We have considered the resurrection several times over the last couple weeks, beginning with Jesus’ statement in Matthew 16:21 – “How that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” We preach the gospel of Christ very often in this church, and by definition that brings us to the resurrection. Paul said, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also we are saved…. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” For a month recently we studied the subject of salvation from sin, and that took us to the resurrection several times. For us, the resurrection of Christ is not a day of the year, it is at the heart of our faith and our very lives. We gather in the Lord’s House fifty-two times a year in worship of the Christ who arose from the grave.
On this day when Christendom is celebrating the resurrection of Christ, we are looking at the “transfiguration.” But I want you to know that this is more about the resurrection of Christ than most people are aware. As I said last Sunday night, this is the authentication of the new revelation that Christ had just given them. In essence He said, “Just to prove to you that what I said will soon come to pass, there will be some of you standing here who shall see me in my glory.” And what was it that Christ had just said? I must “go unto Jerusalem… and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” When Mary came to the empty tomb, she met the resurrected Saviour – in His glory. When the disciples hid themselves in the upper room out of fear of the Jews, Christ appeared to them resurrected and in His glory. The two on the way to Emmaus were startled to meet the resurrected Christ in His glory. And as the disciples last gathered with Christ in Acts 1, He ascended into the clouds – glorified. But before all of those, Peter, James and John were privileged to see Christ in His resurrection glory. The transfiguration is a very good subject for the day of Jesus’ resurrection.
First, let’s consider THE DETAILS of the transfiguration event.
The Bible doesn’t tell us, but tradition says this took place on the highest mountain in the region – Hermon. If it was Mount Hermon, then it was a relatively high mountain at over 9,000 feet about 40 to 50 miles north of the Sea of Galilee in Syria. It is the primary source of water for that lake and the Jordan River. If you are wondering why the transfiguration took place on an high mountain, I believe that it was simply for privacy – to be “apart.” Luke tells us that it was so that Christ could spend time in prayerful fellowship with His heavenly Father. But as you can imagine, it took a lot of time to walk to Hermon, and it took hours of hard work to climb up into its heights. The point is – it often it takes effort to come apart enough to have good fellowship and prayer with God. There are hundreds of natural and satanic distractions to keep us from our Heavenly Father.
“As he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment (became) white and glistering.” Was Christ specifically asking His Father for this transformation? In John 17 Jesus did ask for something like this – “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:” “O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” At dawn of that day, did Christ Jesus already know that it was going to happen? Yes, I think that He did, and He invited these three brethren to be witnesses to the event.
“Transfigure” is as modern a word as a Photoshop computer art program or your last biology quiz. It’s the Greek word “metamorphoo” (met-am-or-fo’-o) – Christ underwent a metamorphosis. Whereas our Lord had been like a human larva, He was transformed into a most beautiful butterfly. He “was transfigured before them: and his face did shine AS THE SUN, and his raiment was white as the light.” This glory of Christ didn’t shine down from heaven like a big, bright spot-light. It radiated out of Him – it belonged to Him – it was as much a part of Him as your heart is to you. And how bright is the sun? Bright enough that a few moments of its light will blind the unprotected eye. Christ Jesus, in His glory, became as brilliant as the sun, and probably even more brilliant than that. Do you remember what Moses had to do after spending a few minutes in fellowship with the glorified Second Person of the Trinity? The people of Israel couldn’t look at him until he had covered his face with a veil. And what happened to Saul of Tarsus as he peered into the noon-day sky at the glory of Christ, who was brighter than the sun? Paul was blinded for days until he was miraculously cured.
Christ “was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was WHITE as the LIGHT.” In Greek the words “white” and “light” are completely different, but they do both refer to “light.” The difference perhaps is the degree or quality of that light. Mark says that “his raiment became shining, EXCEEDING white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.” In other words, the whiteness of Christ’s clothing was incomparable to anything white that the disciples had ever seen. At home, I have several different kinds of paper, which I use for different purposes. If, one by one, I showed you those different pieces of paper, you’d tell me that each was white. But if I laid them all together, you’d have to say that some were whiter than others – and one was clearly the whitest of them all. I guarantee that not one of them is as white, or bright, as the garments of Christ were that day 2,000 years ago.
Think back again on the Lord’s earnest desire for a taste of His former glory. “O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” For Christ, this was not about showing off in front of these disciples – it was not self-glorification. But can we say that there was a joy, a thrill, a pleasure, a blessing in once again experiencing this glory? Some of you know what it is to live with pain – with constant arthritis, head-aches or some other malady. Can you remember back before it began to plague you? Can you use your imagination to consider what a young, nearly perfect body would be like? Was that something like what the Saviour experienced when He was transfigured into His former glorify?
Jesus had some VISITORS that day.
“And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.” Luke says, “And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.”
I have often wondered how the disciples knew that these two visitors were Moses and Elijah? Were they wearing name badges; or did the Lord Jesus introduce them to each other? Was John endowed with special knowledge for this special occasion? Or were Moses and Elijah so ingrained into the psyche of Israel, that anyone would have recognized them?
