Matthew 17:1-13 | "A Transforming Vision"

This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

We benefit from God's providence on this first Sunday morning after the resurrection in our passage in God's Word in Matthew chapter 17.

Matthew 17 · chapter mention

What is the most important event during the ministry of Christ for the disciples to share after Resurrection Sunday?

Let me ask that again.

What is the most important event in all of the ministry of Christ for the disciples to talk about, to share with one another after Resurrection Sunday?

It's the account where Jesus told his disciples, don't tell this to anyone until after the Son of Man is raised from the dead.

Don't tell anybody.

Don't say anything about this until after Resurrection Sunday.

I did not plan for this text to land precisely on this Sunday morning, but in the Lord's gracious providence, he has brought it all together to bring us to Matthew chapter 17, verses 1 through 13.

Matthew 17:1–13

Jesus intended for his people to talk about the vision that Peter, James, and John had on the mountaintop with Jesus, seeing him in all of his glory after he rose from the dead.

Don't talk about it until after the resurrection.

Now we left off a couple of weeks ago at the end of Matthew chapter 16, where Jesus had a definitive shift in his program.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

He said, No longer am I going to be focusing on the crowds of people and on healing and on ministering to people that come to me.

Instead, his focus was going to be on private instruction with his disciples.

He didn't completely shut off the rest of the world.

He didn't shut them off entirely, but his focus was on his disciples because he was now headed to the city of Jerusalem, where he said he would suffer and be killed and rise again.

Now that that news would have had a noticeable impact on a disciple.

So Jesus begins to give some dedicated time to encourage them, to instruct them, to help them through this time that is to come.

And through his biography of Jesus, Matthew shows us how Jesus prepared his followers, how he prepared them for his suffering, for his death, for his burial, and his resurrection.

But we also see that Matthew intended for us today to be impacted by this event described here after resurrection morning.

So if you have your Bible, I encourage you to look at it with me.

Matthew chapter 17, beginning in verse 1, it says, after six days, it tells us there's a pause here between the end of chapter 16 and verse 1 of chapter 17.

Matthew 17 · chapter mention

After six days, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him.

Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it's good that we are here.

If you wish, I will make three tents, one for you and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

He was still speaking, when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the clouds said, This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

Listen to him.

When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.

But Jesus came and touched them, saying, Rise, have no fear.

And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, Tell no one the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.

And the disciples asked him, Well, then why do why did the disciple or why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?

He answered, Well, Elijah does come, and he will restore all things.

But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but they did to him whatever they pleased.

So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.

Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

Amen.

A lot is going on here.

This is a very tightly packed narrative that we really don't have the opportunity this morning to see all that Matthew intends for us here.

For example, unless you were counting in your mind as we read along, there are eight people mentioned in these verses.

Peter, James, and John.

Those are the easy ones, right?

Jesus, Elijah, Moses, God the Father, and John the Baptist.

Eight individuals all in this passage.

That's a lot of people all packed together and all somehow related in some way.

A lot of connecting points in a short account.

So it's crucial for us to ask why are all these people connected here?

Why are they all included in this one experience on a mountaintop?

Maybe more importantly, what does God intend for us to take away from this?

The answer is very simple.

The answer is Jesus.

Matthew and God the Father intend for us to see Jesus.

That's what we're to notice here.

Everything else is peripheral, everything else points to Jesus.

The disciples are following Jesus up the mountain.

On the mountaintop, they see him.

They see him transformed.

Of course, they see Elijah and Moses.

But what are Moses and Elijah doing?

They're talking to Jesus.

God the Father speaks about whom?

Jesus.

And John the Baptist is referred to as pointing to Jesus.

So the main point is Jesus.

That's why we see Jesus transfigured in view of the disciples.

What does that mean?

You've probably heard this preached on before.

One translation, I think, uses the word transformed, but most use the term transfigured.

I hesitate since Jeremy talked about not using Greek words, but I'm going to use a Greek word because you know this Greek word.

Matthew uses the word metamorphao, from which we get our word metamorphosis.

You understand that.

You know that.

It means to be changed, to be transformed.

