LUKE 9:27-36 THE GLORY OF JESUS2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 9:27-36 The Glory Of Jesus

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You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012. Well this morning as we look at our portion here in Luke chapter 9, it's an incredible portion of scripture which records for us what is known as the transfiguration of Jesus Christ.

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You can also read about this event if you want to later on in Matthew chapter 17 and Mark chapter 9. Both Matthew and Mark record this same event for us to give us a little bit more insight and details into the things that took place up there that day on the Mount of Transfiguration. So that was Matthew chapter 17 and Mark chapter 9.

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But as we look at the portion this morning in Luke chapter 9, there's four points I'd like to share with you. And the main thought, the title of the teaching this morning is the glory of Jesus. This is what we really see taking place in the transfiguration. The glory of Christ is being revealed and made known. And so there's four things I'd like to share with you and highlight for you about the glory of Jesus.

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And we begin with that thought in verses 27 through 29 with the first point, which is a glimpse of his glory. We see, first of all, a glimpse of the glory of Jesus Christ. Now, as we use this word glory throughout our time together this morning, I think we should probably take a moment and understand what the word means.

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We think of glory very often as the idea of, you know, that shining light, the illuminance that takes place in this idea of glory. And there's that thought that goes along with it, that light that emanates from something that is in glory or something that is glorious. But the word glory is

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it simply means recognition that belongs to a person. It's honor, it's renown that belongs to a person. And as we see Christ

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in his glory, that does include this bright light, but it's talking about the recognition that he deserves. It's a recognition of who he is, the position that he holds, the reality that he is indeed Christ the Lord. And so that's what we're talking about when we talk about the glory of Jesus. Not just the shining light, but the reality of who he is.

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And so here in verses 27 through 29, we get a glimpse of that reality, a glimpse of who he is. We get a glimpse of his glory. Let's start in verse 27. It says this, "'But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.'"

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This is really the conclusion of the passage we studied two weeks ago. When we looked at Jesus talking about to follow after him, you have to take up your cross, deny yourself and follow him.

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The idea of dying to self so that we can follow Jesus is what he was teaching his disciples. And then he also told them about his own death and really what that meant, taking up your cross, that he was going to be rejected. He was going to be put to death, but he also told them that he would be resurrected and then he would ascend to the Father. And so on the tail end of that teaching with his disciples, he adds on to, in verse 27, say...

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But I tell you truly, there's some of you who are with me today hearing this message who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God. Now, the event that we'll be studying today, this transfiguration, we'll see it takes place about a week later. But Jesus makes this statement a week prior to the

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Because he knew what was going to happen. He knew what was about to take place, and they were going to get a glimpse of the kingdom of God. That phrase, kingdom of God, is used by Jesus throughout the Gospel of Luke, and it's a phrase which has a couple different meanings. There's really the spiritual fulfillment of the kingdom of God, which is fulfilled already in the person of Jesus Christ.

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Because he is the king of the kingdom of God. Because he is the one who reigns on high. And you can see this later on. We'll get to it in Luke chapter 17. Or you can check it out later on today. Luke chapter 17 verse 20 and 21. Jesus is talking with the religious leaders. They're asking him about the kingdom of God. And he's explaining...

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Look, the kingdom of God is not going to be revealed to you by observation. You're not going to see it right now. You're not going to get to it by interrogation, by, you know, asking me to reveal it. He said, the kingdom of God is among you or within your midst. In other words, there's a spiritual reality to the kingdom of God that is fulfilled in Jesus Christ who was among them.

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And so the kingdom of God is spiritually fulfilled in Jesus because he's the king. And so those who have received Jesus as savior and lord, they're part of the kingdom of God.

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The ultimate fulfillment, of course, is when Jesus comes back to the earth to rule and to reign for a thousand years and then on into eternity. And so that's the ultimate fulfillment of the kingdom of God. It's not yet taken place. It's going to happen. It will happen after the seven-year tribulation period. But until then, we have the spiritual fulfillment of the kingdom of God. And so this glimpse...

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of the kingdom of God that Jesus is referring to is what Peter, James, and John are about to experience. They get a glimpse of the King as they get to see Jesus in his glory. And at the same time, they get a glimpse of the kingdom as they see the glory that comes upon him. Verse 28 now, as we go on, it says, Now it came to pass...

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So about a week later, Jesus grabs Peter, James, and John and goes up to a mountain. We don't know exactly which mountain it was that he went up upon. It was probably one of the mountains there surrounding the Sea of Galilee.

