Christ Displays His Glory

Only faintly now I see him with the darkling veil between, but a blessed day is coming when his glory shall be seen. And that is very true. The three of the disciples had a day like that during the Lord's ministry, and that's what we're talking about tonight. The Transfiguration of Christ, when they saw the veil pulled back. This veil was the veil of his body. His glory shone through the veil of his body, and they were able to see Jesus in his glory as he will appear at his second coming. What an amazing sight that was. And we're going to take a look at that tonight. Mark chapter 9, as we look tonight at the Transfiguration of Christ, where Christ does display his glory. There are three passages in the gospels that describe this event, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But we must, again, put this event of the Transfiguration into the context. And so we begin, as we did last week, where we ended last week with the context of glory. Remember that Jesus is displaying his glory, not just for the purpose of doing it, not just because he decides one day, I could be kind of a neat thing to do. Or, you know, haven't done this before. Why don't we try this? Now, this fits in a context and has a purpose. It comes after Jesus has spent some extensive time training his disciples, teaching them, and actually some of the teaching he has introduced to them is revolutionary to them. It is new to them. And although he has hinted at some of it before, he is now coming out very plainly and clearly and telling them, there's a new program starting. I will build my church. We're not going to talk now about the Millennial Kingdom, or the Kingdom that I came to set up for Israel. I'm going to set up the church. And then he began to tell them quite plainly that I must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things of the spiritual or religious leaders there, and be crucified. I must die. And although he had hinted at that vaguely before, this is the first time he comes right out and says it plainly. And the Bible says he began teaching them this. We'll see quite regularly from now on. He talks to them about his resurrection. And they simply can't grasp that yet. They do not get it yet. And so Jesus, after declaring that, has to rebuke Peter because Peter says, Lord, that can't happen. I'll make sure it doesn't happen. And Jesus says, you're thinking the thoughts of men, not of God. You're being a tool of Satan to tempt me to bypass the cross, get behind me, Satan. And after all of that interaction, much of which the disciples just cannot grasp and cannot understand, there's a six-day silence in the gospels, six days of silence. And we ended last week by trying to imagine what that would be like. Six days where they are totally confused, they are puzzled about what's happening. Peter has just been strongly rebukeed and he's still kind of shell-shot from that note down. They may be afraid to ask him any more questions. There's a bit of an astrangement here. There's a bit of puzzlement about what he's doing now, what they thought he was doing. Their vision of who he was is clouded now. I mean, they knew that he'd come as the Messiah, son of God, ready to take his throne. And now he says, I'm going to die, they cannot figure that out. They don't understand how that fits together. And so they're puzzled. Their vision of what he was doing, what he came here to do is very cloudy now. And so for that reason, to clarify for them some things in their mind, the transfiguration happens. Jesus takes three of the disciples up on a mountain and displays his glory. And it's in that context. It is a display of his inherent majesty and perfection and holiness. That's what the glory of God is. It's all of his character. His grander, his majesty, his holiness that is manifested in a splendor of light. That's God's glory. And Jesus is going to show who he is. They need to see that right now. They need to understand that. So that's the context of this display of glory. In Mark chapter 9, we begin with verse 1. We're going to look at the preview of this glory for a few moments. What led up to the showing of the glory? The first one is a prediction in verse 9. He said to them, I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power. And then then the six days of silence take place in verse 2. So this prediction comes right on the heels of Jesus, rebuking Peter, making the strong call to discipleship. You have to be willing to take up your cross and follow me. Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me if you're going to be my disciple. And right on the heels of that, he turns to them and he says, some of you are standing here. You will not taste death until you see the kingdom of God coming with power. Now in Matthew's gospel, Matthew says it this way, you will see the son of man coming in his kingdom. So what Jesus is talking about, put these two together and the idea is you will see Christ coming as he will appear when he sets up his kingdom. That's what he's talking about. So when Jesus comes the second time to the earth to set up his kingdom, he comes in great glory. He will be manifest for the whole world to see. It will be a gradual descent and his glory will shine through. And what he's saying is not, he's not saying you're going to see the kingdom set up in your lifetime. That's not what he's saying. He's saying you will see the son of man coming as he will appear in his kingdom