A Sneak Peak at Jesus' Glory and Majesty

Matthew 17

1 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter and the brothers James and John and led them up a high mountain *  *(Mount Meron ) where they were alone. 2 As they looked on, a change came over Jesus: his face was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white.

Unfortunately this event is known by a weird name, The Transfiguration. But what happened isn’t really that strange. Jesus physical appearance was brilliantly changed.  His face shone like the sun and his clothes were white as light.  That’s something we can easily visualize.

*Scripture gives us a little information on what Jesus looked like in heaven before his birth, what he looked like on earth during his ministry and what he looks like now after going back to heaven.

*Jesus’ preexistent state: Isaiah saw Jesus glory and reported: I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs . . .  calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory (Isaiah 6:1-3,John 12:41).

*Jesus on earth: Isaiah also gives us the only thing we know about Jesus’ look as a man. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him (53:2).

*Jesus’ eternal state: After Jesus went back to heaven they said he was the radiance of God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3). In Revelation, John described Jesus like this.  His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance (1:16). He is so bright heaven does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp (Revelation 21:23).

In other words, for a short time on that mountain Jesus assumed the appearance he had had before the world began and the appearance he would have again after he ascended back to heaven.

*Here are two things to note about Jesus’ transfiguration[1]:

1. *It was not an inward change but an outward one. What was once veiled was revealed to Peter, James and John. They were able to see the inner glory that was veiled by his earthly appearance.

2. *This radiance of God’s glory that was always in Jesus was hidden from peoples’ eyesight but expressed by Jesus life and revealed in his teachings and actions.

The transfiguration wasn’t a miracle. Hiding all that glory inside a human body was the miracle. Imagine trying to hide the sun’s sunshine.

What followed the transfiguration is similar to what followed his baptism. Matthew 17:3-13.

 3 Then the three disciples saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. 

 4 So Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, “Lord, how good it is that we are here! If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Later we’ll speculate on why Peter may have wanted to do this.)

 5 While he was talking, a shining cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased - listen to him!” 

 6 When the disciples heard the voice, they were so terrified that they threw themselves face downward on the ground. 7 Jesus came to them and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid!” 8 So they looked up and saw no one there but Jesus. 

9 As they came down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Don’t tell anyone about this vision you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from death.” 

10 Then the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?” 

11 “Elijah is indeed coming first,” answered Jesus, “and he will get everything ready. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come and people did not recognize him, but treated him just as they pleased. In the same way they will also mistreat the Son of Man.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

*After Jesus baptism, Matthew listed the witnesses who affirmed Jesus identity as the Messiah. They were John the Baptist, God the Father, who spoke almost the same words from heaven on both occasions, God the Son and the Holy Spirit who descended on him in the form of a dove (3:13-17).

*Here the witnesses are Moses and Elijah, representing the Old Testament, God the Father, and Peter, James and John, representing the New Testament.  *You remember Old Testament law regulated eyewitnesses. Deuteronomy 19:15 - One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. This time six eyewitnesses saw Jesus’ divinity displayed in all its grandeur.

Why were eyewitnesses necessary again? * Our outline should help. * The first eyewitnesses appeared at the end of the section showing who Jesus was. The next section showed what he did and said. He became famous but he didn’t fit the expectations of the Jewish population or their leaders. * In chapters 14-16 there was a lot of speculation about who he was. What he did and said raised serious doubts about his being the Messiah because he disputed Jewish tradition as a way to God and said he was going to include Gentiles in his church. So some totally disbelieved and planned to kill him.

*The transfiguration like the baptism affirmed Jesus identity. Yes, despite the doubt, disbelief and murderous hated, Jesus was the Messiah. This reaffirmation bolstered the disciples understanding of whom Jesus was.  * Later John would write: We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father (John 1:14). * Peter wrote: Jesus received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased (2Peter 1:17).”

After the baptism Satan tempted Jesus three times. Likewise after the transfiguration Jesus is tested but in a different way.

*Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (Hebrews 1:3.) In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (John 1:4-5). *He is worthy of our worship like this.

But let’s continue in Matthew and see just how incredibly wrong people can be. Matthew reports three different sets of people who didn’t understand and didn’t worship: the general population including his own disciples, the Roman officials and the Jewish leaders.

* General Population: 14 When they returned to the crowd, a man came to Jesus, knelt before him, 15 and said, “Sir, have mercy on my son! He is an epileptic and has such terrible attacks that he often falls in the fire or into water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” 

17 Jesus answered, “How unbelieving and wrong you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy here to me!” 18 Jesus gave a command to the demon, and it went out of the boy, and at that very moment he was healed. 

