Luke 9:34-36
The Gospel of Luke • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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-If you have your Bibles...
…please turn back to Luke 9.
And we’ve come, at last...
…to the final section...
…in our study of the Transfiguration....
And that will be in Verses 34-36.
And, for sake of time...
…we’re just going to jump right in.
But we’ll begin reading up in Verse 28...
...to be reminded of the context.
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.
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Pray
-Since we’ve been here for so many weeks ...
It would probably be worth our time...
…to begin with a quick review:
Remember, that it had all begun...
…with Jesus taking...
Luke 9:28 (ESV)
28 ...Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
And, (probably) sometime into the night...
…His disciples fell into a deep sleep.
And, while...
They were sleeping...
Jesus continued in prayer...
Matthew 17:2 (ESV)
2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
This was showing us...
...The reality of Jesus’ eternal, divine nature...
…which had been hitherto concealed...
…by his real humanity!
-Then Moses and Elijah...
(Representing the Law and The Prophets)
(i.e., the entire OT deposit of truth)
…also appeared with attendant glory...
(indicating that they had been...
…dispatched from the throne of glory in heaven)
…and stood, taking with Jesus, about...
lk9.31
Luke 9:31 (ESV)
31 ...his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
What this told us, was that...
…The whole Old Testament...
…was meant to point us to Jesus!
…That it was/is inherently Christocentric!
...That the Cross and the Resurrection...
Were always Plan A
Were/are the sum and substance of that entire body of revelation.
-And then, finally, last week, we saw that...
The disciples awoke to behold the scene...
But, Moses and Elijah were beginning to leave...
And Peter hastily proposed this solution:
Luke 9:33 (ESV)
33 ...Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”...
Indicating either:
Three shelters for the heavenly visitors
Three means of equal veneration
Three means of mediation to God!
Either way, Luke weighed in and said:
Luke 9:33 (ESV)
33 ...not knowing what he said.
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-Now, the narrative resumes in Verse 34...
..with another Person arriving on the scene...
…and speaking authoritatively to...
The disciples’ confusion
Peter’s proposed solution:
Luke 9:34 (ESV)
34 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them...
Or, “surrounded” or “enveloped”
That sounds kind of ominous, doesn’t it?
Look at how they respond:
Luke 9:34 (ESV)
34 ...they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
Why are they afraid?
They’re standing on a mountain.
The presence of clouds...
…isn’t something that unique.
Matthew helps us to better understand:
Matthew 17:5 (ESV)
5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them...
“shining”
“radiant”
(and remember, there’s a good possibility...
…that this is all taking place at night)
This isn’t an ordinary cloud, is it?
This isn’t an ordinary occurence.
So, What’s happening?
Why are they terrified?
Because they know their Old Testaments!
-This was the first theophanic symbol...
…of God’s presence among the People of Israel:
Exodus 13:21 (ESV)
21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
Then at the Red Sea:
Exodus 14:19–20 (ESV)
19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,
20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
Then later at Sinai:
Exodus 24:15–18 (ESV)
15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.
16 The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.
18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
And then this happened:
Exodus 25:1 (ESV)
1 The Lord said to Moses...
Revelation!
Ryken explains it further:
This glory-cloud made the disciples tremble with fear, and well it should, because it was nothing less than the glory of God.
The disciples were seeing what Moses saw when God descended on the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34–35), what Solomon saw when God’s presence filled Israel’s house of worship (2 Chron. 7:1–3), and what Ezekiel saw rising from the temple on the wings of the cherubim (Ezek. 10).
They were seeing the glory of almighty God—his Shekinah glory—the radiant cloud that gave people a visible manifestation of his invisible majesty — Philip Ryken
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-So, why is God “coming down,” here?
Why is his glory settling in?
Because He has something to say...
And, it appears that...
…he intends for them not to forget it!
Luke tells us this:
Luke 9:35 (ESV)
35 And a voice came out of the cloud, . . .
Notice: Verbal manifestation not Visible
Is there any doubt as to who’s speaking here?
Do you think these Jewish men...
…are going to have any doubts about it?
Here’s what he says...
(And remember the immediate context...
…of Peter’s proposal...
…to build Jesus, Moses, and Elijah each their own tent/tabernacle)
First, He says:
Luke 9:35 (ESV)
35 . . . “This is my Son . . .”
Matthew adds:
Matthew 17:5 (ESV)
5 . . . “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased...”
Or, “my Son, my beloved”
-Now, He’s already PERSONALLY testified to this...
…at least once before...
…using the same construction!
It was at Jesus’ baptism...
...Where he was being ordained/anointed...
…for his public ministry:
-So, why say it again here?
For starters… as far as we know...
…none of the future apostles...
…were present to witness that first heavenly testimony
And, part of their commission, was to...
Record this testimony...
Bear witness to it...
…to Christ’s future posterity!
In fact, we see that happening in:
Notice the Context:
2 Peter 1:15–18 (ESV)
16…We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,”
18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.
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Do you see what this is telling us?
It’s telling us that the Father, himself...
…testified to the essential nature of Jesus:
He is the eternal Son of God!
-Now, in doing that...
…he’s drawing a contrast between Jesus (The Son)...
