Unveiled Glory - Luke 9:28-36

Before we moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, my wife and I lived in Tampa, Florida for seven and a half years.

They were great years.

We we loved our time in Tampa and the calling that the Lord had put us uh put on us there.

During that time, my wife worked at a uh a Christian school.

And in that part of the United States, like many other parts of the United States, uh, unique city because it had three uh sports teams, three professional sports teams.

There's the Tampa Bay Rays, there's the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey, for those who don't watch hockey, and uh the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

And she worked at a private school.

We are both from very small towns in Missouri.

I'm from a town of 10,000, she's from a town of 2,000, give or take.

And what was really unique about her working at that school is we started to realize, okay, some of the professional sports parents send their kids to this school.

Like well-known professional sports players.

And it was kind of just a crazy thing to me that their kids were like in my wife's class.

Um, I am not a big baseball fan.

I love going to a baseball stadium, uh, a baseball game.

I love the atmosphere of baseball, but I don't stay, you know, up to date with um with baseball.

However, uh my wife at a certain point had a very famous baseball player's son.

And there was also another famous baseball player whose kid went to the school.

Well, I want to tell the story.

One day I was going into the school to pick up my son, and uh a number of our church members' kids went to this particular school.

And so I'm walking around the hallway and I see Carson.

Carson is the son of one of our good friends, and Carson is talking with somebody, and you know, I didn't want to be mean, but I kind of buttered into the conversation, didn't look at the guy he was talking to, and said, Hey Carson, how are you, man?

So good to see you, buddy.

How's your day going?

And we kind of carried on a conversation, and then Carson went back to talk to who he was talking to, and and then I went into my wife's classroom and her teaching aide said, Do you know who that was?

And I was like, Yeah, it's Carson.

Carson goes to our church.

He's great.

Do you know his dad?

His mom works here.

And she said, No, no, no, no, no.

Do you know who he's talking to?

Well, little did I know that guy just won, was a part of the winning World Series team uh that had literally just won the World Series, uh, and he was a very famous player on that team.

I had no idea.

I mean, he's a big strong guy, so it makes sense.

But I had no idea.

I tell you that story just because I think it's so funny.

Um, it does relate to our passage this morning, but I think it's so funny that you know, I wasn't butting in from the kid to talk to the older guy who, you know, has people trying to talk to him all the time, but I was like, hey, hold on a minute.

I'm gonna talk to Carson.

I just think that's hilarious.

So uh this morning in Luke chapter 9, we have a very well-known passage.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

It's the transfiguration of Jesus, as it's aptly known.

And this passage in Luke 9 is one of those moments where the disciples discover who they were looking at was far greater than they may have at first realized.

For months, Peter, James, and John walked alongside Jesus as his disciples.

They ate with him, they slept near him, they watched him get tired, they watched him pray, they watched him to minister to others, they heard him teach, they spent time with Jesus the man.

But on a mountain in our passage, for just a moment, something like a veil is pulled back, and they see Jesus for who he truly is in all his glory.

His face appearance changes, his clothes dazzling white.

He's surrounded by a couple famous individuals from the Old Testament, and clouds encircle them.

And then in the clouds, they hear the Father from heaven speak about their uh his son, their friend.

For just a moment, these three disciples are allowed to see something that has been true the entire time about the person they've been following.

And it's at that moment uh they come to understand that Jesus is far more glorious than he may have normally appeared.

And it's not like they saw a different person on the mountain.

They saw Jesus, but they saw more clearly the Jesus who'd been standing in front of them all along.

And what's what also makes this passage so interesting, the transfiguration passage in Luke chapter 9, beginning in verse 28, is when all of Jesus' glory appears, he is not alone.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

He Moses and Elijah are both there with him.

And you think, okay, what are Moses and Elijah doing there?

And what are they talking about?

Well, they're talking about Jesus' death, which is really interesting.

We're gonna talk a lot about that this morning.

They're standing on a mountain surrounded by glory, and they're talking about a cross in Jerusalem, coming death.

And here's kind of a unique connection here, especially to the previous passage we just talked about, where Jesus identifies himself as the Son of Man from Daniel chapter 7, who must suffer under the hands of the chief priests, the scribes, the religious teachers and leaders.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

He must die and be raised.

So you can imagine the disciples are somewhat perplexed by that and might say, Well, how how do I understand the king of glory suffering like a sinner?

The disciples are soon going to see Jesus rejected, beaten, and crucified.