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It was his habit, as we've seen in the Gospel of Luke, and we'll see it throughout the rest of the book as well. Jesus would often take some time away from the crowds, away from the people, to spend time in prayer with the Father. This time he takes Peter, James, and John with him. He's up on the mountain in time with prayer. Now we'll see in just a moment, the disciples actually fall asleep while he's praying, and

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But as he's praying, this incredible transfiguration takes place. Verse 29. As he prayed, the appearance of his face was altered and his robe became white and glistening. So here we are on this mountain. The disciples are sleeping. They're going to wake up in just a moment. But Jesus is there praying with the Father. And as he's praying, it says that his face was altered.

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What does it mean that his face was altered? Well, he's not just talking about facial expressions. You know, it's not just that he kind of furrowed his brow or like his eyes kind of lit up or, you know, that there was some kind of change of his expression on his face. But there's a real transformation taking place here. In fact, Matthew and Mark both describe this as a transfiguration.

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That word transfigure in the Greek is metamorpho, which is where we get the word metamorphosis. It's the idea of, you know, the caterpillar as it transforms into a butterfly, that metamorphosis that takes place. That's the same thing

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concept of what happened here on the mountain with Jesus. That as he's praying, there's a metamorphosis. There's a real substantial transformation that takes place and his face is altered. In Matthew chapter 17 verse 2, it tells us that his face shone like the sun at this point. And so in this metamorphosis that takes place, this transformation,

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His face now begins to shine like the sun. Now this is important to understand. This is not a light shining on Jesus. This is light shining forth from Jesus. As he is transformed, transfigured, his face is altered and he begins to shine like the sun. Light is being projected forth from him.

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You know, recently, I think it was last Sunday, right? We had the eclipse that happened, right? I didn't get to see it because I was at church, but maybe you ditched church and you got to see the eclipse. Just teasing.

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But you know the rules, right? Everybody wants to see an eclipse when it happens. But you can't just walk outside and look at the eclipse taking place because, well, you'll burn your eyes. You'll cause permanent damage, very likely. And so there's, you know, particular things, tricks you could do, use the paper, use welding goggles or whatever. And you can't just look directly at the sun because it's far too bright, right?

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Well, think about this. Matthew says, his face shone like the sun. So this isn't, again, a little bit of light shining on him or even a bright light shining upon him. This is brilliant light shining from him. This is a radical transformation that is taking place. Jesus did not walk around all the time with his face shining like the sun, but here upon the mountain,

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His face begins to shine as he's transfigured in his time of prayer with the Father. Well, it's not just his face. It also goes on to say in verse 29 that his robe became white and glistening.

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Now here we have some more light being produced from the person of Jesus. Because this word glistening means to flash out like lightning. It means to radiate light. And so his face is shining like the sun, but now his clothes are glistening. They're shooting forth light like lightning. There's this brilliance that is coming forth from Jesus.

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Again, it's not a big spotlight upon him, but this is the glory that's coming forth from him. I like the way that Mark describes it. In Mark chapter 9 verse 3, he says, His clothes became shining, exceedingly white like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.

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So no amount of tide, no amount of bleach could, you know, match the whitening of what took place in Jesus's clothes. That they became this brilliant white, that they were shooting forth light like lightning in this transfiguration. And so what we have here is this transformation takes place. There's this brilliant light coming forth from Jesus. We're getting a glimpse of

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of His glory. We're getting a glimpse of who He really is. A glimpse of the reality that He is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. When Jesus was born through the Virgin Mary, He began to walk this earth as a man. But that was not the beginning of His existence.

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John chapter 1 verse 1 talks about that he has always existed with the heavenly father. In the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God. The reality that Jesus has always existed. As you study John chapter 1, you find as it goes on, it's referring to Jesus when it uses the word. Jesus has always existed. He's always existed with God and he is God.

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He is the glorified one. Now, in John chapter 17, this is the end of Jesus' ministry. As he's about to go to the cross, once again, he's spending time in prayer with the Father. And he says, and now, O Father, John chapter 17, verse 5, he says, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was.

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So in Jesus's prayer, at the end of his ministry to the Father, he says, Father, I used to have glory with you. In your presence, I was in glory because I'm with you. I am the creator. Now, I've laid that glory aside for a season. But now I'm at the end of my ministry. I'm about to go to the cross. I'm about to be ascended to the Father. So now glorify me with the glory that I had with you before the world was.

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And so we get this understanding here that Jesus, he's always existed. He existed in glory because he is God, but he laid aside that glory temporarily, or maybe suppressed it is a better word. I don't know. Try to explain the incarnation is a little bit difficult. But the point is, he walked upon the earth and he wasn't showing the glory, the reality of who he is because he walked here in humanity.

