A Glimpse of Glory

 A magician took his act on an ocean liner. Each time he performed, the Captain's parrot yelled, "It's a trick. He's a phony. That's not magic." One evening there was a storm during his show. The ship sank. The parrot & magician ended up in the same lifeboat. For days they glared at each other. Finally, the parrot spoke. "I give up. What did you do with the ship?" The parrot didn't understand. Jesus' disciples don't understand who He is, either. They expect the glory of a conqueror. Jesus says He'll die on a cross. Where's the glory? Is He really the one? That night, God answers with a glimpse of Christ's glory. Let's look at the story in Mk 9:2-9. 2aOne day, Jesus took Peter, James & John with him & led them up a high mountain. There aren't many high mountains in the area. Most likely, it was Mt Hermon <picture>. When they got to the top, 2bthey were all alone. Under the stars, Jesus starts praying. He prays long into the night. The climb was long. Night & silence make it hard for Peter, James, & John to stay awake. Lk 9:32 says they're very sleepy. Suddenly, brilliant white light wakes them. 2cJesus is transfigured. The light is no mask. Light radiates from inside Jesus. He's transfigured. The brilliant light only reveals what's inside Jesus. Just once, Jesus lets His inner glory radiate out. 3aHis clothes are dazzling white. Flashing, like lightning. How white? 3bWhiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. In the LXX, the Greek for dazzling is almost always about the gleam of bright starlight or shiny metal. That white. That's enough to stun them. Then, 4Elijah & Moses then appear, talked at length with Jesus. Why them? Moses is the great lawgiver. Elijah, the great prophet. Moses is founder of Israel's religion. Elijah, the restorer. Together they stand for the OT. What are they all talking about? Lk 9:30-31 says 31aThey're speaking... about Jesus' departure (exodus). 31bHe's about to bring it to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Moses led the 1st Exodus. He delivered God's people from Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan. Jesus will lead the new Exodus. He'll deliver all God's people-Jew & Gentile--from sin & death. He'll lead us to the New Jerusalem. The promised land of eternal life. I'd love to have listened in! The disciples do love listening in. This is a time to be still & know that He's God. Not a time to speak. 5aPeter says to Jesus, "Rabbi, it's good for us to be here." A wrong thing to say at a time to be quiet-he's never at a loss. 5b"Let's put up 3 shelters-one for you, one for Moses & one for Elijah." He thinks He's elevating Jesus to their status. Far from elevating Jesus, he's putting Him down! Peter doesn't realize how badly he's underestimated Jesus. Why'd he speak? 6(He didn't know what to say, they were so frightened.) Will Jesus zot Peter for saying something so wildly inappropriate? No. Why? Jn 3:17. 17God didn't send Jesus to condemn anyone but to save them. Jesus won't defend Himself. (Now or at His trial). Nor will He condemn or correct Peter. But the Father will. Just 7athen a cloud appeared & enveloped them. In the Greek NT, cloud is always the shekinah glory cloud. Likewise, in the LXX, The Cloud is the shekinah glory cloud. Peter hasn't finished talking when the shekinah glory appears & surrounds the group. How do you think those disciples felt? How would you? They're afraid! 7bA voice thunders from the cloud. Wide awake now, they're terrified. 7c"This is my Son, whom I love." The Jews will reject Jesus. The Father won't. The Father accepts Jesus & loves His Son! When the Father thunders, they fall on their faces-fear & worship. The Father thunders on. 7d"Listen to him!" Listen. In Dt 18:15, near the end of his life Moses prophesied. 