Matthew 17:1-9 (2/15/26)

Happy Transfiguration Sunday. I am excited to

be here with you and specifically to get to be

here on the day of a calendar celebration like

Transfiguration. This specifically, I checked

my records and I forgot to preach for you last

year on Transfiguration as well. So I don't know

if it's becoming like a gig. that every year

in transfiguration I have to come back with a

completely different sermon, which is easy to

do with any passage because there's so much to

say about it. And a transfiguration is a passage

that, as an event, shows up in four passages

in scripture, three of them in the synoptic gospels,

and also in 2 Peter 1. Peter, who was one of

the witnesses, the first disciple also speaks

about it with authority. We hear in the passage

of the Transfiguration that the disciples are

told to listen to the Son of God, and Peter uses

it as a witness. That event told us that we have

the witness of God confirmed more sure. so we

should listen to his authority. And we'll look

at that briefly at the end. But as the passages,

in any event that shows up across multiple passages,

across multiple books, from the recollection

of different authors and their research into

things, different aspects get emphasized. I think

I was talking with somebody about, I was looking

at what I had said last time, and I think I was

discussing how the various different titles of

the Messiah get used in the different passage,

different synoptic gospels. And there's so much

to say, but there's one aspect that really grabbed

me this time through looking at Matthew 17. As

with all of them having their various emphases,

Matthew has emphases of some things that I want

to point out that are not said in the other versions

of the transfiguration, in the other accounts.

Matthew 17 has a couple of phrases that are not

used, the first of which is in Matthew 17 verse

Matthew 17:5

5. knew there was something that I had forgotten

to do, and it was opening to my main passage.

Looking for it with my mind a few minutes ago.

What's the thing I'm trying to get done? Having

Matthew 17 open. Here it is in verse 5. He was

still speaking when, Behold, a bright cloud overshadowed

them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is

my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

Listen to him. That phrase, with whom I am well

pleased, is not in the Luke and Mark versions.

A second thing that is also used in this passage

that is not in the others comes down in verse

7. But Jesus came and touched them saying, rise

and have no fear. In all of the passages it makes

clear that the disciples were afraid. In Mark

and Luke you actually get the emphasis that the

fear starts with the shining of Jesus' face.

In Matthew it later says that when the voice

of God spoke to them that they fell to the ground

in terror. But all of the passages agree that

the experience was terrifying. You know, if you

just read it through, you hear Peter saying,

well, we should make three tenths, one for you,

one for Moses, one for Elijah. The other passages

emphasize the fact that he only said this because

he was so afraid he didn't know what he was saying.

So there's a point at which the Bible itself

is saying Peter was babbling because he was scared.

You know how you blurt stuff out when you're

afraid. And it says in this passage that in the

middle of him saying, making his suggestion born

from fear, that God starts speaking and they

fall to the ground. So he gets afraid and he

gets more afraid. And what I want to point out

from Matthew 17 verse 7 is that Jesus, it says,

Matthew 17:7

comes to them, touches them, and says, do not

be afraid. There are two distinct moments in

this passage the moment in which Jesus is gloriously

revealed and all the disciples are in terror

and the moment in which Afterwards he is explaining

to them What their mission is what their responsibility

is with this witness that they they need to hold

off and not talk about this until after the resurrection

How do we get from the point in which He is terrifying

them to the point in which He is commissioning

them to work? And it is that He has to go to

them and relieve them of their fears. And this

is not two different Jesuses. You know, it was,

I think, an old thing in liberal scholarship

in the last century to say that the Old Testament

was One kind of God in the New Testament was

another and in this People may even find that

kind of an emphasis here and say well Why is

there sometimes a scary Jesus and sometimes a

comforting Jesus and what I want to point out

is that? This is not two different Jesus's there

is not a judgmental Scary Jesus and then also

a lenient pleasant Jesus There is only one Jesus

and the fact of the Transfiguration revealing

His glory is intended to show us that the everyday

Jesus that they walked around and talked with

and ate with and slept near was God all along.

