Sunday Sermon

"We Can Make Tents"
[Mark 9:2-13]
May 21, 2006 Second Reformed Church

"And [Jesus] 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.'"

Jesus had explained to the disciples that He had to fulfill all prophecy about Him, even that of rejection and suffering and death. And Peter had rebuked Jesus and told Him that it would never happen. And Jesus had rebuked Peter. And Jesus explained to the disciples and the crowd that following Jesus with all our heart and soul and mind and strength is of greater value than anything else in the whole world and it is greater than all of the fleeting sins we engage in. In fact, it is Jesus and following Him that makes our lives have value. The Christian can say that his life is valuable and purposeful because he exists to glorify God.

And Jesus explained that some of those standing there would be given the privilege, the honor, the responsibility of glimpsing the glory of the kingdom of God, coming with power. Today we hear God's Word where Jesus kept that promise. Today, we refer to it as the Transfiguration.

It was six days later that Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on top of a high mountain. And we might wonder how it was that Jesus decided on these three apostles and why it was three. We can gather two reasons from the Gospels: First, Peter, James, and John were the leaders of the apostles. It is clear from the Scripture that they were leaders among the leaders in the company of the apostles. So, it would make sense to bring the leaders, who would then lead the others in understanding what they saw and heard. A second reason could be that God said, "On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness" (Deuteronomy 17:6). It was from this that testimony in Israel was accepted only if there were two or three witnesses. So, Jesus brought three.

When they reached a certain place, Jesus stopped and He was transfigured: a change occurred to Him such that His Body and clothes did not show their finiteness, but, instead bore something of God's Glory. It was a glimpse, not the full glory of God.

Remember, Moses asked to see the full Glory of God "But, he said, 'you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.' And the Lord said, 'Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen'" (Exodus 33:20-23).

And Jesus had not been fully glorified when Mary Magdalene met Him in the garden, "Jesus said to her, 'Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, "I am ascending to my Father and your Father to my God and your God"'" (John 20:17).

So, Jesus gave them a glimpse of the glory of the kingdom and its power. As John wrote, "No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known" (John 1:18). Yet, this glimpse was enough to nearly blind them: and His clothes were white, whiter than the white of the strongest and best bleacher's bleach. And as if that weren't enough, Moses and Elijah appeared, standing with Jesus, alive, in the glory.

Why Moses and Elijah? Because Moses is the chief representative of God's Law and Elijah was one of the greatest prophets, a representative of God's Prophetic Word. Jesus met with them and spoke with them as He was transfigured to show that He is the fulfillment of the Law and the prophets, and to show that those were wrong who said that He was Elijah -- or that He was possessed by the soul of Elijah.

And what did they talk about? Mark doesn't tell us, but Luke does: "[they] appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem" (Luke 9:31). They talked with Him about how He was going to be rejected and suffer and die. They talked with Him about these things to confirm that what Jesus had told Peter and the disciples was true -- they were necessary.

And how did the disciples react? How might we react if we glimpsed the glory of the Kingdom and saw two of the greatest figures in history, alive? The disciples were terrified; they didn't know what to do. But, finally, Peter came up with an idea: "We can make tents." "Lord, why don't You let us build a shelter for You and Elijah and Moses, and You and we can spend the evening together." They were terrified, but they didn't want it to stop, either. They didn't want them to leave.

Immediately, a cloud overshadowed them, and God in His Mercy, spoke to them through the cloud. (Even though they were still filled with a greater fear at hearing the Voice of God through the cloud.) Rather than exposing them to the bare Voice of God -- the Voice that called all of creation into existence and will one day say, "Enough." God filtered His Voice through the cloud and said, "This is my son, the beloved, listen to him." "Stop talking. Hear what My Son, the Son of God, the Son I love, hear what He is saying, and listen to Him."

And immediately, Moses and Elijah were gone and Jesus was there, alone with them, no longer being transfigured. And Jesus told them not to tell anyone what had happened until after the Son of Man rose from the dead. He told them that this word had to wait until after the resurrection to be heard by the rest of His disciples and others.

George Petter writes, "That although we ought never to deny or conceal the Truth or Doctrine of God, when we have a Calling to profess or make it know to others; yet all Truths are not to be utter at all times, but then onely when it makes for God's Glory, and the good of others. There is a time in which it is better to conceal and hide the Truth (or some part of it at least) from others, than utter or make it known" (592).

This revealing was only for them for the time being. Jesus did not want it to be spread around until after His Resurrection, because, then, it would serve the people well, to comfort and encourage all those who believed in Him Alone for salvation, as they deny themselves and take up their crosses and follow Him (Mark 8:34).

But the day would come, when Jesus would rise from the dead, and then the word of the Transfiguration would spread throughout the world. As Peter wrote to the Christians scattered across the world, "For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,' we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain" (II Peter 1:16-18).

And as they went down the mountain, Peter and James and John discussed amongst themselves what Jesus might mean when He said that He would rise from the dead. And they asked Jesus, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"

They were remembering what the scribes had taught them regarding the prophecy of Malachi: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children And the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction" (Malachi 4:5-6).

Jesus told them, it was just as Malachi prophesied, Elijah was coming to restore all things -- to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers and the hearts of the fathers to their children. Jesus said that the one who came in the spirit of Elijah -- because the Scripture does not teach reincarnation -- the one who came in the spirit of Elijah -- who was like him in his zeal for the Word of God, he would make the way for the Savior.

And Jesus told them that just as it has been prophesied that Elijah will return before the Savior comes, and this prophecy was fulfilled, so also it is prophesied that the Savior would be rejected and suffer and be put to death, and this also must come to pass. "But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they desired, according to what was written." Jesus told them that Elijah had, in fact, already come And prepared the way. And as Matthew tells us, "Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist" (Matthew 17:10).

As Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear" (Matthew 11:11-15).

"Peter, as it was prophesied, so shall it be: the Savior will be rejected and suffer and die -- and then rise again."

What does the Transfiguration teach us?

It teaches us that Jesus is holy, the Beloved Son of God. So, we ought take John's warning seriously, "Nothing unclean will ever enter [the New Jerusalem], nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Revelation 21:27).

But along with the warning, let us take comfort and be of sure hope, when we hear the promise, as Paul wrote, "So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit himself bears witness 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" (Romans 8:12-17). Just as Jesus was glorified, all of us who believe will be glorified like Him, made eternally holy.

We should notice one more thing: what did Jesus say the point of the Transfiguration was? To prove that He must be rejected and suffer and die and rise. And what would He do to prove that the prophecies were true? Listen again: "And [Jesus] 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.'"

Jesus showed them that the Kingdom is already here. It is not fully here, but it is already breaking in. So we know that Jesus has won, and in life and in death, no matter what happens, we are secure in His Salvation. Glory be

Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for being patient with the disciples and with us. We thank You that You spoke clearly to them and have left Your Word and the Holy Spirit with us, that we might understand as well. We thank You for the glimpse of the glory and the power of the Kingdom that You gave the Peter, James, and John, and for the great hope and security that it give us in knowing that we are eternally secure in Your Salvation Alone. May we be a glory to You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.