"Four Lessons From The Transfiguration" by Neal Pollard

Good morning.

I appreciate Josh's reading. This account is found

in 3 of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and I want us to

examine another of the Gospel records on

this very event.

Matthew says, and after 6 days Jesus took

with him Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain

by themselves. And Jesus was transfigured

before them, and His face shone like the sun,

and His clothes were as white as the light.

And there appeared Moses and Elijah unto them,

speaking to Him. And when

Peter saw this, he said to Jesus,

Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, let us build

3 tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one

for Elijah. And while he was still speaking, a bright cloud

overshadowed them, and behold, a voice spoke

from the cloud, saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am

well pleased. Listen to him.

And when they heard this, they fell on their faces,

and they were very afraid. And Jesus came

and he touched them and he said, arise and do not be

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

Jesus only. And as they went down the mountain,

Jesus said, see to it that you tell no one this

vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.

And the disciples answered and said unto him, Why then do the scribes

say that Elijah must first come? And Jesus said,

indeed Elijah is coming, and he will restore all things. But I say

unto you that Elijah has come, and they did not

recognize him, and they did to him whatever they wished.

And the disciples understood that he spoke to them of

John the Baptist. As we read there in Matthew chapter 17,

Matthew 17:1

verse 1 through verse 13, I want us to set it between the

2 significant events that are around One

is the teaching that Jesus did up on Caesarea Philippi,

Matthew 16:13-28, on the one hand.

Matthew 16:13–28

And then after this, immediately after the words that we just saw,

there is the healing that Jesus does of one that Matthew calls a

lunatic, a demon-possessed man which his apostles could

not exorcise. On the one side there in

Matthew 16, we see Jesus make

4 incredible prophecies. Number 1, I will

establish my church. Number 2,

I will endow you, the apostles, with the authority to go

out and teach the gospel of the kingdom. Number 3,

I will endure the cross and I will experience

the resurrection. And then number 4, I will enable you

to be my followers, my disciples, and at the

end of life, if you faithfully do this, you shall receive a reward.

Now, as a part of that 4th promise that we see there,

there is a statement that's made, Matthew 16:27,

Matthew 16:27

where Jesus says that you will see the Son of Man come

in the glory of his Father on that occasion. Matthew 16:27.

Matthew 16:27

Glory is a word that Matthew likes to use in his gospel.

We're going to find it 8 times from the beginning to the end of

the gospel. And glory is one of those words that was already being

used for some time by secular Greek writers. And as they

wrote about this word, it meant brightness. It meant radiance. It meant

something that stood out. But as so often is the case,

what you'll find is that the New Testament takes a word already

in use and will elevate it. And this word came

to be associated with God and who God is.

God himself is being in his word a brightness that goes

beyond anything else that could be compared to it, a brilliant, that stands

out. In fact, most of the occurrences of

the word glory in Matthew are in some way applied to God himself in

some way. It is glory in the nature of God,

for example, in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 13, at the end of the

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

model prayer, when Jesus says, for yours is the kingdom and the power

and the glory forever. There is this

idea we have just seen in Matthew 16 and verse 27, where the Son of

Man is going to come in the glory of God. His Father at

the second coming. And then in Matthew chapter 19 and verse 28,

Matthew 19 · chapter mention

Jesus says that the Son of Man was going to sit on his glorious

throne in the regeneration. That is referring to the end of

time again. And then in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 30, we have Jesus

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

as he speaks and he says that the Son of Man is going to come

in his glory in the destruction of Jerusalem in judgment.

Matthew 24 and verse 30, And then in a parable

pointing us to the end of time, we have those words,

when the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the

holy angels with him, then will he sit upon his glorious throne,

Matthew 25:31. And so with each one

Matthew 25:31

of these references, we have this picture that is then illustrated

in Matthew chapter 17. The word glory is not found there, but it's

Matthew 17 · chapter mention

in evidence. It's in full view. On the other side of that, we have

glory implied. As you have the apostles that

have gone up with Jesus in Matthew 17 coming down, and the other apostles are

trying to perform this exorcism, this removal of this

one that is possessed, this boy, and the disciples couldn't do

it. And Jesus comes along. It's a one-off. It never occurs

any other time in Scripture. And Jesus demonstrates his ability to do

what no one else can do. Glory, as it is mentioned,

as it is illustrated, and as it's implied.

