That he can have the crown without the cross.
Jesus goes on to tell the disciples about how they too, if they are to follow Jesus, must take up their crosses and lose their lives.
Jesus tells them about the coming judgement when the Son of Man comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angles.
And promises that some present will see the kingdom coming in power before they die.
For six days Jesus has been talking to the disciples about how to live as followers of Christ. How to live in light of all that Jesus is doing, which is no less than recreating the world. And now on the seventh day, he brings three disciples up on the mountain and is transfigured before them.
Echoes of The Transfiguration
Echoes of The Transfiguration
Now, whenever we read the NT we need to read with ears to hear the echoes from the OT.
We often think that the NT is written for us today, and the OT was written for the Jews. Though you will find many pastors and teachers who agree with this idea, I can assure you that the writers of the NT outright reject such a notion.
For the authors of the NT, the OT was their primary source. They were well versed in the OT and the OT influences every single page of the NT.
In fact, Mark all throughout his gospel has been alluding to the OT - which is why we spend so much time in the OT when preaching through Mark’s gospel.
So what are some of the OT echoes found in this passage?
The first is the Echo of Creation.
The Echo of Creation
The Echo of Creation
The six days calls us back to the creation week.
Jesus spent six days teaching his disciples what it was to be a follower of Christ.
We must always remember the great and grand narratives of the bible when reading a particular passage.
Two great themes that we have picked up in Mark is the kingdom of God, and The New Creation. (both of which are found in Mark 1:1
The bible over and over again calls the creation motif to mind when we see sequences of seven. We see this in the construction of the tabernacle, we see this in revelation and we see this here in Mark.
Part of the new creation theme in mark is seeing Jesus as humanity is supposed to be. He is the perfect picture of true humanity. He is the perfect image of God.
We see this contrasted with those who have been inflicted by sin which seeks to destroy the image of God in our lives.
So when Jesus is healing the sick, or casting out demons he is restoring true humanity to these people
Another way of seeing this is that Jesus is recreating these people.
Mark is also intentional when he states in ,
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
marks calls to mind the first words of the creation account in , “In the beginning God”
Mark is giving a hint to his readers that there is a new creation happening in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We have seen how Mark structures his gospel as a creation week with six nights and one morning, when the true son rises.
And here Mark is doing it again by telling us that for six days Jesus has been teaching his disciples how to live as followers of Christ, or how to live as true image bearers.
Part of bearing the image of your creator is by acting like your creator
So when Jesus says that he will bear his cross and die, so you, as followers of Christ, must bear your crosses and die.
So after six days of teaching Jesus, on the seventh day, brings them up the mountain and is transfigured before them. he is showing them the glory of the seventh day. Which in creation, is the day of God’s rest, or the day of his glory.
You see, in the first creation Adam and Eve were to be glorified, yet, they sinned before that happened. This sin removed the glory of God from their presence and enslaved them to death.
But now, Jesus has come, he is the second Adam, he is the perfect one who did not sin, he succeeds where Adam failed. And as Adam’s sin spread to all men, so Jesus’ righteousness and glory will spread to all who believe.
He is the firstborn of creation as Paul says, he has brought with him a whole new world.
And the transfiguration is a peak behind the curtain for the disciples to see what the new creation will be like.
The Echo of Moses
The Echo of Moses
Not only do we see the transfiguration echo creation, but we also see the transfiguration echo Moses on mount Sinai.
As we have gone through the gospel of Mark we have found Mark again and again calling our attention to the OT. One of the ways in which Mark is calling us to interpret his gospel is by means called Typology.
Typology is a literary hermeneutical device in which a person, event, or institution in the Bible is understood to correspond or echo another person, event, or institution in the Bible.
A literary hermeneutical device in which a person, event, or institution in the Old Testament is understood to correspond with a person, event, or institution in the New Testament.
