Word of Salvation – Vol. 24 No. 41 – July 1978
An Encouraging Display
Sermon by Rev. A. Leenman, Th. Grad. on Matthew 17:1-9
Scripture reading: Matthew 16:13-21
Psalter Hymnal: 287:1, 3; 317; 278; 379; 348
Beloved Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
From time to time we see or hear about a royal figure going on a good-will visit abroad. Or we hear of a President or a Prime Minister going on a tour abroad for the purpose of establishing diplomatic ties. Or to come to an agreement on some export or trade proposals. Such a visit or tour is always marked by certain characteristics. There is, for instance, the planning; there are the security arrangements. There is the news coverage and the resulting reports. And is such a visit not characterised also by dignity and beauty, and colourfulness? Things like these HIGHLIGHT THE FUNCTION… there is the red carpet, a Guard of Honour, brass band, flags and flowers…! These are the times when the colourful, the beautiful, the optimistic, the niceties, the appealing side of things come to the fore.
Only few people would THEN think of, what we might call, the responsibility which rests on such official visitors. Or the tight schedule and the many demanding appointments they are expected to meet. Or the role they fulfil in life, as well as the important work they carry out on behalf of the Government or the country they represent.
A few moments ago we read the story of the transfiguration and as you read along, you were possibly also much taken up with the glory-part of the event; the beauty, the brightness, the heavenliness…! Peter was very much impressed by the heavenliness. The Gospel of Mark tells us that Peter had become afraid and suggested that three booths be put up. Peter, in his confusion, wanted to do the Master and Moses and Elijah a ‘good turn’. He said: “Master, it is well that we are here.”
We need to come to grips, congregation, with an important question. It is this question: What is really the purpose of the Transfiguration? We are also going to see for whose benefit this Transfiguration took place, and why it took place at a particular time.
It is of importance to know that three of the four Gospels pin-point the approximate time of the Transfiguration. In Matthew it reads: “…and after six days…!” In Mark 9:2 it also reads: “…and after six days…!” In the Gospel of Luke it says: “Some eight days after…!” and then the Gospel writers begin to relate the story of the Transfiguration.
People have raised the question: Why is there that difference two Gospels say: “after six days” and Luke says: “some eight days after”. This is not difficult to explain. Luke most likely included the day of the event as well as the day on which the previous event had taken place.
What then DID happen six or eight days before?? It all happened in the district of Caesarea Philippi (Matt.16:13) when Jesus asked His disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” In the course of the conversation the disciples passed on what they had heard here and there. A little later Jesus asked them: “But who do YOU say that I am?” It was Peter who replied in a very positive way to that question. There is no record of any of the other disciples answering this question. At that time Jesus pointed out to the disciples what was awaiting Him. Jesus confronted His disciples with the reality of His coming death and consequent Resurrection.
The remainder of Matthew 16 is taken up in setting out the cost of discipleship. So the disciples learn not only that the Master is going to die, but that high demands are made on those who claim to be His followers. And these were no trifling matters either, Jesus speaks of denying one’s self, of taking up one’s cross, of having a readiness to lose one’s life. These were some of the stipulations set… and driven home by the Master. It is assumed that from that time a period of dejection followed, a period of silence among the disciples – no rejoicing in having the Master with them – no understanding of His mission – no appreciation of His saving work either… just a plodding along for a whole week it was a time in which the disciples estranged from the Master as well as from each other.
Perhaps they were afraid to ask any further questions. Perhaps they were unwilling to inquire any further about the meaning of the Lord’s approaching departure. Indeed, as far as the disciples were concerned, they had drawn the curtains… they had let the blinds down… they had become a people who would brood over what they themselves had made so difficult… brooding over what should be looked at as part and parcel of the Plan of Salvation…!!!
After Jesus had pointed out what He had really come for, the disciples shrunk back either in unbelief or because of disappointment. And when Jesus drove home the cost of discipleship, it seemed that the disciples ‘switched off’ or shut themselves in withdrawing themselves in a brooding and sulking mood.
However, a situation like this is in no way restricted to Jesus’ disciples, is it??? It happens so easily, in a conversation with a fellow-believer that the discussion – quite suddenly – BOGS DOWN on an issue which is somewhat controversial on a subject where there is lack of devotion on a question – at a pastoral home visitation perhaps – which is an unwelcome question. And what is the result? An uncomfortable silence…. or a negative-sort-of-reply. Maybe that you are the person who goes through a time like this – bearing some sort of a grudge – somewhat downcast – somehow disappointed. Of course, you would like to find a solution to all this. The solution lies in a following of the Lord ALL THE WAY IN ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE TO HIS WORD. That is the antidote to spells of decline or unhappiness.
We have seen, congregation, that the disciples had passed on the opinion people had of Jesus; THEN Jesus told them what He had come for – namely to suffer and die. THEN He informed them about the cost of discipleship and THEN follows a period of ‘silence’ for six or eight days and THEN THE TRANSFIGURATION TAKES PLACE… and we read: “Six days later Jesus took with Him three of His disciples and brought them to a high mountain.” THERE, in the presence of the disciples Jesus took on heavenly brightness and dazzling glory. HE WAS BEING TRANSFIGURED, His appearance changed; He was clothed with penetrating BRIGHTNESS…!
