Mark 9:2-9 Sermon. February 14, 2021. Grace-Benson and Grace-Vail Often we wonder what to do with the lows in life, but it’s just as important to know how to handle the highs. When a husband and wife get away for a weekend and really enjoy each other and connect closely, what should they do? Call the babysitter and say, “We’re not coming back, we’re having too much fun?” Of course not. When a math student has a lesson really click and make sense, should they stay on that lesson forever? No, it’s time to move on to the next. When a song moves you inside and out; do you only listen to that one song all the time? No, it’ll get old quickly. God provides such a wealth of pleasurable experiences not so that we get stuck on any one, but that we’d appreciate the highs, but also learn to appreciate the ordinary and even low moments of life. Few people have ever experienced a life-high quite like the mountaintop experience of Peter, James, and John with Jesus. So, what’s the value of mountaintop experiences with God? Moments of deep connection and insight between you and God. Should you just stay there and expect God always and perpetually to provide a feeling of closeness and insight? Or are you to learn from the mountaintop experience, but also be willing to descend into the valley of ordinary life? We can learn from the story. This event happened six days after Jesus had taught his disciples that he needed to go to Jerusalem to suffer, and be killed, and then rise again. The disciples had a challenge; Jesus at times did miraculous things, walked on water, healed illness; it sure looked like he was the son of God. But then most of the time he appeared so ordinarily human. Eating with them, getting tired and sleeping. And saying things like, “I am going to be killed.” If they weren’t careful, they could’ve forgotten Jesus’ true identity as God. To help remind them who he was, Jesus strategically selected moments to reveal his true identity as God. For this occasion he selected only 3 to be with him. He led Peter, James, and John up a mountain where they could be alone; no passerby-ers would interrupt what he was about to show them. The anticipation must have been building as they ascended, what’s going to happen at the top of the mountain? But whatever they imagined, what they saw exceeded expectations. “There he was transfigured in front of them. His clothes became radiant, dazzling white, whiter than anyone on earth could bleach them.” Jesus was transfigured. His true identity was put in front of the human eyes of 3 disciples. They saw the purity, the holiness. They were glimpsing what human life was always meant to be. When you see a white bleached piece of clothing, you say, “that’s clean. That’s not stained, not dirty, not worn.” That’s what we were meant to be. That’s what Jesus came to be as our substitute, to give us that kind of brilliance. They saw the stunning brilliance; and it was too much for their eyes to really take in. Too much glory, too much light. It overwhelmed their sensory systems like staring right into the direct sun would do to you. All of that radiance, but still Jesus even at that moment, remained human. He was and is the only person who can radiate that amount of glory. He’s the only person perfectly aligned in relation to the divine.
Then another surprise. “Elijah appeared to them together with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.” Why Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus? 2 men who are not said to have died in the normal human way; the end to their lives in this world were unique. 2 men who represented the law and the prophets, a way of summarizing the whole Old Testament time period, all who had waited for this God in human form to appear. The people who lived before Jesus had representation on the mountain, just as the people who live after Jesus had Peter, James, and John acting as their representation. Moses and Elijah both experienced mountaintop moments with God. Moses on Mount Sinai as God came in thunder and smoke. Elijah on Mount Carmel when the fire of God blasted when he prayed. But Moses and Elijah also knew what it was to come down the mountain of glory and find idolatrous calf worship; or death threats from the queen. They knew the glory of God, but also the value of humble sacrificial service. Moses and Elijah were on transfiguration mountain for Peter, James, and John’s sakes; and for ours; but also for Jesus. We’re only told that they conversed about his coming exit. Their words would have encouraged Jesus, who in his human nature and state of humility needed strength for the journey down the mountain to the cross. He needed 2 guys who actually got him, and knew what was coming, and where he could go for strength in the dark valley. Amazing mountaintop experience. What can we learn? What can you learn about the times when you read your Bible, and a section hits your heart, and overwhelms your mind, and floods your emotions like a stream of light? What can you learn about the times when God’s Word makes sense, when his love seems to radiate to you and through you? When you are overwhelmed by his goodness? First we learn from Peter. Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” The response. Let’s set up shop here. Let’s make a headquarters. Was it good to be there? Yes. Was the right response to stay there perpetually? No. Is it a blessing to have mountain top moments of spiritual insight and connection with God? Yes. Are you meant to set up headquarters and stay there perpetually? No. You are meant to appreciate those moments; but also be willing to go back down and humbly, sacrificially serve. That’s the first critique of Peter’s response. The other is this. He wanted 3 tents, one for Jesus, one for Moses, one for Elijah. That kind of lumps Jesus in with those 2; as if to say; we’ve got another Moses, another Elijah here. He’s come to do basically what they did. Display God’s power and teach people how to obey God’s commands. Now, are there some similarities between Moses, Elijah, and Jesus? Yes. But Jesus came to be something totally different than them. He came to do what they could not. To be not another power displayer and command giver, but the one who could unlock a connection to God based on grace and faith, not power and command.
