Well, hello friends, and thank you for joining me in our daily reading from God's holy word. Today we're reading Mark chapter 9, just verses 1 to 13 today. In this lesson we come to the most amazing event in the life of Jesus between his birth and his death. It's called his Transfiguration.
In it we see the unveiling of his glory and catch a glimpse of his majesty. Before we read, let's pray. Our Father in Heaven give us eyes to see and ears to hear, and so do good to our souls. In Jesus name I pray.
Amen. Mark chapter 9 verses 1 to 13, and he said to them, truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power. And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves, and he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified, and a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud. This is my beloved Son, listen to him.
And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them, but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. And they asked him, why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?
And he said to them, Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased as it is written of him. Amen, this is God's Word.
What can help us most in times of trouble? Getting our eyes off of ourselves in our dark circumstances. And I'm the one who outshines everything and everyone. And here, we see Jesus glowing like lightning.
As skeptic might say, people don't glow. Well, don't you think Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John do that? You think Peter, James, and John, glide about it? James was killed by Herod just a few years later.
Peter, after that, why would they die for a lie? Now, Jesus here promised his disciples that they would see the kingdom of God come in power. And about a week later, he takes them up on a mountain to give them a foretaste of the glory he will have when he comes again in power. What do we learn from this transfiguration?
Let me highlight two things. First, they see Jesus in the fullness of his glory. His radiance is our hope. In the days of Moses on Mount Sinai, maybe you remember that God came down in a cloud and spoke and everyone was afraid.
Moses went up on the mountain and got to see God's glory, but not his face. And when he came down, his own face was shining with a reflected glory of God. Now here, centuries later, on top of a mountain, there's a cloud and God's voice and Moses is back. But where Moses reflected the glory of God, like the moon reflects the sun, Jesus produces the glory of God.
He comes from him. Jesus doesn't merely point us to the glory of God like Elijah or Moses did, but Jesus is the glory of God in human form. He is the radiance of the glory of God in him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. Usually, his glory was veiled when he was upon the earth.
He never ceased being divine, but he veiled it under the cloak of humanity. Here the curtain is pulled back, so to speak, to see Jesus as he is, as the Father sees his own son. And his glory is our destiny. For all who look to him, we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord Jesus, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.
When Christ, who is our life, appears, we also will appear with him in glory. And we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he really is. Now, the second thing I want you to see is what you look at the love of the Father for his son. The voice speaks, this is my son, my beloved, who my love with you.
I'm well pleased, I delight you, I approve of you. God is satisfied with his son. Are you? And the Father says you should listen to him.
Do you? Peter was battling on about making tents because he was so afraid. But it made sense from his perspective. Tents is the word for tabernacle and in Exodus, Moses went up on the mountain and met with God in the cloud and was told to build a tabernacle, a place where heaven and earth would unite, where God and man would meet together.
Peter wants to perpetuate that. And God says, my son is that. He is where heaven and earth meet. He is where God and man have fellowship together.
You can have fellowship with God in him through faith in him. Through him, we have access by the Holy Spirit to God the Father. Let us then with confidence drawn near to the throne of grace and use our access and ask for help in days of trouble that we may receive mercy and find grace to help from him in time of need. Let's pray.
Father in heaven, thank you for the hope that we have in Jesus and the help that we get through Jesus. Help us to trust in you in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
Well, thank you for listening in and I hope you'll join me next time.