Matthew 17 • The Mountain of the King
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(This transcript was prepared using software tools and has not been reviewed for complete accuracy.)
Glorious worship from our musicians.
All the more appropriate for our passage today, which is part of the great glory of God on display, Matthew 17, Matthew chapter 17. If you saw the title of today's message, you'll see it's called "The Mountain of the King,"
which may sound like something from Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings."
There is a Lord and there is a mountain, but it's a very different Lord.
We'll look at verses 1 through 9, though I'll cover more of the chapter as we go, but here is where the display of the Lord's glory is not only so intense, it is so meaningful. I'll ask that you stand as we honor God's Word, Matthew chapter 17, verses 1 through 9. "And 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. And Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. 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."
When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.
But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise and 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." Let's pray together. Father, this, your Word, speaks of blinding light from the person of your Son.
But may we not be blinded. That give us eyes to see that the one being disclosed with such radiance becomes our own glory and strength and hope. Grant that we may see Him more and more this day. In Jesus' name, amen.
Please be seated.
The first time that Kathy and I ever visited the Grand Canyon, it was more wonderful than we had ever imagined, in part aided by a severe clear, a January morning of single digits in which the air was so removed of moisture and heat and dirt that you could just see on for what seemed like eternity. And in that severe clear, the red of the Rim Rock was just more intense than we ever imagined in any picture that we had seen of the Grand Canyon to that extent. At one of the vistas in which we overlook that great gorge that can be as much as 20 miles wide and a mile deep, there was actually a Scripture verse put on a plaque that you're able to see as you look out over the vast expanse of the Grand Canyon. These Scripture words on the plaque, "O Lord!
How manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all! The earth is full of thy riches!"
And that is not bad.
That is not bad at all as you stand looking out over the expanse from the perspective of the Rim to think how glorious and awesome and good is the hand of God.
A few years later I had an opportunity, once in a lifetime opportunity, to see the Grand Canyon from a very different perspective.
I was invited to, with some others, take a raft trip down the 200 miles of the Colorado River that goes through the gorge of the Grand Canyon. In that gorge there are rapids that I will tell you are wondrous to behold and a little scary to go through.
After all, the average river rapid is rated from 1 to 6. Do you know the Grand Canyon rapids are rated from 1 to 10 and there are 6 tens in the Grand Canyon. Just so that you've got an idea, the rapids with their waves are so great in a size 10 rated rapids that our rafts that were 30 feet long, 8 man rafts, as you are actually clearing the top of a wave with your raft in a number 10 rapid, you have cleared the top of the wave with the rut of your raft, the nose has not yet hit the bottom of the wave.
It is more than 30 feet tall and you are trying to get through it on a raft. Let me tell you something. You may think that you have the rapids mastered when you get to about mile 179 of the Grand Rapids River, but I will tell you, you then have to face lava rapids. A rapids created by an ancient lava field of a more ancient volcano and as you are going through that rapids, not only do you have to go through great waves and great current, but a dog leg about 2 thirds of the way through that if you can't power through is going to plaster you against a rock wall.
I will tell you when you are going through that rapid of the Grand Canyon, you may appreciate the God of the rim. What you want is the God of the raft.
What God is doing in Matthew 17 is showing you both aspects of His magnificence, His glory and His care. The rim perspective is verses 1 through 3. After six days, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John His brother and led them up a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before them and you remember who met with Him in the cloud there? Verse 3, "And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with Him." Now to understand that as the rim view, you need a little history again. Remember where we were last week. Jesus is circling back to Jerusalem from Caesarea Philippi. He is reclaiming the land of His ancient father David. Now as the greater David, He is saying all of this land of Israel is mine. And He even goes up to Caesarea Philippi, the town of the greatest wickedness of the ancient world. And Jesus, this Jewish holy man, is willing to go into Caesarea Philippi and say, not only honoring Peter's confession, "Am I the Messiah, the anointed one, the Christ, the Son of the living God, but these gates of hell shall not prevail against me." And when Peter himself says those words, Jesus commands him saying, "That confession that I am the God willing to get into the muck and the hell of this world and conquer it at God's command is the confession that Jesus is affirming here, not just in words, but visually. He is going back and He goes up a mountain. And like the ancient days when Moses went up a mountain to receive the Ten Commandments and Elijah went up a mountain to defeat the priests of Baal, now Jesus goes up a mountain to find out what means to be declared to be the Son of God and who should appear.
