Glory Displayed

Light in the Darkness: The Glory of Jesus in Mark PART VII
Rev. John Lin
15 February 2015

Mark 9:2-13
2And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.  And he was transfigured before them, 3and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.  4And there appeared to them Elijah and Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  5And Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here.  Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah."  6For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.  7And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him."  8And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

9And as there were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seem, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  10So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean.  11And they asked him, "Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?"  12And he said to them, "Elijah does come first to restore all things.  And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  13But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him."

Transfiguration is an eruption of change that can transform the earth.

WHAT IS THAT GLORY
--Glory of God comes down in a cloud just as it did for Moses back on Sinai
--Wants to see the unveiled glory of God.
--Can't see God's face, but Moses comes down physically radiant, but it eventually fades.
--Here, Glory is whiter than anything on earth.
--Jesus is that Glory and radiates it directly.
--Hebrews 1 - Radiant of His glory.
--Reconcile who Jesus is--exact representation of God.
--We have to take a stance on the claim that Jesus is God.
--Jesus is the only entity that emanates the Glory of God from within
--Jesus's Glory is not derivative as it has been in the others.

EXPERIENCING THAT GLORY
--God works and moves in a cloud.
--Something needs to house the Glory of God or else it will destroy everything.
--Peter acknowledges the need for a shelter.
--Cloud immerses Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, but none die.
--v.8 Jesus is the only one left.
--Accessing the brilliance of God without being destroyed is called worship.
--Worship is adoring something that is true and beautiful.
--Wrapped up in the embrace of God's love.
--Is this what my heart yearns and dies for?

WHY DO WE NEED THAT GLORY
--After Jesus returns from transfiguration, he returns to chaos and confusion.
--Returns to hostility and confusion.
--Life will be a long and chaotic journey.
--Pulsating and life giving glory.
--Transfiguration is a taste of resurrection and a glimpse of future glory.
--Christianity maintains that there is hope in suffering.
--So there is glory on the other side of suffering.

HOW DO WE GET THIS GLORY
--Glory can be in the ordinary.
--Glory can be in defeat.
--A man with an ill child comes to Jesus in desperation.
--Jesus rebukes the spirit and the child looks dead--but then is healed.
--"Everything is possible to those who believe...Help me with my unbelief..."
--Jesus heard nothing when crying out on the cross.
--This was a moment of glory and victory in crushing defeat.