Scripture: Mark 9:1-13
Intro
Are you the kind of person who hates silence? If no one is talking, you feel like you should? Even if you’re wrong or not sure what to say, you just have to say something. Or maybe you’re the person who sits quietly listening and learning – watching and waiting for someone else to say something. Maybe you don’t want to be wrong or have everyone think judge you. Guess which group Peter falls into?
In today’s message from Mark 9, Peter is in another situation where he just can’t help himself. Just like in our last passage, where Peter rebuked Jesus for saying he would suffer and die. Now, Peter sees Jesus transformed on a mountaintop and thinks, someone should say something – I guess it will be me again! What will he say and how will Jesus respond? What’s the point of this event? Let’s find out.
Series
As we continue our series: The Crown & The Cross sermon, Mark’s Gospel shows Jesus as a man with a clear message and mission, and the reader is called to actively response to the message.
In the first half of Mark the emphasis was on Jesus as Messiah the King who deserved a crown. Now in the second half the focus is on Jesus fulfilling His life’s purpose in suffering and dying on the cross.
Back in Mark 1, Jesus was baptized as he prepared for his ministry and God the Father confirmed his identity speaking from heaven, You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. As Jesus is now preparing for the final phase of his mission, going to the cross to die, again the Father speaks from heaven confirming that Jesus is the Son of God. But this statement is also for the benefit and encouragement of his three closest disciples – Peter, James, and John.
A Troubling Statement
What the Disciples Saw
What the Disciples Heard
What the Disciples Felt
What it all means
The purpose of the Transfiguration of Christ – seeing him in all his glory – on top of a high mountain, with Moses and Elijah, and all of the references back to the Old Testament the law and the prophets, God was clearly reinforcing the purpose of Jesus mission in suffering and dying. He wanted to prepare the disciples for the hard road ahead and he wanted to encourage them to listen to Jesus and know that this was all really true. God’s kingdom had come to earth – but it was a spiritual kingdom that they did not fully understand.
Take Aways
- Just like for the disciples, this should confirm our faith Jesus as the Son of God and only true redeemer and Savior. We should also be excited about his return when we too will be transformed into his glorious image.
- After Jesus told the disciples that he must suffer and die, we should be prepared to suffer and die for the sake of the Gospel – Are you willing to give up anything to help others find the gift of eternal life you have already received?
- When you have experience beautiful, mountaintop times of worship, fellowship, and community with God and his family do you want to stay there, like Peter, or are you invigorated and encouraged to go back down the mountain to share the Gospel and live it out? There is such a focus on great worship experiences today, that there may be a danger for many Christians to just seek out those experiences instead of going out and doing the work of sharing the Gospel in word and action.
- Our weekly church gathering should bring us into worship of our great God – seeing his amazing glory, but also hearing His Word and listening so we obey it.