“It is good for us to be here”
Matthew 17 1-9
1] And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
[2] And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
[3] And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
[4] Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
[5] While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
[6] And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
[7] And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
[8] And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.
[9] And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
When Jesus, over 2,000 years ago, took Peter, James, and John up “into a high mountain apart,” it was not unusual. Jesus did this often. When He wished to pray to His heavenly Father, He wanted to be alone and so He would go into a mountain by Himself. On one occasion, shortly after the feeding of the 4,000, He took the disciples along. We read, “He took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.” Luke 9:28. Little did the disciples know, however, what was in store for them on this day. They were to witness the Savior in all His glory as He spoke with two of the greatest figures of Old Testament times and they were to hear the voice of God Himself as He spoke from heaven.
This event, which happened shortly before the crucifixion, is known as the “Transfiguration” and it is the standard Gospel Lesson for the Sunday before Lent. With this scene, Jesus gave His chosen disciples and believers ever since, a glimpse of heaven and a realization of how much it cost our Savior to bring us there. As they were approaching the top of the mountain, the common gown Jesus was wearing became pure as snow and shone like a dazzling light; and the face that they knew so well became bright as the sun. What was happening? God was there. They were seeing that the Son of Man was also the Son of God. He wanted them to see with their own eyes what He had been teaching all along. While He was as common and down to earth as any of them were, He was at the same time God’s holy Son, whose first interest was to give them eternal life.
While they were watching this brilliant scene, suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus. By a special gift of the Spirit, the disciples were able to see with their very eyes these two monumental figures of the Old Testament standing alive, and talking with their Savior. What they may have been talking about depended on who was watching. The average Jewish person would wonder what Moses, Elijah, and Jesus had to say to each other. They knew Moses as the one that gave them the law. Their religion of good works was founded on him. They looked at Elijah as that prophet who was carried bodily into heaven and about whom it was prophesied that he would return one day to usher in the earthly kingdom of the Messiah. Jesus didn’t fit into that picture.
What were these three talking about? The Scriptures don’t tell us their exact words, but it is safe to assume that they were there to encourage our Savior to face the suffering which was about to happen. Moses did indeed give the law, but not that men should be saved by it. Thelaw was given on Mt. Sinai to make men, women, and children aware of their sins so they would look forward to the coming Savior for forgiveness. Moses wasn’t only a lawgiver. The same Moses, that gave the law, made a serpent of brass in the wilderness and put it on a pole “that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.” Numbers 21:9 This was more than a cure for venomous snakes; this was a representation of Christ on the cross, as Jesus explained through St. John, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” John 3:14. Jesus wanted his Jewish hearers to learn that, from the very first chapter of Genesis, Moses continually pointed to faith in Christ. On one occasion, when the self-righteous Jews claimed Moses as their father, Jesus said, “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me.” John 5:46
What was true of Moses was equally true of Elijah. You may remember from Sunday school lessons that Elijah was a dedicated prophet, how wicked Queen Jezebel put a contract on his life for preaching the gospel, and how God graciously took him to heaven without dying. In the last book of the Old Testament, the prophet Malachi foretold that Elijah was going to come again in spirit to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah. Malachi 4:5, 6 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” Malachi 4:5. When John the Baptist arrived on the scene, urging people to repentance and faith, the unbelieving Jews took John to be was the incarnation of Elijah, who would make their nation the greatest in the world. The truth of the matter was that John the Baptist had been prefigured by Elijah. He didn’t come to make their nation a world power, but to call them to repentance and faith.
Moses and Elijah must have had much to say at the transfiguration. These two men, a thousand years earlier, had risked their lives to prophecy Christ-crucified. They had a stake in Christ’s crucifixion. Their hope of heaven was based on it. Now, just weeks before Jesus’ death, they were there on the mount to urge the Son of Man to see it to the end, to drink the bitter cup of death that the Father had prepared for Him.
Despite all that Moses, Elijah, and the whole Old Testament had to say about the absolute necessity of Jesus’ death for the remission of sins, the disciples didn’t believe it. On the night of the crucifixion, instead of encouraging Jesus to carry men’s sin to the cross, they were so offended by His shameful death that they forsook Him and fled, and Peter, as the voice of the devil, said, “Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.” Matthew 16:22. Not until after the resurrection did they begin to understand the meaning and purpose of Jesus’ death. Then they could look back at this scene as something they would never forget. John wrote in his gospel, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 and Peter wrote in his second letter, “For He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 2 Peter 1:17. All three men found such courage in the death of their Lord that they eventually gave their lives for Him. James was the first of them to be executed on Easter of 44; history tells us that Peter later was crucified upside-down, and John was banished on the isle of Patmos for the rest of his life.
This morning we, like the disciples, had the wonderful privilege of viewing our Savior in all His glory. With the eye of faith, we see His beaming countenance and His glowing robe, and we have the blessed assurance that some day we will look the same way, for He “shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.” Philippians 3:21. This glorious transformation of our bodies will not last for just a few minutes or an hour; it is ours forever. What makes this moment more impressive is the truth that we don’t deserve it. It is a miracle of grace that God should choose undeserving sinners to spend eternity with Him. Truly, we exclaim with the apostle Peter, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.”
Then there is tomorrow. As Jesus and His disciples came down from the mount, He went on to face His death, the disciples went on with their lives as we go on to our work and to our problems and sicknesses. Should our estate at times seem hopeless, should the pain be great, or the waiting be long, the Savior says in His word, “Be patient.” For “tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope,” Romans 5:3, 4. The vision we have seen this morning is our source of hope, for it is the vision of a glorified Savior who is presently in heaven, ready to receive us into that glory forever.
Therefore, “let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” Hebrews 12:1, fully confident that what awaits us exceeds even our fondest dreams, for “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” 1 Corinthians 2:9.
This sermon was preached February 3, 2007, by Pastor Robert Dommer.