All right, good morning. We are on our fifth mountain and
I'm not going to review those, the ones we've done already, but
we had the mount of temptation last week and hopefully that was
a blessing to you and and you learned something from it.
We're going to look at another one today that is not a it's,
it's what we call a mount, but it's not a, this particular
mountain is not a the name of the mountain, but we're going to
look at the mount of Transfiguration this morning.
Does anybody now this is Sunday school, so we got to, we're
going to think, I know it's early, but we're going to think
a little bit here. Does anybody know what they
consider which mountain is considered the mount of
Transfiguration? What is the actual physical
mountain? Does anybody know?
There's two of them that people go back and forth and we're not
going to argue about that. But anybody, Trey?
No good guess though. Nope.
Good guess though, kind of kind of not real real popular ones.
Mount Hermon and Mount Tabor. And the Bible doesn't actually
tell us which one it is 'cause we'll we'll go there and we'll
read it here in just a second. Excuse me, but the Bible doesn't
tell us which mountain they actually went up.
It just says they went up on a high mountain.
And but I want you to think about this because this is
important to our lesson. Another, another thinking
question. Where in Jesus ministry did this
amount of transfiguration happen roughly beginning and middle?
Anybody have any idea? And I did, I purposely didn't
give you the the passage because it'll give you where it's at.
It's in the middle. Yeah, it's, it's in the
beginning middle. I would say that the, the, the,
the, the end of the first half, maybe all right, that's the
amount of transfiguration. So now knowing that, let's go to
Matthew chapter 17. And that's where we're going to,
we're going to start there. We're going to read this
passage. There's actually three different
places that it's that is talked about in the in Matthew, Mark
and Luke. And we are going to go look at
those because those are very important to our lesson as well.
But we'll look at those as we go through it.
But we're going to start with Matthew chapter 17 and read this
passage. And then we'll we'll talk about
the amount of transfiguration. But I think now this goes
without saying, it's very important to the Jews.
There was 3 positions that were very important to them, the
prophet, the priest, and a king, right?
I think, I think we would all agree on that.
Remember when Saul becomes king, they are begging for it.
They want a king. We want to be like other
nations. So the king, the king, position
of king was important to them, but the position of prophet and
priest was very important because God said it was.
And so they took that seriously and it was important to them.
And what happens here on the Mount of Transfiguration, we'll
see it in just a second is as we read Matthew 17 is I think it's
important that it happened right here in the middle of his of his
ministry. It wasn't at the beginning
because Jesus was still calling his disciples and everything
else, and it wasn't at the end as a final proof of who he was.
It was in the middle to show them.
See in Matthew chapter 16, Jesus tells them I'm going to die and
I'm going to be resurrected. And they don't understand it.
They're, they're confused by what's happening.
I'll, I'll destroy this temple and rebuild it in three days.
Even his disciples were confused as to what he was trying to say.
And so the next thing, the next chapter here in Matthew 17, we
have Jesus, I think I believe finally going, OK, I need to, I
need to prove to my own disciples who I actually am so
that they really get behind this, not because I need them,
but be, but I need them to spread this gospel.
And if they don't believe it after I go, who's going to be
left to spread this? And so I think Jesus is is
obviously under the direction of the Holy Spirit has this this
mount of transfiguration experience to show Peter, James
and John what's really going on with his ministry.
You got to remember, even after Jesus dies, the disciples think
he's going to resurrect and start his earthly Kingdom.
They still just didn't understand exactly what was
going on. But let's read Matthew chapter
17. We're going to start right here
in verse one and there's a the first, the third word here is
important after six days. So we'll come back to that
later. But after six days, Jesus taketh
Peter, James and John his brother and bringeth them up
into an high mountain apart six days from what?
From this time that Jesus had done some of these works and and
you have to read verse chapter 16 to see what he's talking
about. But Peter's saying six days
after that, he takes Peter, James and John his brother, and
bringeth them up into a high mountain apart.
And again, it doesn't mention which mountain it is.
So it's all left to speculation. And was transfigured before
them. And his face did shine as the
sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
And we're going to come back to verse 2 here in a minute.
That's very important as well. And behold, there appeared unto
them Moses and Elias talking with them.
Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for
us to be here, if thou wilt, let us make here 3 tabernacles, one
for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias, while he yet
spake. Behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them. And behold a voice out of the
cloud, which said, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well
pleased, Hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it,
they fell on their face, and were so afraid.
And Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise and be not
afraid. And when they lifted up their
eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only.
And then it continues on. They came down from the
mountain. Jesus charged them, saying, tell
this vision to no man until the Son of man be risen again from
the dead. And his disciples asked him,
saying, why then say the scribes that Elias must first come and
and then they start asking him what exactly happened?
But I think it's interesting I've always thought in verse 4,
you see then answered Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is
good for us to be here if thou wilt let us make 3 tabernacles,
one for thee, one for Moses and one for Elias.
And that's just kind of drops in there.
Doesn't really make sense what that verse.
Why? Why is he even saying why is
Peter saying that? But it's interesting.
I think it's Luke. No, it's Mark that says, because
Peter was so afraid and didn't know what else to say, he asked
Jesus that. So he literally it really
doesn't fit and there's no reason for it.
And but that's what happened. Peter was so afraid.
He just starts talking kind of in typical Peter fashion.
So I think that's interesting that he just starts spouting and
Luke actually calls him out on it.
He didn't know or Mark, he didn't know what else to say.
So he just started talking and asked Jesus to build a build a
Tabernacle there. But then then God himself says,
this is my beloved son. Listen to him.
Listen what he has to say. And so anyway, we are going to
look at the Mount of Transfiguration this morning,
the Mount of preview, the mount of what was coming.
And even in His earthly ministry, remember, this is not
at the end. This is still in the middle of
His ministry. So it's a preview of what was
going to happen. And then also after his
resurrection, His kingship, what was going to happen with that?
He needed to show the disciples that on the Mount of
Transfiguration. So let's pray and then we'll get
right into this lesson. Father, thank you for this day
you've given us. Got to thank you for another
opportunity. We have to open your word and to
learn from it. Got to pray that you would feed
us from your word for that we would look at this, this story,
this, this happening in, in, in history and your earthly
ministry. And it would just shore up in
our minds and, and just give us even more confidence in the fact
that we are worshiping the true Son of God, the Messiah that
came to save his people from their sin.
And I pray that you would just give us even more confidence
through this of what was actually going on with your son
here on this earth in Jesus name, I pray, Amen.
So we're going to look at the the account of Matthew, the
account of Mark and the account of Luke.
They all have little bit different words in how they
describe this light that came on Jesus Christ.
And, and I think it's important the difference is there because
Matthew shows Jesus Christ as a prophet in the way he he talks.
And we'll look at that first and then the other two look at him
as priest and king. And we'll look at, that's what
we're going to look at this morning in these lessons.
The prophet, priest and kingship of Jesus Christ previewed here
in the Mount of Transfiguration. All right, so first of all,
Matthew looks at Jesus Christ, a preview of his work as prophet
and go to verse 2 of Matthew 17. I said verse 2 was very
important. And it's these words, these
phrases that we're going to look at it says and was transfigured
before them. And his face did shine as the
sun and his raiment was white as the light.
And I think it's interesting, the very next verse says that
that that Moses appears and Moses also had this same thing
happened on the mountain, right? That his face shone as the light
to where they couldn't even they couldn't even look at look on
him. But I looked this up and I
wanted to read it real quick. It's it's a short where am I at
all tabs? There we go.
I looked it up and I saved it. All right, so this is this is I
want to read this real fast about the I might have deleted
it. I sure did.
OK, here we go. The high mountain that we call
the mount of transfiguration is never clearly identified in
scripture. That's not the one I wanted to
read. I know where it's at.
Hold on, it's out of my study Bible, but I didn't want to
bring both Bibles. Here we go.
So this is Scofield's words on on Christ's transfiguration.
He says the transfiguration scene contains in miniature all
the elements of the future Kingdom in manifestation, the
Lord Jesus, not in humiliation. So this is the first part of of
this scene. The Lord Jesus not in
humiliation, but in glory. Remember his whole, his whole
earthly ministry is, is is is is a ministry of, yes, setting up
the gospel and all of that, but a ministry of humility.
He is not able to show them who he truly is.