But before they see him disfigured upon a cross, they're going to see him in this moment transfigured on a mountain for a particular purpose.

A particular purpose, like Jesus sharing who he truly is, and that the plan of God all along was to send his glorious son to die in the place of sinners.

That simply helps Peter, James, and John understand many things, but simply that okay, Jesus' journey to a cross is not the end.

It's the plan of God from before the foundation of the world.

It's the hope of Moses and Elijah, and it's the hope of the world.

Do not mistake the upcoming cross for a defeat, as if the Son of Man won't receive his crown.

That's the point.

This morning, the transfiguration is going to remind us of three important truths.

Number one, who Jesus really is, just like we saw Jesus really is the Son of Man in his earlier comments from last week.

We're going to see how the biblical story finds its fulfillment in the man Jesus and why Jesus stands alone as the person we should all listen to and obey.

I would typically read the entire passage.

It's a long passage.

We just read it together.

So let me pray for us and then we'll walk through it slowly.

God, I do pray this morning that you would give us spiritual insight, Lord, to understand, appreciate, stand in awe of you, and listen to your voice as you've spoken in your scriptures.

God, honestly, I am tired.

But I am so thankful for this morning, for time with your people, time to open your word and study it.

Lord, time to grow closer to you, time to see you together and marvel.

It is in your name we pray, and I do ask, Lord, for your help this morning as I teach your word.

Everybody said, Amen.

Last week I read through verse 27, but I said I would not really speak on what verse 27 meant until this week.

And so I just want to look for a moment back at verse 27.

So if you have Luke 9 in front of you, that's really a part of kind of last week's conversation that Jesus has, but it leads into this week's conversation we're going to have.

So verse 27, but I tell you truly, this is Jesus speaking, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.

All right, so Jesus says that.

Then in our passage, eight days later it says, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a mountain up on a mountain to pray.

And in that time that he takes Peter, James, and John up on a mountain to pray, they see Jesus in his unveiled glory.

So I'd argue, when you think about verse 27, a lot of people who have different thoughts on what exactly Jesus was talking about.

People won't taste death until they see the glory the kingdom of God here.

I would argue that what Jesus was pointing to was the transfiguration soon to come eight days later.

These three disciples, Peter, James, John, are the some standing here who Jesus is speaking of.

And they receive a preview of the coming kingdom before they taste death and of course eventually die.

Now, it's worthy to note that they are not seeing the kingdom in its final, full consummation, the new heavens and new earth, and its entirety that John sees a vision of in Revelation 21 and 22.

But they are seeing the king in his kingdom glory.

There are three things that I want to point out in this passage.

They're in your notes, three main points.

The first is the glory of Jesus.

The glory of Jesus.

I'll walk through the text slowly and make comments.

The glory of Jesus, verses 28 and 29.

Now, about eight days after these sayings, take up your cross and follow me, these sayings.

If anyone wishes to save his life, he'll lose it, lose his life, he'll save it.

After these sayings, he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.

Peter, John, and James could be considered Jesus' inner circle.

Peter becomes, and really is at this point already, like the prominent spokesperson for the 12.

He says what they're all thinking.

He speaks up.

James, the brother of John, becomes one of the earliest apostles to be martyred.

John becomes another major apostolic witness and is repeatedly associated closely with Peter in the book of Acts.

These three are present in particular moments in Jesus' ministry where the rest of the twelve, or I should say the nine, are not.

The raising of Jairus' daughter in Luke chapter 8 that we looked at a few weeks ago, Peter, James, and John.

Luke 8 · chapter mention

Here at the Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John.

And then with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter, James, and John.

If you look at Jesus' ministry, you almost can see there's like almost concentric circles of relationship and ministry around him.

You have the crowds that follow him, that hear his teaching, and are interested in his miracle ministry.

And then if you come in a little bit closer, you have the 72 that he'll send out in Luke chapter 10, and uh and they'll participate in that kingdom mission, but they don't hold like the apostolic office.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

And then there's, of course, the 12, the disciples, the apostles, the specific messengers that are like new representations of, of course, Jesus' messianic people.

Uh they're the restored people of God.

They are 12 intentionally because of the 12 tribes of Israel.

This is Jesus' work here, the continuation of God's work in the world.

And then, of course, he has three amongst the 12 that he brings very, very close.

They have a unique level of access to Jesus' life and his ministry.

So Jesus ministered to everyone.

He discipled many.

He invested deeply in a few, but he brought three in close.

