church

INI
The Transfiguration of Our Lord
February 1, 2009
Ascension Lutheran Church, 2009 WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

IT IS GOOD FOR US TO BE HERE
on the Mount of Transfiguration
Mark 9:2-8

To Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by
Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Our text comes
from the Gospel of Mark, chapter nine, beginning with verse two, as follows:

Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a
high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His
clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on
earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were
talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for
us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses,
and one for Elijah "-- because he did not know what to say, for they were
greatly afraid. And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out
of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him !" Suddenly, when
they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with
themselves. This is the Word of God.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, Whose glory all believers will one day share, Dear
Fellow Redeemed,

I'm glad to see you all here this morning! You're in the right place, at the right
time, and you're doing the right thing by assembling here to worship the one
true God. It is good for you to be here. But where will you be tomorrow? You'll
be back out there in the world,20struggling with day-to-day issues. You'll be
dealing with all the pressures and problems and anxieties that seem to fill up our
lives in this present world. When tomorrow comes, will you remember what you
heard here today? Will you carry God's Word with you, and put it to work in
your daily life? I pray you will -- but it's not easy! Our immediate problems and
concerns have a way of crowding God's Word out of our minds. We get so
wrapped up in this earthly home of ours that we tend to forget about our
heavenly home, how we get there, and what we're supposed to be doing on our
way there.

But we're not alone - Jesus' own disciples had the same problem. Shortly before
the events of our text, Jesus sharply rebuked Peter for thinking too much about
the things of men, and not enough about the things of God. Then our Lord
decided it was time to wake His disciples up a bit. He was going to remind
them - in a way they'd never forget - about the most fundamental eternal truths.
He took them up a mountain. We need that reminder, too, so today we're g oing
up that mountain with them. When we get there, I think you'll agree with Peter
that, in the words of our theme --

IT IS GOOD FOR US TO BE HERE
on the Mount of Transfiguration

I. Here we see Jesus' deity.
II. Here we understand His mission.
III. Here we are motivated to serve Him.

Despite the many artists renditions of Jesus, we don't know what He looked
like. We do know that there was nothing particularly attractive about His
physical appearance (cf. Is 53:2). He didn't look any different than the other
people of His time -- and that was no doubt part of the disciples' problem. They
traveled with Jesus, ate with Him and talked with Him every day. They tended
to lose sight of the fact that Jesus was not only true man, but true God as well.
Well, they were about to get a powerful demonstration of Christ's deity - one
that would stay with them for the rest of their lives!

Peter, James and John were the core of the disciples, representative of the other
twelve. These were the three Jesus chose to be witnesses to this special miracle.
At the time, they were at a town named Caesarea Philippi in northern Galilee,
and the three must have wondered what was going on when Jesus took them on
a hike to a nearby range of mountains. Our text says, Now after six days Jesus
took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by
themselves. If you've done any hunting or hiking in the mountains, you know
what hard work climbing is. Luke tells us that the disciples were tired when
they arrived. As Jesus began to pray, the three disciples started to go to sleep.
But in the twinkling of an eye, an event took place that immediately jolted them
back a awake! And Jesus was transfigured before them. His clothes became
shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten
them.

Do you remember the first time you saw a firefly? I do. I was a little kid, and I
remember being absolutely flabbergasted that light could come from inside this
tiny creature. In fact, we found that if you collected enough of them in a jar,
you could almost read a book by the light! Now imagine, if you will, how
amazed you would be if you saw an adult human being who radiated powerful
light from his whole body. Then you'll understand the wide-eyed wonder that
struck the disciples there on that mountain top. Jesus was "transfigured" before
them; He became something like a human light bulb. He was literally
metamorphosed from His normal, earthly body into His heavenly, glorified
body. His face shone "like the sun," Matthew says, and His clothes radiated a
powerful snow-white light. The disciples were stunned by the sight. This was no
mere human standing before them. This was God -- just as He would appear to
their eyes in the courts of heaven itself. Peter had only one reaction; he sta
mmered, "It is good for us to be here!"

For those disciples, the transfiguration was a vivid reminder of Jesus' deity that
they would never forget. Years later, John would say, "And the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." -- John 1:14. Peter later used
this experience to remind his hearers that Jesus really is God. This isn't all some
fairy tale we made up, Peter said. Rather, "We were eyewitnesses of His
majesty." -- 2 Pet 1:16. We were standing right there and we saw it with our
own eyes! We glimpsed heaven, and it was good for us to be there!

Well, today you and I are on the mountain top, and it is good for US to be here,
too! Because here on the Mount of Transfiguration, we see Jesus' deity - His
Godhead. In His Word, our Lord allows us to look upon our glorified Savior
with they eyes of our faith - to see Him the way He will look when we meet
Him on Judgment Day. Not just a man, but true God, all-knowing and
all-powerful. He is the glorified Savior who even now is watching over us,
protecting us, and providing for our every need. The Lord would have us take
that picture of a glorified Christ with us into our daily lives, and keep that
picture before our eyes as we go about our day-to-day tasks. No matter what
the "scholars" of our age may say, the Jesus we serve is more than just a man,
more than simply a good example and a "fine moral teacher" -- He is almighty
God!