For Example
Adam is a type of Christ. Adam is the head of all creation just as Jesus is the head of the new creation
Moses is a type of Joshua - As Moses led the people through the waters on dry ground, so Joshua also led the people through the waters on dry ground.
This is one of the primary ways we are to read the bible, as this is one of the primary ways the bible interprets itself.
So here in we see Jesus as a type of Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration.
Exodus Context
In the book of Exodus we see in chapter 25-40 God giving Moses directions on how to build the Tabernacle (a key word in our passage this morning which we will see in a few min.). God gives these instructions to Moses in seven speeches. Each of these speeches correspond to the days of creation. Thus the Tabernacle itself is a picture of creation. During the seventh speech in we see God himself instituting Sabbath for his people.
The Tabernacle represent God’s dwelling with his people for the first time since he dwelled with Adam and Even in the Garden. There is a six day pattern telling us that there was a new creation for the people of God in Exodus.
And now, we see Jesus teaching his disciples for six days and on the seventh he calls them up on the mountain with him showing them what the new creation will be like.
Look at these parallels between the Transfiguration and Exodus
Jesus
Jesus takes three disciples up the mountain 9.2
Moses
Moses goes with three named persons plus seventy of the elders up the mountain ,
Jesus
Jesus is transfigured and his clothes become radiantly white 9.2-3
Moses
Moses’ skin shines when he descends from the mountain after talking with God
Jesus
God appears in the Glory Cloud 9.7
Moses
God appears in the Glory Cloud ,
Jesus
God spoke from the cloud 9.7
Moses
God spoke from the cloud
Jesus
The people are astonished when they see Jesus after he descends from the mountain 9.15
Moses
The people are afraid to come near Moses after he descends from the mountain
These parallels echo and 34 suggest that a Moses typology undergirds Mark’s shaping of the Transfiguration.
Mark is telling us, that Just as there was a creation in where God dwelled with his people. So there was also a new creation in Exodus where God dwelled with his people in the Tabernacle. And now, there is a new creation with Jesus where God dwells with his people, but this time he dwells with them in the person of Christ.
And we see that God continues to dwell with his people through his word, and his spirit.
So these are just two of the echoes, so now lets look to the glory of the transfiguration.
The Glory of the Transfiguration
The Glory of the Transfiguration
after this long hike, the sight of Jesus in his glory marks this as the most glorious hike of all time.
3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.
Mark 9:
Jesus physical appearance changed. He was seen in the full glory of the majesty of God.
P
We also see in the context of the whole bible
16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.
Here the disciples perceived the glory of Christ for the first time
EXAMPLE Microscope for kids
I was homeschooled and was part of a science class with other homeschool kids...
3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.
Mark
Here Mark explains how Jesus clothes become so intensely white, so radiant, that no one on earth could possible manage to bleach them to look like this.
This radiance is associated with the glory of God throughout the bible.
So here are Peter, James and John, on this mountain with Jesus and he is transformed right in front of them
Yet, Jesus was not alone
4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
Mark 9.4
Not only was Jesus standing there in his glory, but Moses and Elijah were there with him. And they were talking.
From my childhood there are three movies that stick out as all time favorites.
The Princess Bride
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
And the Back to the Future Movies
The Back to the Future movies were some of my favorites because to have a time machine you could travel to the future to see what the world will be like. And you could travel back into history to experience some of the greatest events that have formed history.
For the disciples Jesus essentially gassed up the Delorean, loaded up Peter James and John, sped up to 88 MPH, thus providing 1.21 gigawatts to the flux capacitor and brought them to the future to to see what is coming not only for Moses and Elijah, but for all who follow Christ.
What they saw was Jesus in his glory. And they saw Elijah and Moses reflecting that glory, they were sharing in that glory.
Jesus gave the disciples a view into the future.
As those who follow Christ as their king, take up their crosses, lose their lives for his sake, for those there is glory that follows.
Jesus is showing the disciples the glory of the resurrection.
For whoever loses his life for the sake of Christ and his gospel will save it.