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At the end of his life, as he's ascended, then he returns to that place of glory. But in between, we see the humanity of Christ. And here in the midst of his humanity, he peels back the humanity for just a moment to give us a glimpse of the glory, the reality of who he is. Paul the Apostle addresses this as well in Philippians chapter 2. He puts it a slightly different way.

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He says, Paul says, look, you need to follow the example of Jesus and humble yourself. And how did Jesus humble himself? Well, he's equal with God, but he didn't hold on to that.

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He didn't say, no, I'm just going to stay here in glory. Let them die in their sins. Instead, he said, I'm willing to let go of my glory. To lay it aside, to suppress it, however you want to describe it, and make myself of no reputation. And he came as a man. He became a man. And came in humility even as a man. Humbling himself as a servant. Humbling himself even to the point of death.

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the death upon the cross. And so when Jesus walked this earth, he was here in humility, but it wasn't the full reality of who he is. His humanity is not the end of the story. He also is God. And we are getting a little glimpse of that in this transfiguration that takes place. David Guzikin, talking about this, says the real miracle was that Jesus, most of the time, could keep from displaying his glory.

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Sometimes we look at the transfiguration and think, wow, what a great miracle. But the reality is, He always had that glory. For all of eternity, He's had that glory. The real miracle is that He humbled Himself and came as a man to walk on this earth, to minister, to die upon the cross for your sin and my sin. That's the real miracle. And so we're getting a glimpse of who He is that we might understand.

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That Jesus is not just a good teacher, a great prophet. He's not just another man. But this indeed is God. He is the King, the Creator. It's interesting to me how there's kind of a progression of Jesus revealing himself to his disciples as we're studying through the Gospel of Luke. This, as we're here in chapter 9, says,

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is probably around the end of the second year, the beginning of the third year of Jesus' ministry. And so the disciples have been with him for a little bit of time. They've come to know him as a teacher and a rabbi. They know that for sure. But as they've been with him, they've been watching the miracles, they've been seeing prophecies fulfilled. And so it came to the point a few weeks ago in chapter 9, we saw that Peter makes this bold statement

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declaration. When Jesus asked them, who do you say that I am? Peter says, you are the Christ. You're the Savior, the Son of the living God. And so it's being revealed to the disciples a little bit more. He's not just a teacher and a rabbi. He's the Savior that God has promised, the Son of the living God. It was soon after that that Jesus began to teach them that he would be put to death and then resurrected.

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The crucifixion, revealing a little bit more of God's plan, a little bit more of what He was doing there. And now, Jesus reveals to them His glory. He gives them a glimpse of the recognition, the honor that belongs to Him. Because He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. And so here, as His face is altered, His face shines like the sun. Lightning is shooting forth from His garments.

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We get the glimpse of who Jesus really is. Well, as we continue on in our passage this morning, verse 30 and 31, we find the second point, which is Moses and Elijah confirm his glory. Look with me at verse 30 and 31. It says,

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And behold, two men talked with him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his decease, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. So here, as Jesus is transfigured, there's this glorious light coming forth from him. Now, two men appear with him in that glory, Moses and Elijah.

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The appearance of Moses and Elijah further proves or confirms who Jesus is, the reality that he is the king. Moses is a significant person in history because, well, he is the one that God used to bring forth the law, that old covenant, the first covenant with his people in establishing the Hebrew nation.

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We've been reading in the Bible in three years. We started in Genesis. We're now in Deuteronomy. These first five books of the Bible are referred to as the books of Moses because Moses wrote these books. God used Moses in a substantial way, a very important way, in revealing himself to the nation and establishing the nation of Israel.

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God spoke to Moses face to face. In fact, you might remember Moses being up on the mountain with the Lord and as a result of being in the presence of God, his face began to shine. It wasn't shining like Jesus' face here though because as he came down the mountain to share the law with the people, that glory would fade and so he would wear a veil over his face so they wouldn't see the glory fade.

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But the point is, he had a very unique and important relationship with God, an important place in God's history and God's plan. And so Moses, in delivering the law and writing the first five books of the Bible, he really represents for us the law. In fact, sometimes, you know, Moses and the law are kind of interchangeable throughout the scriptures as Jesus and the Pharisees are dealing with those things.