But we have to be very careful.

And I hesitate to even mention that word because what we tend to do is take our modern understanding of the word metamorphosis and we read it back into what Matthew is trying to communicate.

That's called an anachronism.

We take something from one time period and we automatically assume that it means the same thing in another time period.

And that's not the case here.

So when we think of the term metamorphosis, we should not think about a caterpillar being transformed into a butterfly.

Those are insects.

Jesus is not being transformed from one insect into another insect, or from one kind of nature into another different kind of nature.

It's not what Matthew meant when he used this word.

The modern scientific meaning did not exist 2,000 years ago.

Now Jesus did change.

But the changing was not in his being.

More like on a wedding day when a bride's veil is removed from her head and you see her face.

So beforehand, Jesus is somehow veiled, is somehow covered, and when that covering is taken away, he is seen in all of his true glory.

And so the disciples are here on the mountaintop with Jesus, the one they've been following, probably at this point for at least a couple of years, maybe nearly three years.

They've seen him in all of his humanity, they've seen his deity come through in all of his power, but they've never seen him like this.

They've never seen him in all the fullness of his glory.

And this glorious one is the same one who's just told them that he's going to suffer and be killed.

Why is that significant?

Why is it significant that Jesus says, talk about this after the resurrection Sunday?

What are we to take away from it?

Why on the first Sunday after resurrection morning are we to talk about it?

The transformation of Jesus is seen here, and it gives us four encouragements for Christ's followers on the first Sunday after resurrection morning.

The first encouragement that we see here is that the transformation of Jesus ought to impact us by motivating us.

For what?

For looking ahead, for anticipating the fullness, the fullness of what is to come.

There we go.

Wrong slide.

Pardon me.

The fullness of his kingdom.

Now, I need you to back up with me.

Back up to the end of chapter 16.

Verse 27.

The Son of Man, he says, is going to come with his angels in the glory of his father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

Then he goes on, Matthew does.

Six days later, Jesus took his disciples up onto a mountaintop.

What's happening here?

What's happening is that when Jesus says in 1628, some of you are going to see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom, he's referring to the very next event, the transfiguration on the mountaintop.

Now, not all, not all will agree with that conclusion.

I'm going to argue that for a few minutes here this morning.

Some would say that when Jesus says that some are not going to taste death until they see the Son of Man coming, that somehow these disciples are going to be alive when Jesus returns in all of his glory to set up his kingdom.

Okay.

There are some difficulties with that.

Some would claim that what Jesus is talking about is his coming in judgment against the city of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

And that's probably a little more likely.

Some would claim that it's a general reference to Jesus' rule in heaven after his ascension, so that the disciples are going to live through Jesus' suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection, and he ascends into heaven, and they're going to get a glimpse of his glory like Stephen did on the day he died.

Okay, maybe.

But I would suggest to you that the most likely possibility is that what Jesus is referring to is his transfiguration.

Why?

Because it comes next.

Why not take the simplest answer?

It's the next thing.

And what do we see in the next thing?

We see Jesus in all of his glory.

His transfiguration, his face shone like the sun, his clothes become white as light.

What is that?

That's the king in all of his glory.

And if they see the king in all of his glory, that means in some sense his kingdom is now, it's present in some way.

This is the obvious kingdom element before the death of any of the disciples.

Now, the disciples would be discouraged at this point because Jesus has just announced his suffering and his death.

And what do they want?

They don't want suffering and death, they want the glory of the kingdom.

They want to rule with Jesus.

They've been arguing all along.

Which one of us is going to sit on your right hand, Jesus?

They're fighting back and forth about which one is going to be in glory and in power with Jesus.

And now he's telling them, no, you need to understand that suffering and death comes first.

Well, we don't understand Jesus.

So he gives them a taste of the kingdom glory to encourage them that Jesus' death would not defeat the kingdom of the Messiah.

Its beginning, yes, would begin through suffering and through death, but its end would be the full glory of the Son of Man coming in glory, just as Daniel saw in his vision of the ancient of days.

And so after the resurrection, after resurrection Sunday morning, the disciples would receive encouragement by talking about this.

