Moses & Elijah

Moses and Elijah are two of the best known figures in the Old Testament. So what we read about them appearing with Christ in the New Testament will find out next on Renewing Your Mind. The transfiguration is one of the most fascinating moments in the Bible, Jesus takes Peter James and John with him up the mountain and shows them his glory when suddenly, Moses and Elijah appear today on Renewing Your Mind, Dr. RC Sproul explains the significance of this dramatic encounter as we continue with our study of those people who came face-to-face with Jesus during his earthly ministry.

We notice that for the most part the characters we've examined are people who appear in the New Testament with one notable exception.

I've sort of older little trick on you when I took you back to the Old Testament and looked at the appearance of Jesus as the captain of the Lord of hosts to Joshua, saying that as a Christoph and Ian Old Testament manifestation of the pre-incarnate Christ. Well I'm going to throw another curve today and that is were going to look at Jesus coming face-to-face with some other characters from the Old Testament but were going to double the fun. Instead of going back to the Old Testament to see this encounter of Jesus with these Old Testament characters were going to see is encountering them in the New Testament, not in a Christoph and a pre-incarnation sense, but in his incarnate sense Jesus comes face-to-face with two figures from the Old Testament and those persons are Moses and Elijah.

Before we look at this text, let's just consider the significance that it is these two men who meet Jesus face-to-face in the New Testament there is significance in their appearance because Moses as the mediator of the old covenant is most famous for and noted for the giving of what the giving of the law. Whenever we see portraits of Moses, the sculptor we usually see him holding the tablets of stone is the lawgiver of the Old Testament and the role of Elijah in the Old Testament is to stand at the front of a long line of men who are called of God and endowed charismatic leaf with the gift and the calling of that of a prophet in the Scriptures so frequently say in summarizing all of the testimony of the Old Testament, the reference will be to what to the law and to the prophets, the law and the prophets. John tells us, ruled until John. And so, with the appearance of Moses and Elijah. In the New Testament we see the appearance, the confluence, the, the coming together of the Old Testament law and of the prophets of the Old Testament with the Messiah, who was to come, whose coming is foreshadowed and promised both in the law and in the prophets. What a fantastic moment in human history. This is where this intersection takes place in time and space where the law and the prophets come face-to-face with the Messiah. And of course I'm talking about that aspect.

In Jesus life that is called the transfiguration transfiguration is recorded in more than one gospel and and today I'm going to read. First of all, the record of it that is found in the gospel according to St. Mark Mark has his treatment of the transfiguration. In chapter 9 beginning at verse one we read this and he said to them, assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God present with power. Now, after six days Jesus took Peter, James and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart from themselves and he was transfigured before them.

The first thing we have to note is where this takes place in the life of Jesus. Jesus had carried on a public ministry for quite some time and he had written the waves of popularity where he ascended like a meteor to to tremendous fame and popularity in the land, but there was an increasing growing hostility emerging at this time and near the end of his ministry in a sense, Jesus and his disciples went on a retreat. They went far to the north to Galilee and there while they were at Caesarea Philippi Jesus God Gathered His Inner Cir., Peter James and John around himself and sort of took the pulse of what was going on and it was there that he asked the question, who do men say that I am in the got the response.

Some say that your profit and so on.

And he said what do you think that I am was on that occasion that Peter gave the great confession thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. You know the story that the then Jesus blessed Peter and said blessed art thou, Simon bar Jonah now shall be called Petross the rocket upon this rock will I build my church, and so on.

But that in the next episode the takes place. Jesus explains to his disciples that it's time to leave this place of retreat and journey back to Jerusalem where Jesus tells his disciples that when he gets back to Jerusalem. He is going to be betrayed and be delivered up to the authorities and that he's going to suffer and die. And when he says that this same Simon Peter, who just moments before said, thou art the Christ, the son living God now says no known of God forbid that you should go to the Jerusalem were knocking a stand for that and so on. Jesus suggests so recently had said the Lord Petross the rock. Now he says get the behind me Satan has to rebuke Peter for his poor confession. At this point. So when don't want one that Mark tells us after six days he setting this in the historical narrative where six days after Jesus said, informed his disciples that he was going to Jerusalem to die and they set out on that journey probably the most frightened disappointed group of men in all of human history, trudging along falling after Jesus as he sets his face like a flint towards Jerusalem as they are trying to bear up under this horrible news that is given to them that he is about to die. How like it is of God in the midst of that kind of moment to burst through the veil of humiliation and give his people taste of glory that the record of the transfiguration, frankly, is one of my favorite passages in all of the New Testament a few years ago I wrote a book called the glory of Christ in that book focused on those moments in Jesus's earthly ministry one, as it were his divine nature picked around the veil that concealed the was concealed in terms of his deity.

