A Sneak Preview
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Last week we studied one of the most well-known events recorded in all of Scripture. And toward the end I said that I believed that Jesus’s words in
But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
would be fulfilled in what came next: The Transfiguration. And I said I thought Luke shows this in his writing. And there are two reasons. First comes in verse 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.
The words “These sayings,” point back to what was just talked about, namely suffering would come, but some would not die before seeing the kingdom.
Jesus only took some of the disciples up the mountain. Not all got to see this preview of the coming kingdom.
Luke gets rather specific about when this took place. It was about eight days. Matthew says it was more than six days; Luke seems to indicate closer to eight. So it is likely that this happened near the end of seven days, thus in the middle of the night perhaps. But the specificity of days that Luke uses to link Jesus’s sayings and that only some of the disciples were invited lead me to believe this is what Jesus meant.
But there is also what is called a chiasmus here. A chiasmus comes from the Greek letter Chi. It looks like an X. Think of the moments going down each line. One goes in a particular order, the second goes in reverse order.
First we see the confession of Peter. Then comes Jesus’s prediction of his suffering. Finally, there is the promise of the kingdom. Now we see these in reverse order. We see the coming kingdom as promised. We see the three men talking about the suffering of Jesus. Finally, God makes a confession of who Jesus is.
And in all this interaction, we find the mission of Jesus just got escalated. In reality, the confession of Peter is the catalyst; the engine starts to rev up. But it is on this mountain that the car really begins to pick up speed.
As we get into the text this morning, it’s hard to understand why its even in the Bible. What is the point of the Transfiguration anyway? So let me tell you: The Transfiguration gave the disciples a sneak preview of the coming kingdom that Jesus had promised they’d see. I think and hope that will become clearer as we open up the text and see what’s happening because a lot is happening. In fact, so much is happening, I wasn’t even sure how to put it all together, but in the end, I see four important thoughts about the coming kingdom that we must keep in mind in order to understand Jesus’s ministry and mission better.
The first thought we need to keep in mind is that the coming kingdom is linked to the former kingdom. Secondly, the coming kingdom is legitimized by the the former kingdom. Thirdly, the coming kingdom is liberates from the former kingdom. And then I want to say a brief word on prayer.
Linked to the Former Kingdom
Legitimized by the Former Kingdom
Liberates from the Former Kingdom
A Word on Prayer
Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.
And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah,
who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
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.
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.
As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
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.
The Coming Kingdom is Linked to the Former Kingdom
The Coming Kingdom is Linked to the Former Kingdom
The first thought that we need to take in from this text is that the coming kingdom, which is also the kingdom we are a part of now, but not fully consummated yet, is linked to the former kingdom. In other words, the Kingdom of Christ is related to the Kingdom of Israel. But it may not be related in ways many think today.
The reason we can know that that Christ’s kingdom is linked to the Kingdom of Israel is because of the matters taking place on this mountain. For instance, the two greatest prophets in the Kingdom of Israel’s history are standing with Jesus. But there’s more to it than just that. One is also the law-giver that forms the kingdom into being. The other is the prophet who sought to reform a rebellious kingdom of Israel. And Jesus who came to the lost people of Israel to establish regenerate a kingdom to himself.
What we have is a retelling of an old story; in fact, we could say that it is a fulfillment of an old story. Let’s go back and just get an idea of what this old story was about.
Moses was God’s chosen prophet to lead Israel out of Egypt in what we know as the exodus. On their way through the wilderness, God takes them to his holy mountain: Mt. Sinai.
I don’t have time to go to the text this morning, but I would encourage you to look up these texts when you get home. In Exodus 19:16, we find that Israel getting to Mt. Sinai and there is thunder and lightning and thick smoke. Soon after, God gave the Israelites his Ten Commandments, but the people were so afraid that they asked Moses to go and speak with God on their behalf. So he went up the mountain to speak with God. He would be gone for forty days. Of course, he comes back to find the Israelites had abandoned their God who delivered them and were worshipping a golden calf. They rejected God and his deliverer.