Encouragement about Jesus' sovereignty over all of history, over all things, even his own death.

And they would be emboldened then to serve Jesus in anticipation of his return and the full display of his kingdom rule.

Like most families, ours struggles to get our children to eat their meals.

Some reason they think that mom and dad eat horrible things.

So what we we encourage them, you can have a dessert or treat if you eat your lunch.

Right?

There's a motivation at the end.

Jesus says suffering and death comes first.

But I'm giving you a taste of the glory that's coming.

So that when you've gone through the suffering and the death, you can have this vision of kingdom glory to give you boldness to keep going.

There's a fullness coming that you're not tasting now, but I'm going to give it to you in part so you can get a hint of it.

So this vision would bring encouragement amid suffering and persecution, reminding them that Jesus is the Messiah.

He is full of glory.

Glory is of the only begotten of the Father.

And the hope of his glory enables God's people to keep going when it gets hard.

When it gets hard for you.

Remember the vision of Jesus' glory.

Because one day you will see him as he really is.

And that taste ought to motivate you to keep going.

There's a second encouragement here, and that is that the vision of Jesus, the true vision, the real vision, ought to encourage us to persevere in the now.

Somehow these are not in order here.

There we go.

In the now, as we anticipate the fullness of the not yet.

What are we talking about here?

Let's go back to chapter 16 and verse 24.

Chapter 16 and verse 24.

Jesus told his his disciples, if anyone desires to follow me, to be my disciple, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

You want to save your life?

Then you need to lose it.

You want to lose your life?

Then try to save it.

That's now.

That's the now that he's talking about.

The now is taking up our cross daily to follow Jesus.

It's not easy, it's not simple.

Nor is it necessarily glorious.

Jesus was headed to suffer and to be killed.

The glory of Christ's kingdom is coming, but it's not yet here.

That's why Philippians chapter 2 tells us that Jesus robed himself, as we sing, in frail humanity.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

He took on human form, appearing in complete humility, as though he were a slave.

The glory of Christ's kingdom is coming, but it's not here yet.

Don't let the lowliness of Christ steal away your confidence in the reality of his glory and his power and his position.

Because this vision on the mountaintop gives us a glimpse of what is not yet.

When the entire world will see his glory in an instant.

When there will be no need for sun or moon or stars, because the Lord God will be the light.

Jesus gives them a taste because the fullness isn't here yet.

A little bit later, in Acts chapter 1, verses 6 and 7, the disciples ask Jesus after Resurrection Sunday and after just before Pentecost, in between Resurrection Sunday and Pentecost, they ask him, Jesus, is now the time that you're going to restore the kingdom?

Acts 1:6

Is now the time for the glory?

And his answer is no.

No, not yet.

He says, in the meantime, you're going to receive power from the Holy Spirit to be my witnesses.

And an angel says in Acts chapter 1, verse 11 that Jesus will come again in the same way that he ascended.

Acts 1:11

He's going to come in the clouds of heaven.

And then two chapters later in Acts chapter 3, verse 21, Peter says that about Jesus that heaven must receive him until the time for restoring all things.

Acts 3:21

The time isn't yet.

Picture it however it works for you.

Maybe now is the time of eating the meals that you don't like.

The Bible talks about it as carrying your cross.

Following Jesus in ways that aren't necessarily comfortable.

Of dying to your own fleshly desires.

But this vision on the mountaintop that the disciples, Peter, James, and John, were to share after Jesus rose from the dead, and that we talk about on the first Sunday after resurrection is designed to encourage us so that we can say, yes, following Jesus is hard.

But guess what's coming?

Look at what's coming.

You get a taste of it right here.

So keep persevering, keep pushing on.

They were to tell no one the vision until after the resurrection.

Why?

Why?

Why would this be important after Easter Sunday?

Well, at the very least, it confirms who Jesus said he is.

He announced beforehand his suffering, his death, and his resurrection.

And then he proved his deity by revealing his glory and confirming that he was going to go on his own kind of exodus.

By dying and rising again.

That's an amazing set of events that Jesus talked about before it all happened that validates his deity.

