The Glorious Christ – part 2
049 The Glorious Christ – part 2
Mark 9:1-8 (4-8)
June 21, 2026
We began looking at this passage this morning.
It is commonly referred to as “The Transfiguration”
Namely because in verse 2
We read that Jesus “was transfigured before them.”
Jesus’ human veil was removed and His glory shown through.
And we were made aware that the God of the Old Testament
Who so often dazzled us and terrified us with His glory…
THAT IS JESUS!
Paul wrote:
1 Timothy 6:13-16 “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.”
What a statement!
“dwells in unapproachable light…”
You’ve probably heard the Luke Walker quote:
“The sun will burn your eyes out from a distance of 92 million miles and do you expect to casually stroll into the presence of its maker?”
That is what Paul had in mind,
That is what Peter, James, and John witnessed first hand.
WE ALSO NOTED
The reason and the necessity for this revelation of Jesus’ nature.
Jesus’ revelation of His coming death
Certainly confused the disciples.
Had they gotten it all wrong?
Where the Scribes who had taught them mistaken?
· Was that kingdom not a real kingdom?
· Was it only a spiritual myth?
· Was there to be no actual reigning king?
Was everything they had waited on and hoped for
Nothing more than a misunderstanding?
While it was true that they didn’t understand
The path or the plan or the necessity of suffering and death.
It is also true that they were not wrong about the kingdom.
· It was real!
· It was powerful!
· It was coming!
And on this day Jesus would give them just a glimpse of it
In order to set their minds at ease and give them assurance.
He said “there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”
“I’m going to show you what it’s going to look like.”
· Right now it’s a small mustard seed.
· Right now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and violent men take it by force.
· Right now the kingdom is not of this world or the members of that kingdom would be fighting.
· Right now the kingdom mission is about salvation not domination.
BUT REST ASSURED IT IS COMING.
So Jesus gives the disciples a sneak peak
In order to calm their confused and anxious hearts.
We started looking at it this morning.
We said there are 4 things Jesus wanted to show the disciples through this moment of transfiguration.
#1 THE KINGDOM IS NOT IN DOUBT
Mark 9:1
It is coming and it is coming “with power”.
You may have already been impressed with the power you’ve seen.
· After all, we’ve seen Jesus heal the sick, cast out demons, calm the sea, and raise the dead.
That is pretty remarkable power.
And yet, that is nothing compared to what is coming.
All of those things were done
While the kingdom was still in mustard seed phase.
One day it’s coming with more power or glory than you can imagine.
The suffering and death of Jesus
DOES NOT put that in the least bit of jeopardy.
As Psalm 2 taught us the morning, God is actually laughing
At the stupid and futile efforts to overthrow this kingdom.
THE KINGDOM IS NOT IN DOUBT.
We also learned:
#2 THE KING IS NOT IN DANGER
Mark 9:2-3
Jesus took those 3 disciples on the mountain and
“He was transfigured before them.”
He completely changed form.
· No longer in the form of a man,
· Now in the form of the glorious God!
For a brief moment the attributes of humanity
Were muted by the glory of God.
The veil was lifted and glory was revealed.
· The same glory we saw all throughout the Old Testament.
· The same glory Isaiah saw in the temple.
· The same glory Moses saw on Sinai.
· The same glory Ezekiel saw by the River Chebar.
· The same glory we see in Revelation when Jesus comes to crush His enemies.
One look at this glorious King
Is enough to remind you that no one can thwart His plan or His reign.
Jesus is God.
HE IS THE GLORIOUS CHRIST!
· If He suffers it’s because He allows it.
· If He dies it’s because it’s part of the plan.
· If He rises it’s because He wants to.
· If He ascends it’s because He willed it.
· If He returns it’s because He is determined to.
He is not constantly having to result to some sort of contingency plan.
He does not need to constantly regroup.
This is not some chess match where He is constantly having to counter.
No one is stopping Him.
No one is defeating Him.
You may not have expected to hear about Him suffering and dying,
But trust Me, neither He nor His kingdom is in any danger at all.
Nothing is in limbo here.
HE WILL WIN.
Set your mind at ease.
Well there’s a third thing the disciples needed to learn from this glorious event.
#3 THE PLAN IS NOT IN DILEMMA
Mark 9:4
Not only do we see Jesus in glory,
But we also see two more individuals emerge.