Yet Moses would intercede on behalf of Israel before God—face to face. So Moses was accustomed to speaking with God face to face. And eventually, it’s recorded that his face began to be altered. In Exodus 34, we see Moses’s face begins to shine each time he talks with God. To the point he had to wear a veil.
Here now in Luke, we once again find Moses. But things are not the same. While he is talking with God the Son, it is not Moses whose face has been changed, but it is Jesus’s face that has changed. When we read about Moses’s face changing, we find that it’s much more like the moon. If you remember your elementary science lesson, the white dust on the moon’s surface reflects the brightness of the son and gives light at night.
Jesus’s face reflects nothing. It is Jesus who is the glorious one. Jesus was not like the moon reflecting the sun; Jesus was the sun! In fact, that what Matthew actually says. John would say in his gospel account
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
But as we saw, on that mountain there was a thick cloud and lightning. And Luke recorded for us
And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.
I suppose that is an okay translation. But what it literally says is that Jesus’s clothing became white, flashing like lightning. Luke is painting for us a picture of an Old Testament narrative and showing it’s New Testament fulfillment. Thus, Jesus’s face isn’t changed by glory, but Jesus’s face is changed because it is in itself glorious! And Jesus actually is the lightning on this new holy mountain of God. And so the Father descends, once again, in a cloud that covers Moses, Elijah, and Peter, John, and James.
And then look at what these two prophets are talking to Jesus about: his departure. That’s a good translation. Luke is the only person that tells us what Moses and Elijah were talking with Jesus about. Here is Moses who had departed by going up to a mountain to be buried by God. Elijah departed by God’s fiery chariot. But what about Jesus?
And like I said, it’s a good translation, but we miss what the Greek word actually is and it may be helpful to see the transliteration rather than the translation. Moses and Elijah were talking with Jesus about his Exodus, translated departure.
So can you see how the New Kingdom is linked to the Former Kingdom?
Beloved God is an orderly God. He is consistent in his doings. Even when we say that he is doing a new thing, it is still brought on by or a fulfillment of what he has already done.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
This doesn’t mean that the passed never existed any more than the new kingdom means the former kingdom never existed. What it does mean is that we no longer are those who have to live in our own power. The kingdom of self-empowerment, self-improvement, self-focusing, is of the passed. We now are new creatures in Christ, powered by the Christ, improved in Christ, focused on Christ. But he doesn’t break the link of the past as if it never happened. But he does break the power of the passed so we can move forward.
The Coming Kingdom is Legitimized by the Former Kingdom
The Coming Kingdom is Legitimized by the Former Kingdom
So we have two representatives the Old Testament: the Law and the Prophets. While there was also technically the Writings in the Hebrew Scriptures, it was often summed up with just the Law and the Prophets.
Moses and Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets are pointing to Jesus who is the fulfillment of both the Law and the Prophets. But they aren’t just giving Jesus a thumbs up. This isn’t just a photo op with Jesus as if to say that he has their endorsement. He does have their endorsement for sure, but as we get into Luke, we also see that this endorsement leads to a greater understanding.
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
Jesus had already stated to this disciples that the Law and Prophets pointed to him. Now, the one who represented the Law and the one who represented the Prophets are on this mountain. And the results that are produced is that Jesus is able to open up the Law and Prophets and teach his disciples, not only that the Christ should suffer and rise. But we also see that this legitimizes his kingdom on earth.
Look at
and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
The legitimacy not only involves the suffering and resurrected Jesus, but it calls for the preaching of the forgiveness of sins to all nations! This encounter and what it helps the disciples see later is that the new kingdom is the true kingdom that must be proclaimed.