…and Moses and Elijah...
-Elijah… is NOT the Son!
-Moses… is NOT the Son!
Consider what the author of Hebrews wrote in:
Hebrews 3:3–6 (ESV)
3 ...Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.
5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later,
6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son...
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Now, in this... as well as in our text...
....we see an allusion to a second aspect...
…of The Father’s revelation of the Son...
The first aspect had been...
…regarding his ontological identity.
The second aspect...
…is in regard to his vocation.
Look at Verse 35 again:
Luke 9:35 (ESV)
35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One...”
This is OT Messianic language through and through!
For example, consider the language of:
Isaiah 42:1 (ESV)
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.
This is the language of Messiah!
Sproul summarizes it like this:
As God’s chosen one, Jesus fulfills Israel’s role as the Lord’s servant, (Is. 42:1), Moses’s role as Israel’s intercessor (Ps. 106:23), and David’s role as king (Ps. 89:19, 20).
Both “Son” and “Chosen One” set Jesus apart as superior to Moses and Elijah. — Sproul
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-So, these are the indicatives of our text...
These are the truth claims...
…being asserted by God the Father.
-And, here… is the imperative (command)...
...that those indicatives (truths) require:
Luke 9:35 (ESV)
35 . . . “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
And again, we're reminded of...
…that promise and warning from Deuteronomy 18.
Peter enlists it:
Acts 3:22–24 (ESV)
22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.
23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’
24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.
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Brethren, Moses and Elijah were...
Authoritative messengers of God
Generally faithful stewards of divine revelation
Vessels through which God made himself known to the world...
…But, they are NOT His Son!
There’s a supremacy to the Son!
(Think of the Parable of the Wicked Tenants in Luke 20)
(Elaborate)
It’s dangerous enough...
…to ignore Moses and Elijah (The Law and the Prophets)
But, when you rebel against THE SON...
That’s a whole ‘nother thing!
-The author of Hebrews warned about that often.
For example:
Hebrews 10:28–29 (ESV)
28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God...
Hebrews 10:31 (ESV)
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
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-Why is the response to the Son...
…So much more critical...
…than how we respond to Moses?
(Both were conduits of divine revelation, right?)
Because it’s sinning against a greater light!
It’s sinning against the greatest light!
-Look at Verse 36...
And remember, that before, . . .
...the sight of the three disciples...
…had been obscured by the glory cloud...
They had, at first, beheld all three men standing together...
…And Peter had suggested a response...
…that assumed an equality between them.
Then God said,
“This is my Son”
“You hear HIM”
Then this happened:
Luke 9:36 (ESV)
36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone...
It is so important that we understand the implication here.
God began to reveal himself...
At the dawn of creation
Through his creative acts:
Genesis 1:2–4 (ESV)
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep...
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 And God saw that the light was good....
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He continued to reveal himself progressively...
…to his creation...
And the picture of his invisible nature...
…became clearer and clearer...
…as time went on.
Moses and Elijah (The Law and the Prophets)...
...had contributed much to that picture.
But, at the end of the Old Testament day...
We were still left with that obscuring tension...
…of God’s kindness attributes on the one hand...
…and his severity on the other.
-And, in our text...
Moses and Elijah begin the narrative...
…by standing WITH Jesus in glory (revelation).
But, after Jesus is manifested for who he is...
Moses and Elijah simply disappear!
-Their glory as servants has been eclipsed...
…by the glory of the Son!
-Think about this analogy:
Think about the relationship...
...of the stars to the Sun.
The stars don’t go away...
...when the Sun rises, do they?
They’re still there… and shining brightly.
But, you can’t see them, can you?
Why?
Because of the Surpassing glory of the Sun.
When the Sun comes out...
…Its glory supersedes the glory of the stars.
Such is the case when we compare...
…the glory and revelation of the Son...
…to that of even Moses and Elijah!
The author of Hebrews wrote this:
Hebrews 1:1–4 (ESV)
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power...
This is why Jesus “was found alone!”
He is the fulness of the divine Revelation.
-Paul put it like this:
2 Corinthians 4:6 (ESV)
6 ...God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
What are you going to add to that?
How are you going to improve on the Son?
-But, there’s an important distinction here:
We’re led to it by those confusing words...
…at the end of Verse 36:
Luke 9:36 (ESV)
36 ...And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
Mark tells us why...
And it’s important:
Mark 9:9–10 (ESV)
9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean.
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You see...
…The Glory of God was not FULLY revealed...
…until Jesus had...
Accomplished the redemption of his people on the Cross
Been raised from the dead to...
Vindicate his righteousness
Guarantee final judgment
Ascended to be enthroned in fulfilment of every divine promise!
The disciples couldn’t FULLY reveal the glory of God to man...
…before Jesus had accomplished those victories...
Because it is in/through those victories...
…that the invisible God can be revealed and known!
-Peter says this, right after his testimony...
…of the Mount of Transfiguration:
He says, NOW...
2 Peter 1:19 (ESV)
19 ...we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,
Here’s what this means for us today.
It will be our final imperative:
Hebrews 12:25 (ESV)
25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.
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He is the Chosen One
He is the Son
And You and I had better listen to Him!
Let’s Pray