Glory in the Gray

Series on Luke

III The Initiation

D The Activities of His Ministry Revealing that the Kingdom Is:

15 Fulfilled in Death

Text 9:28-36

Introduction

Many years ago the renowned Archibald Alexander of Princeton wrote a devotional book entitled, “Glory in the Gray.” This epitomizes the extremes of our text. In our Christian experience we always have the valleys to accompany the mountain tops. Peter on behalf of his fellow disciples, has just confessed that Jesus is the Christ of God. As if to vindicate that confession , one week later, while our Lord is in a mountain with James, Peter, and John he is marvelously transfigured in their sight, and they see the glory of the Lord. But the gray part is that it cannot last. They must come down from the mountain-top and face the worst. As Jesus predicted and Peter denied, our Savior must tread the lonely and painful road to the cross. The mountain tops in life are few and infrequent. Most of the path leads through the valleys, but the glory is there to sustain us in the gray, and the glory is found in the face of Jesus Christ who is the radiance of God’s glory and the gospel is the good news of the glory of Christ. Let us see that today. Consider with me the confusion of the disciples, the confirmation of death, and the commitment to duty.

I The Confusion of the Disciples

Peter, James, and John are given here a spectacular display of the glory which Jesus had before the world was and which he now has in heaven in verses 28-32, About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. It is the cloud of glory by day and the pillar of fire by night called Shekinah which went before Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. it is the glory cloud which hid Jesus from their sight as he ascended to heaven in Acts 1, and it is the cloud of glory in which he shall return triumphantly in God’s time. It is awesome, and their natural reaction is expressed by Peter who says verse 33, As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.) In the Old Testament the Hebrew people lived in tents and God was in their midst in a tent of meeting, so Peter is not talking overnight accommodations here. He is suggesting something permanent. You see the disciples were waiting for a demonstration of Messiah’s power and majesty and they are happy it has finally come. So far as they are concerned this is what they wanted all along. This is a display of raw physical power of the kind that will assure their victory. They are elated and they don’t want it to end, but it must and this brings me to the second thought, the confirmation of death.

II The Confirmation of Death

Appearing with Jesus are Moses and Elijah, the pillars of the Old Testament. Moses represents the law, and Elijah the prophets. We should not be surprised that they talked about Jesus’ exodus, or that is, His death. Our Lord taught his disciples that the theme of the law and the prophets was his death. On the road to Emmaus after his resurrection this is what we read in Luke 24:25-27, He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Obviously He could not remain on the mountain top. He had to come down to die as Moses and Elijah knew, as he knew and as the Old Testament said. The thing that strikes me about this situation is the incredible dilemma it presents. You see God wanted an obedient and holy man. Adam failed. Jesus the last Adam succeeded. So the voice speaking from the cloud is not just a warning, it is a longing. God speaks in verses 34-36, While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen. As God said at His baptism, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Even as the disciples saw in this event a manifestation of the power they had been looking for, God saw here a righteous, holy, harmless, undefiled sinless man for whom he had been waiting. One who was free of the wages of sin, and one whom death could not claim. Why not take him now as he had taken Enoch in the far distant past for the Bible says, And Enoch walked with God and he was no more for God took him away. Elijah one of those right here with Jesus was talking with Elisha and suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Moses we really don’t know about, but Deuteronomy 34 says God buried him in a secret place, and Jude 9 tells us after this there was a dispute between the archangel Michael and the devil over the body of Moses. Although nobody knows if something else occurred, there is a strong presumption that Moses was also translated to glory. In any case as God had done before with sinful men who had served him well, might he not now do with Jesus who was the perfect one he had waited for; the one whom Satan had failed to corrupt? But then what would become of us? This is exactly the point. never had the Father not loved the Son, but as he watched him learn obedience by the things which he suffered, how his great heart must have filled with delight. Nevertheless the Father sends Him down the mountain to die because He loved us. Jesus will be the first born among many brethren. Through believing in him and receiving the free gift of his righteousness we shall become sons of God, as precious in his sight as Jesus was and is. We shall be heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. What He has is ours and not one bit less, and all because He came down to die. How does this affect my life?

III The Commitment to Duty

My response must be a commitment to duty and this is exemplified in the life of Peter. The epistles of Peter are full of reminiscences of this event. O how marvelously he learned the lesson of this event. The glory in the mount was to prepare him for a life in the valley. He learned that the Old Testament Scriptures had foretold the death of his Lord as he says in I Peter 1:10-12, Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. He was at home with his Savior’s sufferings as we read in I Peter 4:1, Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin, and also in verse 19, So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. He also reflects back on the transfiguration when he says in II Peter 1:12-15 that he no longer thought of a tent in the mountain but a tent in the valley which was his body, So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. His testimony is summed up in verse 13, for the word translated departure is the word exodus and it is the same word Moses and Elijah and Jesus used in the mount. He recalled the fact that they were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ majesty in the mountain in II Peter 1:16-19, and as a result he and others will persevere in the valley, We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Finally he ends with a description of the great and terrible day of the Lord but he says II Peter 3:11-14 and 18, Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him… But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. I see here a transformed man, and a man who walks through this valley of tears with the knowledge that God loves him, that Christ died for him, that Jesus has given him his own righteousness and made him an heir of God. This is how he begins in I Peter 1:3 and 4, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you. And that is how he ends.

Conclusion

There are people who think the Christian life is a tent on the mountain with Moses and Elijah and Jesus. Peter learned it is a tent in the valley and the tent is us. The only thing that sustains us is that we have seen the Savior come down from the mountain and walk to the cross.