when he comes to set up his kingdom. You'll see him as he will appear then because Jesus does not set up his earthly kingdom at his first time. He would not go on to do that so that obviously he's not what he's talking about. But when you put Matthew and Mark's account together and put the whole thing together, you realize he's saying, you will see the son of man coming in his glory as he will appear when he sets up his kingdom. And some of you are going to see that before you die. And then there's the six days of silence. And the fulfillment of that prediction takes place in verse two. After six days, Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up on a high mountain, led them up a high mountain where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. He took only three of them. Wonder why he did that? Any idea why I would just take three? Why don't you take all 12 of them? Any ideas? Me either. I have no clue. I don't know why. He only took three. But I think he took the three that he did take because they are the leaders of the apostles. And they will be in a position to lead, communicate with the others at a later time. Even though Jesus will tell them not to tell anybody about this event till after his resurrection. But they will be in a position to tell what they have seen. And two of them will. Two of them will write about it as we'll see in just a little bit. But he takes three of them. The inner circle. The three that went in where he raised John the gyrosis daughter from the dead. The three that would go further with him into the Garden of Gethsemane later and pray with him or sleep while he prayed. But he takes those three with him. And notice he takes them and led them up to a high mountain. Luke says that he went up to the mountain to pray. Luke emphasizes the humanity of Christ and the prayer life of Jesus more than any other gospels. So Luke is the only one that tells us one of the reasons why Jesus went up on the mountain with these three was to pray. Now there's always been a debate as to where this was, what mountain it was. I'm going to show you a map of the two possible locations. Remember Jesus has been up here at Mount Hermann. That's where he's just been with the disciples. That large mountain that we've been looking at. And that's where he has taught them about the church and made that prediction upon this rock. I will build my church. The traditional site for the transfiguration is way down here. Mount Taber. Now let's take a look at the two. This is Mount Taber. Mount Taber is in Galilee, southern part of Galilee. It is 1800 feet high. It really sits out in the middle of a large valley. So in the contrast to the valley, it is a high mountain. But on the top of Mount Taber, with this inset right here, let's look at the next slide. The top of Mount Taber, there is right now today, has been built a Franciscan monastery and church to commemorate the transfiguration because this is the traditional view of the transfiguration. But there are many who believe that it was not at Mount Taber. It was Mount Hermann. The mountain where Jesus was, which is 9,000 feet high, not 1800 feet high, and looks like this on the top, even towards summertime, dazzling white with snow. Is that the last picture? That's the last picture. It doesn't make a whole lot of difference, obviously, to us sitting here today, which mountain it was. The next story in the Gospel of Luke seems to happen at the foot of the mountain and be in Galilee, so it may have been Mount Taber. But the location, the fact that Jesus had just taught on the base of Mount Hermann, although it's been six days, it would have had plenty of time to get back to Galilee. But the location, the fact that it says high mountain, and the fact that he says he went up there to be alone with them, where they were all alone. At this particular time, in the first century, on Mount Taber, there was a fortress. It's probably not the best place to be alone. So many believe that it doesn't, doesn't fit. Mount Taber doesn't fit. He's not back in Galilee yet, but he'll go back there later. But regardless, he goes up to this mountain to be alone to pray. And Luke says it is as he was praying that he was transfigured. But Mark just says he was transfigured before them. The word transfigured. Does that ring a bell with anybody? You remember seeing or hearing that anywhere else in the scriptures? Transfigured. Okay, Moses's face glowed when he came down from Mount Sinai, and that was a reflection of being in the presence of God. So there's something very similar there. The word transfigured is a word actually can be translated either transfigured or transformed. You probably will think of the word maybe that way from Romans 12 to that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Second Corinthians 3, 18 talks about being transformed, changed into his glory from glory to glory. It's only three times the word is used in the New Testament. And it is from the Greek word that we get a term from. And if you remember, I'm sure all of you remember just a few weeks ago when we were in Romans 12. Everybody remembers that. Were we in Romans lately? Okay, Romans 12, when we talked about that word metamorphopomy, which we get our English word metamorphosis from. Metamorphosis being the changing of the caterpillar into the butterfly, the idea of, and the Greek word literally means to change the outward appearance to conform to the inner nature. That's what the word