But it's that center event that I want us to draw some lessons

from this morning. There was a unique way

in which Matthew 17 and the transfiguration affected

those 3 apostles. But believe there are some things that we

can learn as we strive to serve that Jesus, the Jesus that

we commemorated around the Lord's Supper, physical suffering

in his body on the cross. The Jesus that we adore and

we worship, the Jesus whose blood saves and purchases us from our

sins, the Jesus whom we long to serve and to be reunited

with someday. I want us to think about 4 things we learn from

this event that can help us in that pursuit. The first thing

I think that we learn as we look at these events is that you need

to build on what you know. This is a more general observation

of what we see in the text that we have already read. When you

think about Peter, James, and John,

they're going with Jesus up on this incredible experience.

No day like this day. But this wasn't their first

day with him. These are the individuals, along with

the others, that Jesus called who had been walking with him for about 3 years,

and they had heard his teaching. It's masterful. They had seen his

works. Incredible. But nothing prepared them

for what they were going to see on this day.

And I want you to think about the fact that as Jesus is walking with

them, is mentoring them and trying to get them to grow, they had

had some great successes. They'd also had some terrible failures.

You know, the growth curve doesn't work like this, does it? Spiritually speaking,

we're not just better today than we were yesterday. Hopefully in the long term,

that's what we're going for. But if we were to chart it, it would be

more like this. I do some things well. I follow Christ.

I look more like him, and then I fall back, and I'm struggling once again.

And the disciples are just like that. They have been sitting

and listening to Jesus. They've been processing his will, and when

he gets it right, he acknowledges that, but then he also says,

well, you need to grow. You know, but the thing I want you to

keep in mind as you see all that Jesus does, even on this occasion,

is that Jesus Jesus is so patient with them.

Keep in mind that he understands our frame. He knows that we're but dust.

He knows that we've still got a lot to learn. The apostles,

even after this occasion, are going to have to be taught so much more.

I think about in Acts chapter 1, after they walked with Jesus and he's about

Acts 1 · chapter mention

to ascend to heaven, after it's all done, his earthly ministry,

their last question to him is, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom

to Israel? They still were learning. And I want you to

notice how Matthew kind of shows us that through the gospel and how so

often they needed Jesus to teach them a lesson after they've seen something incredible.

In Matthew chapter 8, for example, in verse 26, there's a storm

Matthew 8 · chapter mention

on the Sea of Galilee and they are so afraid.

And remember, some of these are seasoned fishermen. And Jesus,

in his reply when they wake him up, is, You men of little

faith, why are you afraid? Jesus is

in the boat, but it's more than that. Go back a few verses

earlier that day in Matthew chapter 8 and verse 16. They were witnesses

Matthew 8 · chapter mention

and they saw as Jesus healed many who were demon-possessed

and all who were ill. Go forward a little bit in time and

then Peter, one of these 3, is wanting to walk on the

Sea of Galilee. And as he walks, he takes his eyes off of Jesus and

he begins to sink. And you remember Jesus' statement in Matthew chapter 14 and verse

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

31 is, you of little faith, why did

you doubt? Now, this is right moments

after they had been there. And you remember John tells us

that Andrew finds a little boy with the 5 loaves and the 2 fish,

and out of that Jesus makes a meal for 5,000

men. And he is one of the ones who's collecting 12 baskets of leftovers.

He has just seen that. Matthew 14:19 through 21,

Matthew 14:19–21

and he fails so soon thereafter.

Or just a week before, Caesarea Philippi, Matthew 16:8,

Matthew 16:8

Jesus tells them to beware of the leaven of the Sadducees and

the Pharisees, and they begin to talk among themselves, and Jesus says, you of little

faith, why are you discussing among yourselves that you have no bread?

And so, all the way through, Jesus is demonstrating

to them that they still had so much to learn. As long

as we are in Christ, we're going to continue to

strive and to grow and to mature,

and he understands that. I want you to think about what one

of these men said late in his life after

he had walked with Jesus so long, and he tells him in that last letter

that he writes, 2 Peter, that the Lord's told him he's about to have to

fold this body of clay. He's about to do what he had promised, and he's

going to no longer be among them. And Peter writes, Grace and peace

be unto you, and the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,

according as his divine power has given unto us

everything we need for life and godliness, through the knowledge

of him who called us by his own glory and virtue, whereby are given unto

us exceedingly great and precious promises, that by these

you might be made partakers of the divine nature, having escaped

the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside all this, Giving all

diligence, or devotion, add to your faith virtue, and to

virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to

patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

For if these things be in you and abound, or increase,

they shall make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge

of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But he who lacks these things is

blind and cannot see afar off and has forgotten that he was purged from

his old sins, Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling

and election sure. For if you do these things, you shall

never fall. For so an entrance shall be given unto you into the everlasting kingdom

of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:2-11.

