I Believe in the Resurrection
“He Will Be Raised on the Third Day”
(Matthew 17:1-23, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, December 2, 2007)
Matthew 17:1-23 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 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 and one for Moses and one for Elijah." 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and have no fear." 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. 9 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." 10 And the disciples asked him, "Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?" 11 He answered, "Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands." 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. 14 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15 said, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him." 17 And Jesus answered, "O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me." 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20 He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." 21 22 As they were gathering in
Introduction – What do you do after a “mountain-top” experience?
The verse just before this passage is a quote from our Lord as follows, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” The transfiguration of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of that promise, and it happened just six days later. What Peter and John saw was like a part of heaven on earth right before their eyes.
But you and I are here now. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” writes King David in Psalm 23, “Thou art with me.” What would be a suitable mountain-top experience for you, to remind you that there is something beyond the valley of present things? I think it might help you if Jesus appeared to you this morning and said to you, “Come follow me,” and then he took you and one or two other fellow-travelers from these soft seats and led you up a high mountain where He allowed you to see Him as He is now! But what would you tell the rest of us after such an experience? Still, even if I had to keep it quiet, I would enjoy seeing the Lord in glory right now.
Transfigured, and also Moses and Elijah (1-3)
The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ was obviously a powerful experience. Both John and Peter refer to it later in their New Testament writings (Read 2 Peter 1:16-21), but they were not permitted to speak of it until after the resurrection of the Lord. This was a private experience by design. The transfiguration did not happen randomly or accidentally. Matthew tells us that Jesus led Peter, James, and John up a high mountain.
As we might expect when something of the heavenly kingdom comes to earth, it is very challenging to figure out what they saw there that they day. We have many questions. I am convinced that it was more than a mere vision, even though that word is used in verse nine. The Greek in that verse can just mean “the sight” and does not imply that what was seen was only an dreamy image. Nothing can override the plain statement of verse two that Jesus was transfigured before them. That must have been quite a sight.
There is a history of miraculously shining things in the Bible. From the first words of God recorded for us, “Let their be light,” to the final vision of heaven in Revelation 22:5, “The Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever,” God has shown forth His glory to us in the brightness of light. Very frequently His appearance to man is in a brilliant cloud of glory, even as we see later in this passage. When God gave a miniature representation of Himself to Abraham, he appeared as “a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch.” When He led the Israelites through the wilderness, He was a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. We are told that when Jesus returns He will come in a cloud with great power and glory.
At the Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah were with the Lord. We are not told why these particular two were there. It could well be, as many suspect, that Moses was the representative of the Law, while Elijah of the prophets. We are told in Luke 9:31 that they spoke of the Lord’s coming departure. Christ, the cross, the resurrection, the heavenly kingdom… these things are the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. Where do the bodies of these two departed heroes come from, since those who go to be with the Lord before the final resurrection do not yet have resurrection bodies, but are spirits? We do not know, but it is interesting that the graves of these two men were never found. How did Peter know that it was Moses and Elijah? Again, we are not told, but I think that there are a great many things that we will know when we are in the Lord’s heavenly kingdom, and many of these we will know in a different way than we currently do using our eyes, our physical brains, and other senses of our mortal flesh.
Listen to Him (4-6)
Peter exhibits a confused desire to be helpful here with His suggestion to make booths or tents. He did not know what He was saying. It was an overwhelming experience. Still, his offer is interesting, since the body is called a tent, and Jesus is said to have tented with us during His days on earth. Our bodies are tabernacles of the Holy Spirit provided by God Himself. Peter will not be making tents for any of these men any time soon.
What happened next is very important. The great Glory Cloud Himself who once filled the earthly tent of worship and the temple in
In between (7-13)
And then it was all over. Jesus was once again the man they had known. As He had promised, these three had seen Him in His glorious kingdom in some way. He touched them and told them to rise and have no fear. Notice the obvious. Jesus did not fall on the ground when the Glory Cloud came and when the voice of God was heard. He was not surprised. He knows these things. He is the unique expert on heavenly things. They were not permitted to tell anyone until Jesus had risen from the dead. They had seen something of final resurrection glory ahead of time.
As they came down the mountain they had some questions. Elijah was there. They knew that. Yet Jesus had already been active in His Messianic ministry. Was not Elijah supposed to come first? This is what the scribes had taught, and they were right, but they had missed the significance of John. They did not recognize him as the forerunner of the Messiah. John was not the actual Elijah – the one they saw up on the mountain talking with Jesus. The prophesy of the coming Elijah was about one who would come in the spirit and power of Elijah and would prepare the way of the Lord. John the Baptist had done this, and while many did respond to his call to turn from sin, many did not repent. Therefore, according to the word of Malachi, the land was all the more cursed. But it would be the Son of Man with whom they were speaking who would take the curse of God on the cross that we sinners deserved. The Son of Man would suffer at the hands of the religious leaders, just as John also had suffered.
They will kill Him (14-23)
They were down from the mountain now, and had come back to the battle in the valley of the shadow of death. Another desperate person needed the power of God. The battle now was not the fear of a sight too glorious for the eyes to see. It was the battle of faith, waged through prayer, asking the God of heaven for help and receiving heaven’s aid. A distraught father needed Jesus to help his son. He said, “Your disciples could not heal him.” Jesus faced the trial of the faithlessness and disappointment that people have with His disciples. Jesus showed that he could help this boy, and He did that very easily. He has real faith, the kind that can move mountains. Jesus knows something about the life of faith that we are apparently supposed to know, but we can’t seem to get it.
What is the faith that can move mountains? The perfect faith of the Lord Jesus Christ is faith that knows, faith that speaks, and faith that lives as if nothing is impossible for God even in the face of certain death, which Jesus again announced to His disciples. He also announced the resurrection, but they could not seem to take that in. We need faith to believe in the resurrection, faith in the Word of God that promises resurrection life.
Three of them had seen something of this glory on the mountaintop. That was quite an experience, but one of those three men later said that the Word of God was surer than what He had seen that day with his own eyes. He had learned the lesson of the voice from Heaven when He wrote in His later epistle that we have something more sure – the prophetic Word. Jesus had spoken that Word, and He has accomplished it. “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.”
This is what Jesus says to you today, and He has done it. Do what God says concerning Jesus. “Listen to Him.” Let this word be your mountaintop experience today. Then add more faith to that experience – faith that can move mountains, because we have more of the valley of the shadow of death to live through before we see with our eyes what we already believe in our hearts.
Questions for meditation and discussion:
1. Why do you think Jesus showed Peter, James, and John his glory in this way?
2. Do you see any connection between Peter’s suggestion of tents and the word of God from heaven?
3. In what sense was John the Baptist Elijah? In what sense was he not Elijah?
4. What is faith that can move mountains? Is this only for Jesus, or is this for us as well?
posted by Pastor Magee at 10:30 AM
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