Even on the cross. They're mocking him saying if
you're truly God, if you're Christ, come down off that
cross. And he could have, but in
humility and in the, the need for redemption of mankind, he
stays on that cross and, and dies with the mocking of all
these people. But here on the Mount of
Transfiguration, his, his true glory is shown just for a little
bit. It's not, it's you see how long
the passage is? It's not very long, but the Lord
Jesus not in humiliation, but in glory here on the mount of
Transfiguration, Moses in glory, the representative of the
redeemed who have passed through death into the Kingdom already.
So that's what Moses is doing there.
And this is this is Scofield's notes.
And then thirdly, Elijah also in glory, but representative of the
redeemed who have entered the Kingdom by translation, not very
many of those, but a few. And then we have Peter, James
and John, not glorified yet, but representative for the moment of
Israel in the flesh, in the future Kingdom.
And then lastly, it's the multitude at the foot of the
mountain, representative of those who are going to be
brought into the Kingdom after it's established over Israel.
So very much a preview of what was coming.
That's what the mount of figuration was.
And it's kind of an interesting passage because it just drops in
there. It's a couple verses long and
then that's it. We don't really hear anything
else about it, but it was a preview to the disciples of what
was coming. And so back to our lesson,
Matthew chapter 17 and verse 2, we see Jesus being previewed as
a prophet. And, and Peter or Matthew uses
those words. His face shines as the sun and
his raiment was white as the light.
And so the, the, the word we're going to focus there on is
white. And the other ones don't have
this, but white. He's reminding us of the task of
a prophet and his, his job was to carry the, the light of the
truth through the ages. Really, they're prophesying of
what's going to come. We see that in Jeremiah and
Isaiah and in all the other prophets.
They are carrying this truth sometimes alone, sometimes the
only ones, they're the only ones doing it even have Elijah doing
that, the only one carrying this light, the least that he thought
standing alone, but carrying the light of the gospel that was to
come and and Hebrews chapter 1 tells us that that's exactly
what Christ's job was. He says, I'll read it.
God, who has sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets, but hath in these last
days spoken unto us by his Son. He is the final prophet that
that we see. And so Jesus Christ was the
prophet that was previewed here, Luke chapter 24, verse 19.
I'll read this one as well concerning Jesus of Nazareth,
which was a prophet mighty indeed and word before God and
all the all the people. That's Luke's, Luke's Speaking
of Jesus Christ as the prophet. So what did this prophet teach?
And I'm just going to make mention of this and we're going
to move through this pretty quickly because this is an
overview. We're not digging real deep into
the mount of Transfiguration. But what, what was Jesus
teaching? And we see this in Matthew
chapter 5 through 7. He taught in sermons.
We also see it with the Olivet Discourse in Matthew chapter 24
and 25 S Jesus did teach by way of sermons, but he also taught
by way of parables. And that's what the prophets
did. They taught they they told of
things to come and what was going on.
But Jesus was doing exactly that through all the parables, right.
Parables are earthly stories with heavenly meanings.
And that's why so often the the the disciples even were after he
would tell it. You know, it kind of makes me
think of, you know, sometimes us sitting in church.
Hey man, yes, yes, and then afterwards going, what were you
talking about? That's what the disciples were
doing. They're they're, they're
agreeing. I mean, they're sitting there
listening to the parables just as everybody else.
And then afterwards Bible even gives us a record of that.
They would go to him and say, what were you, what were you
trying to say there? What was the meaning of that?
And Jesus often would say, you have little faith or you have
little understanding. How do you not understand what
I'm trying to say? But they were earthly stories.
So they got that part with heavenly meanings and they
didn't always catch those, but that's how Jesus taught as a
prophet when he was here in His earthly ministry.
But then what did the people think of him as this prophet?
Well, John Chapter 7 and verse 40, this is after Jesus talks
about the living water. It says of a truth, John Chapter
7, verse 40 of a truth. This is the prophet when the
widow's son was raised to life. Again, we see that in Luke
Chapter 7, the people said a great prophet is risen up among
us in Matthew chapter 21, Palm Sunday, the multitude is
shouting Hosanna to to God in the highest and but they said
this is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
So the people knew he was a prophet and the amount of
transfiguration Jesus was showing his disciples.
A little quick preview. I'm I am a prophet and this is
what is coming. But then we see what Jesus
worked as a prophet. What was his goal as a prophet?