2 Peter 1:2–11

And then he comes at the end of the letter and he says, wherefore,

seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in him in

peace, having no spot and blameless, and account the longsuffering

of our Lord salvation. As also our dear beloved

Paul, according to the wisdom that has been given unto him, has written unto

you, in which are some things hard to be understood, which those

that are unlearned and unstable twist, as they do the rest of the Scripture,

to their own destruction. And you, seeing that you know these things before,

be diligent that you do not fall according to the

error of the wicked and fall from your own steadfastness,

but grow in in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus

Christ, to whom be glory now and forever. Amen.

2 Peter 3:14-18. And here's what I want you to see,

2 Peter 3:14–18

that there is a difference. There is a difference between the

one who is growing and adding these graces to

their life and the one who has forgotten these things and has been blinded to

these things. And there's a difference in the one who is growing in the

grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the one who either teaches

a distorted message or believes a distorted message and falls

away. And our Lord sees the difference.

As we think on what's happening here, Peter, James, and John,

they're given an incredible lesson in an incredible classroom that

we're going to see more about here in just a few moments. And it's just

more for them as fodder to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ.

The longer that you serve Jesus, I believe the

more you'll find that we're never experienced enough, we're never mature enough

and spiritual enough to say that we've learned everything we needed

to know, that we have arrived at the place that we want to be,

that we never will be at the place where we don't have new

challenges to overcome, where we're never at the spot where everything

is as it should be. And so as we see these men,

this inner circle called out for this special ministry,

That they are called to build on what they know,

and that was going to continue for the rest of their lives. And it

is for you and me that way. You know, as I look out here,

I realize that there are those who have been Christians literally

for days, some for months, some for years,

and some for many decades. But all

of us have that in common, that we're at a place where we need to

be building on what we've already accumulated, and we're never satisfied.

We're always wanting to learn more about him and his word,

and that's what we learn up on the mountain. But then number 2,

we learn from this that we need to see Jesus as he is.

I think about these men, and of all the people who

would have had exposure to Jesus, don't you think that these

men had an insight into Jesus that others didn't?

They knew the lines on his face, no doubt, walking so closely with him.

They knew his voice inflection. They knew his sense of

humor. They knew his personality.

The relationship had to be comfortable and familiar, even though

he was perpetually amazing them. But with all of that,

there's nothing to prepare them for what they see up

on the mountain. And Matthew explains it to us that Jesus

is transfigured before them. A metamorphosis,

like the caterpillar to a butterfly. Something different is seen,

and it is described by Matthew as changed. Jesus is

changed in front of them. What does that change look like?

Well, it says that his face shined like the sun.

But in addition to that, his clothes are made as white as the light.

And Mark comments on this in Mark 9:2, and he says it is brighter

Mark 9:2

than any launderer can make white. Make it bright. And so,

they get a view of Jesus like they haven't seen him before.

They had been hungry with him.

They had been tired. They had just seen him fall asleep

in the boat. They saw the emotions, the ups

and downs that he experienced like they did, but what they see

is something different here. This is set off for

us by Matthew by saying, behold, a marker for an unexpected

event. It's like you weren't expecting this to come at all.

It's more amplified by the bright cloud

that overshadows them. Luke says that it envelops them. Can you

imagine? You know, God had revealed himself through the cloud

throughout history. He revealed himself in the cloud in

the Exodus— in the wilderness rather, in Exodus 13:21.

Exodus 13:21

He had revealed himself at the tabernacle in Exodus 40:34.

Exodus 40:34

He had revealed himself like this at the temple in 1 Kings

1 Kings 8:10–11

8:10-11. It's incredibly different

from what they had seen day by day.

