Dan Herold | Mark 9:2-9 | February 7, 2016
(Sermon begins at 20:19)
Maybe you’ve had this sort of experience before. Maybe it was at a family reunion, or a wedding, or maybe a class reunion. Maybe it happened after having lunch with some friends you haven’t seen in a long time, or maybe it was just a regular Sunday morning when we happened to read your favorite Bible verse, or sing your favorite hymn, or you just heard what you needed to hear that day. I’m talking about that feeling you get when you can’t really explain why you feel so happy, but you just are. I’m talking about that moment when you look around at your friends or your family—or maybe you just say it to yourself—and you say “it is good to be here.”
This morning we heard about Jesus’ transfiguration in Mark 9:2-9. In those verses Peter says that it was good for the disciples to be there with Jesus at his transfiguration. Keep those words in mind this morning because, as Peter said, it is good for us to be here!
Since Peter said it was good for the disciples to be there (at the Transfiguration), first let’s look at where they were. In verse 2 of our text we are told that,
“After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them.”
We aren’t told which mountain it was, but only that it was a high mountain where the disciples could be alone with Jesus. The mountain was probably somewhere near the town of Caesarea Philippi where Jesus had been preaching and teaching in the previous chapter. At any rate, Mark doesn’t tell us exactly where this event took place; instead he focuses on what took place.
At the end of verse two Mark tells us that Jesus was transfigured before the disciples. Somehow Jesus’ appearance changed. The next verse fills in some details about how. We are told that,
“His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.”
All the other Gospel accounts of this event just compare Jesus’ appearance to a bright light or a flash of lightning, but Mark gives us a unique picture. Mark, the author of Mark’s gospel, is the guy sometimes called John-Mark. He was the one that for some reason or another wasn’t a good ministry partner for Paul and Paul sent him back home on one of his missionary trips. When Mark got home he met up with Peter and worked with him in ministry. So, this gospel includes eyewitness details from Peter’s perspective like this description of Jesus’ appearance.
That was one of the reasons Peter said it was good to be there. It was good for these three disciples, who would be very close to Jesus through his suffering and death, to catch a glimpse of their Savior’s glory with their own eyes. The things that were to come would be incredibly difficult for Peter, James, and John to see, but in his grace God gave them this special opportunity to see Jesus in glory and take courage from what they saw.
What happened next, though, was also good for the disciples to see. In verse four, we read,
“And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.”
Now, you might ask, “Why is that good for the disciples?” It was good for them, and also good for us, because it was good for Jesus. The word that is translated as “talking” in our text literally means, “exchanging thoughts.” The conversation between Moses, Elijah, and Jesus wasn’t one sided, but it was a real discussion. If we turn to the parallel account of the transfiguration in Luke’s Gospel we find in Luke 9:31 that,
“They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.”
Jesus knew that the time for him to suffer and die was soon approaching. He knew it would be difficult and unpleasant. It was good for Jesus to speak with these two saints because they had been through difficult times and God had taken excellent care of them.
If you remember back in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. He went up on a mountain and died looking over the land God promised to Israel. However, Moses wasn’t left alone—God himself buried Moses. He also cared for Elijah at the end of his life too. He took Elijah to heaven without ever experiencing death. The experiences of these two saints and the unique ends of their lives served to encourage Jesus and remind him that his heavenly Father would care for him as he suffered and died for us.
Peter recognized that what was happening was good. It was good for them to be there and see Jesus receive encouragement from these men for whom God had demonstrated love and care. Peter is bluntly honest in verse 6 that,
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“He did not know what to say, because they were so frightened.”
He still recognized that it was good and that he didn’t want it to end. In verse six he says,
“Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
Peter was so overwhelmed by how good it was to be there and see Jesus talking with these Old Testament believers that he didn’t even realize how foolish his idea was. Since he recognized Moses and Elijah, surely he knew that they had been dead for hundreds of years. Surely Peter knew that Jesus wasn’t going to just live on this mountain from now on. Peter didn’t want this good time to end even though it logically had to.
What are some of those good times we don’t want to end, and what makes them so good? Where is it good for us to be? It is good for us to be right here in church, but why? It was good for the disciples to be at the Transfiguration because they saw Jesus being encouraged, and they, in turn, were encouraged. It is good for us to be here because we are in the presence of God as well. We have gathered together with fellow believers to worship and receive encouragement from God.
The disciples needed encouragement because they were about to witness their Savior walk to the cross on which he would die for them. Why do we need encouragement? Maybe you are facing an uncertain future at work. Maybe a new addition to your family will be arriving soon, and you are just a little scared of how your life will change. Perhaps as the days and weeks and months keep rolling by, the reality is setting in that your life on earth will not last forever. Whatever it may be that troubles you, rest assured your Lord has just the answer you need. That is why it is good for us to be here. It is good for us to be together with those who struggle as we do and good for us to hear God’s word which offers all the answers we need. It is good for us to be here to see Jesus in his glory, and to see him find encouragement from God as he faced a difficult time in his life.
It is also good for us to see the way Peter responded to the good things he saw. At times we need to be reminded that we rarely understand things on our own. Peter knew that what happened at the Transfiguration was good, but he didn’t yet understand why it was good. However, when we do not understand, our gracious God clarifies.
In verse 7 God offers some words of explanation to the disciples.
“Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: ‘This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
Do those words which God spoke sound familiar? If so, you heard them a few weeks ago when we heard about the baptism of Jesus. At his baptism God spoke words very similar to these. In both instances he reassures us that Jesus is his son and that he loves his Son. When God said that he loved Jesus at his transfiguration it reassured Jesus that his Father would be with him and support him even through the hard times ahead. It’s comforting for us to hear that God loved Jesus because it reassures us that Jesus is our Savior who died for us. It also reminds us that God loves those for whom Jesus died, and because he loves us he will be with us even through the most difficult times.
In the closing verses of our text Mark explains why it was good for the disciples to be alone with their Savior. He writes,
“Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.”
He told them not to tell anyone yet, because the disciples still didn’t fully understand what was happening.
In Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration he writes that the disciples were terrified when they heard the voice of God, but when they looked up and saw Jesus they were comforted because they knew Jesus as their friend. Even though he is the almighty second person of the Trinity, to the disciples he was their friend who brought them comfort.
None of us will probably ever hear the voice of God booming from a cloud on a mountain top, but there are still things in life that frighten us. Not knowing if the bills will be paid this month, seeing a loved one confined to a hospital bed, or having your sense of security shaken by the numerous reports of break-ins and robberies lately can all scare us. However, our Savior comforts us. He knows us and knows what it is like to be one of us. It is good for us to be here to hear God’s approval of Jesus. It is good for us so that we can be reminded that we have comfort in our Savior.
It truly is good for us to be here and be encouraged as we prepare for the season of Lent. As you see your Savior suffer humiliation and death in the coming weeks some might be tempted to wonder if he really was so powerful after all. But what a blessing we have been given by our wonderfully gracious God. What a blessing it is to be encouraged in our faith right before the somber season of Lent. At Jesus’ Transfiguration we receive the blessing of encouragement by seeing Jesus receive encouragement and approval. What a wonderful thing it is for us to be here in God’s house and to be here in God’s grace. We can most certainly join together with Peter and say,
“Lord, it is good for us to be here.”
Amen.