15The Lord will raise up for you a prophet like me. You must listen to him. The Father is telling us Jesus is that prophet. Listen to Him. To listen to God means obeying whatever He says. The Father says Listen to Jesus. Obey Him. The Father is appointing His Son to be the supreme & only teacher of His church. All Scripture is about Him. Only He can interpret Scripture to us. Whatever Jesus says Scripture means is what it's always meant-no matter how it was understood before. Jesus not only teaches the truth, He IS Truth. The Truth. Want to know the truth? Listen to Him! Listen! It's the Father's last command to us. (Jn 12:28 isn't a command.) Listen to Him! There's a long silence. No one dares to look. Eventually, 8athey dare to look up & around. The cloud, Moses, & Elijah are gone as suddenly they appeared. 8aThe disciples no longer see anyone except Jesus alone. Listen to Him! Not Moses. Not Elijah. Jesus alone. The Father sets Jesus apart from all who came before Him. All who will come after. Jesus alone. Listen to Him! He's not on a par with Moses or Elijah. He's far above. Listen to Him! 9As they come down the mountain, Jesus orders them not to tell anyone what they've seen until the He's risen from the dead. Only then will they be able to understand. What a powerful story! What can we learn? To start, never imagine that Jesus is only a man. He's fully human. But He's also God-all of God that will fit in human flesh. (If we're the crown of creation, maybe it's more than we think.) His flesh encases God's glory. If only one disciple claimed to have seen it, we might doubt. But there were 3 witnesses: Peter, James, & John. Don't forget the rivalry between the 3. Any 2 of them, we might still have doubted. But all 3 witnessed Jesus' Glory. All 3 confess, "Jesus is Lord." He's fully man. He's also fully God! He's the LORD. Only Jesus can interpret Scripture. How so? Much of Ex, Lev, Num, & Deut interpret the 10 Commandments. So does the Sermon on the Mount. Look at Mt 5:21-22. God judges nursing anger same as He judges murder. And Mt 5:27-28, to keep on looking lustfully is adultery. Jesus is reinterpreting the Law. Only He can show us that the Law always judged heart attitudes, not just actions. Listen to Him. And take Mt 22:37-40. Who but Jesus could say that the Law is really about love?!? Love God & love others. 40All the law & prophets hang on these 2 commandments. Only Jesus can interpret Scripture for us. Listen to Him! Scripture is God's Word. God breathed. And in Isa 55:11 God says 11"My word... will not return to Me empty but will ...achieve the purpose for which I sent it." God's word stands forever. So... who can tell us that any part of it no longer applies? Now, remember all the dietary laws in Lev 11:1-23. 3Eat meat only from animals with a split hoof that chews the cud. (No meat from rock badgers, rabbits, or pigs.) Fish is ok only if it has fin & scales. Meat is ok from 13-19birds except the eagle, vulture, kite, owl, hawk, cormorant, osprey, stork, heron, hoopoe, & bat. 20-22Don't eat flying insects that walk on all fours, except the locust, katydid, cricket, or grasshopper. There were even more dietary laws that I won't cite. (No cooking meat in milk, for example.) Now, look at Mk 7:15, 18-19. Jesus declared it's what comes out of the heart that makes us unclean. Not what goes into the body. Only Jesus can set aside any part of the Law. Any part of Scripture. Listen to Him! God says listen to Jesus. Let Jesus interpret all Scripture to us. God's Word stands forever. Every verse. But we need a lens to understand it. Unless we look at Scripture through the lens of Jesus, we won't understand it. We need to let Jesus help us understand every verse. But to listen to Jesus means even more than Bible study. It's also personal. Relationship. If we're to listen to Jesus, it also has to be in relationship. Has Jesus stopped talking? Isn't He speaking to each of us? All the time? Every day? Listen to Him! Take time out in prayer. Yes, unload whatever is on our minds. Give Him our shopping list. But do more than talk. Listen to Him! Peter, James, & John glimpsed His glory. They listened & reflected. John wrote about it in Jn 1:1, 14. 1The Word became flesh. 14We've seen His glory. Peter wrote in 2 Pet 1:16-18. 16We were eyewitness of His majesty... 18on the sacred mountain. And, like Peter, James was martyred for his faith. All 3 glimpsed Jesus' glory. That glimpse demands a response. We got a glimpse of Jesus' glory, today. The Father says listen to Him. How will we respond? A Glimpse of Glory - Mark 9:2-9 Page 1 of 1