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So you have Moses representing the law here with Jesus, but then also you have Elijah. Elijah was one of the great prophets. He was a prophet who did many things for God, but one of the interesting things about Elijah was he was surprised when God did not show him something in advance. You guys remember that? There was a time where he was like, hey, I'm surprised the Lord didn't tell me that in advance. Now,

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For us, if God tells us something in advance, you know, that's the surprise. We're shocked by that. We're like, whoa, God told me what was going to happen in advance. I didn't know it, but then he told me, and then that's what happened. But for Elijah, he had this relationship with God where it was surprising to him when something would happen, and he says, hey, God didn't show me that ahead of time. That's interesting. I'm shocked by that. He had this unique and special relationship with God, an important place in Elijah.

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God's plan. And so he represents for us the rest of the prophets that followed him. And so you have Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets being represented here with Jesus on the mountain. Now these are

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two of the primary portions of scriptures that are contained in the Old Testament. And a lot of times, the Jewish people would refer to the whole of scriptures, the Old Testament that we have today, as the law and the prophets. In fact, Jesus did this as well in Matthew chapter 5 verse 17. He said, "...do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill."

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And so the law and the prophets are these two segments of scripture that kind of encompass the whole of scripture. And these representatives of the law and the prophets are standing here with Jesus, talking with him. They're furthering the proof of the reality of who he is. Not only does he shine in glory, but he's got the testimony of Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets,

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To confirm, to back up the reality of who he is. Now it's interesting what they were talking about with Jesus there on the mountain. Because it says that they spoke of his decease, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. They were speaking of his death. The death he was about to accomplish. It made me wonder. It's an interesting word to use with death. Accomplish. Who accomplishes death?

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Only Jesus accomplishes death. You know, the rest of us, we're victims of death. We die because of our sinful condition. We die because we're bound up in these sinful bodies. We're victims of it. We inherited this sinful nature from our great, great, great, great, great grandparents, Adam and Eve. And so we die. We don't really accomplish death.

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We're victims of it. But Jesus, he accomplished death. What does that mean? Well, the author of Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14, says that through death, Jesus destroyed him who had the power of death, that is the devil. Jesus accomplished death in that by his dying, he conquered the devil who had the power of death.

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He conquered sin and death in his death. And so Elijah and Moses are here talking with Jesus about what he's about to accomplish, about the reality that he is going to conquer death. He's going to defeat Satan.

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So that he can give eternal life to those who believe in him. You see, this is why Jesus is able to say, whoever believes in me will live and not die. Yet, though he may die, he shall live this everlasting life, this eternal life that is promised for his followers.

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is promised, and he's able to promise it, because he accomplished death. He conquered death. He defeated sin and death through his own death upon the cross. And so Moses and Elijah are speaking to him about this.

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I find it interesting to consider. I don't know what they said. I was wondering, you know, remember how after the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, how the angels came and ministered to him and strengthened him afterwards? I was kind of wondering maybe that's what they were there for. Moses and Elijah, you know, they're kind of encouraging, strengthening Jesus, preparing him for this final stretch as he goes to his death. I don't know. I don't know what was said, but they were speaking to him about this work he was about to accomplish.

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Now when it says that he was about to accomplish this at Jerusalem, it gives us a little bit of a hint about the time frame of when this is taking place. He is in kind of the final stretch of his ministry. He's heading towards the cross. Jesus began his ministry at 30 years old. He finished his ministry at the cross at

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about three and a half years later. And so here in chapter 9, we're towards the latter end of his ministry, within that past, that last year, or maybe even the final few months of his ministry. And we'll see that in Luke chapter 9 verse 51, a couple verses down, it says, "...it came to pass when the time had come for him to be received up, that he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem."

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And that's where he's going to go and be tried and then put to death. So we're heading into that final season. And as he's going into that final season, Moses and Elijah appear with him on the mountain and are speaking to him about the death that he's about to accomplish. So they confirm his glory. They confirm the reality of who he is.

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But he is the king, the savior, the Lord. Well, point number three, as we go on in verse 32 and 33, is that the disciples see his glory. The disciples get to see the glory of Jesus. Look at verse 32. But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep. And when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.

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So Peter, James, and John are up there on the mountain with Jesus, but they kind of missed the beginning of all this. Jesus there, he's transfigured, he's altered, he begins to shine forth. Moses and Elijah appear and they're talking with him. And Peter's like, opens his eyes a little bit and then...

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What is going on? They were asleep, but it says after they were fully awake. You know how that is. Sometimes, you know, like you wake up and it takes you a couple hours, you know, to be fully awake.

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And then there's those other times, maybe someone's standing over you, trying to kiss you good morning or something, right babe? And then, you know, it scares you, and then it's like, ah! You know, and you're fully awake instantly. I do that all the time, it drives her crazy. There's those times where you just, something happens, and boom, you're fully awake right at the moment. That's what happens with Peter, James, and John. They're kind of waking up, they're drowsy, they were in a heavy sleep, but then all of a sudden they see what is going on. And now they're awake.

