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. And 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.
Mark 9:2–9, ESV
I’m gonna pray now before we read our sermon text for this morning, so please join me in prayer. Before we hear the reading and the preaching of that word, let’s pray now together.
Dear Lord, our God, we do pray this morning that you would indeed arrest our attentions, Lord, of all the things that would harass our hearts and minds and draw us away from this worship Lord, that we come to as your people, and from this word through which you’re about to speak, Father, we pray that you would set our hearts and minds on Christ and on his word. Lord, we confess that we do not live by breath alone, but by every word that comes forth from your mouth. We do ask that the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight. And we ask, dear Father, give us a great appetite for this your word, that it may indeed nourish our souls this morning in the ways of eternal life, Lord, and all to your glory. And it’s through the bread of heaven, Jesus Christ himself that we pray, and we as God’s people said together, amen, amen.
Please turn now to chapter nine of the book of Mark. Mark chapter nine, begin at verse two. Mark nine, starting at verse two. Please give her full attention, this is the word of God. I’m gonna start at verse one actually, 9 verse 1.
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 on 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. And Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents or shelters, 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 did the scribe say that first Elijah must come? And he said to them, Elijah has 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 did to him whatever they pleased as it is written of him.
The word of the Lord. Amen. You may be seated.
As you well know, it’s important that when we’re reading a passage that we are aware of the flow of what’s gone before it and what’s coming after it to better understand what is going on. We save ourselves from any misunderstanding and conceptions if we do so, and so it’s helpful to be reading through Mark as I’m preaching through it for you. But last week, I’ll remind you that we saw Jesus open, if you will, the faith and understanding of his disciples concerning his identity and his mission. And though their hearts were awakened by faith, and Peter did make his great confession, right, that you are Christ, the Son of the living God, that he is indeed Messiah, At the same time, we saw that Peter’s vision and the vision of the disciples was still clouded, still clouded, as we saw in that living parable of the blind man.
And that was because of their preconceived notions of who the Messiah was supposed to be. They were surely familiar with passages like Psalm chapter 2 and the nations raging and being told to kiss the son and that he will break them like pottery. or passages like Daniel 7 that speak of the Son of Man victoriously coming on clouds of glory and restores everything, including the rule of God upon the earth.
But to hear Jesus say after that that He had to suffer at the hands of the elders of Israel and be crucified and die, this did not fit that idea and that notion of what they had, of who and what the Messiah was supposed to be.
And then graciously, Jesus began to teach his disciples and the crowd regarding his suffering to clear up this misconception. He teaches them of his suffering, as well as the idea that those who follow him must also be marked by that same pattern of suffering and then glory.
And as Christ’s disciples, we must take up our crosses and follow him. He tells us, and we see again in this week, this graciousness of the Lord, his dealing with his people, where Christ takes Peter, James, and John, after this, to the top of a high mountain where they witness his transfiguration. And in this we see, again, once more Christ’s mercy and graciousness in dealing with these apostles, with these disciples.
And Peter was being used of Satan, recall, to try and discourage Christ from going the way of the cross. But Christ takes him, nevertheless, to the mountain of transfiguration with him, and he graciously shows him and he allows him to see the unfurling of his glory. Glorious indeed.