He gave a particular opportunity to them.

Jesus loved his disciples, but he did not spend the same amount of time with all of them.

He did not disclose everything with every one.

In fact, he didn't even give the same responsibilities necessarily to each and every one of them in particular occasions.

So I just say that this is not the point of the message, but it's just worth noting.

This is similar and practical and makes sense for pastoral ministry, personal discipleship, and our own circles of influence in life and relationship.

A pastor may preach to hundreds, disciple dozens, lead a smaller group closely, and then bring in a few that just trusted advisors, encouragers, people that walk with him in life.

Church members, we can all be in a big group serving with one another, a part of one church family.

But there might be a few you kind of bring into an inner circle who pray for you, who know you closely.

You should have someone that knows you closely and you share more with than you would share with everyone.

That's okay.

In some ways, that's not that'll not only just make sense, but that's in some ways also ministry modeled by Jesus.

That's not the point of the message, but I do want to point that out.

Because you'll see these three with Jesus.

Let's look at what happens in the text.

Verse 29, as he was praying on the mountain with Peter, James, and John, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.

Up to this point, Jesus' divine glory has been largely uh veiled beneath ordinary humanity.

Who is this Jesus?

Is the repeated question in chapters 8 and chapter 9.

But for a brief moment, these three are allowed to see something of the majesty and the beauty that belongs to King Jesus.

Now, let's be clear.

This is not Jesus like receiving glory, it's God the Father, God the Son revealing glory.

You might think of like um like a curtain being pulled back.

If you're at a play or a show before the play, you sit and you stare at a big red, big purple, big black curtain.

And once the show begins, the curtain opens up and you see what was already there the whole time.

It was just veiled.

It looked like a normal stage.

But behind it, once the curtain opens, you see that there's rivers and then there's uh a unique land far away that's green.

There's a yellow road that goes on the way there, or whatever show you might think of.

It was there all along.

In the same way, Jesus and the transfiguration does not turn into something he wasn't five minutes earlier.

Uh the curtains pulled back, the disciples are allowed to see something of the glory that already belongs to him.

So the transfiguration is not Jesus becoming more glorious, it's the disciples seeing who Jesus is in all his glory.

Jesus is the glorious Son of God.

Well, let's talk about his mission.

Number two, the mission of Jesus.

We'll spend a lot of time here.

And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

There is a lot in those two verses.

Who are Moses and Elijah?

Why are they there?

Well, in Israel's past, Moses and Elijah played particular and particularly important roles.

We won't go into all the details of that, but you can think of the Old Testament and how Moses and Elijah had both encountered God on a mountain.

They both experienced extraordinary miracles and manifestations of God's work, and they were central figures in Israel's history.

But more than that, Moses and Elijah, Elijah both like together represent the Old Testament story.

Moses, the law, Elijah, prophets, the prophetic tradition.

And so I would argue together they sum up Moses and Elijah, what Jesus elsewhere calls the law and the prophets.

We have the Old Testament expectation seen in Moses' longing, Elijah's prophesying.

Moses and Elijah stand before and beside Jesus.

But soon the Father is going to single Jesus out.

That is to say, the whole Old Testament story encapsulated in Moses and Elijah present there with Jesus points toward the one that will remain standing when they're gone.

The only one worthy of our worship.

Back to the text.

Moses and Elijah spoke of his departure.

They're with him.

They speak of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Now Peter and those who are with him were heavy asleep, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.

Luke uniquely tells us what they were discussing was Jesus' departure.

And this word in the Greek is Exodus.

The Greek word translated departure is Exodus.

That is very intentional.

Because just as Moses, the one with him, led God's people through the first Exodus, and we think about the first Exodus, deliverance from the city of man and slavery and bondage, evil power, deliver them safely through God's wrath, eventually being poured out on those that would chase after them to persecute them and who had been persecuting them, safely because of blood, the blood of a lamb, delivering them from the wrath of God, and then toward a new and greater land to come where God would dwell with them, his presence in the tabernacle amongst them.

They would worship and fellowship together around God.

The first Exodus.

Well, Moses speaks to Jesus about his second Exodus.

Moses knows here that there's a second Exodus coming.

Elijah prophesied about the coming Messiah.

Jesus is about to accomplish the greater Exodus through his death, resurrection, and ultimately ascension.

As Exodus, the former prefigure.

Jesus has been sent, follow me, by Yahweh to deliver us from the bondage of sin and death.