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They're not just dreaming. This isn't just a vision that they have. They're fully awake. They've woken up. And they're beginning to see the reality of who Jesus is as they see his glory. Now Peter, remember, just a few verses earlier, a few days earlier, said, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. But now he's getting to see with his own eyes the reality of that.

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He came to that conclusion by watching Jesus, the miracles that he did, the prophecies that were fulfilled. He came to the conclusion and, as Jesus said, the Heavenly Father inspired him and gave him that insight that Jesus is the Christ. But now he's getting to see that reality. He's getting to see who Jesus really is.

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He's an eyewitness. Later on in 2 Peter chapter 1, Peter will refer back to this time when he was on the mountain and he sees this take place. And Peter refers to it as being an eyewitness of his majesty. He saw the majesty of Jesus, the glory of Jesus, the reality of who Jesus is. I think it's interesting to compare this with Revelation chapter 1.

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Because I think Peter, James, and John here probably saw Jesus in the same form that the apostle John saw Jesus in Revelation chapter 1. You might remember there in Revelation 1 where John is caught up into heaven in this vision. And he sees the Lord Jesus. He has this revelation of Jesus. And it's describing, it's this great description of Jesus in glory. In verse 16 of Revelation 1, it said, "...in his right hand..."

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Where he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. Remember Matthew 17 tells us his face shone like the sun. And in Revelation chapter 1, John sees that same thing, his countenance like the sun shining in its strength. There's this brilliant light coming forth from Christ in glory, in the reality of who he is. Not just a man.

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but God, Creator, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. How amazing it must have been for Peter, James, and John to see His glory, to be eyewitnesses of His majesty there on the Mount of Transfiguration. Well, verse 33 goes on to say, Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that's Elijah and Moses were parting from Jesus, that Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here.

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And let us make three tabernacles. One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. My favorite part, the end of verse 33. Not knowing what he said. Peter sees Moses and Elijah heading off. He realizes this glorious time that I was sleeping through, it's now coming to an end. I don't want it to end. He says, no, no, no. Jesus, Master, it's good for us to be here. I've got a great idea.

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What you really need is some tents. Let's put up three tents, three tabernacles. One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Basically, Peter's saying, hey, this is awesome. I mean, to be here in the presence of Jesus and his glory, to have Moses and Elijah here testifying, confirming who Jesus is, it doesn't get any better than this. This is awesome.

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Let's stay here, Peter is saying. I think you could probably relate to that. I think some of us guys at the retreat last week, right? We were thinking, man, if only we could stay up on the mountain. As God's speaking, he's working, there's great things happening.

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Down the mountain, there's going to be battles. There's going to be struggles. The bills still have to be paid. Let's just stay up here. Let's just build some tents, tabernacles, and continue this mountaintop experience. That would be awesome. That's basically what Peter's saying. But there's still work to do. Although Jesus is entering into that final stage of his ministry, there's still ministry to do. There's still work to be done.

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And the same is true for those who are up at a retreat. It's great. You have those times, those mountaintop experiences where the glory of the Lord is manifested. And we need those. And sometimes we enter into them and we're asleep spiritually. And there's that awakening that happens as we remember who Jesus is. But it's not so that we can just stay there all the time. You know, Ronnie's hands are bloody because he's just playing the guitar so much.

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that we just constant 24-7 we're worshiping and singing songs and doing Bible studies. There's more that God has for us. And so we have to come down the mountain because there's still work to do. There's the calling that God has for us. The ministry he wants us to accomplish. In the same way as Peter says, hey, let's build three tabernacles. Jesus is like, that's not what we're going to do. There's still work to do. We need those mountaintop experiences.

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But that's not the full plan for our life here upon this earth. Now, the great thing is, if you get time away with the Lord and experience this glorious revelation of God as He speaks to you, and you have this mountaintop experience, this transfiguration experience, what you're getting is a glimpse of what is in store for us. Because in eternity, we will be on the mountaintop.

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We'll be in the presence of Jesus, in the full glory of Jesus. And so that is to come. But right now, we also have to go back down the mountain and fulfill the work that God has set before us. So Peter's saying, hey, let's stay here. Forget about the rest of humanity. This is great for us. Just the six of us. Peter, James, John, Moses, Elijah, Jesus. Let's just stay here. That'd be awesome. And I'm sure it would have been.

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But God had something even greater in store. Now there's another possible problem with what Peter was saying here because he says, let's make three tabernacles, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. The implication here is kind of that Peter is putting them all on the same level, that Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, they're kind of equals.

