Sermon Tone Analysis

As we finished Matthew 16, we can look back and see some very important things that occured.

Matthew 16:1-4 Jesus was confronted by the Scribes & the Pharisees asking for a sign.

Matthew 16:5-12 Jesus warns about the leaven of the Pharisees

Matthew 16:13-20 Jesus ask who people say that he is.

Then he asks, whoo do “you” say I am?

Matthew 16:21-23 Jesus that he must go to Jerusalem and be put to death, then raised on the third day, but Peter does not agree.

Matthew 16:24-28 Jesus talks about the price of eternal life

As Jesus is moving closer and closer to the cross, and the resurrection that he promised, he is molding the disciples, who would become apostles to carry out the good news.

This was God’s plan.

Jesus would sacrifice himself for the sins of the world, he would be raised back to life and ascend into heaven.

But that wasn’t the end.

With the power of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles would then be the instruments to tell…proclaim…and preach the salvation that everyone needs.

So with what we saw from Chapter 16, now moving into Chapter 17, Jesus again brings his students, another lesson, to prepare the for what they were to do.

Read Matthew 17:1-13

Three Sections to the Text

Section #1: The Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-3)

Section #2: The Response of Peter (Matthew 17:4-8)

+ Peter’s words to Jesus

+God’s statement from the cloud

+Jesus’ words to Peter, James and John

Section #3: The Question about Elijah and the answer (Matthew 17:9-13)

SECTION #1 The Transfiguration

Look at verse 1:

And after six days… Matthew states that six days had passed since the closing of Chapter 16 when Jesus had told them --that if a man wants to save his life he will lose itBoth Mark and Luke record this story in their gospels, and there are a couple of things that are seen there that are not seen here.

One of them has to do with the mount of days.

Mark says 6 also, but Luke says 8 days.

Why the difference.

It could be because in the Greek way of speaking saying “after six days or eight days” meant about a week later

Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother… These three were considered the inner circle of the twelve, the three most closest to Jesus.

Peter, the one that would boldly proclaim the gospel on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-41) and was there when the first Gentile believed, John, the beloved disciple, who would be the last Apostle to die and would write down the words of Jesus in the book of Revelation, and James.

Now this is not James, who wrote the book of James, that was Jesus’ earthly brother.

This James is the brother of John who would later die at the hand of King Agrippa in Acts 12:2.

and led them up a high mountain by themselves....

This mountain, because they were near to Caesura Philippi was probably Mount Hermon, which was the tallest mountain in Israel.

So the four of them, Jesus, Peter, James, John went up to this mountain.

And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

… “he” being Jesus was transfigured.

This word transfigured means to “change into another form.”

So in a moment Jesus’ human body is changed back into his glorious body.

In other words, what he would look like as if he was in heaven.

One day, when believers enter into heaven, we will see him like this.

...his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

Now the Apostle John was standing there, and maybe he had this moment in mind when he wrote this many years later: 1 John 3:2-3

As Peter, James, and John saw the transfigured Lord, they were seeing him as he is, pure, perfect, bright, shining....God in his real form....PURE.

And as the are seeing this...

And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him… Now I told you that Mark and Luke also tell this story, but Luke adds something that Matthew or Luke doesn’t.

Luke 9:30-31

Matthew only says that they appeared and talked, but Luke tells us what they were talking about.

He states that they “spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.”

Now this is interesting because they all would have different departures: Jesus would ascend through the clouds as the disciples watched (Acts 1:9), Moses died before entering the Promised and, but only God knew where he was buried (Deut.

34) and Elijah was taken up to heaven without dying by flaming chariots and horses (2 Kings 2).

Maybe they were standing around swapping stories about how they left the earth.

But what is important here is what Moses and Elijah represent.

Moses represents the Law from the Old Testamant.

Elijah, represents the prophets from the Old Testament.

Why is this important?

Keep your finger here in Matthew 17, but flip back to Matthew 5. Look what Jesus says in Matthew 5:17

Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law.

Jesus was the ones the prophet were pointing to.

The entire Old Testament points to Jesus.

And as these three Jewish men where standing there, this is another way of Jesus preparing them to proclaim who he is and what he will do.

He is the Messiah, he is the promised one, and there is no one else who can give them life.

He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.

But then, someone interrupts the conversation...

SECTION #2 The Response of Peter (3 different speeches)

#1

#2

#3

Verse 4:

And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here.

If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

Maybe because they were on top of a mountain, maybe because it was cold up there, but Peter asks is he should build three shelters for the Lord, Moses and Elijah.

But just as these words came out of his mouth.

Some people believe that this idea of making tents or shelters points back to the Feast of the Tabernacle.

The Feast of the Tabernacle was a celebration of the Jewish peoples 40 years in the wilderness.

They would make tents and stay in them for 7 days, then on the eight day come out for a big feast.

That 8th day was a celebration.

So Peter could have seen this transfiguration as the time that Jesus was about to rule.

SO maybe that’s why he mentioned building tents.

But while he is speaking something happens...

Verse 5:

He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, Do you remember when God appeared in a cloud before?

Remember when he would lead the children of Israel through the wilderness or when his presence would descend on the mountain when meeting with Moses?

In was in a cloud.

and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

The Lord just didn’t say....this is my Son. he didn’t only say I am pleased with him… he also said Listen to Him.

Jesus had taught them many things i teh last three years, but the lessons he would speak over the nect six months leading up to the cross would help change the world.

Verse 6:

they fell on their faces terrified.

Can you imagine, a cloud falls, but then a voice speaks.

I don’t know what the voice of God sounds like, but it must be strong, because Peter, James and John fell to the ground and very very afriad.

Verse 7-8

Jesus came and touched them saying, Rise and have no fear.

they saw no one but Jesus only.

I think this statement is so important, and if we are not careful, we will miss it.

When they looked up, there was only Jesus.

There was no need to look at the Law (Moses) and there was no need for another prophet (Elijah) because he was now here.

He was the fulfillment of everything they had talked about.

Section #3: The Question about Elijah and the Answer

Tell no one- It wasn’t his time.

It wasn’t the Lord’s time

Elijah- So many times in the Old Testament prophecy’s are given, but because it is hundreds of years before the actual event, people don’t fully understand the prophecy.

Here is a time that this happened...