He is whom he said he is.

And he can do everything he says he will do, and not even death can hold him back.

Not even death and the grave can hold him back.

So then why can't we persevere?

What keeps us from persevering?

I'll tell you what keeps us from persevering.

Taking our eyes off of Jesus.

That's why a book of Hebrews says, keep your eyes focused on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Why?

Because we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

That's why this is significant for the first Sunday after resurrection morning, because we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

In fact, read Romans chapter 8 in light of that.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Let's do that.

It's going to take us a few moments here, but let's do that.

Romans chapter 8, beginning in verse 18.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Knowing that Jesus says, talk about this on the first Sunday morning after resurrection morning.

Romans chapter 8, verse 18.

Romans 8:18

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Why does it groan?

Because it was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its slavery to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

For in this hope we were saved.

Now, hope that is seen, that is right in front of you, is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees.

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our own weaknesses.

For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes with us with groanings that are too deep for words.

And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

And we know that all things work together.

Pause there.

All things are all the sufferings of verse 18.

All things are taking up your cross to follow Jesus.

All things are denying yourself so that you might live.

For we know that all these things work.

How do they work?

Together.

God brings them all together.

They work together for what?

For good.

For those who are called according to his purpose.

To those who he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son.

So Jesus is taking all of these things, these sufferings, these trials, the bearing of the cross, the denying of ourselves to form us into the image of Jesus, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers, and those whom he predestined, he also called, and those whom he called, he also justified, and those he justified, he also glorified.

It says, Good is done.

You see the end, you've seen the mountaintop.

What shall we say then to these things?

If God is for us, who's against us?

If the mountaintop is real, who's against us?

He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all.

How will he not with him also graciously give us all things?

If the mountaintop is real, who's going to bring a charge against God's alert?

It's God who justifies.

Who's to condemn?

Christ Jesus is the one who died.

More than that, who was raised, who was at the right hand of God, and who is interceding for us?

Who is going to separate us from the love of Christ if the mountaintop is real?

Tribulation?

No.

How about distress?

No.

Persecution?

Famine?

Nakedness?

Danger?

How about a sword?

As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all day long.

We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

But if the mountaintop is real, the answer is no.

Nothing.

Not one of those things, nor anything else, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Why?

Because we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen?

So you can persevere.

There's nothing to keep you from persevering.

What a wonderful encouragement on the first Sunday after resurrection morning.

Oh, but there's a third one.

The transfiguration of Jesus deepens our trust in the continuity and the fulfillment of God's revelation.

I'd love to spend all morning just on this.

We could take a break, but I won't do that to you.

You know, we we tend to neglect the Old Testament.

We divide it too harshly.

We bifurcate it.

That's a good word.

We harshly divide the Old Testament and the New Testament sometimes.

So much so that some used to argue that we don't even need to preach or teach or learn from the Old Testament now.

That was for Israel.

The New Testament's for the church.

Unfortunately, that that separates God's word in a way that it was never intended to be separated.

There's a significant amount of the New Testament that is not new.

It's not new at all.

And we can't fully process what the New Testament says without the Old Testament, because the first part of the Bible prepares us what's to be fulfilled in the New Testament, and the New Testament elaborates on what began in the Old Testament.

And what the transfiguration of Jesus reveals quite clearly is that the Old Testament anticipated something much, much greater.

The Old Testament wasn't the end of God's work, it was the beginning.

It was a shadow of what was to come.

And what is included here in this transfiguration account are some Old Testament pictures that announced what was going to come.

The first one is pictured in Moses.

In Moses.

Deuteronomy chapter 18, beginning in verse 15, looks forward to another Moses.

Deuteronomy 18 · chapter mention

Moses writes there, Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers.

It is to him that you are to listen.

For Yahweh said to me, I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

So here on the mountaintop, in the presence of Moses, God the Father reveals, here's the promised prophet.

Here he is.

Jesus supersedes Moses.

Jesus has the greater voice, the greater glory, the greater authority.

That's why the writer to the book of Hebrews says that God spoke through the fathers and the prophets in the past, but in these last days he has spoken to us in his son.