In fact, one of the points of the Transfiguration

is to clarify the fact that they are walking

around with the scary God all the time. And yet,

his presentation to them is one of comfort and

of peace. You see this in, when you read the

lion, the witch, and the wardrobe, the revelation

that Aslan is, the friendly lion, is not to be

dealt lightly with. He is safe, but he is scary.

it is the same God whose character and law bring

us up short and his law condemns our sin that

same God also compassionately makes a way for

us to be saved and he also comes to us and he

comforts us that we can be saved and we hear

that in Matthew 17 7 I think as a puzzle piece

that helps fill this out, I believe we can talk

about the puzzle piece as God's goodness and

say this. Based on the transfiguration passage,

it is the goodness of God and Jesus that both

causes people to cower in fear, and that same

goodness is also the goodness that raised them

up, gave them forgiveness, gives them peace,

and then calls them to joyful fellowship permanently

with them and commissions them to that work.

They not only are afraid of His goodness, but

they are saved by His goodness. And then they

are allowed to enjoy His goodness. And that's

a pattern for us as well. There's nobody who

comes to the Lord that doesn't get revealed to

them that we are sinners. As the Bible says,

we all stumble in many ways. We say we are without

sin, we are lying. And yet the goodness that

convicts us made a way for us through the cross,

gives that goodness to us in our resurrection,

and enables us to permanently enjoy that goodness.

The same thing that causes Peter to cower in

terror also relieves his fear and restores him

to fellowship with God. We see this kind of an

event several times in the Bible, and it gives

us a pattern to look at. And I want to look at

two specific events that mirror this exact kind

of experience. One of them is the call of Peter

into ministry, and the other is the call of Isaiah

into ministry. In the Gospel of Luke, we read

that Peter, who was called Simon before Jesus

called him Peter, Simon was fishing. They had

been out all night fishing. They were failing

to catch fish. And here comes Jesus, a non -fisherman,

to give him advice about how to fish. And he

says, well, we've been at this all night. But

just to humor you, I'll go ahead and do what

you're saying. And the surprise is that Jesus

not only knew what he was talking about, but

he seems to be revealed to somehow be in charge

of all nature in that moment. He's in control

of the fish, he's in control of the waters. We

see this over and over throughout the Gospel,

he's in charge of the wind, he's in charge of

the waves. And when you come into an encounter

with someone who is in control of nature, it's

startling. And Peter is shocked by what he has

been revealed. And it says in Luke 5 verse 8

Luke 5:8

when Peter's when Simon Peter saw it he fell

down at Jesus knees saying Depart from me for

I am a sinful man. Oh Lord And a few verses later

we notice that Jesus says to him do not be afraid

For from now on you will be catching men and

when they had brought their boats to land they

left everything and they followed him. You see

how he gets from terror to an issuance of forgiveness

and now all of a sudden he wants to be with Jesus.

A minute ago he didn't want Jesus near him, now

he wants to be with him. I'm just going to leave

my livelihood to follow after you. So the goodness

that scares him comes to him and forgives him.

gives him that goodness and draws him into a

permanent relationship where he can experience

that goodness from now on. But when Peter experiences,

when he saw the goodness of Jesus and his power

and his control, he didn't say to him, let me

be with you. You're so, you're so capable, so

powerful. I want to be near that. He said, get

away from me. And we hear a similar story in

Isaiah 6. In the year that King Uzziah died,

I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne. This is

Isaiah speaking. High and lifted up. And the

train of his robe filled the temple. Above him

stood the Seraphim, each had six wings, with

two he covered his face, with two he covered

his feet, and with two he flew. And one called

to the other and said, Holy, holy, holy is the

Lord. hosts the whole earth is full of his glory

and the foundations of the thresholds shook at

the voice of him who called and the house was

filled with smoke and I said woe is me for I

am lost for I am a man of unclean lips and I

dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips

for my eyes have seen the King the Lord of hosts

Isaiah sees the glory of God, the pre -incarnate

Christ sitting on the throne, full of majesty,

full of royal perfection. And we hear the Seraphim

specifically tell us that the holiness and the

glory of God are being glorified in this moment.

