Luke 9:32-33
The Gospel of Luke • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
********** Start Timer **********
-If you would, please turn back to Luke 9.
And, we’ve come now to a third section...
…in our study of the Transfiguration...
…which begins in Verse 32.
-Last week, we spent our time in Verses 30-31.
The primary emphasis in those verses, being...
…that Moses and Elijah had been sent from heaven...
…to testify to the fact, that...
The Cross
The Resurrection...
…were what the whole Old Testament...
…pointed to and predicted.
In other words, that...
…Jesus is the sum and substance...
…of everything that God had revealed so far.
-Now, believe it or not...
…I had originally planned...
…to finish the entire narrative...
…this morning.
-But, as I studied through it...
(and considered our observance of The Supper)
…I concluded (once again), that...
…it would be best to stop at the end of Verse 33...
...And, Lord-Willing, finish everything up next week.
-Let’s read our text.
We’ll start back at Verse 28.
This is the Word of God:
It is his testimony...
…Concerning His Son!
Luke 9:28–36 (ESV)
28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.
30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah,
31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
33 And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.
34 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
Click Off
Pray
-The scene had ended last week...
…with Jesus, Moses, and Elijah...
Standing Together
Resplendent with Glory
Discussing the coming victories of the Cross.
And I told you last week...
…that Moses and Elijah...
…had come to testify OF and ABOUT Jesus...
…but not to testify TO him.
And, what we see in verse 32, is that...
…those to whom they were supposed to testify...
…were, at first, oblivious to it:
Look at Verse 32:
Luke 9:32 (ESV)
32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep...
Literally: “weighed down with sleep”
Idiom, that was also used of drunkenness
It sounds almost supernaturally imposed...
But, Remember what we read in verse 28...
That Jesus...
Luke 9:28 (ESV)
28 ...took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
...And, how we were told in other places...
…that Jesus would (at times)...
…spend the entire night praying.
If we couple that with...
…the marker of time in Verse 37...
Luke 9:37 (ESV)
37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain...
Click Off
…it may be safe for us to conclude...
…that this was happening...
…in the middle of the night.
That all being said...
…its probably not necessary for us to assume...
…that this “heaviness” of sleep...
…was anything more than...
…what would naturally occur...
…under such circumstances as they were in.
However, J.C. Ryle does make an important observation here:
Let it be noted that the very same disciples who here slept during a vision of glory were also found sleeping during the agony in the garden of Gethsemane.
Flesh and blood does indeed need to be changed before it can enter heaven.
Our poor weak bodies can neither watch with Christ in His time of trial nor keep awake with Him in His glorification.
Our physical constitution must be greatly altered before we could enjoy heaven. — Ryle, Gospels, St. Luke, I:320
Click Off
And, let this cause us to...
Recognize our own weakness...
Entreat the Lord for strength...
Rather than...
Cast an eye of critical condescension...
…upon the weakness of the disciples, here seen.
-Alright, Look at the rest of the verse:
Luke 9:32 (ESV)
32 ...but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
Imagine being awakened to this!
You see the Rabbi that you’ve been following...
…for over two years...
…talking to Moses and Elijah...
...Who had, remember, both...
Been dead for centuries...
Had God revealed to them on top of a mountain...
And they’re all radiating with glory!
How is that going to affect you...
…as you arouse from a deep sleep?
You’re probably going to be, simultaneously...
Confused...
Afraid...
Yet, somewhat excited.
-Also. think about this:
MOSES… had begged God...
…to be allowed to see his glory on Sinai...
But, he was only allowed a small glimpse.
Now, the man that...
You’ve been following and serving...
Has chosen you to be one of his apostles...
Has just told you that you were going to be...
…a foundational pillar for the establishment of his Kingdom...
That man… Is transfigured before your very eyes...
And you awake, to behold his divine glory!
-What are you going to think?
This is a bit of sanctified speculation, here...
…But, you’re probably going to think...
“Oh man, This has to be it!”
“The time has to have finally come!”
“Jesus has finally manifested himself...
…and Moses and Elijah...
(Those men with eschatological expectations)
… have come from heaven...
…to help him rally the people to himself.”
“IT IS ON!”
-But then... Moses and Elijah...
…begin to leave!
Luke tells us in Verse 33, that...
Luke 9:33 (ESV)
33 ...the men were parting from him...
-Wait.. What?
-Now, how do you process it?
Mark tells us, that Peter...
Mark 9:6 (ESV)
6 ...did not know what to say, for they were terrified.
Click Off
-So, it appears to me, that...
…Peter responds, in something of a panic, here.
Think about it:
The three disciples had dropped the ball...
They had fallen asleep...
They had missed, what was, arguably...
(with the possible exception of the Incarnation)
...the most important thing...
…that had ever yet happened ...
…in the history of the whole world...
And they wake up...
…to see that it was ending...
…and everyone was going back home.
And, Peter thinks...