Now in the Transfiguration passage, we find a constellation of events from Israel’s history coming together, specifically Moses’ experience on the Mount Sinai after the Exodus, which is why we read from Exodus 24. And I hope you could see and hear echoes and similarities and answers to those two texts. And so we need to keep that in our minds, Exodus 24 and those events as background as we look into Mark 9, our passage this morning. In this transfiguration, right, it’s here that we see a glimmer of hope held out for the disciples, right? He says, you don’t get it. There will be suffering and rejection and death for me and for you as well, but there’s hope. He gives them hope here. What a bummer for them to hear that, right, in the previous passage. this suffering and dying and rejection, and that they too would have to do that. But the suffering, the glimmer of hope, is that it is not indefinite. It has a terminus. It’s not the end, because both Christ and his disciples will indeed be transformed and glorified in the end. And as we look at this text, we read that six days, right, in verse two, Six days after Jesus told his disciples, and some of them standing with him, right, in verse one, would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God coming with power, right? Some say that this particular passage, verses 2 to 13, is the fulfillment of that promise in 9, verse 1. I don’t believe that that’s what it is. I believe they’re seeing, not seeing, not tasting death until they saw the kingdom of God coming with power as a result of the resurrection and the gospel powerfully going forth in the world. even in their time. Our passage this morning we see is a taste of the fulfillment of Christ’s resurrection and ascension, along with the events that, leading up to Pentecost, where Christ’s kingdom comes down to earth, right? And so that’s, I think, what’s going on there, where Christ, a taste, a glimmer of foreshadowing of the fulfillment of Christ, resurrection, ascension, and the kingdom of God coming down that we see coming up to Pentecost. And so remembering these particular details, we see that Jesus, or we’re told that Jesus takes Peter, James, and John to a top of a high mountain. And there in their presence, he was transformed, transformed. Christ was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And the word there, transfigured, or transformed, is the word from which we get metamorphosis, right, metamorphosis. He’s changed. Here we see that Christ’s clothes are radiant. And then Mark tells us that Elijah and Moses appeared before Christ and began to speak with him, to speak with Jesus. And I think we all kind of smile at Peter a little bit and his response at seeing this incredible scene as he offers to build three shelters or tents, one for Christ, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. And what is, so what’s up with Peter in this instance? This kind of, we’ve all known people who don’t know what to say and they’re nervous and they just start talking. And I think that’s what’s going on here because that’s what the text tells us. As we look at the passage, verse six, it says, it tells us why Peter said what he said. Verse six says, for he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And so Peter’s essentially more or less babbling. He had no idea what to say, so instead of just keeping silent and saying nothing, he went ahead and opened his mouth anyway, which Peter is accustomed to as a spiritual gift that some of us have. And Peter was scared. He was stunned at this. I’m sure every single one of us would be scared and stunned as well. But it’s not so much Peter’s reaction that’s the point of this text. It’s the significance of Elijah and Moses, right? That’s the thing of this text that have confused readers for the longest time. Why Elijah and Moses? Why did these two particular Old Testament saints appear before Christ? And about what did they discuss with the Lord? They were talking with Jesus. Now, some have suggested that Moses and Elijah, they link Christ to the events of the Old Testament. and many arguments these two figures are representative of the law and the prophets right Moses representing the law and Elijah representing the prophets and while they’re There is some connection there. I don’t think that’s the best fit, because Mark gives us Elijah first, which would then put them out of order, right? We have prophets and the law, which is not the order of the Old Testament canon. And also, when we consider Elijah, he’s a prophet for sure, but he’s not a writing prophet, right? He’s not one that writes like Isaiah or Ezekiel, Jeremiah, or one of the 12 minor prophets. So I think there’s a different connection here. that will become clear as we look into this. But first let’s look at Moses, right? Let’s consider Moses. Again, we have to realize that this passage is rich in Old Testament illusions. And that Jesus takes his disciples atop a high mountain is reminiscent, again, of what we saw with Moses atop a mountain in Mount Sinai with the 70 elders with Joshua. When Moses and Joshua went to the top of Sinai, there they met with God. And what happened there when they met with God? Typically, the presence is represented in a cloud of God’s presence descending atop that mountain, a consuming fire, we’re told. And it’s interesting that we see that just as in Mark’s account, Moses’ trip to the top of Mount Sinai is preceded by what? Six days, right? Six days before this happens. And so we see in six days, and on the seventh, we see this transfiguration, or for Moses, six days, and then he goes to the top of this mountain and sees the glory cloud presence of the Lord. In the same way that Moses’ face shines when it comes down from Mount Sinai and those events surrounding the exodus, his face glowed with the glory from being in the presence of God, which is the same glory that illumined Christ. Of course, these are not one-to-one exactly, because Christ is a set of his own, right? He is God and man, right? The parallel account in Luke’s gospel of this transfiguration We’re told that Jesus’ face changed and that it glowed with the glory of the Lord, as did Moses’ face, right? So there’s the connection. Not identical, there’s significant differences, right? Moses’ face really reflected the glory of God, whereas Christ’s face shone forth the glory of the Lord. Now, considering this background and this connection between these details, right, to the appearance of Moses, it suggests that Jesus was the fulfillment of that prophecy, of that great prophet, one like Moses, would come. And Deuteronomy 18 is where we find this passage, Deuteronomy 18, 15. where Moses says, 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, right? Deuteronomy 18, 15. And so notice what, hear what Moses prophesied of in the day that when a great prophet would come, and Moses especially says it is to this great prophet, to this prophet that Israel will listen to. And notice what it said about, from God about his son in our Mark passage in verse seven. This is my beloved son, listen to him. And so notice that Moses was surpassed by a great prophet. And Israel was supposed to listen to this prophet, according to Deuteronomy 18. And here we see God telling his disciples, listen to him, listen to my son. This is the one. And so in light of these details, we see Moses appears to show the great prophet Moses in prophesying this, that what he prophesied has finally come here, and it is Jesus Christ. And so if that explains, and it gives insights into Moses and his tie-in to this event, what explains the appearance of Elijah? If he doesn’t stand for the prophets in the sections of the Bible, right, the Law, Prophets, and Writing, what explains his appearance? Why Elijah, out of all the other prophets of the Old Covenant, Well, I think the connection comes from within the context itself. We find this in what happens after the transfiguration, right? Jesus and the disciples are descending from the mountain, they’re coming down, and they begin to ask Jesus questions about his death and his resurrection. And the questions arose because Christ’s comment, about his comment, that they were to keep the knowledge of his transfiguration hidden until after his resurrection. after your resurrection, then we can talk about it. And so they’re confused and they’re puzzled by this. And they think, wait a second, why would Jesus be talking about a resurrection, right? And this is because in the first century in ancient Israel at this time, there was a belief that at the very, very end of history, there would be a general resurrection of all the people of God. And yet here Christ is talking about how he by himself will be resurrected. And so this doesn’t make sense to what they know and what they believe about the resurrection, this general resurrection at the end. And so they’re confused, they’re puzzled by this. And they begin to ask Jesus a series of questions about exactly how this will unfold, how the end will unfold. This isn’t what we know. And so they say, Lord, why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first prior to the end of history, and especially the final judgment? So what’s going on here? Here, the connection is, they’re saying, Lord, if you’re talking about the resurrection, then where’s Elijah? Isn’t Elijah supposed to come? Because they knew, again, from the Old Testament prophecy, from the book of Malachi, that Elijah would come first, and then the final judgment. And so we hear Christ explain to them that, yes, Elijah does come first. And he even told them, by the way, Elijah has come. And now in the parallel passage, again, from the other gospels, Jesus identified that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of the prophecy that Elijah would come before the great and awesome day of the Lord, right? Again, let me read it for you. Malachi 4, verse 4 and 5, remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Herod for all Israel. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And then in Matthew, in describing this event, he says, And so here’s the connection, right? It’s that Elijah prophesied and suffered at the hands of whom you’ll recall, King Ahab and the evil, wicked Jezebel. And so too, John suffered at the hands of Herod and Herod’s wife, Herodias, right? Remember that suffering when John was beheaded. And so notice what Christ says about this second Elijah who has come. I tell you that Elijah has come, verse 19, I’m sorry, Mark 9, 13, and they did to him whatever they pleased as it is written of him. So here the parallel that Christ makes, the parallel is that it was prophesied that Elijah would come right before the final judgment, which was supposed to be a victorious time for the people of God. Yet what happened to this great prophet when he did come? This second Elijah, they took this second Elijah, John the Baptist, and they beheaded him. They beheaded the second coming of Elijah. And so this is why Jesus answers the disciples questions as he did. 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? And so the parallel here, that Christ sets up between John the Baptist and the second Elijah, right? It’s this prophecy about the coming of Elijah and now the prophecy concerning the son of man, right? He’s just setting up this connection. And that connection is this, it’s prophesied that Elijah would come and Elijah has come. They persecuted him and killed him. Remember the disciples, earlier on we read it in Mark, they didn’t grasp how, whether it was Elijah or now, especially Christ, would suffer and die and need to be resurrected. And so in a parallel way, he’s saying, notice that just as it was prophesied that he would come, look what they did to him. Notice now the Son of Man is prophesied to come, and I am before you, and look what they are going to do to me. I too will be treated just as the second coming of Elijah was treated. So here when I text, the reason that Elijah appears is to confirm that prophecies concerning the second coming, that indeed Elijah had come. Though it was in the person of John the Baptist, but Elijah appears on the Mount of Transfiguration to confirm that yes, Micah 4-5 has happened. This has come to pass, right? Malachi 4-5, remember the law of my servant Moses. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet for the great and awesome day of the Lord, right? He’s saying this is what has happened in reality. And so we see the appearance of the Moses, the appearance of Moses and Elijah confirms that Jesus was the last great prophet. And that the time was ripe for these things to happen, the redemption and deliverance of God’s people were at hand. As far as all the great events that had to come about, that had to occur before the final judgment, they are now upon us with the advent of Christ. It’s the point that he is making. And then lastly in this passage, our natural response, perhaps the first response we might have is, what are they talking about on the mountain? What is Jesus and Moses alike, what are they talking about? Wouldn’t we like to have been in on that conversation and heard the details of that conversation? That the redemption and deliverance of God’s people was soon amongst them. This is what, kind of the flavor or the feel of what’s going on here. The redemption and deliverance of God’s people is soon upon them based on these other factors. And this is evident from the topic of conversation between these three people. Here in Mark’s account of this transfiguration, he only says that Elijah and Moses talked with Jesus. We don’t get those details. But in the parallel accounts from the other gospels, we all are told a little bit more information. Luke, for instance, says, in Luke 9 30. 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 in Israel. They came in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. They spoke of Christ’s departure. And when it says they spoke of his departure, there’s a handful of words that they could have used in Greek to discuss Christ’s leaving, departure as we think of it, his leaving. But that’s not really or primarily what Christ was talking about with them. Again, it says literally, and behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. So there’s the other connection. His departure, the word is exodus. It’s exodus. They spoke of his exodus, which he is about to fulfill and accomplish at Jerusalem. And so you see what’s going on. It wasn’t really Christ leaving the world that these three discussed. They’re talking about Christ’s exodus. And what is that? Right. Just as Israel’s exodus in the Old Testament was their liberation, their freedom from slavery. So to Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection was to be the church’s exodus from slavery to Satan, to sin and to death. So notice with all these pieces, as we put them all together, and as we try to do throughout the book of Mark, as we’ve looked at it, we have to do the same thing as we continue to unpack and unfold and see the big picture and the small picture and the big picture to understand what we’ve just unpacked with the context of the rest of the book. And so many of us, I think, will look at this passage and we’ll be amazed at it, as we should be, and we’ll marvel at Christ’s transfiguration in these events. And often times, we spend more time thinking about the whiteness of his clothes or what he may have looked like, rather than asking the question, what does it mean? So what? What is going on? And that’s, That’s good. I mean, we shouldn’t not marvel, we should always marvel at God’s Word and every detail of that Word. We don’t want to stop marveling at the events, the great events of Scripture. There’s certainly much here to marvel about, much in His Word that we should, with a childlike gaze, be amazed, right, with open eyes at these great miracles that we read about and that we hear of God’s doing amongst the people of men, the crossing of the Red Sea, all the plagues, right, all the crossing into the promised land and all that God did, and Jesus being risen from the dead. These are amazing things that we should marvel at with a childlike bewilderment and awe and wonder. But we can’t forget to ask the question in the greater context of what is being communicated in the passage, what is the significance of this event? Certainly it wasn’t an ad for whitening clothes. And when we think about all the passages before this passage, and the misunderstandings, all that they had, not only the leaders of Israel, but the Christ’s disciples, considering Christ’s suffering, they couldn’t understand how the Son of Man, who was presented in triumphant terms in Scripture, how He could be rejected by the very people who were supposed to embrace Him. They couldn’t understand His sufferings, did not compute for them. And in fact, this is the very issue that Christ brought again to the forefront when the disciples asked him about Elijah, when they’re descending in the mountain. And Christ is telling them and answering them, yes, just as the second coming of Elijah was marked by suffering and persecution, I too must die, must suffer and die. But I think is the overall significance of the passage is what we began with. And that’s that this is the transfiguration looking at as the whole is a foretaste a foretaste of Christ’s resurrected glory. Christ was effectively telling him, yes, I must suffer, but I will be glorified. I will raise from the dead. I will ascend to the right hand of my Father, and I will rule over all creation as the Son of Man. So the transfiguration pulled back the veil as we hear described, even if for a minute. to allow the disciples to see a glimpse of this, kind of parenthetically remembering that, of course, Christ was fully man and fully God, right? It’s not just that he’s going to go through these things. He has just told them that they will pattern his life. And so they show him, or rather Christ shows them in this a glimpse of what’s in store for them. And we can’t help but wonder, that it was also significant and encouraging to Christ himself, right? It was significant and encouraging that he, too, was receiving encouragement from his Father. I’ll not leave you in the grave. This is what is to take place. And even more, when we look at Luke’s account of this event, we read that the transfiguration occurred as Jesus is praying, remember. And so it seems as though the appearance of Elijah and Moses were an answer to Christ’s prayer. And so, brothers and sisters, overall, we see that