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And that's not the reality. That doesn't measure up because Moses was a great man of God. He had a great place in God's plan and Elijah as well. But Jesus is far superior and that's what's being revealed. Moses and Elijah, they came and they were in the midst of Jesus' glory, but they were not the ones who were shining forth like the sun.

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Because Jesus alone is unique in that. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So he says, let's make three tabernacles. And Luke points out, because he didn't know what he said. I like the way Mark puts it as well. Mark says, because he didn't know what to say. He didn't know what he said. And he didn't know what to say. So what did he do? He said something. This is really important for us to consider, guys. And girls.

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When you don't know what to say, consider not saying anything. Just try that one on for size. When you don't know what to say, don't say anything. You know, we can look at Peter and we can laugh, but I think every day, you and I, we prove that we are a lot like Peter. There's those situations that we come across and we really don't know what to say, but we say something anyways and it's not always...

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The best things to say. Making it a little bit more serious and somber. You know, sometimes when we're ministering to people who are hurting, perhaps those who are grieving, those who are mourning, those who are going through, you know, they just got terrible news, they've just lost a loved one. It's things that we're very uncomfortable with generally as human beings. And so we're there with them and we don't know what to say. You know, it's okay to not say anything.

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And that's far better than saying something that you don't know what you're talking about. You don't know what you're saying. You don't know what to say. But you feel like you got to say something. So out comes something stupid. It's better. Maybe consider not saying anything. Just be there with them. Make sure that when you have something to say, you say it. Make sure when God gives you something to say, that you say it.

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But a lot of times we just say things to fill the space, even though we don't really know what we're talking about and we don't know what to say. So Peter says, let's make three tabernacles. It's great to be here. Let's do this. But he really didn't know what he was talking about. But here we get to see though, even though he didn't know what he was talking about, Peter, James, and John are eyewitnesses of the majesty of Jesus. And that's the point here.

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I would refer to them even as credible eyewitnesses. Now prior to their walk with Jesus, I don't know if credible would be an appropriate word, but having walked with the Lord, having experienced this time with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration, having been born again, and baptized in the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2,

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They demonstrate themselves to be credible eyewitnesses of the majesty and glory of Jesus. And the way that we can know that they are credible eyewitnesses is, well, James in Acts chapter 12 is put to death for his testimony of who Jesus is. He's a martyr. He's put to death as a result of his testimony of the reality of who Jesus is. He dies for this testimony.

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It makes him a credible witness, a credible testimony, because he's willing to die for his statement. He's willing to die for the truth. Peter as well, although it's not recorded for us in the scriptures, it is recorded in church history. Peter was put to death for his testimony of Jesus. He was crucified, but crucified upside down.

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He went to his death holding fast to the testimony of who Jesus is, the reality of his glory. And then the apostle John, well, he wasn't put to death, but not for lack of trying. They tried to boil him in oil to put him to death for his testimony of Jesus, but God preserved him and he survived the boiling oil. So then they exiled him to the island of Patmos where he had the revelation of Jesus that's recorded in the book of Revelation.

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But he survived that as well and he returned to Ephesus. So they tried to put him to death for his testimony of Christ, but God preserved him from those attempts. Either way though, the point is, all of these guys were willing to go to their deaths for this testimony, for the reality. Because, as Peter will say later on, they're not following cunningly devised fables.

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But they really saw that Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. That He is the Savior and salvation is only through Him. Well, we finish it up in verses 34 through 36 with the final point, which is the Father declares His glory. Verse 34 and 35 says this, While He was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were fearful as they entered the cloud."

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And a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son, hear him. So now we have the final component of this transfiguration. The heavenly father enters the scene in the form of a cloud. And so this cloud now comes and overshadows them. And it says that they're fearful as they enter the cloud. I picture in my mind, you know, kind of a fast moving cloud up in the mountains. And then all of a sudden, you're enveloped in the cloud.

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And so here this cloud comes upon them, freaks them out a little bit. They're fearful now. And the Heavenly Father speaks forth from the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son. Hear Him. This is my beloved Son. This is an incredibly powerful statement. A declaration of Jesus' glory. The reality of who He is. The honor and recognition that is due to Him. Because He is the Son of God.

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This is very similar to Jesus' baptism in Luke chapter 3. When Jesus comes out of the water, the Holy Spirit descends upon Him as a dove, and a voice comes from heaven and says, You are my beloved Son, and you I am well pleased. The Heavenly Father declares that Jesus is His Son. And what does that mean? Jesus, the Son of God. We lose a little bit of the meaning in our culture and our language today.

