Read Matthew 17:1-13
So, just under a week after the previous conversation that Jesus was having with the disciples, we find ourselves at this interesting moment in history. Jesus took Peter, James, and John and they went up a high mountain in the area. There’s a bit of debate over which mountain that this was, that they went up, but knowing which one exactly, doesn’t really matter in regard to what is happening here.
And so, what is happening here?
Verse 1 said they went up the mountain but check out verse 2 again.
Read Matthew 17:2
It says that Jesus was “transfigured” before them. That His face was shining like the sun, and His clothes went bright white as well. The word transfigure might sound kind of weird, but it has a very similar idea to the word “transform” which we might be more familiar with. It means something changes in its form or appearance. A practical example might be the changing of a caterpillar into a butterfly, it’s the same creature, but it transforms from one to the other.
We even have the word “transformed” in our mission statement of this church, talking about Jesus’ power transforming us from who we once were or even who we are now into who we could be in Him. Together we are seeking growth and transformation. It’s this idea of visible and actual change that is wrapped up in the word transfigure.
So, Jesus is transfigured, or transformed, or changed right in front of these guys. They’re at the top of this mountain and Jesus’ face is literally shining like the sun. This must have been an incredible sight to behold, and it definitely stuck with them.
John in the opening verses of his Gospel in John 1:14 wrote:
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.
Peter in 2 Peter 1:16-18 said:
For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
This was significant, Jesus’ face shining like the very sun must have been seared into these guy’s memories. But I want us to consider something. I think that usually this moment is looked at and it’s like “oh, man, it’s amazing that Jesus is transformed like this”, and don’t get me wrong, it absolutely is, but think about this. Jesus isn’t just becoming something else for this brief period of time. He’s basically pulling back the curtain so to speak to reveal His true glory. When we really think about this, it’s almost more miraculous that this level of glory is being hidden and contained inside of this human body for the thirty plus years that He has been on the Earth at this point.
These guys have gotten to know Jesus for a while now, they’ve seen the miraculous, they’ve heard his teaching, there has been so much, to already be in awe of, but now they get to see a glimpse of Jesus’ true glory revealed.
This reminds me of the time when Moses got to see a glimpse of God’s glory as well.
Read Exodus 33:18-23
Moses had been having a conversation with the Lord leading up to this. A wonderful conversation about needing God’s presence to be with them. But then Moses has an opening, and he asks God if he could see His glory. So, God literally places Moses into the cleft of the rock, or like a crack in the rock face, and passes before Him so that Moses gets a glimpse of His back. And God makes it very clear to Him that this is all that he could handle. God says that if He were to show Moses His face, that Moses would die as a result of that. But from this crack in the rock, Moses gets a brief glimpse of the back of God. And then check out really quick what happens in the next chapter.
Read Exodus 34:29-30
When Moses comes down from Mount Sinai, his face is literally glowing after having seen this glimpse of God’s glory. It’s glowing enough that the people that he is talking to, are afraid of him, and in the verses after this, he actually covers up his face with a veil. I don’t believe it ever says how long that this lasted, but it’s crazy to think that this little reveal of God’s glory literally caused the man Moses to be glowing as a result of it.
Revelation 21:23 says (talking about heaven):
The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
The Lamb in that passage is Jesus. It’s saying that Jesus literally lights up all of heaven with His glory. I can’t even begin to imagine how that is going to be and I really can’t wait to see it. Peter, James, and John are just getting a little glimpse of this. If Jesus revealed all of His glory, they would be dead, but they don’t die, and it doesn’t even sound like they end up glowing, so Jesus must just be revealing a little bit and yet they still describe Him as shining like the sun.
And with all of that going on, you’ll notice in verse 3 that it isn’t just Peter, James, John, and Jesus on this mountain top.
Read Matthew 17:3
If Jesus shining like the sun wasn’t crazy enough in this moment, miraculously Moses and Elijah have joined Jesus up here as well. Moses had lived about 1400 years before this and Elijah about 900 years before. But now they are standing on a mountain with the transfigured Jesus as these three disciples look on in wonder.
As a side note it should be encouraging to see that God’s people aren’t dead. Moses and Elijah though they were no longer on this Earth were very much alive and visiting with Jesus at this moment. There’s promises of Eternal life in the Bible for God’s people and here we see two of God’s people living, when by all accounts they shouldn’t be. It’s just a great thing to take note of here.
But Jesus is still shining, Moses and Elijah are in fact there, and it says that they are talking at the end of verse 3. It doesn’t say here in Matthew, but Luke 9 actually tells us what they are talking about.
Luke 9:30-31 says:
And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem
Moses and Elijah had come to talk about the plan that Jesus had informed the disciples of in the last chapter. The plan that included His death, the plan that He had every opportunity to avoid, the plan that He was intentionally moving forward with. These two men of God from the Old Testament showed up and were having a conversation with Jesus about Him accomplishing everything that they had been looking forward to for thousands of years now. He was literally on His way to Jerusalem to accomplish these things, to do what needed to be done to save His people, TO SAVE US.
Just an all-around incredible situation taking place up on that mountain.