You know, we're in the last phase. We're in the maximum phase of

Solar Cycle 25. From what I understand,

I know very little about these sorts of things, but there's an 11-year cycle,

and in that there's solar magnetic activity, and there's sunspots

and anomalies that can happen. And last year was

when it peaked. And I don't have social media, but Kathy shares

it with me. Everybody's taking their pictures. You remember because

of that solar magnetic activity,

unlike in our lifetime at least,

that you could go out at night and take your camera and you would

see different hues of pink and red and green and purple,

what they typically call the Northern Lights.

Did you see it? Did you go out and were you able to see that?

And I thought, this far south? But then

I did some research. Did you know that they saw the Northern Lights in Haiti,

in Singapore? There were reports of it at

the equator. You can't get any further south than that, at least in the Northern

Hemisphere. People who could look up and see what

was— the sun's always had that kind of energy. It's always

got that kind of power. But God, through his providence,

allowed the curtains to be pulled back, and we could see it as it really

is. And I think about how incredible. And I

think sometimes these discoveries come because man grows more sophisticated,

and we have our own technologies. We now have AI and all the incredible

things that it can do. And then God will show us in some way to

say, look, you can't do what I can do. And NASA

has been sending us back the Hubble Telescope,

incredible pictures that we've been able to derive from that. But NASA's been sending

back pictures from the James Webb Telescope.

Unlike anything that's been seen before. This is not an

adequate representation of a picture of the— at

that time, this was in 2022, and the pictures keep coming. They're not declassifying

all of them at the same time, but this is the farthest point in the

universe that man has ever seen. And somewhere in

the bottom third of that, there is a cluster galaxy,

and that cluster galaxy serves as a magnifying glass.

And those who are able to look in with specialized lens say that there are

much more distant galaxies back behind it. And as the,

the, the, the imagery keeps coming in, the glory is compounding.

It's there. You know, it was there 100 years ago when technology had

not caught up with what we can now see. That was still

God's magnitude of his greatness. And now

we see it. Oh, how good God is to allow us in our

lifetime to to be able to put our eyes on what people have accepted by

faith. But here's the thing, Peter,

James, and John are up on the

mountain with the one who created

all of that. And what impact did

that have on them? Hey, John, did that affect you at all?

Understated. The Word became flesh and

dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory,

glory as of the Father, full of grace and

truth. John 1:14, hey Peter, did that affect you at

John 1:14

all? Huh. Yes, we heard the voice out of the majestic

glory saying, this is my beloved

Son in whom I'm well pleased. And we

saw this glory when we heard the voice,

for we were with him on the holy mountain.

Now let me ask you, God's glory doesn't change,

but what does change is us. Hebrews 13:8 says,

Hebrews 13:8

Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever,

but we change. It's such a beautiful truth that

as I think even in this room today, there are some whose view of

Jesus has changed. Jesus went from a myth to

a man to a great teacher to something profoundly

more. Hey, Jesus went from not just a man

but the Son of Man. That Jesus went from

being something that's important to someone that's important to us,

like a spouse or a parent or a friend, to being important

to us. Being able to see

Jesus as he is provides the dividing line

in me seeing him as I prefer to see him and how I might want

to keep him and how he is in truth. And God through his word has

thrown open the window so we can see it.

And it is who he is. Yes, he was robed in the

flesh. It was so beautifully said in the prayer this morning. But in addition to

that, he is the pre-incarnate word. In the beginning was the word, and the word

was with God, and the word was God. John 1:1-2. Hebrews 1:1-3

John 1:1–2 Hebrews 1:1–3

gives us just an equally bright picture. Now listen, Matthew in this description

gives us 4 words for our Lord. That first of all,

he is Jesus, God saves. That second, he is Lord.

He's master. He's the one in charge. The Father validates him by

saying, this is my beloved Son. And Jesus,

his favorite designation for himself is Son of Man. This allows

him to demonstrate or to point out his humanity and his empathy

with humanity. But not only that, it's a nod to Daniel

Daniel 7:13

7:13 where he is seen to be the Messiah whose

glory was going to come after his suffering, and it allows Jesus

to define himself on his terms and not on the way other people wanted to

identify him. And that's where we find ourselves as

we're traveling with him up on that mountain today, is to see Jesus

as he is. Yes, lowly in the manger.

Yes, one who can experience and understand everything we're going

through, Hebrews 4:15, but the one who is from

Hebrews 4:15

everlasting to everlasting, God the Son,

who will one day be the one who stands in judgment, but the one

who has been the one who has died for our sins. But then

lesson number 3 is we need to let God clarify mistaken

views of Jesus.