literally means. The outer appearance is changed to conform to what's really on the inside. And so when it says Jesus was transfigured, it doesn't mean that he just looked a little different. No, it's much deeper than that. It really is the idea that what was inside burst out. It came out. And for a few moments, maybe a few minutes, maybe a half hour, we don't know how long the disciples saw what was really on the inside, the glory of God bursting forth. The veil of his body is taken away for just a few moments. And he is transfigured metamorphosed before them. He's changed. And the gospel writers stretch the limits of language to describe this. For instance, his face. Now Mark doesn't describe his face. Mark just talks about his clothes in verse three. But the other gospels talk about his face. Luke says that his appearance changed. Matthew says that his face shown like the sun. That's how bright it was. And then all three gospels say something about his clothes. Mark says his clothes became dazzling, white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. In other words, no human cleansing agent could make clothes this white. Matthew says that his clothes were as white as light. Luke says that they were white like lightning. So the writers are grasping at the limits of human language to describe what this looked like. Basically what it is, it is a metamorphosis. It is a change so that the inside of Jesus comes out. And what is on the outside changes to show what he really is on the inside. The glory of God is displayed. The splendor, the majesty, the holiness of God that shows itself in brilliant light was shown on this amount of transfiguration. And so he was transfigured before then. What happened was his glory was shining out from the inside. And the veil of his body could not contain it any longer. But he had to be at least to some degree for the disciples to see. It is interesting that both John and Peter, two of the ones on the mountain, would later write about this. John in John chapter one would say, became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only son who came from the Father full of grace and truth. When he says the word became flesh, the word, the son of God who dwelt and eternity passed in heaven with God, took on a human body which covered his outward display of divine glory. But we saw it, John says, we saw it. We saw his glory. And then Peter, Peter gives the most amazing description of it. And his second epistle, he says, for we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power. In other words, when we talk to you about how Jesus is going to come back the second time in power, we're not just making up this story. He says, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. When, when Peter, 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. And we'll see that in the story in just a moment. We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. Peter's talking about the transfiguration, obviously. He's talking about that time when they were with him on the mountain. And the voice came from heaven. And we saw his glory, Peter says. We saw it when the voice spoke. So Peter and John were so amazingly impressed by this that they would write about it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit later on. So there's a preview of his glory. These three men get a preview of what Jesus will be like in his glory. And they got to see that on the mount of transfiguration. Any comment or question about that display of Christ's glory on the mount before we see what else happened up there? I think it does in the sense that the transforming of other renewing of our minds is a change in us that actually for us changes the inside and then demonstrates itself on the outside. It begins in our mind and then it changes everything about our conduct, the expression of our language, everything is changed. And then of course Paul talks about that in Second Corinthians 3.18 too when he says we are changed into his same image from glory to glory. A little bit by little bit. It doesn't happen quite like Jesus did it but it's the same principle. A little by little we become more like him and display more of his glory. But it begins with the transforming of the mind through the scriptures. And you know Paul talks about that also in Second Corinthians 3.18 where he says we behold his glory as in a glass or as in a mirror. And I think the idea there is that the scriptures which reflect the glory of God that's where we become changed. It begins as our mind becomes biblical. And we think biblical thoughts, we understand biblical principles, we begin to live them out and show God's glory. So it's very same principle, Max. Yes. Okay. All right. Look at the pronouncement of this glory in verses 4 through 8. Verse 4. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses who were talking with Jesus. Now think about this for a minute. Elijah and Moses suddenly appear before them there on the mountain. Why Elijah and Moses? Two Old Testament saints. Why would they be here on the mountain talking with Jesus? Any thoughts ideas? Any Bible study notes? Study Bible notes? He was. Elijah was expected from the prophecies of Malachi and we'll see that in the apostles' thinking in just a little bit. They picked up on that. They sure did. Steve? Okay. Moses' work was finished by Joshua. Elijah by Elijah. Okay. Great. Moses represents the law. Elijah represents the prophets. Possibly. Could very well be. I mean, that's as good a guess as any. I think. You know, Moses does represent the law. The two major parts of the Old Testament, how the Old Testament is often referred to is the law in the prophets. And so you've got two representatives of the Old Testament here. And I don't know beyond that just our conjecture, just thinking, which is good to do, good to think about what the Scriptures are saying and not just skim over them. Beyond that, I'm not sure that we can say definitely why God chose these two. But maybe it was their representative of the law and prophets. Both very prominent. Yes. Very prominent in the nation of Israel. Quick. Kathy. And then David. Okay. God had appeared to both Moses and Elijah on a mountain. Okay. That's an interesting parallel. David. You know, Moses was on a mountain before the reference that Kathy speaking of Exodus 32. Moses was on a mountain before on Mount Sinai when he asked to see the glory of God. Let your glory pass before me. Remember. And God said, I will hide you in the cleft of the rock and I will pass by and you get to see the trail of my glory, the after effect of my glory, but you cannot look directly on my glory. And Moses got to see kind of the, you know, the glow afterwards when after God passed by. But here he's in the very presence of Christ's glory. That is interesting. Very. Okay. The three of us chatting. This has happened before. I mean, obviously they would have talked in heaven before Jesus came to earth. So that's quite a possibility. Whether or not that happened unseen and unknown by anybody else during Jesus ministry, we don't know. But certainly they had conversed in heaven plenty of times. I mean, you would expect that. Yes. Again, we don't know exactly why these two were chosen. They were very prominent in the Old Testament. They evidently represent Old Testament saints. Mark says they were talking with Jesus. Luke tells us what they were talking about. They were talking about his departure. I think that's the way Luke says it. The word actually is, the word is, eck Hadas in the Greek out, the road out, Exodus. They were talking about his Exodus. And whenever the Bible talks about that, Christ's leaving this earth, it's kind of a package word for death, burial, resurrection, the whole process through which he would leave this earth. And when we're on this mountain talking with Jesus about his death, burial, resurrection. Now, are some light bulbs going on? What has Jesus just talked to his disciples about? His death, burial, resurrection, right? And they don't get it. In fact, Peter said, no, ways that going to happen. I'll stop it if it tries. He's talking with two Old Testament saints who do get it. They do get it. They know what it's about. I'm going to raise this possibility. And I don't know that I've ever read this anywhere or seen anyone else say it. So forgive me if it's heresy. Do you think maybe in Jesus humanity, he needed this encouragement right now? I think that could be. Jesus was fully human and knew what it was like to be lonely. And his disciples are distanced from him right now. And he's been trying to introduce to them the concept of his death and resurrection and they don't understand. Do you know what it's like when you're going through something or when you're trying to do something and nobody else really understands it? You know, that's a lonely feeling, isn't it? It's very lonely. And so I'm thinking maybe this partly is arranged for Jesus in his humanity to be encouraged by talking with someone who does understand the importance of the death of Christ. You see, the Old Testament saints are in heaven on credit. They really are. They're in heaven awaiting the payment. The payment hasn't been made yet. Jesus is going to make the payment for their sins. Now they've pictured that with all the sacrifices all through the centuries, but the payment hasn't been made yet. And every Old Testament saint is in heaven on credit waiting for the payment to come. And so Jesus is being discouraged from going to the cross and I guarantee, well, I'm not guaranteeing, but I expect Moses and Elijah are saying, Lord, everybody in heaven is dependent on you going to the cross. All of us Old Testament saints. Could it be in a sense there, the, they're the cloud of witnesses that are encouraging Jesus on as he runs his race like Hebrews 12 as he runs his race all the way to the cross. And they're encouraging him. Peter's just told you you can't die. Lord, we need you to die. We're in heaven on credit awaiting your death. We're encouraging you in the race. I just suspect that's what they were talking about. I mean, I don't think this was an academic discussion on what the death of Christ would be like and how the resurrection would take place and how slower, how fast the ascension would be. And I don't think it's that kind of thing. Not in this context of what Jesus is going through. I think there is genuine encouragement and discussion going on about Jesus leaving this earth through his death. So they were, they were talking with him. Yes. Sure. Exactly. Yes, exactly. And that's, that's exactly where we're going now. The second half of the story does talk about what the disciples are going to learn from this and what they're going to get from it. Because yes, at this point, Jesus is talking with Moses and Elijah and the disciples are asleep. But when they wake up, they're going to get a big lesson. And there is, there is a, you're exactly right. There is a very important lesson that they will learn from this. And really, remember, this is what Jesus is doing everything for now. He's teaching them. He's training them. He's, he's discipling them. He's helping them to learn these, these lessons. Well, look at what happens in verse five. Peter makes a suggestion. Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. He did not know what to say. They were so frightened. Now, before we get too hard on Peter, Luke 9 says they just woke up. They'd been asleep, which will happen again in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus goes up, remember, Luke 9 goes up on the mountain to pray, to pray. And evidently, the disciples fall asleep during the prayer meeting. And when they wake up, there's Jesus in all of his glory with Moses and Elijah talking with him. And Peter is trying to grasp what's going on. And so he has just woken up. He is afraid frightened by what he sees. And let's face it, if you and I woke up and we saw that, we probably would be frightened too. They've never seen Jesus look like this. They've never seen Moses and Elijah. I mean, that's kind of scary. And so they were, they were frightened. And then this passage just says, Peter didn't know what to say. But Peter's downfall, if he has one, is that he feels like he's got to say something even when he doesn't know what to say. Some of us have that tendency as well. But Peter just has to say something. And so he blurt's out. And by the way, this is not entirely without cause. He blurt's out rabbi. It is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. Now we know from other things going on in the Gospels, one of the very next events, not too far down the road, just a few days will be John chapter seven where they're going to Jerusalem for the feast of tabernacles. Okay, so there are already crowds heading that direction. The feast of tabernacles was the feast in Israel where the people would go to Jerusalem and they would build these little boots, little makeshift shelters to live in for the week while they were there. Do you know what that represented in Israel's national history? It represented the Exodus, the traveling through the wilderness, but it also represented as God provided for them there. The Messiah would come, we anticipate him coming to regather us for his rule. That was a part of the feast of tabernacles. And the shelters were designed to represent the wilderness, and the temporary shelters out in the wilderness, but with the assurance that the promised land is coming, the Messiah is coming to really gather us into his land and to raise up his kingdom. Now think about this, they wake up and who do they see, but Moses, Moses, feast of tabernacles, shelters, there's Moses, and there's Elijah, and we'll get the importance of Elijah in just a moment. So Peter quickly concludes, Lord, this is great. Look, we're getting ready to go to the feast of tabernacles here shortly, but let's just do it right here. Why go to Jerusalem? It's good to be right here. Let's just stay right here, and we'll build three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. Now some people say the problem was that Peter was putting Christ on the same level as Moses and Elijah. Well, that may be true, but in the context, I don't think that's the problem. I think the problem in Peter's thinking is he's still saying what he said back in chapter 16, and that is, you don't need all this talk about death. Look, here's Moses, here's Elijah. We don't need to go to Jerusalem. Let's just start setting things up now for the kingdom to come in. We'll build three booths right now to represent what the feast of tabernacles is all about. We'll just celebrate it right here. We don't need the death. We don't need the cross. Let's just go ahead to the kingdom. He was still thinking that way. He'll get a review for that too in just a moment, but this one's going to come straight from the voice of God, the Father. But I think that's what's happening. Again, I can't be too hard on him because he's just woken up. He's shocked and terrified of what he sees. And his mind immediately begins to think of the feast of tabernacles and the shelters and what all that signifies the coming of the Messiah and the kingdom. Well, here are Moses and Elijah. Let's just go ahead and start the kingdom now. Let's get it set up now. Let's get started. And so notice God's pronouncement, what God says, verse seven, then a cloud appeared and enveloped them. What kind of cloud do you think this was? God's glory. You think maybe it was like the cloud that came down the tabernacle, the temple, led them through the wilderness. Remember the cloud pillar of cloud by day. There's a lot of wilderness theme going on here with Moses and the feast of tabernacles and then the cloud, the cloud comes representing the presence of God. And then notice a voice came from the cloud. And notice what the voice says. This is my son whom I love. Listen to him put all three of the gospels together, but Matthew and Luke and Mark all three together and you have something like this. This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased, the one whom I have chosen. Listen to him. Now again, what God says packs more punch when you realize what has just happened. This is the second time now. Peter has suggested we don't need to go to the cross. We're in this for the kingdom. We want the kingdom set up. No, Lord, don't go to the cross. And Jesus has been