But Moses and Elijah.
And their appearance for any Jew is going to be so significant that we must capture it. It is reminding us that this Jesus is the fulfillment of an incredible plan. Moses and Elijah, after His resurrection, Jesus will explain what it all means.
Remember He's on that road to Emmaus after the resurrection for reasons that we don't quite understand. His disciples don't recognize Him.
But Luke tells us the conversation. What did Jesus say? Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He explained what was said in all the Scriptures, the things concerning Himself.
And before that has happened, before the crucifixion itself, Jesus goes up on the mountain and appearing to make clear the journey, the mission, the purpose. There appears with Him Moses and Elijah. Moses, the great representation of the law, and Elijah the great representative of the prophets to say, "This is what we were all about." Luke will say it in words. Matthew shows it to us in symbol. This is what Jesus is. This is who He is. This is the plan that is being fulfilled. From the beginning, we started there in our grace to glory message where Adam and Eve sinned and God said to them, "You're going to need a provision from Me. There's going to come one from the seat of the woman who's going to crush the influence of Satan." And in that earliest book of Moses, we understand the plan for a Redeemer. And then we recognize as we move into the period of the prophets, Elijah comes as the greatest of the prophets, and we learn from him and all that will follow that there is a Redeemer who is promised to fulfill the plan that God has said would come from the beginning. And what God is reminding us by image as well as by words is that this is not just random.
This Bible is not just a collection of moral tales like Esau's fables. It is not a rule book by which you are going to do something to stay on the right side of God.
It's not a magician's magic book where you're going to order some incantation to get God to perform for you. Rather, from beginning to end, God is saying, "You are not your Redeemer, but I will send one and he is my son and he will save you from your sin."
It was the message from the very earliest pages as Adam and Eve sinned and were afraid in the garden.
And God said to them, "We can't have that, so I'm going to send from the woman a seed who is going to crush the influence of Satan." And then there was a covenant made with Noah as God is expressing to Noah, though there would be a flood of evil and sin in this. Not only characterizes what has preceded you, but your own family. "I will overcome it, not by your will, but there will be a Redeemer." And then there's an old man named Abraham and God promises blessings to the nations through Abraham, but says, "It's not going to be by your cleverness, not by your strength, not by your resolve. I will provide a Redeemer." And later, when the children of Abraham are put into slavery in Egypt and they are being held by Pharaoh, God says through Moses to those people, "Your release, not just from Pharaoh, but from your selfish wandering in the wilderness will be through the path established by God because you need a Redeemer."
And when the judges come along and say to the people, "You don't need the law of God.
Just do what's right in your own eyes." And the havoc that comes upon their families and the people of God is shown for its futility, even in the life of Samson, as God is saying, "Your strength and your cleverness are not going to rescue you. You need a Redeemer." And then when David comes to take the place of those judges as the anointed king of Israel loves God and his youth, but despite the promise of God to bring a Redeemer from his line in selfishness and arrogance, commits immorality and murder and sin and pride, God says even to David, "You need a Redeemer." And then all the prophets follow saying, "He's coming. He's coming. Let me tell you the details. What will it be like? What will it be a city? What will be a town? What will be his nature? What will be his death?
What will be his ultimate victory?"
And the prophets one after another begin to unfold the plan. It was an incredible plan as God was saying from the beginning of the scriptures, "I am after a people, people who do not deserve me, people who do not warrant my affection, but I am unrelenting, determined, resolved, irrevocable in my plan to save a people and I am coming for you." It was the message from the beginning. And even as the message is being shown to us here in the transfiguration, it comes not just as an incredible plan, but with an amazing grace.
Who appears on the mountain with Jesus?
Moses and Elijah.
When was the last time we saw Moses?
It was just after he had struck the rock in a way that claimed he was God.
Moses in fatigue and anger at the end of his ministry, the very one who had given the law to honor God, dishonors God and claims the status and stature of God for himself. And God says to Moses, "If you're going to claim to be God, you can't take these people into the Promised Land."
And he is banished from taking them into the Promised Land. And you remember our last sight of Moses is walking off into the mountains alone and disgraced.
And no one knew where he was buried.
And Elijah, when was the last time we saw Elijah?
Oh, he went upon Mount Carmel and called down fire from heaven to defeat the priests of Baal, a cruel fertility god for the pagans of the Promised Land. And Elijah in great faith sees the power of God come down upon Mount Carmel. And then Elijah comes down the mountain and Queen Jezebel says to him, "You killed my priest.