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked him, “Why couldn’t we drive the demon out?” 

20 “It was because you do not have enough faith,” answered Jesus. “I assure you that if you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this hill, ‘Go from here to there!’ and it will go. You could do anything!”

The disciples were growing in faith but their understanding was still weak enough for Jesus to lump them in with their faithless and twisted generation. * It was ironic and tragic and probably maddening to Jesus. If they had only know the even the half of who he was, with just a little faith nothing would have been impossible for them. * If there were ever a test of patience, this was the ultimate.

* Roman Officials: 22 When the disciples all came together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be handed over to those 23 who will kill him; but three days later he will be raised to life.” The disciples became very sad.

 One of the world’s greatest powers was going to commit the greatest act of injustice ever. Jesus had created them. He had given them their authority.  * It was a test of obedience unto death. * To compare Rome’s glory to that of Jesus is like comparing the glory of our own sun to the glory of the brightest star, Canis Major.  And yet Jesus was called to let the lesser light extinguish his own on the cross. 

* Jewish Leaders 24 When Jesus and his disciples came to Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your teacher pay the Temple tax?” 

25 “Of course,” Peter answered. When Peter went into the house, Jesus spoke up first, “Simon, what is your opinion? Who pays duties or taxes to the kings of this world? The citizens of the country or the foreigners?” 

26 “The foreigners,” answered Peter.

“Well, then,” replied Jesus, “that means that the citizens don’t have to pay.

The temple was the place where the Jews were to worship the Lord. Every detail was designed to give him glory. * How absurd and insulting for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to pay the temple tax.  * It was the ultimate test of humility.

Jesus’ transfiguration gave a clear response to the doubts and unbelief. * Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus was everything he had been in heaven and all that he would be in eternity. He is the light of the world. *He is majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders (Exodus 15:11).

We were not on that mountain and we will never see Jesus be transfigured so what do we do with Matthew 17? How do we apply to today?

*First, we know the whole story. When Peter saw Jesus with Elijah and Moses, he wanted to build tents for them. Why? Some think he was in a state of shock or that he wanted to preserve the moment. But I think he had something better in mind. I think he wanted them to wait so he and the other two disciples could run and gather up as many people as possible to climb up the mountain to see what they had seen. Maybe Peter had just read this.

 *They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom (Psalm 145:11).

  Anyway I think that’s what Peter wanted to do. Jesus told him to wait until he was raised from the dead. That’s happened so there are no constraints on us. Our mission is to speak up.

 *The second way this applies to us has to do with our own transformation. *We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2Corinthians 3:18). In other words, Jesus transfiguration was outward. He needed no inner change. Our transformation is inward. Our hearts do need to change. His transfiguration was instantaneous. Our transformation changes us bit by bit to become more like Jesus.

 As the word of the hymn state:

Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it

Mount of thy unchanging love

That’s our Mount of Transfiguration. God’s unchanging love will help us to know Christ - becoming like him - and also help us to make him known.

Youth Message

Glory

 Glory. What does glory mean?

 Glory is a combination of several factors all rolled into one.

 It has to do with appearance. Let’s take an example. Have you ever seen a beautiful sunset? What was it like? Brilliant colors. Filled the western sky. Breathtaking to look at. Glorious. Then compare that to sunset on a dreary, cloudy day. Then the sunset is just grey. No glory.

 Glory has to do with what it stirs in us. Let’s take an example. Music is wonderful to listen to. It excites the emotions. It lifts our spirits. It’s pleasing and fun. It might even make you want to dance. Glorious. Now if I tried to play the piano it would make you cringe. No glory.

 Glory has to do with quality. What’s your favorite fruit? Apples can be glorious if they’re fresh, shiny, crisp, and juicy and have good flavor – sweet or tangy. Glorious. But take and apple that’s bruised and mealy and has a rotten taste, yuk! – No glory.

 Glory also has to do with action. Ever watch an Olympic diver? They’re graceful and disciplined and powerful. Glorious. But you probably have friends who get into the pool with a belly flop. No glory.

 Glory also has to do with being right. When you obey your parents it is glorious. But when you disobey it’s not pretty. No glory.

 The most important thing is the glory of God. That means that Jesus is absolutely perfect inside and out, he inspires us, fills us with his Spirit and helps us to live obedient, holy lives.