Just as Yahweh sent Moses to his people.

Jesus will deliver us from the wrath of God by the blood of the Lamb.

He will be the Lamb himself.

We will not have to find a lamb, he will be the Lamb.

Jesus will endure increased persecution and then die, shedding his own blood.

And we who follow him will also endure persecution as he has just mentioned.

From people who say, No, we don't want your people to worship you.

And Jesus will ultimately lead us safely to the other side, to an eternal land of his presence, where sin and death is no more, where we will sing the song of celebration in the new Jerusalem to come.

And you know what?

You read Revelation, they sing the song of Moses.

They being the people held safe through the wrath of God with God in the end.

Just like God's people led safely through the Red Sea on dry ground on the other side after wrath is poured out, they sing together, thank you, God, for your salvation.

I'll read Revelation 15, the song of Moses.

John says, And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire, and also those who had conquered the beast in its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands, and they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.

Saying, Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord, God the Almighty, just and true are your ways, O King of the nations.

The Son of Man, who's the King of the nations.

Daniel 7.

Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name, for you alone are holy.

All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.

He's there with Moses, Moses, and Elijah.

And just as the first Exodus delivered Israel from Pharaoh, the second, Jesus' Exodus, delivers his persecuted people in the city of man from sin, death, judgment, for life eternal, enjoying the presence of God in the city of God.

And again, this will be all accomplished, accomplished through what's about to happen in Jerusalem.

That's the text.

This is what they're talking about.

Which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem, verse 31.

So how does the Exodus, the, the hope of Christian life, eternity come to be?

Well, what happens at Jerusalem?

See, Jesus' death is not merely something that just like happens to him, it's his plan that he intends to accomplish, that he is now speaking with Moses and Elijah, that they long for.

Remember before the transfiguration in our text, the last week, Jesus said the Son of Man must suffer, must die, and will be raised.

Peter just learned the Son of Man, the Messiah, must suffer.

So now Jesus with Moses and Elijah is saying, Yes, I must.

I still am the glorious son that you have longed for.

And the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah, they recognized me.

They were pointing toward me.

They're with me as I look forward to what I came to do, as I came to deliver my people, as I came to be the prophet Moses spoke about, as I came to be the Savior, as I came to be the Lamb, as I came for you.

This is the Old Testament hope.

Moses and Elijah's hope.

Picture this.

One scholar said, On this mountain, Jesus' clothes are dazzling white.

At Calvary, they will strip his clothes from him.

Here his face radiates glory, but there his face will be struck and mocked.

Here Moses and Elijah stand beside him.

There criminals will hang beside him.

Here the Father declares Jesus his son.

There people mock him, saying, If you are the Son of God.

And yet it's the same Jesus who will go to a cross and be crowned as the glorious Son of God He is.

The cross is not an evidence that Jesus stopped being glorious or could not continue in ministry because people were just too powerful.

The cross is how he accomplishes the salvation he came to bring.

Remember the biblical pattern we looked at last week?

Before glory, suffering, before a crown, a cross, before exaltation, humiliation.

This is the plan of God.

This is known by Jesus.

The pattern applies first to Christ and will to every Christian who follows after him.

Luke 9, 23.

For whoever wishes to follow after me must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

I'm going to Jerusalem.

To follow me is to give your life.

I say that because if you look back in our text, you see that Peter hasn't fully understood yet.

Peter says, Master, it is good that we are here.

Let us make three tents.

Let's not go anywhere.

Let's stay here.

You know, Peter wants to enjoy being in Jesus' glorious presence.

Who wouldn't want that?

He still just has not fully understood that the Son of Man must suffer so that he might enjoy glory.

So that Peter might enjoy the presence of God forever.

So he's like, hold on, let's have this now.

Jesus is trying to show him no, no, for this must come that.

I must accomplish something.

Peter wants to stay on the mountain of glory.

Jesus knows salvation must come by a hill on Calvary.

Number three, the supremacy of Jesus.

The supremacy of Jesus.

As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

And a voice came out of the cloud saying, This is my son, my chosen one, listen to him.

And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone, and they kept silent and told no one in those days about anything of what they had seen.

What's going on with the cloud?

Well, throughout the Old Testament, the cloud signals the presence of God.

Cloud is kind of the picture of the presence of God amongst his people.

I mean, think about it for a moment.

Exodus chapter 13, where uh God leads his people headed to the Red Sea, away from the Egyptians, pillar of fire and a cloud by day.