Jesus tells them that he is going to the cross, and in order for them to follow him they must likewise take up their crosses.
The cross comes first, then the resurrection.
This is the way of Christ, and this is the way of his people.
Yet,
So Jesus pulls into the present a picture of the future reality that is to come for those who are raised with Christ.
So the disciples in a sense traveled forward in time to see the hope of the kingdom of God.
For me, If I had my own Delorean I would say that the transfiguration is near the top of the list of places i’d travel back in time to experience.
However, I’d go back in time with a voice recorder and a notebook to listen in on the conversation between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.
Mark does not tell us what they are talking about, but Luke gives us a little insight into the conversation.
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.
luke 9
Luke tells us that these three men are talking about what Jesus was about to accomplish at Jerusalem (this is in reference to his death and resurrection)
And what was Jesus to accomplish?
Well, our bibles tell us that he was to accomplish his departure. Yet, the greek word for departure is ἔξοδος
ἔξοδος = exodus
ἔξοδος = exodus
ἔξοδος = exodus
Moses and Elijah are talking to Jesus about his exodus, the second exodus, the great exodus.
The Exodus where
God’s people are freed from the slavery of sin and death
God’s people are brought back into covenant relationship
God’s people are brought out of death and given life, they are given glory.
Where God’s people will finally experience the true promise land, which is the new heavens and new earth.
This is why i’d travel back in time to hear that conversation, how Jesus is the new Exodus, Redeeming, renewing and restoring his people and all creation.
So how do the disciples respond to this glory?
5 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.” 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.
Mark 9:
Peter though terrified, and not knowing what to say, still opened his mouth and blurted out, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
He says, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
once again, Peter doesn’t get it.
You see, he is so excited about this glory he sees, he wants to prolong it. He wants this moment to last.
So what does he do to make it last?
He offers to build three tents, or as it should be translated, three tabernacles.
The problem is that Peter viewed Moses and Elijah as being on the same par as Jesus.
Peter still misses the point. Moses who represents the Law, and Elijah who represents the prophets are here talking with Jesus. And Peter thinks they are all worthy of their own temples. There own tabernacles.
You see, when the glory of God was revealed in the OT the people of God would respond by building the tabernacle to house the glory of God.
And now Peter thinks that Moses and Elijah have their own glory and Peter wants to build a tabernacle to house that glory.
And before an answer is given Mark tells us that a cloud overshadowed them and God spoke to them from the cloud
mark 9
7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”
The cloud, which throughout the bible is understood to be the “glory cloud” or a visible image of the Spirit of God, now comes over them and out of that cloud God speaks, “this is my beloved Son; listen to him.”
God is speaking to the disciples and telling them to listen to Jesus, for he is the Son of God.
Its interesting how God does not tell the disciples to look at Jesus
Though we are called to fix our eyes on Christ
God doesn’t tell the disciples to praise Jesus
Though he is worthy of all praise
Rather, God tells them to listen to him.
God speaks this out of the cloud to bring ultimate authority to Jesus.
His word is the very source of life for the believer
If we don’t listen to our King we will lose our lives
His word is the very source of life for the believer
35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
Mark 8.
Not just for his sake, but for the gospels sake - the good news, the good word of Christ
Again Jesus ties himself to his words in mark 8:38
38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
If we are ashamed of his words we are ashamed of Jesus.
Authority does not belong to Moses, nor to Elijah, we are to listen to Jesus.
In fact, Moses himself tells the people this very thing
And this makes sense. Jesus is the very word of God.
Look with me at
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
It is the words of God that brings life
It is the word of God that spoke all things into existence
Jesus is that prophet!
It is the word of God that gives us hope
So when Jesus speaks, we are to listen.
And what we see with Jesus talking with Moses who represents the law, and Elijah who represents the prophets, and we know that the law and the prophets were only partial expressions of God’s revelation to man. Jesus is the final revelation, the full expression. Listen to HIM!
And right after this word comes from the cloud what happens?