I love Luke's account that we read this morning. Can you blame Peter?

Apparently they were all asleep. And can you imagine waking

up to what you see here? There's Moses and Elijah

that they can somehow readily identify. And then here's Jesus who

they've been walking with for 3 years, but man, he looks different now with this,

this transformation that God has allowed. And Mark 9:6

Mark 9:6

says, and Peter didn't know what to say, but when did that ever stop Peter

from saying something? And so Peter, in response to that, I think has

something great to say. I think he has so much right

here. He's right. It was good for them to be

there, and it was right for him to want to honor Jesus.

And he does recognize, man, these are 3 of the greatest individuals

who have ever lived, the greatest teachers of all time.

And so he just wants to help. He wants to serve. He wants to step

up. But the Father has a counterproposal for

him. Instead of rolling up his sleeves and stepping forward to be the party

planner, God says, step back and let Jesus

tell you what he wants. You let him be the one who

sets the tone. And to make sure that we're clear on that,

suddenly we see that Elijah and Moses disappear and

it's just Jesus. And the Father is showing us, this is the final communicator

of my will. And so you're to listen to him.

So often as we encounter people, they have a mistaken view of

Christ, but so often that happens with us. He's not just here to

bless us. And give us a comfortable life here. He is not one that we

can form and shape to our will and how we want to serve him on

our terms. The Father speaks throughout all of that

and he says, listen to him. Let the

wicked man forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return

to the Lord and he will have mercy on him, and to our God and

he will abundantly pardon him. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your

ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my thoughts— my ways than your ways and my thoughts than your

thoughts. God says,

clear up your mistaken view of my Son and

listen to him, which is the last lesson I think we learn. Listen to him.

Now, I want to focus on the part we don't typically look at as we

get ready to draw this lesson to a close. The last thing

they hear the Father say, the only thing they hear the Father say is,

this is my beloved Son. Listen to him. And then they are still on

this experience coming down the mountain, and Jesus is going

to talk to them. First thing we see is that Jesus commands them.

He audibilizes. He says, see to it that you tell no one the vision,

this vision. It is a vision, but a glorious one,

until the Son of Man is raised from the dead. Matthew doesn't

tell us why Jesus says that. Maybe it is because there's this heavenly timetable,

and Jesus wants to be in control of that. That he wants to control the

flow of information as to who he is.

I don't know if they understood it. They don't seem to argue back.

But aren't we confronted so often with Jesus commanding us something that

maybe we don't see the rationale to that? Maybe we don't appreciate why it is

that he says what he says. And yet,

as the Father would say, this is my beloved Son. Listen to him.

Here's what we know. He's faithful and he's trustworthy.

Hebrews 10:23. But then Jesus instructs

Hebrews 10:23

them. Now here in verses 10 through 13, we, we have them

turning their focus as they understand that this is all in this picture

that Jesus has been trying to help them to see, that he is going to

suffer and die. He says it 4 times from Matthew 16:21 through Matthew

Matthew 16:21 Matthew 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20 and verse 19. The Son of Man is going to He's going to

die, and he's going to be raised from the dead. And maybe they can't hear

the raised from the dead part because it's so traumatic to think of

their Savior, their teacher who's about to be taken

away from them. But when he says, don't tell this vision

until the Son of Man is raised from the dead, they go, well, why do

the scribes say that Elijah must first come? Jesus is

then going to explain to them that everything is happening according

to the heavenly plan.

Malachi 3:10 says that Elijah must first come before

Malachi 3:10

the great and terrible day of the Lord. Think about Moses and Elijah

there for just a moment. It was Moses in Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 18:15

18:15 who said that there is going to be a prophet like

me raised up from among you, from your own countrymen. You are to listen

to him. Malachi 4:5 says that this Elijah

Malachi 4:5

was coming. Jesus had already been teaching this in Matthew 11:14,

Matthew 11:14

and then that he was going to suffer many things. And of course,

by the time this happens, Jesus would tell us— Matthew would tell us

that John the Baptist has already been beheaded by Herod,

Matthew 14:1-12. And so Jesus

Matthew 14:1–12

is instructing them, and they get it. They put it together. Verse 13,

And then he says, the Son of Man is about to suffer at

their hands. I think the Father says,

listen to Jesus, and gives them this glorious moment, at least

in point— in part because of what's about to happen.

