Transfiguration: Hope, Purpose, and Victory in Christ

"Have you ever felt overwhelmed in life? You know, I'm sure most of you have. I'm sure you've felt overwhelmed with work stress or relationships, bills, constant barrage of bad news. You know, it's very easy to feel buried underneath all of it. And here in Mark 9, we're going to see Peter, James, and John. They're very overwhelmed as well. They've just been told that Jesus has predicted his own death and suffering. Even then, very confused and very afraid. But suddenly on the mountain, then Jesus is transfigured before them." [00:06:48]

"The transfiguration was this glimpse of Jesus's divine glory and power. And again, it was designed to sustain them and us through these dark valleys that we will sometimes go through. The idea that we can get a glimpse of Jesus in his true light. Jesus promised that some of them would see him come in his kingdom before they died there in verse one. That's why I believe this is talking about the transfiguration. And here we have three witnesses, Peter, James, and John. They witness it firsthand." [00:10:12]

"Jesus wasn't just reflecting the light. Jesus actually was the source of the light. It was emanating from him. This wasn't the same as when Moses was reflecting the light when he came down from the mountain. And again, just want to say the transfiguration is not a change of clothes. It's not a trick of the vision. It's Jesus displaying his divinity emanating out of him. I'm sure some of you would have seen those adverts, the washing powder ones where they say this washing powder is the whitest." [00:13:43]

"Elijah, but when I read this, I see the most wonderful picture as well. I see the most amazing thing. I see the grace of God. I see amazing grace here. I see Elijah now without his chalice of fire. I see Elijah alive and well. See very clearly that Elijah is alive. I see very clearly that Moses is very alive and well. Moses is standing there alive and well, alive and well. Another thing I see is that dreams don't die when you die. Dreams don't die when you die." [00:14:46]

"Hope in Christ is not distant. Hope in Christ is not vague. It's actually rooted in this unchanging reality of Christ's glory. He is the one that took our sin upon himself. He bridged that gap between sin and humanity. He is able to bring us back to a holy God. Again, you and I, we have true hope. If we're a believer in Christ, we have true hope. You could be saying, though, I've seen this light, but right now my hope is still draining." [00:14:47]

"Peter's the one that speaks the most. He's overwhelmed. The purpose unfolds. He suggests, now let's build three tabernacles. Tabernacles are basically a tent. It's the way that they worshipped in that time. But one thing he's done, he's treated Jesus as equal as Moses and Elijah. You know, Peter's got this idea, let's have like a Disneyland. Let's, Moses have a little tent. You have a tent. Elijah will have a tent. We'll just hang around outside here. Maybe we'll bring some people up." [00:17:30]

"And as soon as Peter opens his mouth, which is probably handy, God interrupts. It says from the other passage that literally, as soon as Peter starts speaking in the other parallel passage, that the cloud engulfs them all. The cloud engulfs them. And then Moses and Elijah fade away, leaving only Jesus. Let's read verses. Five to eight. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here. You know, I would be the same. I would be like, Lord, this is great." [00:18:14]

"God, the father literally interrupts it and says, let nothing compete with the voice of Jesus. Only Jesus speaks the words of life. And we know that Peter already knows this. In John 6, 68, he said to Jesus, he said, Lord, where shall we go? Because you have the words of eternal life. John 6, 68. But it's sin that interrupts and deafens not just our own ears, but also the ears of the whole world. Sin interrupts. Sin tries to stand in the place of God's truth." [00:20:10]

"eventually you you obey eventually you uh listen to the call of jesus to to repent to turn away from your sinful lifestyle to turn away and truly have a desire always to follow christ and to believe the gospel roman 10 17 says this so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of god i know these are famous verses but it all dovetails together so again let's learn from that this morning god almighty himself says the voice of jesus in the transfiguration is a must hear him it's a must for you and i to listen to jesus he has the words of life it's the same jesus that preached about repentance over and over again he preached about forgiveness love for" [00:21:18]

"And then lastly, in Christ's path, there is victory awaiting. In Christ's path, there's victory awaiting. And verses 9 to 13, as we finish, really in a nutshell, it's saying that the road to glory is through the cross. The cross is not the end. It seems like the end. It looked like the most terrible tragedy on that day when he hung on the cross. But the cross was not the end. Even if you have a cross this morning that you're carrying in, it is not the end." [00:26:28]

"True transformation doesn't come by avoiding, suffering. It comes from walking with Christ in the midst of it. Christ says, I will give you the victory. I will be the one that is the Alpha and Omega. This is the path of salvation. It's not human achievement. It's not by our works. It's not by anything we do. It's by trusting Christ's finished work, by trusting the cross. That's what the glorious nature, the splendor of the transfiguration was there. It wasn't a party trick." [00:30:00]

"Yet today, this splendor still shines. And I feel privileged to be able to tell you this morning that Jesus shines. His voice still calls. He offers everybody opportunity this morning and forevermore until his return. His cross still saves this morning. The resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection still declares that victory. And again this morning, I ask all of us and I ask myself even, do I see him this morning? Do I see the splendor of the King?" [00:33:48]