(4) “Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus.”
· This ISN’T a visit to the pitcher’s mound from the pitching coach.
· This ISN’T God sending these two to straighten out Jesus on His plans.
THIS IS CONFIRMATION.
Luke’s gospel reveals:
Luke 9:30-31 “And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.”
· They were also in their glorified bodies.
· And the subject of the conversation was Jesus’ upcoming death, resurrection, and ascension at Jerusalem.
Mark doesn’t reveal that, only that they were both there.
Their presence alone is enough to make Mark’s point.
They are a confirmation
Of all of the Old Testament prophecies.
· “Elijah” certainly represents the prophets.
· “Moses” certainly represents the Law.
Both were absolutely filled with promises and prophecies
Regarding the coming Christ.
A few weeks go when Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ
We talked about many of those Old Testament prophecies
That must have been on Peter’s mind.
· Prophecies about a coming King on David’s throne
· And a kingdom that would never end.
After Jesus announced His coming death,
Peter must have wondered if those prophecies were wrong.
They weren’t.
But what Peter had failed to see was that the Law and the prophets
Spoke of much more than simply the glorious reign of the King.
The Old Testament literally drips, if not gushes,
With the sacrificial blood of the Savior.
How many times do you suppose Moses used the word “blood” in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy?
· A concordance check will tell you the word appears some 145 times.
How many times is the word “sacrifice” used?
· How about 81 times.
“offer” as in offer up the sacrifice is used 116 times.
The Old Testament Law absolutely gushes with blood.
And every one of those references
Was a picture of the suffering of the Savior.
We are certainly familiar with Psalms 22, or Psalms 118.
Each of you know about the Suffering Servant passages in Isaiah.
· Isaiah 53 is one of the most famous chapters in the Bible.
The suffering and death of Christ was not some new situation
That had just arisen that forced the plan to be adjusted.
The suffering, death, resurrection, ascension, and second coming
Was all clearly revealed in the Old Testament Law and Prophets.
Those men appeared with Jesus to assure the disciples
That everything was going exactly according to plan.
The disciples were shocked to hear Jesus speak about suffering and death.
- Elijah and Moses were not.
THIS WAS THE PLAN.
Had the disciples paid attention to the O.T. they would have known that.
Do you remember the rebukes after He rose and the disciples doubted it?
The two men on the road to Emmaus:
Luke 24:25 “And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!”
Or later the 11
Luke 24:44 “Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
It had always been there, they just hadn’t seen it.
When Paul wrote his letter to the Romans to clarify the gospel, he wrote:
Romans 1:1-4 “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,”
· The gospel (all of it) was literally “promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures…”
When Paul wrote about the suffering and death of Christ he wrote:
Romans 3:21-22 “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;”
· The gospel was “witnessed by the Law and the Prophets”
And the point is that if what Jesus said up in Mark 8 shocks you,
It only means you have failed to understand the Old Testament.
This is NOT a deviation from the plan,
This is a perfect fulfillment of the plan.
What I love about this is that:
Peter definitely learned from it.
You only have to listen to his preaching.
Acts 2:22-23 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”
Acts 3:17-19 “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;”
Or listen to the letter he wrote:
1 Peter 1:10-12 “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.”
Peter was shocked at Caesarea Philippi
When Jesus started talking about suffering and death.
But it wouldn’t be long before he would learn that
His surprise was only due to his ignorance of the Scriptures.
THIS WAS THE PLAN.
This is meant to be very encouraging to the disciples and to us.
When we hear about suffering and death.
· When we hear about a calling to lose our lives that we may find them.
· When we hear the call to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow.
There is a part of that that is scary and confusing.
Even when we walk through trials of suffering and hardship in life
We so often wonder if something has gone haywire.
· Did God forget?
· Does God not see?
· Has the kingdom been invaded?
· Has the king been dethroned?
When those thoughts creep in we only need to return here.
· Does this look like the type of King who can be overthrown?
· Does this look like the type of kingdom that can be invaded?
· Does this look like the type of plan that can be thwarted?
NOT AT ALL.
You don’t have to be given over to
Fear or confusion or doubt or anger or any of those things.
The Kingdom is not in doubt
The King is not in danger
The Plan is not in dilemma
Everything is going exactly as it should.
That is so comforting!
And if Peter had chosen simply to soak all of that in,
He might have found the comfort he wanted.