“I’ve got to do something”
“I’ve got to say something”
So, he says, this:
Luke 9:33 (ESV)
33 And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here...
-Now, I’m not sure if he meant:
It’s good for our sake (the disciples)
(To be able to behold your glory)
It’s good for your sake (the heavenly counsel)
(As though they could be of service to them)
It’s good for the sake of the Messianic Kingdom.
(As though they might help get it established)
Commentators are divided on it...
…and I can see it going either way...
…in the solution that Peter proposes.
Here it is:
Luke 9:33 (ESV)
33 ...Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” . . .
What’s Peter trying to do, here?
Well, at first glance, he appears to be...
…trying to prevent Moses and Elijah from leaving.
The word for “tent,” that...
...Luke uses (in the original) has a rich history...
…in Old Covenant Judaism. (in the LXX)
It can refer to the Tabernacle (proper)...
i.e., the mobile place of worship and intercession...
Or, to those make-shift structures...
…that the Israelites used for shelter...
…during the period of their wilderness wanderings.
And If the latter is the reference...
...he could have been suggesting...
...that he provide lodging for them...
…so that they wouldn’t have to leave...
...To the end, that...
...this experience would be prolonged.
I like what Calvin says, here:
He was mistaken in proposing to build fading tabernacles for men who had been already admitted to the glory of heaven and of the angels. — Calvin
Click Off
That’s one theory.
-Some say it was a little deeper, theologically.
Some say that Peter had in mind...
…a reference to the Feast of Tabernacles....
Where Israel was commanded...
…to come to Jerusalem...
…after each year’s fall harvest...
…and build, and live in (temporarily)...
…these make-shift “tents” or “booths”...
…to remind them of God’s faithfulness...
In the original Exodus
Throughout their Wilderness Wanderings
In the harvest of the previous year.
It was to be a time of worship and celebration.
You can see where someone could make that connection...
…because of the language of Exodus in...
Luke 9:31 (ESV)
31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
-Now, this idea may not be...
...as outlandish as it sounds at first.
There was/is an eschatological expectation...
…connected to the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles:
Zechariah 14:1–3 (ESV)
1 Behold, a day is coming for the Lord...
2 ...I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle...
3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.
Zechariah 14:9 (ESV)
9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
Zechariah 14:16–21 (ESV)
16 Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths.
Click Off
-Now, what would be the problem...
...with Peter making this application THEN?
The “Exodus” hadn’t happened yet!
Calvin, again says:
He did not understand the design of the vision; for, while he was hearing, from the mouth of Moses and Elijah, that the time of Christ’s death was at hand, he foolishly dreamed that his present aspect, which was temporary, would endure for ever.
And what if the kingdom of Christ had been confined in this way to the narrow limits of twenty or thirty feet?
Where would have been the redemption of the whole world?
Where would have been the communication of eternal salvation? — Calvin
Click Off
-Now, this third interpretive opinion...
… seems (to me) to be the most plausible.
Mike McKinley explains:
In order to understand what is happening here, the reader needs to be familiar with an event that is recorded in Exodus 40:34–35 — Mike McKinley
Exodus 40:33–38 (ESV)
33 ...So Moses finished the work.
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
36 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out.
Click Off
You see, this tent:
Represented the presence of God (Glory) among the people
Was the place of instruction, intercession, and mediation
And now, here are three men...
…arrayed in glory...
All of which, have...
…received direct revelation from heaven.
-So… the thinking appears to be...
...let’s build them each a tent of meeting!
...And we’ll have three mediators!
-But, Luke makes this inspired assessment of Peter’s suggestion:
Luke 9:33 (ESV)
33 ...Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said
Click Off
-What’s the main problem with Peter’s suggestion?
(Whichever way you interpret it)
-Well, he’s probably meaning to compliment Jesus...
…by treating him as the equal of Moses and Elijah...
But, it is as Philip Ryken says...
Jesus Christ does not have any peers. — Ryken
There aren’t three means of...
Intercession
Mediation
Access to God.
Once Jesus’ Exodus would be accomplished...
Moses and Elijah would do NOTHING...
…EXCEPT, point people to Him!
And now that Jesus has “departed,” i.e...
Been crucified
Raised
Ascended
Enthroned...
1 Timothy 2:5 (ESV)
5 ...there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
Look at the way Paul...
…contrasts the mediation of...
Jesus
Moses:
2 Corinthians 3:7–18 (ESV)
7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end,
8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?
9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.
10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it.
11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold,
13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.
14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.
15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.
16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord...
Brethren, Jesus is not...
A way to know the God of glory...
He is...
The ONE and ONLY way!
And, if you want...
…the veil that’s over your heart...
…to be removed...
Then you MUST...
Turn away from Moses and Elijah
(hope in your own obedience to the Law)
And you MUST...
“Turn to the Lord Jesus Christ”
…in dependent, humble, submissive faith.
There is no other way.
Let’s Pray