trying to explain to them about his death. And here again, he's talking with Moses and Elijah about his death. And Peter says, no, no, we don't want that. Let's set up the feast of tabernacles right here. Let's talk about the coming of the Messiah. Moses is here. Elijah is here. And Jesus says, OK, hush. God says, this is my beloved son whom I've chosen with whom I'm well pleased. Listen to him. Listen to him. What he's saying is Peter, you need to listen to what he is saying. This is new teaching. Yes, this is revolutionary teaching. Yes, about his death. Listen to him. Listen to what he's telling you. And so Peter is getting a full dose of reaffirmation that Jesus really is God. He's seeing his glory. He is the son of God, the one whom God has pleased with. So all the talk about Jesus' death, he doesn't need to be disturbed about the fact that that doesn't mean he's the king anymore. Doesn't mean he's the one who's going to rule the earth anymore. Now, he's getting a full dose of the fact of who he really is. But now listen to him. Listen to what he's telling you about the cross. Peter, you need to learn. You need to listen. I think that's the review. Stop talking, Peter. Listen. You're in school now. You're getting some education. You're getting stretched. You need to listen to what Jesus is explaining to you. My son, my beloved son, is explaining to you. And then verse eight, suddenly when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. So this scene is now gone. The pronouncement is made and Moses and Elijah are gone. Now, real quickly, let's look at the rest of the story here. Verse nine, this is really interesting. And it really follows up on the theme of what we've just been talking about. Verse nine says, as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they'd seen until the son of man had risen from the dead. Why? Why are they not tell about this? Jesus didn't want to know who he was yet. Okay. I think we're headed down the right path there. What's he just told him he's going to he's going to build? Not his not his kingdom. He's going to build the church, not his kingdom. Now don't get all confused about that. There is a sense in which the church is a form of God's rule on this earth. It is the kingdom in that sense. But the, but the kingdom is being talked about Matthew's the earthly kingdom. That's what the disciples were expecting. So I don't want you to go tell this was for you to understand again who I am. We're not taking this message out to tell everybody. Yes, he is the king. We saw his glory. He's he's here to rule. Is here to rank? No, no, I'm remember I'm here to die. And then we're going to build the church. So that's why he doesn't don't don't go speaking this message. This was just for you to be reaffirmed and to be confirmed in your knowledge of who I am. Okay. So verse, where are we? Verse 10? They kept the matter to themselves discussing what rising from the dead meant. You see they still don't understand as they're walking down the mountain. They caught that. Don't tell anyone you've seen until I've been risen from the dead. And they're discussing on themselves. What is that about? What does he? What does that mean? You see they still don't grasp that he's going to die. And then that he's going to be resurrected. They haven't gotten that yet. Verse 11, they asked him why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first? This whole scene has raised this question for them. They just saw Elijah on the mountain and they have been taught by the rabbis by the teachers of the law. Something that was very common rabbinical teaching in the first century was that Elijah would come before the Messiah. And that was the rabbis interpretation of Malachi four, which I believe is a correct one. The Bible does say that Elijah must come before the Messiah. But they just saw Elijah, but Jesus has come first. You see the rabbis taught that Elijah would come on the mountain. He would come on mountain and he would say to the people, the kingdom of God is come. He would lament for the nation and then say peace and blessing come into the world. Salvation comes and the people of Israel would be gathered by Elijah and he would prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. That's what the rabbis understood Malachi four and what they taught. And they're thinking we're coming down from the mountain. Okay, Elijah showed up, but then he disappeared. I thought he was going to say salvation comes and we were going to start the kingdom. Lord, why do the rabbis say that Elijah must come? And notice Jesus' answer, verse 12, Jesus replied, to be sure, Elijah does come first and restores all things. So he says, yes, Elijah must come before the Messiah comes. Okay, and then he asks them this question, why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? Okay, we're talking now and I left out for your outline purposes the path of glory. This is the path of glory. How is this glory going to come? It comes through suffering. Okay, Elijah must come. Yes, but why is it that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? Jesus is putting these two things before them, which they cannot figure out. And that is that yes, Messiah is coming. Elijah will come and introduce him and he will set up his kingdom. He's going to happen, but Messiah also has to suffer and they couldn't figure that out. Jesus is posing that question. Why did the prophets also say that he must suffer? You see, all