They see Jesus transformed and changed in front of them,

shining so brightly, bright as the sun,

and in just a few weeks, Jesus is going to be arrested.

He's going to be led away. He's not even going to resist. He's not going

to fight. And he is going to endure horrible things

in front of them. They're going to see it. And it's

going to have to be hard for them to appreciate that the Jesus on

the mountain is the man that's in front of them. In fact, they're so affected

by this in a negative way that Matthew 26:56 tells us

Matthew 26:56

that they're all going to forsake him and flee. Now, John is going to be

spotted at the foot of the cross, and as he's there, he's going to look

up at Jesus, and what's he going to see? He is going to see a

bleeding man with a crown on his head.

He's going to see him fastened to a tree. He is going to see him

able to push himself up just to get a breath before he sinks back down,

and slowly over 6 hours, he dies.

Is John trying to reconcile what he saw on the mountain with

what's in front of his eyes? And think about this. Here is Jesus who,

according to the Gospel writers, 3 different times calls out

to the Father. He speaks to him. And we do

have the darkness, and we do have the ripping of the temple

veil. We do have the earthquake. But what we don't have is

what Jesus is had said at his baptism and

what the apostles hear on the Mount of Transfiguration. Do you think if

there was a single moment in Jesus's life when he wanted

all to know that he is the Father's Son, would it have

been in that moment? And yet no

voice.

So often the will and the teaching of Jesus doesn't fit our presuppositions,

our preferences, our purposes.

Sometimes we don't understand what Jesus says,

and more often we may understand it, but we don't like it.

But in all of those moments, the impact of that statement,

this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased, hear him.

Cause us to look at the cross while

not forgetting the mountain where

he was changed and we saw him as he really is. And it's incredible to

me, isn't it, that there's a contrast up on that mountain?

I would have loved to have been able to hear that, I guess. I don't

know. I think I'd have been just like Peter, James, and John. I would have

fallen on my face. I would have been afraid. But what would it

have been? To have heard the voice. What would the voice of

the Father sound like as he says what he says?

Here's that magnificence, this omnipotence.

And then there's Jesus, all God,

but he comes up and

he touches them and he reassures them.

Arise and do not be afraid. Don't you love how Matthew

loves to do this? He uses this idea of touch throughout

the Gospel of Matthew. He touches the leper, the unclean one, in Matthew 8:3.

Matthew 8:3

He touches one of his dearer friends, Peter's mother-in-law,

in healing her, Matthew 8:15.

Matthew 8:15

He touched— or actually, the hemorrhaging woman, she takes it on

herself and she touches him in Matthew 9:20-21.

Matthew 9:20–21

And then you have the 2 blind men that Jesus touches in

Matthew chapter 9 and verse 23. And you have all those sick in Matthew 14

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

and verse 36 whom Jesus touches. Then you have 2 more blind men in

Matthew chapter 20 and verse 34 whom Jesus touches.

Matthew 20 · chapter mention

And the compassion and the love and the empathy

that that shows allows

us to put it all together.

And to hear him say,

come unto me, all you who are weary

and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn of me,

for I am meek and lowly in heart,

and you can find— you will find Rest to

your souls. Who offers the rest?

The one who knows everything we're going through, Hebrews 4:15,

Hebrews 4:15

and the one who is pictured for us as he is,

God who came down.

And you hear what he says? Come to me and

I'll give you rest. He wants to,

and he's able.

Maybe you need to make that decision to make him what

he is anyway in your life, Lord.

God's made him Lord and Christ. If we understand

that, we're going to be just like the folks on Pentecost, and we're going to

say, men and brethren, what shall we do? And the answer hasn't

changed. Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ,

for the forgiveness of sins. That's an opportunity we're going to afford you if

you want to take advantage of it publicly as Mike is about to lead us

in a song. If you're ready to make that decision, don't put it off.

Make him Lord as he is, not on your terms, but as he reveals himself

in scripture. And maybe as a child of God, you've stumbled, you've fallen away,

you've forgotten those things, and you need to return to the shepherd

and the guardian of your souls. Maybe that's a need you have today. We want

to throw our arms around you and pray with you and for you as a

child of God. If we can do that, we would love to even right

now as we stand and sing.