But you know Peter…
My dad used to say, “Always broadcasting when he should have been tuning in.”
Well, as you know, Peter is about to interject…again.
But the fact that he does gives us one more thing to learn
Regarding the plan of Christ and this coming kingdom.
#4 YOUR INPUT IS NOT DESIRED
Mark 9:5-8
How often do we want to give it?
How useless it always is.
Ecclesiastes 3:7 “A time to be silent and a time to speak.”
It is safe to say Peter guessed wrong.
There is Elijah, and there is Moses, and there is Jesus,
ALL IN GLORIFIED FORM.
On the outside looking in is Peter, James, and John
JUST AS EARTHLY AS CAN BE.
And for some reason Peter thought that his interjection was needed.
(5-6) “Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified.”
FIRST we recognize that the 3 disciples “became terrified”.
· Indeed they should have been.
· As we said, this was the glory of God, and it is no casual thing.
What is shocking is that Peter was able to overcome his terror
In order to yet again offer his advice.
IF YOU’RE KEEPING SCORE, this will now be the second time
Peter will play the role of Satan and try to keep Jesus from the cross.
But here is Jesus and Moses and Elijah on a mountain.
And Peter says, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here;”
· Matthew says that Peter calls Him, “Lord”
· Luke says that Peter calls Him, “Master”
· Mark here says it is “Rabbi”
That means that Peter is interjecting and being ignored,
Yet keeps interjecting and changing the title until he gets Jesus’ attention
Sort of like when a child may try to rudely interrupt a parent
Who is not paying attention, “Mom”, “Momma!”, “Carrie!”
That seems to be what Peter was doing.
Luke adds this:
Luke 9:33 “And as these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not realizing what he was saying.”
So we also find that Peter chose to interject
Because he noticed that Moses and Elijah were leaving
And clearly Peter wanted them to stay.
Here were two Old Testament heroes and the Jesus in His glory
And Peter basically says, “This is what I’m talking about!”
· “This is what we’ve been waiting for!”
· “This is what I wanted to see!”
· This is “good”.
“What we should do is make a camp right here.
Let me start building some tents
We’ll get this kingdom thing started right now.”
· No suffering…
· No death…
· Just Your glory and Elijah and Moses and me, and James, and John.
Yes sir! The 6 of us can probably rule the world!
He had no clue what he was talking about.
And where it was Jesus who corrected him earlier,
THIS TIME THE FATHER WILL DO IT.
(7-8) “Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!” All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.”
(I want you to pay attention to this, because you’ve seen this before.)
As the scene begins we’ve got light shining like the sun!
· We’ve got glowing garments!
· We’ve got glorified saints!
But once Peter opens his mouth interjecting his will for the day,
A dark cloud rolls in and shadows them.
This is absolutely terrifying!
Light gives way to darkness!
And a booming voice thunders out.
“This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!”
ONE simple sentence,
TWO massive points that reveal Peter’s great foolishness.
THE FIRST is that Peter would have the audacity to try and put anyone else on the same level as Jesus.
· He’s going to build 3 tabernacles?
· What was he expecting a coalition of leadership?
What we pointed out during the confession God emphasizes here.
THERE ARE NO EQUALS WITH JESUS.
Moses and Elijah aren’t to be mentioned in the same breath as Jesus.
As good and amazing as those men where,
They are not on the same playing field.
You’ve read it recently in the prayer journal as we pray through Hebrews.
Hebrews 3:1-6 “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house. For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.”
The writer of Hebrews had no problem giving credit to Moses.
· Moses was faithful.
· He led God’s people.
· He did what he was called to do.
But his glory wasn’t even close to that of Christ.
Moses was a servant IN God’s house.
Jesus is the Son OVER God’s house.
· Moses was not Lord.
· Moses is not Master.
· Moses does not rule or reign.
All of that belongs to Jesus.
Jesus is in charge.
The Son gets the title!
JESUS IS THE KING!
It is an absolute foolish mistake for Peter
To put Moses and Elijah on the same level with Jesus.
That is what the world was trying to do.
Big mistake.
BUT THE OTHER MISTAKE of Peter is that He was not listening.
Do you remember the extra point Mark was careful to make?
Mark 8:31-32 “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He was stating the matter plainly.”
Jesus spoke as clearly and authoritatively
About His suffering and death as He had spoken about anything.