…But then Peter once again jumps into the situation…
Let’s read Matthew 17:4
Again, I really think that this is one of Peter’s well intentioned moments, but good intentions that are misdirected … once again. Right as Peter was still saying these things, God the Father cut him off. It seems like Peter needs to slow it down and consider things a little bit more. He had his plan cut off by Jesus in the last chapter with the “get behind me Satan” moment, and now he gets cut off by the Father on this one.
Peter probably reeling from the magnitude and the glory of this moment throws out the suggestion of building a tabernacle for Jesus … but also for Moses and Elijah.
The Israelites built a tabernacle in the Old Testament for God, it was basically a large tent, but it was essentially a mobile place of worship, it was a mobile temple. They could tear it down as they moved and rebuild it when they stopped. It gave them a place where they could come and sacrifice to and worship their God.
And so, Peter, caught up in the situation, is like, let’s build a tabernacle for each one of you! And as he said this, clouds formed over them, and a voice spoke from Heaven and let’s read verses 5 through 8 again.
Read Matthew 17:5-8
God the Father spoke from heaven and was like, recognize Jesus, LISTEN TO HIM! As the Father spoke all three of the disciples hit the deck, face down on the ground, completely afraid of what was going on. I don’t think there is any way for us to comprehend what this must have been like. From seeing Jesus transfigured, to seeing the long gone Moses and Elijah showing up, to sudden clouds and the change of the sky, to God the Father speaking from out of the clouds. There’s just no good reference point for us to understand what this was like, but it had to have been crazy for these guys.
Jesus then came over, He touched them as they were laying there and told them to get up and not to be afraid. And even that might have been a pretty big ask in that moment, legs probably shaking, probably still feeling the fear, but they listen and they get up, and then they look up, and it’s only Jesus there with them now. And then verse 9:
Read Matthew 17:9
Jesus told the three men with Him to keep this one to themselves for now. At least until He had come back from the dead. Which just that, in and of itself, is a crazy statement. It’s like, hold on to this one guys, hold on to it until I die and come back to life. I mean, He’s already said this, but still, that’s got to catch you off guard a little bit. And then the disciples ask Him a question. They had just seen Elijah on the mountain top, so this must have got them thinking and it triggers this question:
Read Matthew 17:10-13
There was this expectation that Elijah was going to come back and lead the way for Jesus. And that seems to be what the disciples may have still thought. But Jesus in this moment explains to them that this has already happened, and they just missed the way that it happened. I mean if you think back through the Gospel, wasn’t there already someone else whose job it was to prepare the way for the Lord?
Luke 1:17 (is an angel describing John the Baptist to his parents before he was born):
He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
The angel originally told John’s parents that he was coming in the spirit and power of Elijah to do this job and Jesus told His disciples that Elijah had already come and said that others did what they wished to him. They obviously killed him a few chapters ago. But once Jesus describes this, they get it now, they understood the connection. Jesus helped them see the truth.
But what can we take away from all of this today?
TWO THINGS
For one, never underestimate how awesome and glorious God is.
These three disciples got a little peak behind the curtain. They got to see a little glimpse of Jesus’ true glory on display. Usually He was looking, and walking, and talking, and probably dressed, just like them. But today for them was totally different. This had to have changed these men. I believe for us, that growing in the understanding of how awesome God is, is one of the key elements to drive us towards truly following Jesus. The more awesome that we understand Him to be, the more we respect Him, the more we fear Him, the more we love Him, the more ready we’re going to be, to listen to what He has to say, do something about it, and get moving in His direction. We need this.
But secondly, I want to focus on something that we didn’t deal with in the passage, but I want to deal with now.
Why did God the Father interrupt Peter when he wanted to build the three tabernacles?
Peter was interrupted, because in that moment he was putting Moses and Elijah on the same level as Jesus. He wanted to build a tabernacle for each one of them. And then God the Father cut right into the middle of that and said essentially, “That’s my son! Listen to Him.” Peter, probably in his amazement, and not thinking things all the way through in that moment, wanted to build this altar or place of worship to all three of them, but Moses and Elijah didn’t deserve the same treatment as Jesus. Men don’t deserve to be worshiped. Only God is worthy of that. There was only one God standing on the mountain that day and His name is Jesus. Peter misdirected for a moment and God cut him off before he made the mistake of idolizing men.
And this is something I want us to walk away with today. Our first point of application was to never underestimate how awesome and glorious God is. Our second point of application is to never try to put people at His level.
You can appreciate people, but you don’t worship them. There are people out there saying Jesus this and Jesus that, while simultaneously trying to bring all of the focus and lots of money directly to them. Make sure you steer clear of that stuff.
Acts 4:12 says:
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name (talking about Jesus) under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
There is no person that can do what He can do, there is no person that can bring salvation, there is no person that belongs at His level, there is no person that deserves your worship.
My place in this role that God has given me is simply to help you see Him and follow Him better than you were before. It’s not about me, it’s not about Base Church, it’s about Jesus, and all of us, and all of this, should be completely focused on Him and His purposes. Peter was a real and regular person, he messed up again in this moment a little bit, we will to, but we can learn and grow from his mistake. And we can now keep the focus where it belongs.
God is awesome beyond our comprehension, no person is at His level, let’s keep it that way.