they're thinking about is the prophecies of the Old Testament to talk about the Messiah ruling, reigning, glory, kingdom. There are lots of prophets in the Old Testament that talk about the Messiah suffering. Isaiah, a bunch of them. And Jesus is also saying, wait a second, guys, you only got half the story. Why did the prophets also say the Son of Man must suffer? Don't you remember that part too? They are dealing with the same difficulty that all of the Old Testament prophets did and that was understanding how those two fit together. Peter says this in 1 Peter 1 verse 10. When he talks about the Old Testament prophets, he said, concerning the salvation of the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently 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 Messiah and the glories that would follow. In other words, what he's saying, the Old Testament prophets prophesied both the suffering and the glory, they could not figure out the timing of it. And neither could the first century disciples. They couldn't figure out the timing. We think he's supposed to come set up his kingdom and Jesus is reminding him, wait a second, the Old Testament also says Son of Man has to suffer. They couldn't figure that out. But we have the answer today because we have the rest of Scripture. We know that the Messiah suffered at his first coming, he will reign at his second coming. The glory will follow at his second coming. We know that now. They didn't grasp all that then. Jesus concludes with this very interesting part of the answer. He says verse 13. But I tell you Elijah has come and they have done to him everything they wished just as it is written about him. And Matthew's gospel says, then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. Now here's one of the most puzzling parts of New Testament Old Testament interplay of prophecy and it's this whole deal with John the Baptist and Elijah. But I think I think what Jesus is saying here, if you put all the elements together and I had I had first year students at ABC and gospels and act right a paper on this because it really stretched them, it really caused them to think through what is going on here. And I think the idea is that there is a prophecy Malachi 4 but Elijah must come to prepare the way before the kingdom comes before Christ comes and sets the science sets up his kingdom. Jesus very clearly says John the Baptist, they understood he was talking about John the Baptist, John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah and would have fulfilled that prophecy if he had been accepted and the Messiah. But Jesus said they have done to him everything they wished just as it is written about him and Jesus point is because they rejected the forerunner and because they rejected the Messiah then it's got to happen a second time. And based on that many believe that Jesus is saying Elijah must literally come a second time himself to prepare the way for the Messiah's kingdom and that's why many believe Elijah will be one of the two witnesses in the book of Revelation chapter 11 that preached during the tribulation time. And then are martyred and resurrected on the spot by the Lord after three days. So many think that Elijah will be one of those. I'm not willing to stake my life on it or start a new domination on it. But it could be you know could be that that will happen. But the way of the Lord must be prepared again and Jesus will come at his second coming and that may be what he's talking about here. Okay our time is up any question before we go I know I opened a whole can of worms for those of you like to study those kind of things but any questions or comments before we go. There's so much going on here at the amount of transfiguration with Jesus conversation about his death with tool testman profits who understood it valued it were longing for it were in heaven on credit waiting for it and then showing to his disciples his glory confirming in their minds I really am who I said I was don't get too disturbed about what we're trying to teach you now remember I'm still the son of God is still who I said I was. And then them learning them learning the lesson listen to to my son God says listen to him just so much going on here and then all the question about Elijah and these to tabernacles and all of that there's a lot going on that we sometimes miss because we don't get the background of what's happening there. Okay I guess that was my question any any question before we go and in it can Elijah only two men who did not die at least that we know of in the Old Testament and a lot of people say in equal be the other of the two witnesses because they do die and the Bible says it is appointed a demand once to die. So for that reason many believe the two witnesses will be any can Elijah come back allowed to come back to be Christ's witnesses during the tribulation again I wouldn't start the any can Elijah to witnesses denomination based on that but it could be. All right we got to go let's pray father thank you for this time and to be able just to study your word without harm without fear to be able to dig into your heart. So I'm going to go and read your word and by your grace your spirits help understand what you have for us here Lord in all of our eagerness to talk to correct to even teach you about what you should do. I want to remember to listen to your voice saying this is my beloved son listen to him. I want to remember that word in his name we pray amen.