What was the goal of all of the prophets?
Think about Jeremiah and Isaiah, what was their purpose?
Does anybody actually I'm asking this question, what was the
purpose of Jeremiah, Isaiah, Hosea?
What was their purpose as a prophet?
Just to prophecy things coming, very big part of it to bring
them back to God. And so in saying that bringing
them back to God, obviously what was wrong, they were away from
God. So the goal of these prophets is
to show them their sin and then say show them there is a way
back to reconcile with God. Well, that's exactly what Jesus
says. But think of the woman at the
well. She talks to Jesus.
We know that story. He says if you drink of this
living water, you'll never thirst again.
And then he says go get your husband.
What was his point in saying that?
To mock her, to make her feel bad?
His point in saying that was to show her you're in sin and you
need this water that I'm that I'm talking about.
But you are in sin and you've had five husbands and the one
you're with now is not your husband.
And what's her response? John chapter 4, verse 19.
Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet because the goal of the
prophets, and I'll read this in Isaiah chapter 58 verse one, cry
aloud, spare not lift up thy voice like a trumpet and show my
people their transgressions and the House of Jacob their sins.
That is the goal of a prophet and Jesus Christ fulfills
exactly that role. Here in the New Testament, John
chapter 4, we see that. Sir, I perceive that thou art a
prophet. Why?
Because you're pointing out my sin and trying to lead me back
to Jesus Christ. And so in the light of the
perfection of the Son of God here in the New Testament, the
sinful state of Israel was, was very obvious and they knew it.
It's one of the reasons they crucified Christ.
They did not like that he was pointing out their sin when they
thought they were so spiritual and they were so righteous.
And, and so they accused Christ of blasphemy and they, and they
crucify him, but it's because he was pointing out their sin and
their need for this Savior, which they didn't think they
needed. And they certainly didn't think
Jesus Christ was that one that was going to point them in that
direction. So we see Jesus Christ previewed
as a prophet in Matthew chapter 17.
I want you to go to Mark Chapter 9.
This is another, another account of the transfiguration, Mark
Chapter 9. And we're going to see Jesus
previewed as the priest, prophet, priest.
And then in Luke we'll look at him as king.
But mark Chapter 9 and verse, we'll start in verse one.
And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that there be some
of them that stand here which shall not taste of death till
they have seen the Kingdom of God come with power.
And again verse 2, after six days that's important.
Jesus taketh with him. Peter and James and John.
And I like this account because we'll see some more details.
Peter, James and John and leaded them up into a high mountain
apart by themselves, and he was transfigured before them.
And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as
no fuller on earth can white them.
And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses, and they were
talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to
Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here and let us make 3
tabernacles, one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias.
Verse 6 This is where Luke Mark calls him out for he wished not
what to say, for they were so afraid.
He's so scared I don't know what to say.
So he just starts talking. That's what I was referring to
before. But verse 7.
And there was a cloud that overshadowed them.
And a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved
son, hear him. And suddenly when they had
looked around about, they saw no man anymore save Jesus, only
with themselves. And again in verse 9, Jesus
charges them as they came down from the mountain.
He charged them that they should tell no man what things they had
seen till the Son of man were risen from the dead.
And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with
another what the rising from the dead should mean.
I think it's it's interesting there another little phrase.
They don't quite understand what is going on here.
But in Mark he previews Jesus Christ through this
transfiguration as the priest. And what I want to point out
here is in verse 3, remember I said verse 2, white as light is
what Matthew talks about. But in Mark he says in verse 3,
his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as
no fuller on earth can white them.
So a little bit different description of what he's seeing,
same same picture, but a little different description.
He says his his garment became white as snow, so no fuller on
earth could white them. It's a word we don't really
hear, but through the context we can kind of we kind of
understand what it is. What was a fuller?
They had one job that was to clean garments and to make them
white. But I think it's interesting and
and we see this through history, really through not so much the
Bible, but mostly through history that the fullers all
worked outside of the city. And the main reason was we think
of soap as being this, you know, clean smelling.
It's funny. I just told my wife, she she's
really, really been focusing on all the chemicals and different
things that we, we, you know, put in our bodies, but also that
we have outside our bodies that we come in contact with.