And Isaiah's reaction is it to react to the holiness

of God by praising his holiness or praising his

glory? Is it to kneel at his royalty? No, Isaiah

says not. You are so holy, but rather I am so

unholy. When you are next to large things, you

feel how small you are. And that comparison is

being made clear to them. When I was in middle

school or high school, my family took vacations

to the Grand Canyon, a couple of them. One time

we went to the South Rim and one time we went

to the North Rim. My father was a photographer

and he really admired the photographic works

of Ansel Adams and other other photographers

who documented the glory of the American Southwest.

And he really wanted to see these things that

he had been looking at in in photography books

and working to imitate himself. So we had a family

desire to go out there. And we had planned together.

We had saved. We had daydreamed about this vacation

for a long time. My dad would always get out

maps and would have us measure the mile marker

distances between the places. It was a big interactive

planning for us. And so it was very exciting,

this plan about what we were going to get to

see. And on the way into the Grand Canyon National

Park, there are scenic turnouts, overlooks into

smaller gorges and canyons. I remember one that

I think was called Wolf Gorge. And we had stopped,

because if there was a scenic turn, if they decided,

this is something that somebody would want to

see, then we want to stop, and we want to see

it, because we don't want to miss anything in

this experience. And we were so tickled looking

at how awesome it was. It was big, and it was

beautiful. We couldn't believe how deep this

gorge was, and it seemed powerful, and it was

interesting. And we were just saying to each

other, this is so amazing. I can't believe we're

getting to see this. But then we proceeded toward

El Tavar and the southern rim of the actual Grand

Canyon. And I remember that as we got out of

our car to walk toward the rail to get our first

look at the actual Grand Canyon, that our excitement

turned into utter disbelief. It wasn't big. It

was enormous. It was utterly immense. It was

unfathomably large. I remember that my father

immediately, I mean, I want to say here that

when you look at it in photographs, it looks

big. And then when you look at it in person,

it doesn't look like the same thing. You cannot

capture in a photograph what you experience.

in the depth and the distance of the Grand Canyon.

And the fact that the distance recedes so far,

it looks unreal. I remember my father immediately

broke down crying and had to turn around and

stop looking at it. He said, I wasn't prepared

for this. It isn't big. It's scary. And this

giant river bed is just a little cut in the whole

of the Earth's crust. And our whole Earth is

tiny compared to Jupiter or compared to the Sun.

Do you know the volume of the Earth would fit

into the volume of the Sun 1 .3 million times?

And the sun is a relatively small star. We know

of stars that we think are 1 ,000 to 2 ,000 times

larger than the sun. The Milky Way, our galaxy,

is measured at 1 ,000 to 200 ,000 light years

across. Now, 1 ,000 to 200 ,000, that kind of

sounds small after hearing millions of Earths

in the sun. But the distance of what 1 to 200

,000 light years actually is, even this is actually

with a measurement of 105 ,000 light years. If

you were to try to fly from one side of the Milky

Way to the other, and if you could get in a vehicle

that traveled at a million miles per hour, it

would take you 71 million years. to fly across

the Milky Way. And this is just one of two trillion

galaxies. And I want to point this out because

that universe stands or falls at the command

of the Lord who was sitting on the throne when

Isaiah saw him. And when Isaiah beheld the king

of the universe, he didn't say, you're so holy,

hallelujah. He said, I am so unholy. Woe is me.

I am cut off. I am a man of unclean lips. Isaiah

saw God's glory and he felt destroyed. He saw

God's perfection and he felt condemned with guilt.

And you notice God did not threaten Isaiah. He

did not accuse him. God did not rail at him.

He did not rebuke him. He did not point out Isaiah's

faults. He didn't have to. He merely revealed

who he actually is. And when you stand next to

something big, you feel really small. And when

you stand next to perfect goodness, sinful humans

feel evil and corrupt. Because we are. We don't

feel it all the time. We're used to ourselves.

but we're not used to looking into God's perfection.

In fact, I don't know that we could function

if we had to. This side of our resurrection,

we couldn't function that way. I've often heard

it said that God cannot bear to be in the presence

of evil. I mean, I've heard it so many times.