So this is a signal, especially after the resurrection, of the changing of the times, of a change of pace, if you will, in God's program.

God's king has come, the kingdom is present, ruled by Jesus, the risen one, but there's something about it that is that is not yet.

The three disciples get it get a taste of it.

They get a taste of the coming glory.

One of the best tastes you get is when my wife is going to make some doughy dessert, and I get some of the dough before it goes into the oven.

You know, you know what's coming.

You get a taste of it.

Three disciples got a taste of the coming glory of the prophet that God promised.

But there's something that is not yet, because first is suffering and death.

And we must see that that God was preparing for this moment, for the moment of revealing the glory of his son some 1,500 years earlier through Moses' pen.

My friends, if God was preparing for this moment 1,500 years earlier, then you can trust what God is saying.

And you can trust what God is doing in earth history.

And you can trust that when he gives you a taste, you can be sure what's coming.

It's not just Moses, though, there's Elijah too.

The scribes taught that Elijah would come again to bring restoration to God's people.

And that was accurate, Jesus said.

It was based on the last book in our English Bibles, the book of Malachi, chapter 4, verses 5 and 6, where God wrote, Behold, I will send you, Elijah, the prophet, before the great and awesome day of Yahweh comes.

Malachi 4:5

Here's what he's going to do: he's going to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers.

Jesus says, Yeah, that's true.

That's true, but just like he does in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, but I tell you, let me clarify that for you.

Let me give you a little bit of exposition on that.

Elijah's already come.

What?

Well, wait a minute.

The scribes are saying he's going to come, and Jesus says, Yes, that's true, he's going to come, but he's already come.

Elijah has come to bring restoration, and the leaders of Israel did whatever they desired to do to him.

And the disciples immediately pick up on what Jesus meant.

Everyone missed that John the Baptizer was Malachi's Elijah.

You can bookmark for later, Luke chapter 1.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

When the angel came to John the Baptist's father in the temple to give him an announcement that they would have a son, he said, This son will turn the hearts of the children of Israel to the Lord their God and will go before his Messiah in the spirit and power of Elijah.

Jesus says, Elijah's already come and they killed him.

They lopped his head off, literally.

But there's enough vagueness in Jesus' language here, especially in verse 11, to make us wonder if there's another coming of Elijah.

Maybe there's a fuller, a greater fulfillment still in the future.

We can't be absolutely 100% certain about that.

Maybe Elijah's one of the two witnesses in Revelation 11.

Maybe that's a possibility.

But whatever the case, John, Jesus says, is the one that the people looked for to herald the coming of the Messiah.

You've probably heard that many Orthodox Jews, even to this day, in their Passover meal, they they leave a setting empty in case Elijah comes.

Elijah has come.

Would you believe him?

And if they did to John whatever they wanted to do, why would they do anything less to the Messiah?

If they denied that John was the fulfillment of the Elijah prophecy, then they would likely also deny that Jesus was the Messiah, leading to his suffering and death.

And that all put together would help prepare the disciples for putting the puzzle pieces together after Easter morning.

John came to prepare the way for Jesus.

Jesus has told us that he's going to suffer and be killed and rise again.

And so Jesus took the three disciples to the mountaintop to give them proof of his identity.

He is the anticipated one.

He's the one promised to be the greater Moses.

He's the one heralded by Elijah.

God has been working on his program, developing it step by step.

So if suffering and death and pain, even to the Messiah, seems to interrupt that, then trust that he knows what he's doing.

And in the same way, if pain and suffering and trials and even death interrupts what God seems to be doing in your life, trust him.

He knows what he's doing.

Because he's the God who cares for you.

Now there's something else here, too.

We could argue that the most significant element that deepens our trust in God's revelation is the fulfillment of Exodus 33.

You see, in the beginning days of Israel's wilderness wanderings, God told Moses, I want you to build me a tent.

The tent is going to be a place where the people come to worship.

And you're going to come into the tent, and that's where I'm going to meet with you, and I'm going to talk with you, and I'm going to tell you all about my laws and my rules and my regulations and how to worship me.