8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
Mark 9
So now, Elijah and Moses are gone, God’s voice is still, and the three disciples see only Jesus. He stands there on the mountain, backlit by the stars and galaxies he had created. Its only Jesus.
I love what Kent Hughes says,
Preaching the Word: Mark—Jesus, Servant and Savior Encouragement on the Mountain (vv. 2-8)
This is what all our experience, all our theology, all our work should come to—seeing only Jesus! When this happens, our hearts honor him in worship. We love all mankind as we ought. We give our lives in his service, and we embrace the paradox of the Cross.
Mark
My friends, its only Jesus.
as they come down the mountain, no doubt perplexed by what they had just experienced. Jesus charges them to tell no one what they had seen...
Look with me at mark 9.9
9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. 11 And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 12 And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”
9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
Jesus tells the disciples not to speak of what they have seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead
This is because they will not understand that magnitude of Jesus in his glory until after his death and resurrection.
They are unable to attain what has happened. Yet, once they see the glory of the cross and the vindication of the resurrection, then they will understand the glory of the transfiguration
You see, the glory of the Son of Man cannot be understood apart from suffering. in the same way our future glory, as we share in his resurrection likewise cannot be understood apart from suffering.
And here is the craziest thing, just as we are to share in his sufferings (pick up your cross and follow him) we will also share in the glory of his resurrection!
This is why this story is so powerful, it provides us with hope for both the present and the future. Our hope is that though we suffer we will one day be like him in glory.
Look at what Paul says,
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
2 cor 3 18
5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
Rom 8
The disciples are wondering if this is it, that Elijah had come in the transfiguration
Creation
Creation
The six days also calls us back to the creation week.
Jesus spent six days teaching his disciples what it was to be a follower of Christ.
Jesus is for six days teaching them about the
Moses
Moses
Jesus
As we live our lives
as we suffer
as we worship
Jesus takes three disciples up the mountain 9.2
as we work and play
as we face pain and hardship
Each step of the way we are being transformed from one degree of glory to another
We all are waiting for that final day when we will be fully transformed into the image and glory of God.
And, its not only us who are waiting but all of creation itself is waiting for that transfiguration resurrection glory.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Moses
Like us, creation is suffering in the present with hope for the future glory that is to come.
So as we go this week, may we have the perspective that Paul calls us to in 2 cor 4.17
Moses goes with three named persons plus seventy of the elders up the mountain , 9
17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
And know, that he has called you to obtain this glory. The same glory that Jesus himself has will be shared with you.
Jesus
14 To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is transfigured and his clothes become radiantly white 9.2-3
This is our call church, we bear our crosses, we follow Christ, we listen to Christ. He is our king, and he is making all things new, and as you go about each day know that the final glory is not only waiting for you, but is even now entering you life and changing you, from one degree of glory to another.
Lets pray.
Moses
Moses’ skin shines when he descends from the mountian after talking with God
Jesus
God appears in the Glory Cloud 9.7
Moses
God appears in the Glory Cloud ,
Jesus
God spoke from the cloud 9.7
Moses
God spoke from the cloud
Jesus
The people are astonished when they see Jesus after he descends from the mountain 9.15
Moses
The people are afraid to come near Moses after he descends from the mountain
The NIV Application Commentary: Mark The Transfiguration (9:2–8)
These echoes of Exodus 24 and 34 suggest that a Moses typology undergirds Mark’s shaping of the Transfiguration. Typology assumes that God’s prior redemptive acts recorded in Scripture prefigure later events. These prior events then become the paradigm for describing and understanding later events, and Mark expects the biblically literate reader to see the linkage between the two events.
These parallels echo and 34 suggest that a Moses typology undergirds Mark’s shaping of the Transfiguration. Typology assumes that God’s prior redemptive acts recorded in Scripture prefigure later events. These prior events then become the paradigm for describing and understanding later events, and Mark expects the biblically literate reader to see the linkage between the two events.