I actually don't think that that's anywhere in

the Bible and it doesn't actually make sense

because all the evil ever committed has always

been committed in the presence of God. And even

when God judges evil, he is the one present judging

it. The psalmist says, where can I flee from

your presence? If I make my bed in the depths,

you are there. But it is crystal clear in scripture

that sinful humans cannot bear to be in the presence

of the revealed glory of God. It hurts. So what

are we to do? The goal of the Gospel is that

you're going to be with God forever. How can

you stand it? Well the key is that God's goodness

that judges us is the thing you need. You need

His goodness to come get you. You need it to

save you and you need His goodness transferred

to you in order for you to get to experience

God's goodness without pain forever. So let's

focus on that. That's one thing I want to focus

on. It's God's willingness to rescue us. God

is willing to save us. What would motivate a

holy God to take on our sin at the cross and

to save us? It surely is a facet of His goodness,

His compassion. He could merely have been stern

and formal with us, and just given us rules,

and told us where to stand, and okay, this is

what salvation is. But he didn't. The Bible says

he is close to each one of us. It says he cares

for us. Cast all of your anxieties upon him,

for he cares for you. We might say with Psalm

8, what is man that you are mindful of him? He

is mindful of us. We hear, I guess the Lord took

that one out of my head. I had it a second ago,

but I'll take my direction there. I forgot what

it was. God's goodness not only makes him willing

to save us, but it gives us the mechanism for

salvation. And it's not discussed in the Matthew

17 passage, but we know what it is from the rest

of the Bible. The mechanism of our salvation

that Jesus as God died on the cross for our sins

and that God raised him from the dead for our

life. That is his goodness at work, his willingness

to die in our place, to give his goodness to

us. and it is explained in Matthew 17 .5 at this

level remember I said what was said in this passage

that wasn't said in the others this is my beloved

son in whom I am well pleased we know that that's

how salvation works is that God is pleased with

Jesus God is pleased with Jesus and when he was

made to be sin he who knew no sin was made to

be sin he who did so that we might become the

righteousness of God in Christ. He was pleased

with Jesus, and now He is pleased with me. That

is even, He is able to give that to me because

of His, because He is good. Because Jesus is

good, God the Father can give Jesus' goodness

to me. This passage not only tells us that Jesus

is the Son who is pleasing to the Father, It

also tells us that the Son of Man will be raised

from the dead. Don't tell about this vision that

you've seen until after the Son of Man is raised

from the dead. Raised from the dead, why is he

dead? Because he was on the cross. So this passage

mentions the cross and it mentions the goodness

of Jesus. So you've got some neat little points

wrapping up the explanation of the Gospel there.

And it clearly, the Bible tells us, if you confess

with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe

in your heart that God raised him from the dead,

you will be saved. I want to point out that God's

goodness transforms the disciples. When Jesus

touches people, it is transformative. You remember

legally that lepers who are unclean legally,

if they come in contact with other people, the

other people become legally unclean. It transfers

to other people. But Jesus freely touches lepers.

And when he did touch lepers, he didn't become

unclean, they became clean. When he touched them,

he healed them. So it was not he that was affected

by the touch, it was the leper. When Jesus touches,

the power of God goes out from him. and the one

who is touched is restored. In fact, he touches

the eyes of the blind, and they can see. He uses

his touch to stake his claim. He grabs, takes

children from their parents that they hand to

him, and he holds them and sets them on his lap

and says, my kingdom belongs to one like these.

When Jesus touches someone, it is a blessing

and a claim on them. Here Jesus touches those

who are made afraid by their own fault by their

own guilt by their own sin and Yet he touches

them unafraid that their sin will contaminate

him rather. He will remove their sin He come

to he touches he comforts and he says rise up

and do not be afraid You remember the story of

Lazarus, even though Lazarus was dead when Jesus

said, rise up. Lazarus rose up. He's speaking

to Jairus' daughter. He says, little girl, arise,

and she arises. So the same thing about Jesus

touching someone also goes for the words, rise

up. They are spoken to those who are lame, but

are being healed. When Jesus decides to tell

somebody to rise up, He's speaking to those who

are dead who need new life. Jesus goodness is

capable of giving us restoration and new life.

If you don't hear anything else this morning,

hear that Jesus offers new life. Even if you

are a sinner, of course because we all are. Even

if your sin says to you, you should cringe before

the good and holy God. Jesus comes to you and

touches you and says, do not be afraid. He's

not saying this because your sin doesn't matter.