The disciples received this vision of the Master FOR THEIR SAKE and this vision was enlarged by the presence of Moses and Elijah two outstanding leaders of the Old Testament dispensation. Moses, as the representative of the Old Testament Law department. The man through whom God spoke personally and so frequently. Moses, who led the people of Israel up to the borders of the Promised Land. And Elijah, the prophet of fire, possessed with great zeal for the God of Israel, the miracle worker par excellence. Both these men are in conversation with the Lord.
Then we see a third aspect take place. A bright cloud overshadows them and a voice out of the cloud is heard saying: “This is My beloved Son – hear Him.” Or, as Mark’s Gospel has it: “….listen to Him.”
Do you remember what we said a while ago about the event of the Transfiguration? We said that this was a vision the disciples received of the Master FOR THEIR SAKE. Now we add this phrase to it: The disciples were shown WHAT GOD SAID ABOUT JESUS…! How appropriate. How wonderful. How authoritative. This glory was shown to them, this voice came to them, this vision opened up before them AT A TIME WHEN THEY HAD JUST BEEN TOLD THAT THE MASTER WAS GOING TO DIE IN JERUSALEM… and now this vision – this Transfiguration – served as a means to take the sting out of the coming suffering and death. It served to give VISION to the disciples THROUGH a vision.
So far they had seen Jesus as a miracle worker, a prophetic genius, One Who had extra-ordinary power of speech – BUT THEY HAD NEVER SEEN THE MESSIAH IN THE LORD!! The missing link had now been fitted. All this had been confirmed by the presence of great glory – unusual brightness – the appearance of Moses and Elijah convincing them that all that Moses had said and portrayed was now FULFILLED IN CHRIST HIMSELF. Moses, the pointer to fulfilment, Jesus the fulfilment Himself. All that Elijah had foreshadowed and preached about and shown, pointed to the truth of the Old Testament covenant, and now they had seen that these two men were SHADOWS OF TRUTH, and JESUS THE TRUTH.
Moses and Elijah spoke of promises in the bud, Jesus the fulfilment, standing there in full bloom, blossoming, and His glory visible from a distance!! NOW THEY HAD SEEN that a Divine claim had been made by God the Father with respect to the Son – the Messiah promised, the Saviour Who had indeed come. The disciples had really seen no more in Jesus than Someone with unusual influence and power.
How much do you see in that Lord Jesus? Is He no more than an example to you? A great Man? The greatest Prophet perhaps? You could even say in an objective way: ‘Jesus is the Son of God’. You can even say that He is the Saviour of the world AND YET DIE IN YOUR SIN.
Imagine a group of men in the desert who are in desperate need of water; their need for water is so great that their tongues are thick from dehydration, their strength has been sapped because of thirst… until one of them stumbles right close to the edge of a little stream, but he does not drink. Yet he calls out to his friends: ‘here is water!’ while he himself perishes because he did not personally drink from the water. The disciples had made just THAT mistake. So far they had said: “Jesus is a miracle worker, a prophetic genius, a great orator”, but they had not seen the Messiah in Him.
Is there anyone here this morning (evening) who is like that? Coming here, either occasionally or regularly and to whom the Lord Jesus in His saving grace is not a reality – to whom the Water of Life is just a phrase, with whom there is no commitment, no progress on the road to greater holiness and more meaningful service.
Are you the person who regards your association with the Church as ‘interesting’ but it stops there? God knows that our insight and our love for the Christian faith can become blurred. And our enthusiasm for the cause of the Church dampened. That very circumstance was a reality with the disciples and for that reason THE STAGE FOR THE TRANSFIGURATION WAS SET on the mountain so that the disciples would be encouraged… so that they could receive new insight. In this way they were equipped to travel the valley leading up to the Garden of Gethsemane and the trial before Pilate and their going up to Mount Calvary.
You may be the person who expects to be back in the low-lying valleys of life straight after this service, a valley filled with clinging ground fog and a closed sky overhead. If you are the person to whom this applies, re-read the story of the Transfiguration and do not say: “O yes, but I have never actually seen all this glory.” Remember this: There were eight disciples who were absent from the scene of the Transfiguration. Jesus chose to take only three leading disciples and not the other eight.
Is it not much more helpful to take note of what the voice said from the cloud? The external brightness and the glory-part were only temporary, used to highlight Christ’s Divinity and to illustrate God’s glory. It enveloped the event and gave it an unforgettable setting. The voice of God said: “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased listen to Him.”
That friendly command DOES LAST, these words are by no means ‘casual’ or ‘incidental’. They are permanent and timeless. To listen to the beloved Son is a Scriptural command which comes to all of us. It is decisive. It is pertinent.
Are you ready to listen to the Master? When we listen in obedience to that Son, then we have become FOLLOWERS – followers of the Master and this means that there is no room for any other master. No more room for the master of self-will, the master of materialism, the master of secularism, the master of pride and self-esteem.
Such a following will empty us from all self-imposed greatness and self-righteousness. Such following will fill us with a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction – it will help us get across the mist-laden valleys of life.
Above all remember this: You and I do not have to go through Gethsemane like the Lord Jesus did, weighed down by the sins of the world. You and I are not asked to climb Mount Calvary either to die. The Lord Jesus did all that. But you are urged to listen to the Son, Who, because of His death and resurrection has secured for you – YOUR TRANSFIGURATION!! – in time to come.
The glory and the brightness on the mountain was only temporary. Still greater glory and deep joy IN HEAVEN is awaiting those WHO, BELIEVINGLY LISTEN TO THE MASTER!!!
AMEN.