Surrounded By Greatness Mark 9:1-13

Into Great Americans

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Susian B. Anthony, Saquaguiage, Abraham Lincoln, Fredrick Douglass the Bush’s, the Kennedy's, and the Roosevelt’s, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, Martin Luther King Jr, General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

As an American it is inspiring to hear those names.

These are some of the men and women who made America.

America is a nation where we are surrounded by greatness (great men and women) but we are also surrounded by competing voices. There are lots of people trying to get your attention and speak into your life. The media, internet even traditional media. In this country we find ourselves surrounded by greatness but we have to ask ourselves, “are we listening to the right voices?”

When you think of the great people of the Bible maybe you think of Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, and his brother John.

Transition: I would like to take you to a story where all these great bible people are all together.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (9:2–4)

“Transfigured” (metemorphōthē, cf. Eng. “metamorphosis”) means “to be changed into another form,” not merely a change in outward appearance (cf. Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18). For a brief time Jesus’ human body was transformed (glorified) and the disciples saw Him as He will be when He returns visibly in power and glory to establish His kingdom on earth

His clothes were white unlike most of the dirty clothes people wore back then in the working class conditions and without antiquate laundry technique.

Moses represented the Law and Elijah represented the prophets.

Peter called Jesus teacher. Not God or the Son of God or even Messiah as he did just a few verse ago but simply teacher.

Illustration: in the military you do not walk in-be-tween an officer and the men he is instructing.

In the same way when Jesus is transfigured before you, you do not call him teacher.

Sometime when we are afraid we say things to fill the void to to calm our nerves but when we are afraid we should be listening to what God has to say.

Peter was garrulous out of fear. We can also be like that.

Matthew and Mark Notes

9:5 make three shelters as memorials. Peter wanted to celebrate something like the Festival of Shelters (Lev 23:39–43) to honor Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. This feast recalled the Exodus and God’s provision during their travel in the wilderness. There was an idea that in the end, Israel might return to life in tents as at the beginning of their national journey (Hooker 1991:217). That expectation may be at play here. Israel’s history was represented, so in Peter’s view the moment should be celebrated with the three great men as guests of honor. It appears that Peter expected the three disciples to serve and honor the three guests.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 9:7–8

Once again, as at Jesus’ baptism, the Father placed His unqualified endorsement on His beloved Son

They no longer saw Moses and Elijah they only saw Jesus = the longer we read the bible the more we should see of Jesus and the more the other charters fade into the background.

Coming Down the Mountain:

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 9:9

This was Jesus’ last command to silence recorded by Mark and the only one on which He set a time limit. This implied that a time of proclamation (cf. 13:10; 14:9) would follow this period of silence. Only from the perspective of the Resurrection would they understand the transfiguration and thus be able to proclaim its meaning correctly.

verse 12 there is no kingdom with out the cross. The Son of Man must suffer many things. Even Elijah is to be mistreated. They saw Jesus in all his glory but Jesus still made the point once again to them that He had to die.

Matthew and Mark Commentary

the disciples’ understanding of God’s program was flawed, thinking only of glory and not of suffering, they needed instruction on what Jesus would do.

Matthew and Mark (Commentary)

“intelligent talk of the glory of Jesus cannot be done apart from emphasis upon his death and resurrection, and that any Christian preaching and devotion that is not centered on the meaning of these events is shallow and confused.”

The main theological thrust of the scriptures is Jesus death and Resurrection and His coming again... There are all sorts of moralism, and current events, and politics that we can get sucked into but those voices are not the voices we should listen to.

Illustration: Moses was 40 days on the mountain talking with God. He asked to see God’s glory. When he came down from the mountain with the 10 commandments it was like he was radio active. He was shining as he reflected the glory of God. The reflection of God’s glory scared them.

Jesus does not just reflect the brightness of the glory of God. He is the brightness of the glory of God. Are you listing to Him?

What voices are you listening to? Your father? Your Childhood friends or sweet-heart.

As we said earlier we are surround by greatness but their are a lot of different voices trying to get our attention. For the Christian is even more true. We have the Church militant and the church triumphant. As the writer of Hebrews declares, “We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. That includes not just your believing grandmother but the great men and women of the bible.

Big Idea: No matter who you are surrounded by, listen to Jesus. You are surrounded by greatness listen for the greatest voice.