Normally, Jesus traveled incognito willingly embracing his role as the suffering servant in the midst of humiliation, hiding his glory from the naked vision of mortal men, but on rare occasions, the glory would break through and it was a delightful experience for me to write a whole book just focusing on those moments where the glory broke through and there's no moment or glorious. I think during the earthly ministry of Jesus than this one that is called the transfiguration. Again we look at the text of Mark chapter 9, after six days Jesus took Peter, James and John. His inner core and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves and he was transfigured before them that were transfigured is not a word that is commonplace in our vocabulary. In fact, the Greek word would probably be more communicable to us than the English word, because the Greek word is the word from which we get the English word metamorphosis and the word metamorphosis I think is more familiar to us than the more transfigured when you ever hear the word transfigured, except when you're singing the battle hymn of the Republic and over the glory in his bosom, the transfigured you and me and even then we have no idea what it means that we are transfigured, but let's look at a metamorphosis of metamorphosis is something that takes place when the that the Caterpillar becomes the butterfly offered the Roman poet wrote a whole book, and by the title metamorphosis and metamorphosis has to do with the change of form morphology is the science of forms and so the Greek word here in this text has to do with a sudden dramatic visible transformation transform nation that is I going across or a changing of the form of Jesus himself before their very eyes. Suddenly Jesus form changes his thinking your changes into what is close became shining exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them while the first appearance here is of a transformation in Jesus's physical appearance in his close and in his face. We are told that now, suddenly, the refolding glory of God begins to shine whenever Scripture speaks of the glory of God.

It speaks of the glory in terms of a shining and it speaks of it in terms of a dazzling, blazing light that is so bright it would hurt the eyes to look at it directly and here is the author of the New Testament seeks to to somehow find in his finite arsenal of of our vocabulary words a way to describe this ineffable experience of glory. He says that the whiteness of the garments of Jesus became wider than any fuller or wider than any launderer can make a marrow I was a child I grew up. They had been have television we had radio and when would be homesick in the summertime at the list of the soap operas all afternoon and they were called so paupers because the sponsors of these programs were soap manufacturing companies and I would listen to the jingles of the of the commercials.

Do you see the UC put those in your washing machine seizure close, for they use a does everything right so what brings so book that Hedda would hear all these things programs day after day after day with things that for the one that would intrigue me as a child was this one so-called tied tides in darts out the IDE tied say that was the way we'd sing that little commercial, but it seemed like every year tied would come out with a new improved version.

I always advertise new and improved tied.

I started to wonder about that.

After a while I said no. If this is eight years in a row. They were getting new and improved tied one with the product was like eight years ago and must've been terrible in one of the models tied. Whoever finally came up with the slogan that they made their close come out wider than white, and as I know this is the major of Madison Avenue distortion of the sanctity of truth because surely there is nothing wider than white, white, without any hint of color white, without the slightest hue of gray white without the my most minute more, or imperfection. A white that is absolutely pure. Oh if you want to catch the vision of that read home, Herman Melville's classic chapter in Moby Dick on the whiteness of the whale which was his symbolic description of the character of God himself before the very eyes of the disciples.

Suddenly they see his close lose their drabness the gray. The black that the soil disappears and there is a whiteness that is so pure, that is so dazzling that is so bright that it begins to shine like the sun in its strength. And now this light is flowing out of Jesus.

Now remember, in the Old Testament when Moses went to the mountain to meet with God and when he spoke with God at Sinai, he asked for the big one. He said in a God it was great to see that the Exodus and the burning bush and all those things were let me see whatever human I turned to see, let me see your face and God said no boxes, no man can see my face and live but I will do all carve out a little niche a little hollow place in the rock and I'll place you securely in that cleft of the rock, and I will pass by, and I will allow you a momentary glimpse of my backward parts is literally in the Hebrew the hindquarters of Yahweh, but my face shall not be see in the Scriptures tell us that the glory of God pass by that cleft in the rock and Moses had a momentary instantaneous glance at the refraction of God's glory and when he came down from the mountain. His face was shining with such intensity that frightened the people.

Moses face Moses face was shining and the shining that was coming from Moses face was the result of the reflection of God's glory from a side words glance at his backward part. I want to understand that the light that the disciples see in Christ is not a reflection. It is a light that is coming from inside, bursting through the shell of his body and of his garments as the glory of his deity. Now explodes on the same and when they see this once their reactions the same reaction. All of us would have they were terrified and we read in verse four and Elijah appeared to them with Moses and they were talking with Jesus and Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi is good for us to be here, let's make three tabernacles one for you, one for most one for Elijah because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid Peter didn't know what was going on.