Exodus 13 · chapter mention

And then think of Mount Sinai in Exodus 19, the powerful presence of God, where the people of God stand in fear and they say, Moses, you go.

A cloud on top of a mountain.

The tabernacle, where in Exodus chapter 40, a cloud covers the tabernacle, signaling the presence of God amongst his people.

Exodus 40 · chapter mention

Or in 1 Kings, when the whole inner sanctuary of the temple is filled with smoke, and the priests have to leave because there's just the powerful presence of God there.

The cloud represents the manifest presence and the glory of God.

Now, I might say this scene deliberately like resembles Sinai.

Just as the presence of God was on a mountain there.

And God spoke to Moses.

And Moses wrote God's word, uh, or Moses, sorry, had God's word on stone.

Now you have Jesus on a mountain.

There is a cloud, the presence of God signaling, okay, here's the Lord.

And now you have the very word of God, not on stone, but the word of God, the Son.

On the mountain in the Old Testament, Moses enters the cloud to receive God's revelation.

Now in the New Testament, the disciples enter the cloud and God reveals his son.

This is my son, my chosen one.

Listen to him.

The word of God, no longer written on a stone, the word of God now revealed as his son, whose words will eventually be written on our hearts.

Hebrews chapter one.

He is the radiance of the glory of God in the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

And the Father said of says of his son, This is my son, my chosen one.

Listen to him.

This brings up multiple Old Testament passages.

Psalm 27, You are my son, the royal David, Messiah, the Son.

Isaiah 42, 1, Behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one.

Anticipating a chosen one to be sent from the Father.

Deuteronomy 18, 15, the Lord your God will raise up for you, Moses speaks, a prophet like me, it is him.

To him you shall listen.

Moses spoke about a coming day, there would be a greater prophet, and the Father now speaks with Moses gone.

He's here.

Listen to his words.

They're my words.

Jesus is greater than Moses.

Jesus is the glorious Son of God.

Now, again, don't separate this too much from Luke chapter 9, because it's just eight days after Jesus said the Son of Man must suffer.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

He'll be rejected, he will die, he will rise, and his disciples must take up their crosses.

The disciples understandably struggle with this.

Then God confirms Jesus was saying rightly when he said he must suffer.

Then God confirms Jesus' words by saying, Yes, he must do that.

Yes, you will follow after him and suffer as well.

This is my son.

Listen to him.

Tune your ear to what's coming.

Follow him.

Believe every word he says.

Listen to him.

And then the most powerful detail, it seems like it's almost at the end, verse 36.

When the voice had spoken, Jesus is alone.

Moses and Elijah are gone.

It's just Jesus there.

Think about it.

Moses disappears, Elijah disappears, Jesus remains.

The law mattered.

The prophets mattered.

Moses mattered.

Elijah mattered.

But their role was to point to someone beyond themselves.

They had a particular role used of God to prepare people, to point people to the hope of the world, who is Jesus the Son.

Moses points to Jesus, Elijah points to Jesus, the Father points to Jesus, the glory rests upon Jesus.

And now when the cloud clears, Jesus remains.

He alone is worthy for your attention.

He alone is worthy of your allegiance.

He is the plan of God for sinners.

He will suffer in our stead.

He is the Son of Man who will be raised in glory.

As you've seen him, glorious.

And he is the hope of all who would turn away from their sin and turn to trust in him.

That they may enjoy that glory that Peter wanted to sit in, not in a tent, but in the new heavens and new earth forever.

I began this morning just by talking about the transfiguration like a veil being pulled back.

Peter, James, and John get to see Jesus like they'd never seen him before.

They see Jesus in all his glory.

Peter understandably thinks we should stay here.

But Jesus must go down from the mountain and die.

You must go.

Without his death and without denying yourself, taking him to cross daily, and following him, the disciples, and us as well, we will not be able to see the glory that is to come that was revealed briefly on that mountain.

Jesus is preparing him, them, for his death and for their death as well.

Suffering comes before glory, both for Jesus and for all who follow after him.

So see Jesus and listen to Jesus.

All of his words.

All of his word.

When you don't understand, listen.

When obedience is hard, listen.

When people leave, listen.

When suffering grows, listen.

Because the glorious one they saw a preview of is the promised sun coming back, so that we might enjoy that glory forever.

Our resting place will be with him, not in tents on a mountain, but in the new heavens and new earth.

And no amount of suffering that we encounter because of our following after him is worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to us as well.

Not even close.