Beginning days of the tabernacle, the tent where Israel met with God, it says that God spoke with Moses face to face, as someone would speak to their friend.

And that relationship apparently got so close, so intimate, that Moses asked God to show him his glory.

And God said, Yeah, and sorry, can't do that.

You'll die.

But here's what we can do: God said, I will make all of my goodness pass before you.

And I will proclaim my name to you, my name Yahweh.

And I'm going to be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

But he said to Moses, you cannot see my face.

Because a man cannot see my face and live.

Moses was asking God, show me your glory.

God says, if you see my glory, you're seeing my face.

They're one and the same thing.

You can't do that and live.

A little later on top of Mount Sinai, God allowed Moses to see his back, it says, but not his face.

Now, look at the mountaintop and Matthew chapter 17.

Matthew 17 · chapter mention

Verse 2, and he was transfigured before them.

And his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.

And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him.

Do you see what's happening?

God is answering Moses' request.

Moses is seeing the glory of God and the face of Jesus face to face.

Moses could not see the full glory of the face of God until it was robed in frail humanity and then revealed in the face of Jesus.

That's why John would later write, We have seen his glory.

The glory is of the only begotten of the Father.

But Moses had to wait.

And so do we.

But here in Moses, we get to see that God, God keeps his promise.

God fulfills his word.

And in robing himself in humanity, God has provided for us a way to ultimately, in the end, see the glory of God in the face of Jesus.

And so when we look at the Old Testament and the New Testament together, we begin to see how God has been working all along.

And this account of the transfiguration of Jesus is intended to deepen our trust in God's revelation and in its fulfillment throughout history.

It should strengthen our anticipation of its complete fulfillment, of its detailed fulfillment in the future, and until that time to embolden our work for Christ in the present.

Now there's one more last encouragement, and that is that the testimony of the Father guides our attention and guards our discernment.

This point ought to be a sermon in and of itself.

There's so much here.

Matthew wants us to be as surprised as Peter, James, and John.

They fell down flat on their faces as though they were going to die.

But Matthew wants us as the readers to be as surprised as they were because three times he writes, Behold! Do you see this?

Verse 3.

Not with his face shining like the sun, not with his clothes shining white as light, but behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah.

What?

You serious?

Verse 5.

He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them.

By the way, note in your connection with your Old Testament the allusions to Moses there.

When Moses came out of the tabernacle after talking with God, his face shone bright.

And he had to veil it, he had to cover it.

Jesus' face is shining.

There's a cloud upon the tabernacle in the desert in Numbers chapter 9, verse 15, because God is present.

Numbers 9:15

Here, God is present in a bright cloud.

In Exodus chapter 24, verse 15, there's a cloud on the mountaintop into which Moses ascends to speak with God.

Exodus 24:15

And now God is speaking out of that.

So much consistency in your Bible.

But now there's a third, behold, in verse 5 that is not listed in most of our English translations.

He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them.

And behold, a voice spoke from the cloud.

It was astounding that there's a brilliantly bright cloud all around them all of a sudden, but it is a terrifying thing to hear the voice of God the Father.

Speak to them.

They had no, no experience in life that paralleled this experience.

And their only natural reaction was to fear for their lives.

They were terrified at the sound of God the Father.

Moses and Elijah leave all their face down on the ground in terror.

The cloud leaves with the presence of the Father leaving.

And all of a sudden, Jesus' glory is veiled once again.

They got a taste.

But what is the significance of beholding the voice of God?

It's the same basic message that was heard at Jesus' baptism back in chapter 3, verse 17.

This is my beloved son.

But there's one important, crucial even addition.

Listen to him.

Listen to him.

It connects us once again with Deuteronomy 18, 15.

Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me.

You shall listen to him.

The presence of Moses with the voice of the Father saying, This is the one to whom you shall listen, is God's way of saying, Here he is.

I'm proving it to you by removing the veil.

I'm proving it to you with the presence of Moses and Elijah.

Here he is.

Listen to him.

There's a new phase of God's program.

The prophet has come, the Messiah has come, the kingdom is initiated.