All of a sudden there's this transfiguration. All of a sudden there's this dazzling whiteness in this brightness of of of the strength of Christ's glory, and then to add astonishment upon astonishment. Suddenly, who appears but Moses and Elijah and the disciples are watching as Moses and Elijah ignore them and are involved in deep earnest conversation with Christ. The Bible doesn't tell us everything that is straight in the spoken between but you know what was being said. Moses and Elijah come to the Messiah and they say go to Jerusalem. It is your destiny and we are born with this to you, and we stand with you and God have an SMS to come to confirm that the law and the prophets are standing there discussing the mission of Christ with an is the Scripture say the disciples are very much afraid, and now to make matters worse, what happens to cloud came and overshadowed them in a voice came out of the cloud, saying, this is my beloved son hear him. Suddenly when they had looked around they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.

What kind of a cloud. Was this what kind of a cloud. We always associated with the presence of God the Shekinah glory in this cloud of glory comes now and encompasses Christ and encompasses Elijah and encompasses Moses. Perhaps it had come to transport Elijah and Moses back to heaven. Just as Elijah once had been translated and had gone on the chariots of fire into the heavenly places, and just as the Shekinah glory cloud came again to escort Christ in his ascension into glory and the promise that Jesus made that the last day when he would return to this world, he would return with the clouds of glory so the Shekinah clock that indicates the visible presence of God himself and his exalted Majesty now overshadows that if the vision of Christ transformation wasn't enough and the appearance of Moses and Elijah was enough. Now comes the clock and that's not the end yet.

Unless the cloud envelops them.

They hear audibly the voice of God from heaven ligament only three times in all the New Testament is spoken of God that he spoke audibly from heaven and on every occasion when God spoke, the message was substantially the same. Remember the baptism.

This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

Now while the disciples are cowering on the ground hiding their faces and absolute terror. With this phenomenon that's taking place they hear the voice of God and what does God say this is my beloved son, hear him listen to him they didn't want to hear anyone listen to him.

Then like what he was telling them that he was going to Jerusalem to die and to reinforce to Jesus teaching to these men came the testimony of Moses the testimony of Elijah, and finally the audible word of God himself. This is my son here and there had a mountaintop experience. Read and want to leave it up such a spiritual high is one of the Terry enjoyed revel in it.

Peter had that experience on the Mount of Transfiguration uses this is time for celebration. Let's make a booth and were to make a house allows for Elijah will house for Moses little house for Jesus and were already stay up here and have a blessed me party for the rest of our days business sat but in that moment of Transfiguration where the glory of Christ burst through and God's voice itself is heard from on high that the disciples themselves were still thinking strictly in terms of glory and not in terms of suffering, they still had not come to peace with the mission of Christ. They forgot where they were headed and they were reluctant to go to Jerusalem, they wanted to stay on the mountain.

They did want to be involved in ministry that in that the work out the that the concerns of the church for the ministry of redemption or ministry of compassion. They wanted religion for what it would do for them so they can bask in spiritual joy and delight on this mountain without any intrusion of duty for the purpose of the mountaintop experience for them is the same as the mountaintop experiences for us to send us out of the church and into the world to be participants in the death and humiliation there. Jesus stood in all his glory accompanied by Moses the lawgiver and Elijah the prophet, their appearance shows us how all of Scripture points to Jesus and finds its fulfillment in him. You're listening to Renewing Your Mind and another lesson from Dr. RC Sproul series face to face with Jesus. This is a 12 part video series, and in it we learned some profound lessons about our Savior, including his righteous character and his compassion for sinners. This is a resource that is perfectly suited for group study of church were in your home, of the length of Dr. Sproles lessons leave plenty of time for discussion.

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You can reach us by phone at 800-435-4343 or you can go online to make your request and Renewing Your Mind.org. Our goal here is leader ministries is to come alongside the church to provide helpful resources to laypeople and those in full-time ministry and toward that end, we want to let you know about the Institute for expository preaching features would get her teaching fellow Dr. Steven Lawson. Dr. Lawson is passionate about this style of preaching, which explores passages or entire books of the Bible verse by verse helping the listener understand the meaning and application of the text. If you're a pastor or a church member and you think your pastor may be interested, I would love to tell you more about the Institute for expository preaching, and that you can find out more when you do call us at the number mentioned earlier, it's 800-435-4343 most of the face-to-face encounters Jesus had with people were with his followers were those who would come to know and love him with one notable exception. Pontius Pilate there several times in the New Testament where Jesus gives a summary of the purpose of his life and of his ministry, but here he focuses on something else lipolysis who are you what are you about Jesus said for this series have I come into the world to bear witness to the truth, our Savior's face-to-face encounter with Pontius Pilate. It's an important moment in redemptive history. And it will be our focus tomorrow on Renewing Your Mind. Please join us