There's another reason why it's good for us to be here. Like the disciples, it is
here on the Mount of Transfiguration that we understand Jesus' mission.

Amazing as the sight of the glorified Christ was to those disciples, they were
about to see something more amazing still: And Elijah appeared to them with
Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Now, instead of one shining presence
standing in front of them, there were three! Moses and Elijah appeared in their
glorified bodies as well -- and they were talking with Jesus. Now what did these
two Old Testament prophets have to discuss with Jesus? Luke tells us: "Then
behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared
in glory and spoke of His death which He was about to accomplish at
Jerusalem." -- Luke 9:30-31. The topic of conversation was Jesus' mission - His
death on the cross of Calvary for the sins of the world.

The disciples didn't really understand Jesus' mission, though He had explained
it to them again and again. Just six days earlier, according to Mark, Jesus had
told the disciples in the plainest possible language "...that the Son of Man must
suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed, and after three days rise again." -- Mk 8:31. They still didn't get it.
But this event spelled it out like nothing else had. Here on the Mount of
Transfiguration, the point was hard to miss. Here before them was Moses, the
giver of the Law, discussing with Jesus how that Law would be fulfilled and
how the sins of the world would be paid for. Here before them was Elijah, the
prophet who had preached repentance and urged the remnant of Israel to seek
God's mercy and forgiveness; now Elijah was discussing with Jesus exactly how
that mercy and forgiveness would be won for all mankind on the cross. For
helping the m to understanding Jesus' mission, Peter was right: it was very good
for them to be there!

-- And it's good for US to be here, too! Here on the Mount of Transfiguration,
we not only see clearly who Jesus is, we see the mission He came to
accomplish. You know, it wasn't blind chance that brought Jesus to Calvary's
cross; it wasn't just a lucky break that you and I were delivered from sin and
eternal death. This was God's plan from the beginning. From eternity, God
knew exactly what it was going to cost to rescue us from the hell our sins
deserved. From eternity, God determined to pay that price with the blood of
His only-begotten Son. The promise of redemption - that there would be a way
for us sinners to get forgiveness - that promise was made already in the Garden
of Eden. It was repeated throughout the Old Testament by prophets like Moses
and Elijah. And it was fulfilled with the last drop of blood that flowed from
Jesus' body on the cross. At that moment, my friend, the last of your sins was
paid for, and20you were completely redeemed! Hell's gates slammed shut
behind you, and heaven's doors opened in front of you!

Rejoice, rejoice believers - for you have been redeemed by Christ the crucified!
That's simply a fact, accomplished in past time, and nothing can change it.
When you put your trust in Jesus' blood and righteousness, you ARE on your
way to heaven, no ifs ands or buts about it! Really, there's only one question
remaining - what are you going to do with your life in the meantime?

- Because you've got to do something. At least, that's the way Peter felt. His
eyes were opened there on the moun tain top, and it shook him up. He only
knew one thing, and that was that he had to DO something to serve his glorious
Savior. As it turns out, his first impulse was kind of a silly one - to build shelters
for Jesus, Moses and Elijah (as if they needed shelters!) He had the right idea,
though. The miracle on the mountain strengthened his faith, and faith always
brings forth fruits. It motivated him to serve Christ.

The same is true for us. It is good for us to be here, to see our glorified Savior,
to hear about His death for us, because here we are motivated to serve Him. As
a Christian, and knowing what you know, can you keep the Good News to
yourself? Can you be a child of God on Sunday mornings, and a child of the
world the rest of the week? Is it possible to sit on your hands and conduct your
life as if none of this ever happened? No! Your God-given faith really compels
you to do something, doesn't it? You're naturally going to want to let others in
on the Good News. You'll find yourself agreeing20with the Jerusalem apostles,
who said, "We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." --
Acts 4:19-20. You're going to want to apply God's Word not just on Sundays,
but to every part of your life: work, school, family life and leisure time.

And of course, you're going to want to follow the instructions that came from
the cloud there on the mountain top: "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!"
Keep on listening to the voice of your Savior, and learning from His Word.
Because you know what? -The Bible will be an even greater power in your life
than if you yourself had been physically present on the Mount of
Transfiguration. You may think I'm exaggerating, but Peter said the same thing.
Yes, he said, we saw His glory with our own eyes, but "...we also have the
prophetic word made more sure [we have the Bible!], which you do well to heed
as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star
rises in your hearts." -- 2 Pet 1:19.

It is good for us to be here! Here on the mountain we see we see Jesus' glory,
here we understand His mission, and here we are motivated to serve Him. But
you know, we can't stay here on the mountain, any more than those disciples
could. When they heard the voice of God, they fell on their faces to the ground.
A little while later, when they looked up, Moses and Elijah, the bright cloud
and the glory - it was all gone. But Jesus hadn't left them, and He won't leave
us, either. He says, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."
Let us take the image of our glorified Savior with us as we return down the
mountain, and keep it before our eyes as we go about our daily business. Let us
sing with the hymnist,

"Tis good, Lord, to be here.
Yet we may not remain;
But since Thou bidst us leave the mount,
Come with us to the plain." AMEN.