SERMON--February 27, 2022--Luke 9: 34-36--Listen To Jesus

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SERMON TITLE---LISTEN TO JESUS

Luke 9:34-36

34 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” 36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

Slide—Attitude

If you remember,

Last Week we finished studying the Beatitudes

We read where Jesus said that we should expect nothing and God will give you The reward of Heaven

Next Week begins the Season of Lent

Slide---ASH WEDNESDAY

Next week March 2nd is Ash Wednesday

You might see someone with a cross on their forehead in ashes

It is not easy to arrive at the fundamental conception of the liturgical use of ashes.

This use of ashes is probably older than the eighth century

No doubt our Christian ritual has been borrowed from the practice of the Jews,

a practice retained in certain details of synagogue ceremonial to this day, but the Jewish custom itself needs explanation

in the books both in the Old Law and in the New that the men who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth.

Christianity at an early date undoubtedly adopted the use of  ashes  as symbolical of penance

Penance is about Attitude

To make an appeal to God for Mercy

Even if you have been somewhat Good you should always have an attitude that is Pleading for mercy

From last week we remember that Jesus said to expect Nothing

Ash Wednesday all the faithful according to ancient custom are exhorted to approach the altar before the beginning of Mass, and there the priest, dipping his thumb into ashes previously blessed, marks the forehead——of each the sign of the cross, saying the words:

“Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return.”

The custom in the early Middle Ages, was laying a dying man on the ground upon sackcloth sprinkled with ashes when about to breathe his last.

Early rituals direct the priest to cast holy water upon him, saying,

“Remember that thou are dust and unto dust the shall return.” After which he asked:

“Art thou content with sackcloth and ashes in testimony of thy penance before the Lord, in the day of judgment?”

And the dying man answered: “I am content.

We will study more about the Season of Lent in the coming weeks Lent marks the 40 days until Easter

Enough about the Ashes for today we are going to the Mountain Top With Jesus

The Scripture is Called the Transfiguration

Lets Read It together:

SCRIPTURE—LUKE 9: 28-36

Luke 9:28–36 ESV

28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 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. 32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. 34 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” 36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

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SCRIPTURE---LUKE 9: 28-30

Luke 9:28–30 ESV

28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah,

SUNDAY SCHOOL VIDEO—Mountain Top

SLIDE—Jesus Teaching

Have you ever had a day that was so wonderful that you wanted it to last forever?

Did you know that Jesus' disciples had days like that, too?

Our Bible lesson today is about one of those days.

SLIDE—THE MOUNTAINTOP

One day, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him up onto a mountain to pray.

As Jesus was praying, something very strange happened. (Hold the flashlight under your chin.)

The Bible says that the appearance of His  face  began to change and that His clothing became as bright as a flash of lightning.

SLIDE—MOSSES AND ELIJAH

Then Moses and Elijah, two men who had gone to heaven a long, long time ago, appeared with Jesus. They were talking with Jesus about how He was going to die.

SLIDE—PETER

When Peter saw this, he could not believe his eyes.

How could Moses and Elijah be here, standing and talking with Jesus.

The whole thing was so incredible, Peter told Jesus that he thought that they should stay up there on the mountain and build three tents -- one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

SLIDE—STAY ON THE MOUNTAINTOP

Peter didn't understand that this wonderful experience on the mountain was not meant to last. It was not a place to stop and set up camp, but a starting place for God's greatest gift -- the gift of salvation.

SLIDE—THE CROSS

Following this moment on the mountain,

Jesus went on into Jerusalem where he would die on a cross, and be buried, and after three days rise from the grave so that you and I could have eternal life in heaven.

If they had stayed on that mountain, they would have missed out on everything that was still to come.

SLIDE—THE BEST IS YET TO COME

You and I will have many wonderful experiences as we follow Jesus.

When we have a great "mountaintop experience" like Peter did in today’s lesson, we may wish that it would never end.

But remember, when we follow Jesus and accept Him as our Lord and Savior, the  best  is yet to come!

PRAY FOR THE CHILDREN

Heavenly Father, we thank You for all of the wonderful experiences You allow us to enjoy as we walk each day with Jesus. Help us to follow Him wherever He leads us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

CHILDREN’S SONG OF PRAISE---You Raise me Up

SONG OF PRAISE---I SPEAK JESUS

SONG OF WORSHIP---DAYS OF ELIJAH

SERMON TITLE---LISTEN TO JESUS

Luke 9: 34-36

SCRIPTURE—Luke 9: 34-36

Luke 9:34–36 ESV

34 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” 36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

SLIDE---The Top of the Mountain

Many of us have had them, those times when we felt like we were on top of the world,

really happy, confident that we knew all the answers, could solve any problem that came up.

Or we felt that we were really close to God, really in tune with God's plan for us.

In those moments we were excited and alive, and everything seemed new.

The moment might have come at some exciting event in your life:

graduation, baptism, your first kiss, your first day on your first job, your wedding, the birth of a child, even catching your very first fish.

It might have been something really spiritual, like a week at church camp or a church retreat.

Or it might have been something of a smaller, quieter nature, like a very intimate conversation with your father or mother when you felt that they honestly understood what you were saying and why you felt the way you did.