PETER DIDN’T LISTEN.
He rebuked Jesus and received a rebuke in return.
And now here we are, a week later,
And Peter is throwing out his plans again.
And the God of heaven says, “ENOUGH!”
“STOP TALKING…LISTEN!”
· You don’t have the plan Peter.
· You don’t know the plan Peter.
· You haven’t even understood the plan Peter.
· My Son knows the plan.
· My Son is the Sovereign Lord.
It’s time for you to quit offering advice and start taking instruction.
“This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!”
And then:
(8) “All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.”
That was intentional.
He is the only One.
STOP TALKING AND START LISTENING!
Now, if you want to know what an impact this had on Peter,
Again just go to his letters.
2 Peter 1:16-21 “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
· Peter reminds his audience that he was in fact an eye-witness of the glory of Christ.
· He reminds them how he had seen “the Majestic Glory” on the mountain.
· He reminds how he heard the utterance from heaven.
But what is fascinating is what Peter says next.
He says, “So we have the prophetic word made more sure…”
Literally he says, “we have the more sure prophetic word”
Even more sure than a vision is the revealed word of God.
And he says, “to which you do well to pay attention…”
Do you hear Peter’s admonition to his people?
LISTEN!
PETER GOT THE MESSAGE DIDN’T HE?
Jesus knows the plan.
1. His kingdom is not in doubt.
2. The king is not in danger.
3. The plan is not in dilemma.
4. Your input is not desired.
· You need to listen.
· You need to trust.
· You need to obey.
WHAT A GREAT REMINDER TO US!
Now, I told you that when you saw
That dark cloud rolling in and shadowing Peter,
From which God would speak…I told you that you’ve seen that before.
TURN TO: JOB 33
· Here is another man who questioned the plan.
· Here is another man who was confronted with God’s glory.
· Here is another man who learned to stop talking and listen.
THE MAN IS JOB.
Job 32 is when the young man named Elihu starts speaking to Job
About some of the rash statements Job has made.
For example:
(READ 33:8-12)
· Now Job DID say those things.
· Job 12:4; Job 23:11; Job 9:20-21; Job 10:7; Job 27:6
· This was not false accusation.
· Job said exactly what Elihu expressed.
And Elihu told him that he should quit questioning God
For God is great than man.
He would point out to Job that the discipline he endured was for his sanctification and that sometimes God uses pain as a sanctifier.
Then look at what he says:
(READ 33:29-33)
Job, you need to stop talking and listen.
But he’s not finished.
He starts quoting Job again:
(READ 34:5-6)
· There was Job again challenging God’s justice.
· Job wanted God to give an account to him.
And Elihu thinks that’s a bad idea:
(READ 34:33)
You wouldn’t listen to God’s terms,
Do you really expect Him to listen to yours?
And still Elihu is not finished:
(READ 35:1-3)
· There is Job questioning the profit of righteousness and why obeying God has not paid off.
And though there is much to be said:
(READ 35:16)
Job should have just remained quiet.
And that is when Elihu starts talking about God showing up.
If you’ll remember, God shows up in a storm.
· The end of chapter 36 it starts raining and thundering and dark clouds roll in.
· The lightning starts striking and Elihu says it is God’s voice thundering.
And when the storm finally arrives.
(READ 38:1-3)
Who is this who is doing all the talking?
You know the end result:
(READ 42:1-6)
I bring that up because that is what happened to Peter.
Granted we don’t get near the build up
And the message of God to Peter is not nearly as long,
But I promise you that Peter was just as terrified.
AND WHAT IS THE POINT?
· God is sovereign!
· God has a plan!
· God does not need you to approve it.
· God does not need you to perfect it.
· God does not need you to challenge it.
God simply expects you to listen to it and submit to it.
Peter is learning what we all need to learn.
Christ is sovereign.
Christ is glorious.
When Christ calls us
To deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him
There is no need or precedent for arguing with Him.
He is the Son of God…LISTEN TO HIM!
Tonight we simply remind ourselves that He is the glorious Christ.
· He is the sovereign Son of God.
· He is higher than Moses and Elijah.
· His kingdom will never end.
· His reign will never end.
· His word is truth.
· And we are called simply to trust and obey.
When He speaks it is not a suggestion.
He is the Glorious One.
His plan is the only plan.