Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.11UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.08UNLIKELY
Fear
0.07UNLIKELY
Joy
0.62LIKELY
Sadness
0.52LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.29UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.19UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.87LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.68LIKELY
Extraversion
0.25UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.65LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.71LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event that many of us are confused about.
What exactly happened on the mountain?
We know that it was a significant event to the point that Peter even writes about it in his second letter
Peter, along with James and John, were eyewitnesses to what took place on the mountain.
This event is important in all three synoptic gospels as the departure point for Jesus’ journey toward the cross.
It ends the Galilean ministry of Jesus and turns him toward Jerusalem.
As Luke says in 9:51,
(We will come back to this later.)
It is this moment when the disciples see the fullness of God present in Jesus that changes the trajectory of what happens next.
Today, we are going to learn the importance of the Transfiguration and how the fullness of God is revealed to us as it was to the disciples on the mountain.
1.
The nature of Jesus is revealed in prayer.
(vs.
28-29)
Jesus was constantly in prayer during his earthly ministry.
When he would teach and do miracles, the preparation was done in prayer.
Jesus invites Peter, James, and John on the mountain to pray with him.
It seems that as they prayed with Jesus they fell asleep.
This will happen again in the garden of Gethsemane before Jesus is crucified.
We find examples of Jesus going to pray throughout Luke’s gospel.
Each of these were places where Jesus had recently taught or displayed miracles and needed time to focus on the ministry ahead.
But the reference from 9:18 is particularly important for our text today.
This is in the scenes just prior to the Transfiguration when Jesus is with his disciples at Caesarea Philippi, and Peter makes his confession of Jesus as the Christ of God.
These two accounts are closely linked by only occuring about a week later.
In both instances, there is a revealing of who Jesus is.
Peter confesses Jesus to the Christ, and at the Transfiguration they see that fact before their eyes.
The greater importance of the Transfiguration is signaled by the fact that only Peter, James, and John are present to witness it.
They also accompanied Jesus in Luke 8:51 at the healing of Jarius’ daughter.
It is in the time that they spend in prayer that they witness this incredible event take place.
Why is prayer important to witnessing the nature of Jesus?
It is in prayer that we truly encounter Jesus and the power of God.
Look at Acts 1:13-14
All of those who were with Jesus came together in prayer.
What happened next?
When we are seeking God in prayer, what is revealed to us is the fullness of God and his power is displayed before our eyes.
For far too long, the church has not trusted and believed in the power of prayer.
We have failed to trust in the power of God to heal and to prophesy to us.
We have forgotten what it means to have God’s presence in our midst because we get too busy looking at our watches to make sure we beat the Baptists to the restaurants.
It’s high time that Methodists remember who we are as those who are praying to seek the power of God and devote ourselves to his presence in a time when the darkness wants to enclose around us.
We have the light and power of God in our midst.
2. At the Transfiguration, the glory of God was revealed in Jesus.
(vs.
30-32)
Now we are going to get into some really good stuff.
As followers of Jesus and people who pray and seek God, we will witness God’s glory.
When the disciples were on the mountain with Jesus, they saw for themselves the full display of his divinity before their eyes.
They saw the fullness of God’s glory.
They were terrified when they saw it.
That’s why Peter stumbles all over himself when he gets his wits about him.
But the Jewish ready of this encounter would know what is behind it - Moses at Mt. Sinai.
Luke is specific here unlike the other synoptics.
He says that Jesus’ face was altered.
Not only that but when Moses and Elijah appeared in the glory with him, they were speaking to him about his departure, which in Greek is the same word as exodus.
That’s where it relates to Luke 9:51.
They were talking to him about what he was going to accomplish on the cross in Jerusalem.
But it is the same glory that was on display in front of the disciples that was on display before the Israelites on Mt.
Sinai.
Where Moses was reflecting God’s glory, Jesus was the source of the glory.
The Triune God was present with Moses on the mountain in all his glory.
This is important because it is the glory of God that John mentions in John 1:14
In a previous sermon, I spoke about God’s glory being reflected in the life of the believer.
We see this in Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17:22
The disciples see Jesus’ appearance change, and they see his glory.
In seeing that glory, they see his clothing become dazzling white.
Now compare this to what we find in Genesis 3:21
See the difference in the clothing that God makes for Adam and Eve? God makes the first sacrifice to cover the nakedness and sin of Adam and Eve.
Now as Jesus is preparing to the cross, the fullness of the glory of God is on display in the new Adam, and we are given new garments to wear because we are in Christ, and we are reflections of his glory.
It is only after they have fully awakened that they see the fullness of God in Jesus.
3. Jesus alone deserves our worship and praise.
(vs.
33-36)
The disciples experience the Transfiguration but do not fully understand it.
That is why Peter’s call to have tents made so that they could stay on the mountain is ridiculous.
But he does not know what to say.
It is not until the voice comes from the cloud that it is revealed to the disciples what has happened - “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
They are to listen to him because he is the prophet that Moses spoke about in Deuteronomy 18:15
He is the One who is to come as the Chosen One of God from Isaiah 42:1
The cloud that appears on the mountain here is the same cloud that appeared on Mt Sinai in the wilderness.
The disciples understand this experience because they have read the Torah and heard the stories over the years of what took place.
Now is when the disciples realize what Paul says Colossians 1:19-20,
Salvation has come through Jesus only because he is God in the flesh.
The fullness of God was pleased to dwell in him.
Therefore, he alone is worthy of our worship and praise.
There is no other in heaven or on earth who deserves our worship.
Yet, we spend our lives worshiping almost everything else but him.
We worship the things of this world in jobs, money, homes - things that can be taken away in an instant.
But that which is eternal and deserves our full devotion is Jesus Christ.
There is no other person or thing that is worthy of our praise.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9