I'll get you my petty little prophet."
And he runs off into the desert and cowardice to hide.
And yet despite that, God appears to him.
And God does not speak to him in an earthquake.
And God does not speak to him in fire. And God does not speak to him in a tornado.
But in a still small voice, intimate and caring, and says, "There's one more king for you to anoint before you go."
But when you've done that, it's time to pass the mantle to Elisha. So pass the baton and I'll take you home.
And that's the last we see of Elijah.
In both Moses and Elijah, we see people critical to God's plan who nonetheless experienced
great weakness in the face of obstacles that were just part of being human and in this world.
So how is this amazing grace?
Because 1500 years later, after God has said to Moses, "You can't go into the Promised Land."
He appears on a mountain in the Promised Land.
Elijah, 900 years after God has taken him to heaven because of his cowardice, God has him appear again on the mountain. And what are both of these failures doing? They are affirming the greatness and the goodness of the plan of God as though God is knowing we down here in the valley may need to have him right large on the rim so that we can see it. And he says, "Remember, 1500 years ago, I said to Moses, you haven't done what you're supposed to do. 900 years ago, I said to Elijah, you haven't done what you were supposed to do. And both of them are still in my plan. And both of them are still here to bless the world. I can deal with people in their wickedness, their weakness, their hopelessness, and bless them. Nonetheless, there is an amazing grace that's on display here." Now, if we just stop right there, what would be your takeaways?
If you said, "I know this kind of strange and incredible account of the transfiguration," what would be my takeaways if I just stop there? Moses and Elijah appear to point to Jesus and say, "Here's the one long expected." I think you could just very readily say, "Listen, you are not your Redeemer, but God clearly provided one." So you don't have to trust you. Not your wisdom, not your performance, not your competence, not your courage. Look at those that God saved. Look at those that God was using. You are not your Redeemer, but God is sending one, and He's pointing him out.
What would be another takeaway?
Maybe it would simply be this, God's got a plan better than your plan.
There's large writ, the plan of redemption in this passage. But it's reminding us that the reason we trust God in the small things is because we've learned to see Him operate so faithfully in the large expanse of history.
We may need that in the hard choices of life. I think of what it means for us to say to one another, "You know, God has a better plan than your plan."
The Pew Foundation, who studies American religion, just came out with a report this past week. I'll quote a portion. For the first time in our history, more Americans have lived with a romantic partner than have married one. First time in American history that more Americans have lived with a romantic partner than have married one.
The report goes on to say, "The sad irony is that the more Americans grow to accept cohabitation, the more we learn how detrimental this arrangement is, not only to couples, but to their children."
Couples who are, I'll quote again from the report, couples who are testing their relationship prior to marriage, who are implicitly saying, "My love depends on how long you satisfy me."
Are those who experience, number one, higher levels of depression.
Number two, abandonment of children. Number three, anxiety. Number four, depression. Number five, relational tension.
On the other hand, all studies indicate that couples who commit to love through thick and thin, not conditional on whether you keep satisfying me, are the couples who actually report higher levels of relational satisfaction, responsible money handling, fairness in the distribution of household chores, balance of work and personal life, better communication, more trust, longer relationships, and wait for it, better sex, if I trust you.
If I know you're just not waiting to love me depending on how much I satisfy you, everything in our marriage is better.
That understanding is what we take into the reality of saying, "God may have a better plan not just on the broad scope, but in the individual aspects of our lives too."
Ultimately, what God is saying if we have not followed that plan in this chapter is, "Your sin need not be the final chapter of your life."
Yes, God's got a better plan than the one you may be following. But if you're able to confess that, able to acknowledge that, then what has God said by Moses and Elijah? He has said, "The sin, the weakness, the failing is not the final chapter." We can still say, "God, I still need your help. I still need to acknowledge that what I have done is not right before you." But if you still had a plan for Moses, if you could still use Elijah, "Do you still have a plan for me?
Can you still use me? Will you yet forgive me?" And the great message of the Scriptures from beginning to end is not just, "You are not your Redeemer." But God has made a Redeemer, and He has come for people who are sinners and has made a way out of the difficulty of this world by the provision of His Son. It is a wonderful message that He is providing for us. And it's so wonderful that He just kind of begins to put spotlights and highlights around not just by telling us of an incredible plan and an amazing grace, but an overwhelming glory.