It is not fashionable to proclaim Christ’s kingdom today. But let’s be honest: it’s never really been fashionable for almost all of Christian history. Proclaiming the legitimacy of Christ’s kingdom implies the illegitimacy of all other kingdoms. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about how Christ’s kingdom—the eternal kingdom—destroys every other kingdom. Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and even America cannot overcome the Kingdom of Christ. That isn’t to say we ought not care about our nation. The Bible is clear that we should care. And one of the greatest ways to care is to proclaim Christ kingdom. The kingdom of Christ is a legitimate kingdom that deserves a legitimate proclamation.
The Coming Kingdom Liberates From the Former Kingdom
The Coming Kingdom Liberates From the Former Kingdom
The third thought that I think we need to understand is that the coming kingdom liberates us from the former kingdom. And this isn’t as explicit as the other, but I think that it would be understood by the apostles.
Notice that when Moses and Elijah talk of Jesus’s Exodus, it would be from Egypt, but would be in Jerusalem. This is significant. Jerusalem was where the temple was. It was where the sacrifices were to be made, where forgiveness was to be sought. This was where God’s grace was sought and where the mercy seat was originally found. So, it is not just simply that Jesus would depart—die, but what that death would do for all who followed him.
And that involves that why. Why were they talking about Jesus’s exodus? Why were they talking about it being accomplished in Jerusalem? Like Moses, Jesus’s exodus would deliver his people out of slavery. But whereas Moses’s exodus was physical, Jesus’s would be spiritual. Moses would deliver from Egypt, but Jesus from sin. But I believe there is more to it than even that. Both Moses and Elijah climbed Mt. Horeb, aka Mt. Sinai. But when they spoke of Jesus’s exodus, it was to take place in Jerusalem. Mt. Sinai was the place where the law was given. Mt. Sinai was where Elijah went once the northern kingdom had rejected the law. But Jesus, being the fulfilment of the law and prophets, would go to Jerusalem and would then free us from the law. As Paul would write to the Galatians:
Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman.
But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.
Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar.
Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.
But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.”
Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.
But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.”
So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.
Thus, here is Jesus’s ministry being compared and confirmed by the greatest prophets before him. His face shining greater than Moses’s. His clothes flashing like the lightning of God’s presence. His exodus in Jerusalem that leads us out of sin and frees from the Law.
But how does this get accomplished? To be honest this also shows the link between the new and old, but it also helps us to see how new the new is.
And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
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.
The traditional view of the transfiguration is that Moses and Elijah were giving credence to Jesus’s ministry as representatives of the Law and the Prophets. We talked about that just a few minutes ago. More recently, some have seen Moses as the Old Covenant and Elijah as the one who prepares the way for the New Covenant, which is also biblical and is found in Malachi. I don’t think this is an either/or, but a both/and. Moses was not only the Law-giver, but the first major prophet. Elijah was not only a huge prophet that pointed back to the law, but he was said to bring about the last days. So it’s a both/and.
But what we see here is a fulfillment of prophecy.
We read back in
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
On this mountain, we see the prophecy made 1500 years beforehand being fulfilled! When Peter made his confession he stated that Jesus was the Christ of God. In other words, he was the Anointed One—the King God had anointed. Eight days later, God speaks. This time he says that he is both his Son and his chosen one. That’s not the same thing as “The Anointed One.” No. This is the Chosen One of God. God not only anointed him as King like Peter confessed, but God chose him as the successor to Moses fulfilling this prophecy.
God was sending the New and Better Prophet to bring about the New and Better Exodus. And it would be done as Jesus has predicted and commanded. Did you notice that Moses told the people in this prophesy to listen to him? Now God tells the disciples to listen to him.
The context of Moses’s command is that of true prophets and false prophets. Don’t listen to those prophets whose predictions don’t come true. Listen to the chosen successor as God speaks through him and what he says will come true. When God tells the disciples to listen to him, he is saying that what he says will come true because he speaks from God himself.
Jesus just told them he would die and rise. He would soon tell them again. But would they listen?
Beloved, some of the final words of Jesus come from Matthew 28:19-20. In that statement, Jesus says that we are to teach them (the nations/people groups) to observe everything he has commanded. We, as disciples who are making disciples, are to listen to him, not ignore him to believe whatever we want. Not to explain away the hard things he’s said.