If your sin didn't matter you wouldn't cower

in fear. But he's saying this because he is bigger

than the problem. His work is bigger than the

guilt. When our hearts condemn us, God is bigger

than our hearts. Verse John tells us. You notice

that Peter, when he was called, he was made afraid.

He said, I'm a sinner, depart from me. And five

minutes later, Peter has been called to be an

evangelist. He says, Peter, you're going to be

fishing for men for me. And then Peter drops

everything and goes with him. Isaiah says, I'm

a man of unclean lips. And five minutes later,

after the coal has touched his lips, after God's

work of cleansing him, Isaiah is asked, here's

the question, who will go for us and who will

send out our message? And Isaiah says, look at

me, me. Now, this is the same guy that couldn't

be looked at a minute ago. And now is saying,

directing God's attention to him. This is the

audacity, I think, and this. As a positive thing,

it's prescribed for us in the Lord's table. You

know that the day of the Lord, Sunday is called

the day of the Lord in the Bible. And the day

of the Lord up to that point had been a reference

to God's judgment. It's the day of judgment.

You come to the Lord's table, you're calling

down His, look at me and judge me. But when you

see me, you see the blood applied to me as in

the Passover, Passover me. It is so consequential

that Jesus did his work. It is not a trick. You

don't have to worry about it failing. It worked.

You are forgiven. Not something that he says,

calm down a minute. We'll talk about this later.

We'll work out the details later. When he says,

rise up, do not be afraid, he means it's done.

Your sin is gone. I have forgiven you. You get

to actually come with me. I'm actually recruiting

some guys. I want you to come with me. And you

don't have to say, well, but I was shown to be

a sinner. He says, I knew that when I came and

told you I forgave you. God demonstrates his

own love for us in this, that while we were yet

sinners, Christ died for us. It wasn't a surprise

to him that we were sinners. He forgave us. Do

you have to believe that? Here's the question.

Do you have to believe that? Well, what's the

consequence of the transfiguration? This is my

beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Listen

to him. Peter says later in one of his letters,

2nd Peter, he says, for we did not follow cleverly

devised myths when we made known to you the power

and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We were

eyewitnesses to his majesty. For when he received

honor and glory from God the Father, and the

voice was born 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.

Here's the point of what I'm saying. Peter's

repeating the experience here in his letter.

He's saying, I saw this with my own eyes. This

happened. And that listen to him is what he's

focusing on. Here's the next verse. And we have

the prophetic word more fully confirmed, 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. This mirrors

the listen to him. We saw his glory on the mountain.

When Moses saw God's glory on the mountain it

was to tell the people Listen to the law of God

when Peter saw Jesus glory on the mountain it

was to say Jesus gets to tell you what to believe

Jesus is the author of scripture listen to him

And I'm emphasizing that because this you are

going to have a tendency to forget that you are

forgetting It is really really hard to remember

that your corruption is not the main thing. It's

real. It's a problem. But it is not the powerful

agent in the story. The powerful agent is the

goodness of God. When our hearts condemn us,

God is bigger than our hearts. Therefore, there

is no condemnation for those who are in Christ

Jesus. We don't have to downplay the seriousness

of God's law in order to live at peace. You do

have to care what God's Word is. And it is His

Word that matters. Jesus, in fact, is the Son

that God is pleased with, so listen to Him. Remember

now that you have been cleansed, that you were

called into His companionship. He wants you to

go with Him. And you get to be in that state

forever. And remember that the cleansing comes

from Jesus as something that is complete. You

don't have to shrink back saying, depart from

me. You can say, here I am. Look at me, Lord.

You don't have to say, leave me because I'm a

sinner. You are free to boldly praise Him and

say, you are so holy. You are so good. you have

been so good to me let's pray father we read

earlier in your in the songs today from Psalm

34 I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered

me from all my fears those who look to him are

radiant and their faith that shall never be ashamed

thank you for transferring your goodness your

glory to us as you forgive us our sins and call

us to permanent new life. I pray that we would

be able by your power to believe you that we

would listen to you and know the truth of our

forgiveness and your goodness. In Jesus name

I pray. Amen.