this passage should continue to be a source of encouragement in the same way that it was supposed to serve to his disciples, it should to us, we, his disciples. And remember the call from last week that Christ has called us, his disciples, to bear our crosses And for us, that primarily comes in the form of denying ourselves, right, of that which we should not be entertaining, and the proper focus on the things, the good things of this world that he’s given us. But we bear the name of Christ. We’re not to imbibe those things that were prohibited from us for the glory of God and for our good and for our walk in this world. in this in-between time between his first and second coming. And even in the face of ridicule and scorn, those who name his name, we should be pleased to suffer that scorn because we are united to him. Even to the extent if the Lord required to give our very lives for our Lord Jesus. And we think about these things, even as we ended that passage, our reflex is that that doesn’t sound very cool at all, that doesn’t sound very fun, right, to live a life of a martyr and surely there have been many in the world and even today who make their suffering in martyrdom an idol and that’s not a good thing either, right? But in the face of these protests, these prospects, and this persecution and the suffering, we can’t lose sight of what Jesus is mercifully and graciously showing his disciples in this passage. We can’t lose sight of the hope that Christ shows us in our redemption in the face of persecution, whether it be from family or so-called friends or coworkers, whatever it is. We can’t lose sight of the hope and forget about the goal of our redemption in the face of bearing our crosses. You can even sometimes think that Christ has forgotten us, right? Remember the apostles on the sea. Don’t you even care that we’re about to die? Of course he does. This can be very easy because sometimes we seem to get no response. We seem to be, our prayers seem to be met with silence or overcome with alienation or sin or whatever it might be in the dirtiness of our own heart. But we see that in the transfiguration of Christ, which points to his resurrection and glorification, it should remind us again, brothers and sisters, of our own coming transformation in glory. And Paul indeed speaks of this in 2 Corinthians 3, 18, where he says this, again, tying into the face of Moses. He says, and we all with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. What an amazing passage for us, this truth from 2 Corinthians 3. The Lord Jesus Christ is transforming us even at this very moment. This is one of the chief ways he does this through. and that we see Christ’s clothing and face become radiant and resplendent with the glory of the triune Lord. It reminds us and points forward for us to our own transformation. Right now we are clothed in mortality. Our outer man, Paul says, is wasting away. But when Christ returns, we shall all be changed, remember. at the end of first Corinthians in verse 15, he says, behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall all not, we shall not, we shall not all sleep. We shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall all be changed. So therefore, brothers and sisters, in the face of our bearing of our crosses, let us not forget the transfiguration in the face of suffering and denying ourselves sin and standing for the name of Christ as we face these trials, right? Illness, these strains that we go through, or even death. And let us remember that our suffering has a terminus, right? It has an end. It is not indefinite. It will end. It has a goal. And that goal is being conformed to the image of Christ. And so we can be assured of these things because the Son of Man has paid the penalty for our sin. He has been raised and glorified and ascended to the right hand of the Father where he now reigns. And here Jesus leads his people. on a great last exodus. And as we pilgrim through this wilderness at this time, we’ll most surely arrive at our destination that’s been promised to us. We shall step into the Jordan, as it were, and cross over into the promised land of heaven itself, where we will be transformed forever. And our faces will beam with the glory of the resurrected Christ. Once again, 1 Corinthians 15, verse 48. As was the man of dust, or the dusty man, so also are those who are of the dust. And as in the man of heaven, so are also those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven, is the promise. And then Romans 8 to close. The Spirit himself bears witness in our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him, in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider the sufferings at this present time are not worthy, comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Amen. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your providence in our lives. for our beloved Savior who gave his life for our sins and rose again for our justification. Indeed, for accomplishing our redemption, for accomplishing that exodus and providing salvation and freedom from sin and death and the devil. Lord, we praise you for this, and we praise you for that glimmer that you’ve given us, even in this text of the truth that awaits us, Lord, awaits us. We pray that you would continue to strengthen us and to protect us Help us, dear Lord, to know and to believe and trust in you. Help us to know that you are our sure refuge, that you are our rock and protection, and that you’re working in us your perfect will, even as broken and stumbling and stammering as we are, Lord. We praise you that you see us as your children in righteousness because of the righteousness of Christ. We praise you. We ask that you would help us to know that you are, by the gospel, indeed conforming us into the image of your beloved Son. We ask Heavenly Father, that you would continue to bless this church. Help us to be thoughtful and faithful, Lord, as we continue to pursue your guidance for our future and for your glory. Lord, we pray, give us hearts that long for you and for that glory. And we ask this all in the name of our precious Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.