God has linked and legitimized the coming kingdom by sending his Son to die and rise so that we may be justified in his sight. But by us listening to his Son, his chosen one, we would be sanctified.
Dullness of Prayer Leads to Dullness of Senses
Dullness of Prayer Leads to Dullness of Senses
Earlier, I said I wanted to say a word on prayer. I haven’t talked about the disciples’ response to all this that they heard and saw. I want to do that now. Because we need to see that dullness of prayer leads to dullness of senses. If your prayer life, or my prayer life is blunted, our spiritual sense, our spiritual understanding of what God is doing around us or about us, will be blunted.
Let’s look at the beginning of the text this morning:
Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
Here we have four men going up the mountain to pray. Jesus and his three closest disciples go up for what reason? Why does Jesus take with him these three men? The grand purpose is the preview of the coming kingdom. But the immediate purpose is for them to pray. It’s to get away from the crowds and get alone with God. And then Luke tells us in verse 29, that while Jesus was praying, this whole thing with Moses and Elijah happened.
But what were the disciples doing? Verse 32 tells us that Peter and his companions were heavy with sleep. If this sounds familiar, it should. The disciples were taken to another mountain, the Mount of Olives and they were to pray with Jesus as he was about to be handed over to die. But what happened? Once again, they fell asleep.
Here are Peter, John, and James, on the mountain, for the immediate purpose to pray, and they end up dozing instead. And for the lack of a robust prayer life, they lack a robust understanding of what’s going on. They become reactionary rather than revolutionary. And I don’t want it to sound like a “down with the man” revolution, but that a revolution that would profoundly change all of humanity.
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.
Before we get into what Peter was saying, let’s look at Luke comment about what he was saying. He didn’t know what he said. In other words, he was just reacting and saying the first thing that came to mind. His dullness of prayer had led to a dullness of senses and rather than grasping what was being done, Peter wanted to keep on with the status quo.
Now, I say that because of what we read at the beginning of the sentence. As the men were parting from Jesus, Peter makes a statement. The men were in the process of leaving already. Somehow, someway there is evidence that Moses and Elijah are leaving. I don’t know if they waved good bye, shook hands, gave a farewell kiss or what, but something was done that showed they were leaving. And what does Peter do? He says, “It’s great that we get to see this; let’s keep the party rolling and we’ll build a tent for each of you.”
In other words, he wanted them to stay; not go. Their mission was complete, but Peter didn’t want to accept that. He couldn’t grasp the reason they had come. Instead, he wanted them to live in that moment—keep the status quo.
Having fallen asleep rather than praying caused Peter to not see God’s moving or purpose. The same thing happened on the Mount of Olives. Rather than praying, they slept, and when they awoke, rather than accepting what Jesus had said would happened, the disciples fight, Peter cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest. Again, Peter who denied he would deny Christ was told to pray lest he enter into temptation, but he slept and subsequently denied knowing Jesus.
Dullness of prayer leads to dullness of senses. If we want to be more in tune with what God is doing in our lives, our churches, our world, we had best spend time talking with him. And let me say this; there were times Jesus went to be alone in prayer; but there were times like these when Jesus took others to pray with him. If Jesus wanted and called others to pray with him, ought we not to pray with one
another as well? Ought corporate prayer, whether praying during our prayer meeting or gathering with friends and/or family for the purpose of prayer be an important part of our lives?
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we finish up this section of Luke, we’ve seen that the new kingdom of Christ is linked to, legitimized by, and liberates from the former kingdom. But we’ve also seen that a dull prayer life leads to a dull understanding of God’s moving.
It’s easy to become legalists and see the link and legitimacy of the new kingdom while holding onto the law of the old. I’m not calling for antinomianism here where we throw off the law, but rather for the truth that the law of God is now written on our minds and in our hearts.
But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”
What a wonderful kingdom this is. This is the kingdom we proclaim.