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Because when we talk about son, well, it implies to us that there was a birth at some point. How do you get a son? You know, through birth. You give birth to a son. Because we think in human terms, but the reality is that Jesus has always existed. So how is he the son of God? When did God give birth to him? We try to think of it in those terms. It doesn't work. So what does it mean that Jesus is the son of God? Well, let's back up a little bit.

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You and I are children of God by the fact that we are part of God's creation. And so we can rightly say you are a son, you are a daughter of God because you are part of His creation. That's appropriate, that's right. But then you also have sons and daughters of God who are, well, they're children of God by faith, by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, by being born again, by

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The scripture talks about us being adopted as his sons and daughters by faith in Jesus Christ. And so there's the sense that we're children of God by the fact that we're part of his creation. But then there's also those who are children of God by faith, believing in Jesus Christ. There's a distinction there, even though it's the same terminology being used. Well, taking it yet further, then you have the son of God.

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Now, you and I might be a child of God, a son of God, a daughter of God, but Jesus is described not as a child of God in the sense that he's part of God's creation because he was not created. He's always existed. He is not a son of God in that sense. He is the son of God, which is a very distinct and important difference. It's really a statement of his eternal nature.

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It's a unique term applied to him. That he is the unique eternal son of God. That he is actually equal to God. You can see this through the things that take place in John chapter 10. Now, those of you ladies who are participating in the women's Bible study, you were studying that this past week. In John chapter 10, the Jews...

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that are around Jesus, take up stones ready to stone him, to put him to death. And Jesus says, hey, I've done lots of good works. For which of these works are you trying to stone me now? And he said, no, no, we're not trying to stone you because you do some miracle, but because you are blaspheming, that you are claiming to be God. Jesus had just been saying, my father and I are one.

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He was referring to the Heavenly Father as my father, not just the father, but my father. He was referring to himself as the Son of God, and the Jews understood what he was saying. And so they picked up stones and they said, hey, you're calling yourself the Son of God. You're saying that you are equal to God. Not just a child of God in general, but the unique, the eternal Son of God, equal to God. And so they attempted to stone him there.

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The Heavenly Father is also making this declaration. This is my beloved Son. He's not part of creation. He's not lesser than me. He is equal to me. He is my beloved Son. And so we see here the reference to the triune nature of God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. That's a whole other doctrinal issue that I'm not going to get into this morning. But the point is...

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This is a huge declaration by the Heavenly Father that Jesus is not just a man. He's not just a good prophet or a good teacher. That He is, in fact, God. That He is the Son of God, the unique, eternal Son of God. And so the Father says, this is my beloved Son. This is my unique, eternal Son, my equal. Listen to Him. Hear Him.

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What a testimony of our Heavenly Father. He says, listen to Jesus. He's my son. He's my equal. Verse 36. When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone, but they kept quiet and told no one in those days any of the things that they had seen.

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So the Mount of Transfiguration, this incredible experience, it closes now. Peter, James, and John descend the mountain with Jesus, but they don't tell anybody about what they saw, about what happened. We find out why in Matthew chapter 17, because Jesus commands them not to tell anyone until after he's resurrected from the dead. So the timing is not yet. You've seen who I really am. You've seen the reality of

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I'm not just a rabbi. I'm not just a teacher. You've heard from the Heavenly Father. I am the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I am the Son of God. You've got the glimpse of my glory. But the appropriate time to share it is after I've been resurrected and presented to the world as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, as the Savior of

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And so they came down the mountain and they followed his command. They did not talk about it until afterwards. And that's why we have it recorded today. Because when Jesus resurrected, then they declared what they saw. They recorded it for us. And we have it here in Luke, Matthew, and Mark. Well, as we finish up this morning, our time together, I want to take you now to 2 Peter chapter 1. Would you turn there please with me? 2 Peter chapter 1.

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And I want to consider for just a moment the closing words of our Heavenly Father as He said, hear Him. He said, listen to Jesus. And as I was preparing this week, I thought about it this way. You and I, we have problems today because we do not hear Him. God says, hear Him. And yet, well, you and I, we have problems in life that

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just happened because of sin in general. We live in a fallen world. There's sin, there's crime, there is injustice, there's disease. All of those things are as a result of the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden when sin entered into the world. So there's a lot of things that really have nothing to do with us. It's not our fault, but it's just part of the sinful world we live in. But then there's also a whole other selection of problems that we face in

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that we bring upon ourselves because we do not hear him. They're avoidable problems if we would just listen to what Jesus has to say. He is the Son of God. Now here in this passage, as we've seen the transfiguration, we get to see reinforced over and over again that Jesus is the King of Kings.