Now to be fair to Peter, he didn’t know what he was saying, he was so terrified. That’s really another problem with mountaintop moments with God. They scare us. If human life was always meant to be so radiant and pure and glorious; then what am I doing living such a dull, impure, dark life here in this world? If deep down I know I have failed to live as God designed, then when he comes close with the full force of his identity; I want to cower and hide too. I want to figure out a way to build something for God to appease him and make it safe for me. But Jesus shows us a different way. He didn’t lead Peter, James, and John up the mountain so they could be tent builders for God. Instead he brought them simply to look, take in, and experience who he was. Jesus got a little help from a cloud that enveloped them. The glory cloud of God came so near that even Peter had to just be quiet and listen. He heard a voice from the cloud say, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him.” The voice of God the Father broke into human experience in a humanly comprehensible way. The voice did not say, “these are the 3. Listen to them.” It didn’t say, “Jesus is the next in a long line of prophets. Listen to him like you listen to Moses and Elijah.” Instead, “this is one unlike any other. This is my son.” God has a son. God is Father, God is Son. Jesus is a man who comes from God the Father. A glimpse into the mystery of the Trinity. The Father’s voice said, “I love my son.” God is capable of love; because though he is one God, he is 3 persons, love has always existed within the Trinity. The love between this Father and Son was perfect and eternal. The Father wants all other people to listen to him. Listen in a way that you listen to no one else. Give him a kind of attention and willingness to hear that goes beyond just interest or curiosity. Listen because though human; he is the Son of God and God himself. This voice and cloud and message benefited Peter, James, and John. It benefits us today. But again, don’t forget, Jesus benefited as well. In his humble state of living; as he prepared to descend this mountain; Jesus needed stuff like this to solidify in him the resolve to do the impossible - to suffer on a scale never understood or matched before or since. Jesus benefited from the conversation, from the cloud envelopment; probably breathed in the glory cloud and got a reminder of who he has been from all eternity and where he could have returned to at any moment if he chose. The fact that he went to the mountaintop, and still went down and did what he did, even more amazing. At the garden of gethsemane, he didn’t stomp his feet and demand, “I want the mountaintop glory to come here now, I want your voice to say it again, now, I want that cloud to envelope me and keep me from feeling pain and anguish.” Instead, knowing what the mountaintop was like; he still went to the cross, to the beating, to the spitting, the mocking the name calling from people who he could have burned up in a firefly flash at any moment. He stayed.
Why? He went to the valley of suffering, so that you could join him on the mountaintop of glory. Now through faith, one day in startling reality you will be enveloped by a cloud of God’s glory. You will hear God say to you, “you are my son, my daughter, I love you. I want people to listen to what you have to say, to pay attention to who you are.” All that is yours because Jesus gives it to you. “Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus alone.” The glimpse of his glory over, now they saw the same humble Jesus they had been so accustomed to. They could again handle his presence without being overwhelmed by terror. This is how God wants to interact with people. Despite the disparity of glory between us and him, he does not want to find better company. He doesn’t want to make us fearful. He wants to interact with us in a way that is meaningful and manageable for us. He wants a relationship of friendship and closeness, and that only happens in a context of safety. So Jesus traveled to the unsafe cross so that you could safely deal with him. When he gives you those insights of his radiant glory, he knows how to stay his hand and come with you hiding the right amount of glory so a friendship can exist. “As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” Why didn’t Jesus want them talking about this? Because that mountaintop glory, as meaningful as it was and is; was not the primary purpose of his coming. That kind of experience of insight and connection with God is not primarily what will bring people and God close again; not what primarily is needed. A mountaintop experience can be useful where and when God chooses to allow and to arrange it. But what is really needed is Jesus to rise from the dead. The only prerequisite for rising from the dead is: you have to be dead. He had to go to the dark cross before he’s ascend to higher heights in his resurrection. So, let this be a lesson for you. You may have great mountain top experiences to share. God may arrange moments for you to share. But don’t let your mountaintops be the main thing you talk about with others. Prioritize sharing the death and resurrection of Jesus with people first. That’s what people need more than a mountaintop experience. They need a God who would; as a beloved Son, hide his glory and die - only to rise again. That’s what changes people. The cross and empty tomb display the glory and humility of Jesus most bright and most obvious for all to see. So, lessons to apply for you. First, can you benefit from taking special time to get away with Jesus? Not every day, or even every week; but could you plan every year or every couple of years a day or a week where you intentionally set aside the normal business of life and go somewhere to be alone with Jesus, or in a group of 3 or 4 with Jesus? We could all benefit from this. Enjoy the mountaintops when God provides them. But be able to descend as well. Learn to appreciate the moments of spiritual closeness and insight when God provides them. But don’t demand them. Be content like Jesus to go down the mountain to the places where God has arranged for you to humbly, sacrificially serve like Jesus did.
Remember that you have a similar identity dynamic going on. Colossians 3 says, “your life is now hidden with Christ. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you shall appear with him glorious.” Don’t go grabbing for a glory of your own. Wait patiently for him to reveal his glory in you. Don’t forget the glory of the mountaintop when you’re in the valley. Don’t forget the impact of being in the valley when you’re on the mountaintop. Finally, look forward to a time when Jesus’ full glory will not intimidate you. Consider Moses and Elijah. In their humble lives here; they struggle with things like depression, borderline suicidal requests; discouragement and weakness. But after they had been glorified, they appeared and talked with Jesus, and they didn’t seem to be the least bit afraid. Jesus was showing his glory; and they could handle it. One day, you will be able to handle it as well. You’ll be able to see the dazzling, shining like the sun, true God and man in one person coming toward you; and you’ll think, “Hey, it’s Jesus. I’d like to talk with him.” It’ll be like a friend and not a terror coming at you. Remember that when life weighs you down. See the glory, feel the cloud envelop you. And listen to the voice of God Almighty. Because Jesus is a part of the human race, he says of you: You are my son, my daughter, I love you. Angels will listen to you one day.” That is who you are destined to become. That is who Jesus will make you. In the meantime, be content to come to the humble pages of the Bible to get glimpses of glory on ordinary pages. His Word will prepare you for your mission. His word will humble you when you need it, but also raise you up when you are low. Amen.