And then, why were THESE two men sent from Heaven to visit with Christ that day? Our theme for this afternoon will be why the Lord picked Peter, James and John out of the twelve disciples to be witnesses to this great event. Perhaps a more pertinent question might be: why out of the hundreds of eminent saints of the Old Testament were Moses and Elijah sent to speak with Jesus? It was not because they were more righteous than some of the other saints. They were not – in fact they were both highly flawed, despite their great service for God. There were other men who appeared to be more outwardly holy than these two – like Elisha and Daniel. Why weren’t Abraham and David sent – after all they had been part of special covenants with the Lord. I am not wise enough to tell you why these two were given the privilege of visiting with Christ that day. But as many commentaries point out, these two did leave this world in unique ways. As the homicide detective might say, they left this world under suspicious circumstances. Elijah didn’t die at all, but was caught up in a whirlwind and carried into Heaven. And as far as Moses is concerned there were no witnesses and no body. Do these things have something to do with their presence on the mountain? One was translated – raptured – as we shall be. And the other died peacefully as our Christians ancestors left this world? I don’t know that there is an answer.
But “behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.” What should we make of the fact that the two men appeared “in glory?” Of course, it had nothing to do with Heaven, one synonym of which is “Glory.” I believe that it has something to do with the mystery of their own glorious condition. And this may be a part of the reason that they were talking with Christ rather than David or Abraham. The bodies of David, Daniel, Joseph and Jacob, were all rotted away in their respective graves. The body of Elijah, and possibly that of Moses, had been taken to heaven and of necessity been glorified in order to abide there.
The Lord Jesus, sacrificed His life in order to redeem a few wretched sinners like Moses, David, you and me. He was buried, and then three days later He arose from the gave, eventually ascending into Heaven, where He now makes intercession for us. Someday soon that resurrected Saviour will return for us. Assuming, as I do, we will be alive and remain at the coming of the Lord, we are not yet fit to reside in Glory. There must be a transformation – a transfiguration if you like – a glorification. In Heaven we will all be “in glory” just as Moses and Elijah were that day on the mountain.
Paul may explain why Moses and Elias “appeared in glory” that day. “As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” One reason why Moses and Elias appeared in glory to speak with Christ was to give those disciples a foretaste of what they could expect.
But are these reasons why these men were sent back from heaven to talk with Jesus about His “decease?” What a perfectly good word – “decease” – and what an highly interesting one. It is a compound word, made up of “ex” – which by itself is usually translated as “from.” And the second part of the word speaks of “a journey.” Together they become the word “exodus.” Christ was soon to make His “exodus” from this world to Heaven, just as Israel once traveled from Egypt to the promised land. When your Christian loved ones die, think about their passing as an ”exodus” – a journey to the Promised Land, protected and lead every step of the way by the Lord’s Pillar of Fire.
As I said a few minutes ago that I will return to the three witnesses to this miraculous transformation, but…
Let’s now return to the question of its PURPOSE.
“And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.” There is a great mystery which I think will remain a mystery until we are glorified and taken to Heaven. I’m referring to the extent of the humiliation to which the Son of God went in His incarnation. He never ceased to be the Son of God; never ceased to being deity. But there were certainly some self-imposed limitations under which He lived while here upon this earth.
There are commentaries which suggest that Moses and Elias visited Christ that day in order to explain to Him what was going to take place in a few weeks down in Jerusalem. They came to talk with Christ about His decease – about the crucifixion. I find that explanation hard to take. Hadn’t the Lord Jesus himself just recently told the disciples “how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day”? Christ knew perfectly well was going to transpire.
I take you back to the last verse of the previous chapter. “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” That Jesus was transfigured into His resurrection glory was to fulfill that promise. It was to authenticate what Christ had been telling the disciples throughout chapter 16, beginning with what was to take place in Jerusalem at the next Passover. The discussion of Jesus’ decease was not to inform Christ about what was coming up, but to give corroborative testimony to what the disciples had recently learned.
Remember that the disciples were not happy to hear about the delay of the Messianic Kingdom. They were beyond unhappy to learn about the upcoming death of Christ. Despite their trust in the Lord, their fallible hearts rebelled against what He had recently told them. The week between chapter 16 and the transfiguration was probably a somber and trouble-filled few days. But after seeing what they saw on the top of the mountain and listening to what they heard, the hearts of these men were almost as transformed as the Lord Himself.
And, again, WHY was Christ going to Jerusalem?
The Book of Galatians tells us – “when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” The transaction which purchased the salvation of a few wretched sinners, took place on a hill just outside of Jerusalem. Knowing full well what was going to take place, Christ Jesus made that trip in order to offer up His body, soul and righteousness as a sacrifice to God. “Almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” There was no possible way to redeem the wicked without the death of the Lamb of God – Christ Jesus. He poured out His blood as the atonement necessary to cover our sins.
When that was done, His lifeless body was entombed for seventy-two hours, just as He said it would be. And then long before the dawn of the Lord’s day morning, He threw open the door to that tomb and He came out. Praise God from whom all blessings flow – this was the greatest of all those blessings. He arose victorious o’er the grave.
There are probably millions of people who are in churches around the world today, thinking high and lofty thoughts about the resurrection of Christ. Rightly so! But the resurrection means nothing without first the death of Christ. And the death of Christ means nothing personally, if we do not understand its purpose as an offering to God. Furthermore, the designed effects of that sacrifice, will have no purpose on anyone who has no repentance before God and saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those whom the Lord has chosen to save, humbly trust what Christ did on the cross as their own personal salvation. They rejoice in the resurrection of the Saviour because He is their Saviour – having died specifically to save them from their sins. They too want to become disciples, like John, James and Peter.
Is Jesus Christ your Saviour, or are you simply pleased that He arose from the dead? Repent before God and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Without your personal relationship to Christ through faith, the resurrection means nothing.