I mean, I know the words are before you, but could you just kind of picture them as they are? Verse 2, "He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light."
It's in some way supposed to take us back to the account of Moses when he received the Ten Commandments. And you remember that when he received those Ten Commandments, his face shone like the sun, so people veiled their faces so they didn't want to see Him. Finally, he veiled his face so they would not have to be blinded by the light. But there's a key difference between Moses and the Jesus of this passage. And here's the difference.
Moses' light was a reflection of the glory of God as the moon reflects the sun.
But in this passage, the glory comes from Jesus Himself.
As God is making clear to us, this is the divine one. This is the God from on high who has come down. This is part of the amazing grace. This is the even greater glory. The divine has come down to you. And we did this a year ago as we were going through Daniel. This is Daniel 10 in reflection. His face is like lightning. His clothes are white. He's the man and white linen of Daniel 10. As Daniel projected six hundred years before, six centuries before, there will come a Redeemer. And here he is, now standing, just as Daniel said, face like lightning, clothes that are white.
And God is saying, "This glory is to show you how great is my grace and my goodness toward you."
Now as much as we may see that in this moment, you must understand the disciples did not get it. They're standing there watching the transfiguration. And they don't get it. Verse 4, "Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah."
So in the theological language that my wife uttered after the first service, she said, "You know, sometimes Peter's just a knucklehead."
No, here is Jesus transfigured. And Peter says, "Well, let's make three temples of worship, three tabernacles, one for Moses, one for Elijah, and while he is still speaking." Look at that, verse 5, "He was still speaking as though God's…" Do you mind if I interrupt you?
"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!" Exclamation point, underline italics. You know, "This is him!" What are you doing talking about tabernacles to multiple figures? They come to affirm him. He is the one, as though Moses has come from all history past, Elijah from all prophecy past, the apex of their ministries, now pointing to Jesus on that and saying, "He's the one!" This is the one we were speaking about for so long and so well. So verse 6 made sense when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.
Verse 7, "But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise and have no fear."
So many wonderful things there.
The Lord of glory touches them.
It's the incarnation in small letters.
The King of glory became flesh and dwelt among us, and he touched them.
And then said those words, "Did he catch them?" "Have no fear."
Well we've heard that before, haven't we?
From the very beginning in the garden when Adam and Eve sinned and they hid from God.
And God said, "Why are you hiding from me?" And they said, "Well, we were afraid."
God said, "Well, we're going to have to take care of that."
And perhaps the most common phrase in all of Scripture begins to appear, "Do not fear.
Do not fear."
Do not fear.
So that when the angels announced the coming of Christ and the shepherds fell terrified, the angelic hosts saying, "Do not fear."
It's the same thing that was said to Mary, said to Joseph, said to Simeon, over and over again, "Do not fear. Do not fear. Do not fear." And now through the disciples themselves, and when Jesus will be resurrected and will appear in glory, what does he say? Do not fear. I have a sense that for maybe all of us when we enter the glories of heaven, that the first thing God may say to everyone, "Do not fear." You have a redeemer. You have one who stands before you, who gave himself for your sin, who intercedes for you, who now provides a way of grace for you. Do not fear. And with that great expression of the gospel that's in front of them, they're ready for the next thing. Did you catch it? Verse 8, "And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus." If there's any way of saying, "Where should you focus now?"
There's no one but Jesus.
It's the great gospel statement of all time that we don't look to us. We don't look to others. We don't look to our performance. We don't look to our competence. We don't look to our baptism, our parents, our background, the church.
There's no one but Jesus.
Trust Him. He's the one who made a way. He's the one who's provided the grace. And that is the message for you from the garden to the manger, to our new birth, to our birth and to heaven.
He is saying, "Do not fear, but turn to no one else but Jesus." It is a marvelous perspective from the rim.
But it's not the only perspective in this text. Just to prepare you for the other perspective, I want to show you what has been one of my most famous religious paintings of all time.
This is known as Raphael's Transfiguration. So the great 16th century painter, last painting of his life when he was at the apex of his abilities paints the account that we just identified called the Transfiguration. It was for centuries the most famous painting in the world. So beyond the Mona Lisa, beyond anything, this was the most famous painting in the world. And I will tell you from our perspective now, we have some issues with the painting.
Protestant circles, we struggle with images of Jesus, right, because we fear it can lead to superstitious worship, like you're going to worship the image.