We call these "mountaintop experiences," and oh how we hate to come down off that mountain!

We want to hang on to that moment for as long as we can.

"Let's just stay right here and let the rest of the world go by for a while."

But to freeze that one moment in time shuts off the possibility of the next moment.

SLIDE---HOLY GROUND

In the Gospel reading for today we hear the writer of Luke give his version of the event which we call "The Transfiguration of Jesus"

Elijah was taken up into heaven in a fiery chariot.

In today's text we find him reappearing to meet with Jesus.

When Moses died his eyes were as good as ever. His physical strength had not diminished.

Now here he is with Jesus, as if he had never died.

As I considered Mosses , wonder if he would have built an alter around the burning bush and just stayed there to worship God

First of all the entire Israelite Nation would have remained in bondage to the Egyptians

God had a bigger plan that Mosses followed

The same is true in our story for today

Slide--- THE TRANSFIGURATION

I often have considered asking why

Why did this Transfiguration occur what was the purpose?

We love mountaintop experiences.

They change our lives profoundly... for awhile

Then life hits us squarely in the gut again.

We can almost hear Jesus saying,

“Okay, let’s go, time’s wasting. There’s too much to do, too many places to go, too many people to feed, and too many who need the gospel. We can’t linger too long on the mountaintop.”

Jesus understood that time away was important.

He knew the necessity of time for prayer, meditation, reflection and spiritual rejuvenation.

We cannot run long on empty before we suffer complete collapse.

A Transfiguration retreat was a great way to show the three disciples this. Indeed, they were  energized  by the event.

Most Commentaries agree that the Purpose was to give Jesus the strength he needed to face His cross that waited in Jerusalem

SLIDE---THE PURPOSE

I have researched several concepts on the purpose of the Transfiguration.

One Author said:

Undoubtedly, the purpose of the transfiguration of Christ into at least a part of His heavenly glory was so that the “inner circle” of His disciples could gain a greater understanding of who Jesus was.

Christ underwent a dramatic change in appearance in order that the  disciples  could behold Him in His glory.

The disciples, who had only known Him in His human body, now had a greater realization of the deity of Christ, though they could not fully comprehend it.

That gave them the reassurance they needed after hearing the shocking news of His coming death.

This Author believes the purpose of the Transfiguration was to actually give the disciples strength

One thing was always a little strange to me though:

why were Moses and Elijah there?

A long time ago I remember reading in the notes in a study Bible that it could be because they were both very important figures in the Old Testament,

or maybe because they represented two of the major divisions of the Old Testament:

Moses represented the  law  and Elijah represented the  prophets.

but it’s very possible that there’s something a little deeper going on.

Another Author explains his view in this way:

One astounding thing that both Elijah and Moses share in common is that both of them had very intimate encounters with God where he revealed his glory to them,

but neither saw his face.

As amazing as it seems, one possible reason that these two men were present for the transfiguration was so that they could finally see the face of God.

So in this report, The purpose of the Transfiguration was to give Mosses and Elijah a chance to see the  face  of God.

So, do we buy into either of these arguments?

Personally I agree with some of the concepts but not all

I started thinking....Maybe

THERE IS ANOTHER....

SLIDE---The Two Witnesses

Personally I agree that Mosses and Elijah were there to represent the law and the Prophets yes but... also to pass judgement

It seems as if there was court held at the top of the mountain

And God was the Judge

This is my own understanding with a different concept

So We know Jesus is Praying to His Father in Heaven on the Mountaintop

Next we know that Mosses and Elijah are there

They were speaking of His departure , Referring to the Cross

This is in the scripture we read

SLIDE---THE CROSS

The Next stop for Jesus was Jerusalem where he would die

I believe that Jesus was on that Mountain Top talking to God about Jerusalem and their fate

He might have spoken an accusation against Jerusalem for He knew they planned to kill him without cause

In this case the testimony of two witnesses becomes important

Jesus talked to the Disciples about how to handle a  brother  who sins against you in Matthew chapter 18

Scripture---- Matthew 18: 15-17

Matthew 18:15–17 ESV

15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

SLIDE—THE JUDGEMENT

The Cross is the  Judgement  on Satan but also on all those who reject Jesus

Now if you see that Jesus first went to the House of Isreal and told them the truth

That He is the Son of God, they rejected Him

So he told them face to face

Now He brings two witnesses with him Mosses and Elijah and they go to the Church on the mountain top to Tell it to God The Father

God’s reply was spoken out of the Cloud in verse 35

And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One;  listen  to him!”

SLIDE—LISTEN TO HIM

In these words God Validated Jesus as His Son

But also condemned everyone who did not listen to Him

Jesus  said I am the Way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me

We believe in the Holy Trinity God the Father , God The Son and God the Holy Spirit

Today as we have studied the Mount of Transfiguration it should give us the same strength as it gave to those on that day

We know  Easter  is coming so did Jesus

On that day He rose again

Because He lives we also will live

Amen

SONG OF WORSHIP

BENEDICTION

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,

according to the power at work within us,

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,

forever and ever. Amen.