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We see that, first of all, as he shines forth, as he's transformed, he's transfigured. Humanity is pulled back for a moment and we get to see the glimpse of the reality of who he is. Along with that, you have the heavenly father's testimony saying, this is my beloved son. Hear him. And you have the testimony of the scriptures, Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets who

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foretold of the Savior, the Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who would become the Savior of humanity. And all of these things are taking place here in this transfiguration passage, as well as the disciples, these credible witnesses, who testify of what they saw. Well, here in 2 Peter chapter 1, you have Peter talking about this transfiguration, the things that happened, what took place.

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and some important truth for us. 2 Peter chapter 1, let's start in verse 16. It says, For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. So Peter starts out saying, look, we didn't make these things up. This isn't just, you know, a really well-designed religion or myth that we've put together.

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We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. We saw his glory there on the mountain. Verse 17, For he received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the excellent glory. So the cloud overshadowed, the heavenly Father spoke and said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Verse 18, And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

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So Peter is talking about that time on the mountain as Jesus is transfigured. They were eyewitnesses of his majesty and the heavenly father spoke and said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Well, verse 19 is where I want to finish off this morning. It says, and so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place and

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until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Peter kind of concludes that thought, remembering what happened there upon the Mount of Transfiguration. And he says, we have the prophetic word confirmed. We were eyewitnesses. We saw His Majesty. The Heavenly Father spoke. Moses and Elijah were there. And the prophecies were fulfilled. The prophecies were confirmed. Jesus is the Son of God.

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But he says, you do well to heed the scriptures. You do well to heed Jesus. Even as the Father said, hear him, listen to him. But I like the way that he describes how we are to heed him. He said, as a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Here's what I want to encourage you with as we finish up our time together this morning. You know when it's dark,

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And the sun is about to rise. And it comes over the horizon and light just floods over the earth. And everything around us, it's filled with light as the sun rises, the day dawns. The sun consumes the sky. Once you could see the stars, you could see the moon. But when the sun comes up, it consumes the sky and all you can see is the sun. Light floods the earth.

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Peter uses this description to say, this is how you are to heed Jesus. When God says, hear him, listen to him, this is the way that you are to hear him. You see, it's a picture that you are to hear Jesus in such a way, that you are to take heed to him in such a way, paying attention to him so that it's like the day rises, the sun rises and fills your heart.

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That the sun rises and shines light upon who you are, upon everything around you. That as He, the sun, rises in your heart, that He begins to consume your heart and your life. It's a transformation that takes place where no longer are you living based on your own ways, your own ideas, your own thoughts, saying things when you don't know what to say. But now, He's risen in your heart.

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And everything that you do, well, it's been shifted now. You see it from His perspective. You're following His ways. You're obeying His commands, not just doing what you think you ought to do. And so this morning as we close, as we consider the reality of who Jesus is, I want to challenge you. I want to encourage you. You need to take heed to the Lord, to hear Him, spend time with Him, study His words. If you're not familiar with the words of Christ...

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then read ahead in the Gospel of Luke. Spend some time meditating on these things which Jesus has said. And stay there until the sun rises in your heart. Until your life is consumed by Jesus Christ. Until your life is now about what He says, what He desires, His ways, from His perspective. You need to dig into the Scriptures and your relationship with Jesus.

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Until the sun rises in your hearts, be consumed with Him. And put everything aside until He's risen in your heart. Make sure He's first. Make sure He's foremost. Because we've got a glimpse this morning of the reality of who He is. He's not just a man. Not just a good teacher. Not just a great prophet. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. That is His position. That is who He is. But we need to let Him be that.

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in our own hearts. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Let's pray. Lord, this morning I pray that you would help us to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, and to follow you. Lord, because you, although you are God, although you are our creator, you laid aside your glory, you humbled yourself, and became a man to die upon the cross for us.

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You proved it over and over again, the reality of who You are. And You accomplished victory for us through Your death, that we could have the hope and the promise of eternal life by faith in You. And so God, I pray for each and every one of us, that You would help us to hear You, to listen to You, to value Your words above our own, to obey Your commands above our own thoughts and opinions, or the opinions and thoughts of society, or scholars, or doctors.

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That we would put you first. And Jesus, I pray that you would rise in our hearts. That you would be lifted up. The most important, the first, the foremost of our hearts and lives. That we would hear you first. And that our lives would be lived in the pursuit of obedience to you. Because you are the King. And we look forward to spending that eternity with you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.