As people who are just sensitive in today's world, we struggle with any image of Jesus that present him as a white Westerner instead of the reality of a dark-skinned Jew that he was.
And why in the world are Moses and Elijah floating in the air? I have no idea.
But that's not why the critics ultimately bashed Raphael.
Centuries later, the reason they bashed Raphael is because of what would happen if you as an onlooker approached this painting. Now to get it on our video wall, we've kind of spread it horizontally. In reality, this is a very vertical painting, something like nine feet wide but 15 feet tall, huge painting. Which means if you as the onlooker approach it, despite the glory of Christ in the center image high above you, when you are walking up to the painting, what catches your focus is the bright image of the epileptic boy in the lower right.
That's what's going to draw your focus. That's going to be closest to you and brightest to your near proximity.
And the art critics of later centuries said, "Raphael just totally imbalanced this painting."
I think he got it exactly right.
Back to your text.
Matthew 17, you know that Jesus and the disciples will come down the mountain. And then what?
The view from the raft.
Verse 14, "And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and kneeling before him said, Lord have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly.
For often he falls into the fire and often into the water, here as a family in the rapids.
My son is really strong. He's hurting and I can't fix this.
And he often falls on the fire and he falls in the water. And these waves of life, these currents are threatening to take us under and take him under.
God, I just need your help now. I just need your help.
I'm glad that you're the big God of the rim and the infinite plan.
But would you just come into my life right now?"
I've mentioned to you with some frequency that at our distance from the Bible, we tend to look at the miracles of the Bible and think they're just happening one after another, after another, and that is not right at all.
There are vast epochs in which there are no miracles. In fact, we are told there are no miracles. But rather in these four or five hundred year cycles, there are miracles. Echoing the covenants that I was just telling you about before at points where there's the in-breaking of some major message of God's gospel kingdom is at those moments that there are bursts of miracles.
All right, be a good Bible student.
What's the message that's bursting into the scene right now as Christ is going to do? Verse 18, "Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him and the boy was healed instantly." What's the message? He is the God of the rim. He is the God of the mountain.
And he is the God who cares this intimately for a father in need and a child with actually no ability to help himself to be saved.
What's your message?
There is grace greater than all our sin provided by the God of infinite power for a people of intimate need.
I'm glad to know that there's a God of the rapids, that there's a God of the rim, but in the rapids of life. I need to know that that God of eternity cares about my eternity and he will do whatever is best in health, in struggle, in witness, in struggle to claim my soul and your soul for eternity.
And when you see the God of the rim, when you are going through the rapids and know he's willing to get in the raft for your eternity, you can go through any rapids you've got to go through, anyone.
An amazing experience this week.
Man came to my office at the invitation of one of you, a man who's a former Muslim. Now he has ministry to Muslims in a closed country, which means it is dangerous to minister to Muslims in that country. He's a former Muslim himself.
Now having been converted, he goes back to that country to minister to the underground church.
He simply said, "When I became a Christian and went back to that country of my home to minister to Christians and other Muslims, I met with a group of eight church leaders. They will not even tell each other where their churches are. So if they are tortured, they cannot tell what they do not know."
He said, "Of those eight leaders, three have now been martyred."
He still goes back.
I ask him the preacher thing, with all those struggles, with all those dangers, why did you become a Christian?
This is what he said.
There is no human explanation.
I read the Bible and was convinced by the covenant with Abraham.
Now in four decades of ministry, I've never had anybody say that.
I was convinced that the God who had an eternal plan included me.
And that brought me to faith.
I love it and need it. For when my heart or my family is going through the rapids, it is so easy for me in just knowledge of history to believe in a God of the rim, but in the rapids, I need the God of the raft.
And this is what I know.
No matter how intense the waves, no matter how much they threaten to pull us under, if we know that God is in the raft with us, we can go through it all and be eternally secure in our faith in Him. Why put faith in Him?
Because He's the God of the rim who got into the raft for you and me and still will trust in Him and let Him take you through the rapids to the eternity that He plans for you.
In Jesus' name, amen. Father, it's not a history lesson.
Teach your Holy Spirit ministering to our hearts.
So teach us well that the God who is so big made Himself nothing and came to this earth for you and for me, fellow believer or fellow who is just seeking to believe.
God has shown you how big is the power of the rim so that when we go through the rapids of our lives, we will invite Him into the raft with us and He'll come. He'll come.
For whatever we have to face, trust Him.
In Jesus' name, amen.