And one of those is the soap and, and what, what's the other
stuff that smells real good? That what is it?
Yeah, the softener. You tell how much I do laundry,
but the softener is, you know, it's a lot of chemicals, but it
makes your clothes smell good. And I said, and I told her the
other day, I said, put a little bit of that in it.
If you have to wash my clothes by themselves, put that in my my
work clothes. Because when you sweat in them
all day long, you just can't get them clean.
And then after a few weeks you start smelling them.
So anyways, so she started doing that for me.
But we think of soap nowadays as all that's going to get them
smelling good. Not then the goal of soap was to
clean, not necessarily to smell good.
And the fuller's works smelled so bad from the alkaline and
things that they used that they pushed them out of the city and
said get out and do your workout outside the city.
Well, I think if you're if you're thinking in in respect to
Jesus Christ, Christ was crucified outside the city.
So I think it's interesting that Mark says that as white as snow,
so as no fuller on earth could have whited these garments that
way. That's what he's saying in
Malachi chapter 3, verse two, he mentioned that he speaking
prophetically of Christ, he is like a refiner's fire and like
fuller's soap. So he's even referred to as or
or or likened to a fuller's soap in Malachi.
And I think it's interesting that Mark brings that up again.
And it's very, very few times that we actually see that word
in the Bible, let alone in the New Testament.
But fuller so anyway, so that was the that was the work of of
these fullers and that was the similarity that we see with
Christ and a fuller. But I think it's interesting in
verse 3 right there at the end. So as no fuller on earth can
wipe them. What he's saying is fullers do
good work. They make these garments white,
but these were whiter than anything anybody on earth could
have could have done. And I think it's important to
note then that Jesus Christ, as the priest previewed here on the
Mount of Transfiguration was going to be better than anything
they had at the time, any priest.
They had a physical priest here on earth.
Isaiah chapter one, verse 18 says this.
Come now and let us reason together.
Say it. The Lord, though your sins be a
scarlet, they shall be white as snow.
Exact phrase that Mark uses there.
Though they be read like Crimson, they shall be as well.
You got to think these men, these disciples, when they are
talking about reading the law and and reading God's word,
anytime that's mentioned this, they have the Old Testament.
They did, they were the ones writing the New Testament.
They don't have this. So when you see those phrases
referred back to and then things like that, they knew God's word.
They knew the word that they had, they knew the law.
And so you'll see that often in their writings and, and we
think, oh, wow, that's the same phrase.
It's because they knew the word of God and they're using those
phrases from what they know in their walk with with God.
But anyways, Isaiah says that they shall be white as snow,
though they be red like Crimson, they shall be as wool.
And so but the superiority of Jesus Christ is is seen there so
as no fuller on earth could wipe them.
He was going to be priests. That was the preview here, but
he was going to be better priest than the final priest or the
final sacrifice. And he says that in Hebrews
chapter 1, every priest standeth daily ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
But this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins
forever sat down in the right hand of God.
And then for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that
are sanctified. So this, these priests that
we're, we're sacrificing for sins and, and doing what they
were supposed to do, but very, very, very much not able to take
away the sins of these people. That's why they had to keep
doing it over and over and over and over.
And that's what Hebrews is saying.
You, you sacrificed often. But now this final, this priest
that that we saw that we see in the Mount of Transfiguration,
this priest is going to offer one time forever for all the
sins and then sit down at the right hand of God for by one
offering he hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified. And I think that's why it's so
important that you know, when when we are out talking with
people. We were out at VCU yesterday
handing out Flyers and we knock on doors and we talk to people.
We get to see where they where they at are at in their minds of
how they're going to get to heaven or where they're at in
their walk with Christ. And very often it is works.
That's what the sacrificial system was.
It was works. And the whole point of it was to
show them you can't. It is not sufficient for what
you need for your sins in Jesus Christ as as he's compared here
to the priest goes outside the city walls just like the
fuller's on Gogotha and cleanses for once and for all man sin but
but cleaner than any priest or any fuller could ever get their
their clothes and I think they would have understood that.
But if not, that's what this preview was.
And then thirdly, go to Luke Chapter 9, Luke Chapter 9 in
math in Mark and Luke the the transfiguration is even earlier
in their account of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but Matthew is
in 17. Mark and Luke are both in
Chapter 9, but go to Luke, Luke Chapter 9 and verse 28 and you
can see how similar these accounts are.