Listen to him.

Long ago, in various ways and in many different times, God the Father spoke to our fathers through the prophets.

Not anymore.

It's through his son.

God himself is speaking to us.

Now, how does this guide our attention and guard our discernment?

Well, it guides our attention by directing it to one voice.

Our attention is to be drawn to one voice.

What should it be?

John chapter 10, verse 27 tells us.

John 10:27

Jesus says, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

That's your one voice.

It's the voice of the shepherd.

Take up your cross, follow him, knowing that nothing can separate you from his love, and listen to his voice all along the way.

What too often happens is something more along the lines of Jeremiah 23, 16, where God says, Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hope.

For they speak visions of their own minds, not from my mouth.

God says, I'm putting my words in the mouth of Jesus.

You listen to him.

My friends, many voices clamor for our attention.

They clamor for our attention, then they seek to fill us with all kinds of vain, worthless hope.

We're always looking for something better, aren't we?

We're always looking for something more comfortable, more full of hope, more encouraging, more strengthening, more happy, more glorious, more hopeful, because we want the kingdom's glory and we want it now.

If we're honest, we don't want the way of suffering.

We don't want the way of the cross.

And Satan knows that.

That's why he he offered Jesus the world.

Says, I know that in your humanity you want everything.

Let me give it to you.

Let me give it to you.

That's why he offers us the world.

He disguises himself as an angel of light offering something more, something more than Jesus, something more than Scripture, something more than the voice of God in the mouth of Jesus.

And the sad thing is, too often we're just like Adam and Eve and we listen.

And we think that there's more hope outside of Jesus.

Our attention is to be drawn to one voice, and that one voice is what should guard our discernment.

Turn with me to 2 Peter chapter 1.

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

We'll finish here.

2 Peter chapter 1.

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

Verse 3.

God's divine power has granted to us all things, not some things, all things that pertain to life and godliness.

There's nothing that you need that you have not already been given by God to follow Jesus, carrying your cross, denying yourself, and following him.

There's nothing that you have not received if you have placed your trust in Jesus.

He's granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him, through the knowledge of Jesus, who called us to his own glory and excellence.

He's called us to his glory.

And he's granted to us his precious and great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, that divine nature that was seen on the mountaintop, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world.

How do we gain this?

How do we begin to live this out?

Well, verse 5 tells us, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and your virtue knowledge, your knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But the sad reality is that we could get distracted by other voices.

So easily.

We get distracted by other voices, we get distracted by visions, by dreams, by experiences, by feelings, by emotions.

And Peter knew all about that.

Peter knew everything about that because what does he say?

Look over at verse 16.

He says, listen, we as apostles did not follow cleverly devised myths.

We didn't make up stories.

When we made known to you after resurrection morning the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we didn't make up fanciful stories.

No, we were eyewitnesses to his majesty.

Where was Peter an eyewitness to his majesty?

On the mountaintop.

For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.

We ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

He says, Listen, let me tell you about the greatest thing anyone on earth has ever experienced.

You know nothing like this experience.

You have not, you have not had this kind of revelation, you have never heard the voice of the Father like this, you have never seen the veil removed from the face of Jesus.

Let me tell you about experiences.

But you don't need to worry about that.

You don't need to worry about other voices, you don't need to worry about other experiences, you don't need to worry about other voices.

Because we have something more sure than any of that.

More sure.

What is it?

The prophetic word to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

He says, listen, there's a not yet coming that we've we've only gotten a taste of.

Keep persevering, keep pushing along, be encouraged.

Keep taking up your cross and following Jesus, dying to yourself day after day, moment after moment.

Yes, there's going to be times when it's incredibly hard, but know that Christ is never going to leave you.

He's never going to forsake you.

You're never going to be separated from his love.

If you have come to faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior of your sin, he will never, ever depart from you.

So keep going.

Because the day is going to come when the morning star truly rises.

And until then, he says, you have something more sure than any mountaintop experience.

And that's the word of God that has been given to you through the mouth of his son.

We would do well to pay attention to this.

Amen.

That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.

Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.

You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.