Remember in Mark our account starts in verse 2, but in verse
one of Mark Chapter 9 that it's the same verse in 27.
But I tell you the truth, there be some standing here which
shall not taste of death till they see the Kingdom of God.
Very, very, very similar accounts of what's happening
with the gospel in these three men, but just from a different,
different perspective. But in verse 28 of Chapter 9 of
Luke, it says it came to pass about an 8 days after these
sayings he took Peter and John and James and went up into a
mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of
his countenance was altered and his raiment was white and
blistering. And behold, there talked with
him two men, which were Moses and Elias, who appeared in glory
and spake of the deceased, which he should accomplish at
Jerusalem. This is interesting.
This is a little bit different. Look at this story.
So he tells us that that the model transfiguration happened.
But verse 32 Peter and they that were with him, which we know was
James and John were heavy with sleep.
And when they were awake, they saw his glory and the two men
that stood with him. So they're asleep again on this
mountain. I don't know what it is about
them sleeping. They're sleeping in Yosemite now
they're asleep on this mountain and when they wake up, they wake
up to Jesus, Moses and Elijah talking about his death and
resurrection. That's pretty interesting.
We don't see that in Matthew and Mark, but that's what we see
here in in verse 30. And behold, there talked with
him two men, which which were Moses and Elias, who appeared in
glory and spoke of his decease, which he should accomplish at
Jerusalem. Jerusalem.
And then Peter, James and John wake up to that.
And verse 33 it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter
said unto Jesus, Master, it's good for us to be here.
Let us make 3 tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and one
for Elias, not knowing what he said.
So again doesn't know what to say.
So he just, he's just talking. While he thus spake, there came
a cloud and overshadowed them, and they feared as they entered
into the cloud. And there came a voice out of
the cloud saying, This is my beloved son, hear him.
And when the voice was passed, Jesus was found alone, and they
kept it close and told man, no man in those days of those
things which they had seen. So same same account, but a
little bit different look. And what I want to see here is
in verse 29. As he prayed, the fashion of his
countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and
glistering. This is also interesting.
We don't see this phrase really anywhere else in the Bible
either. White and glistering.
I'm going to get to that in just a second.
I wanted to talk about this eight days, and I just got a few
minutes, but this 8 days compared to the six, the other
two we're talking about. And does anybody know what the
number six is in the Bible? I think we and the number of
men, right? We see that in Revelation.
We see that all over the place. That's the number of men.
Does anybody know what the number 8 means or is symbolic
of? No, that's seven.
Yeah. What is 8 redemption?
It is the number of new beginnings.
And I think this is really interesting, the number of new
beginnings. And so you know, it's not, I
want to, I want to address this too.
Was it 6 days or was it 8 days? Well, I think Matthew and Mark
are just saying, OK, this day and then there was six days in
between and then the amount of transfiguration, I think Luke
takes the day before and the day of the mount transfiguration and
adds those two to the 6th. There's definitely six days from
whatever they're going from to the mount of Transfiguration.
And I think that Luke just adds the the the book ends and makes
it 8 days. But I also think it's important
because it's a number of new beginnings. 8 is think about
this and these are these are somebody else's numbers.
But I do think it's interesting the, the number 8 is the number
of beginnings on the calendar. The 8th day marks the beginning
of a new week, right? So you have 7 days.
The 8th day is a new week. In music.
The eighth note marks the beginning of a new octave,
right? In Jewish history, David was the
eighth son of his father, and his reign marked the beginning
of a new dynasty in Israel. The resurrection of Christ
occurred on Sunday, the 8th day, the beginning of a new week, and
marked a new beginning on the calendar of eternity in
eternity. In contrast to the number of 6,
which is the number of ants. So I think, you know, I've said
this before, I don't hang my hat too much on numerology, but I
think it is interesting that that Luke happens to say 8 days
and he is previewing Christ as king, which is a whole entirely
new beginning. And we're going to finish with
this though. But in in verse 29, as he
prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered and his
raiment was white and glistering in Greek.
This white and glistering is is translated from one single Greek
word. And I'm not going to try to
pronounce it, but it means to flash out as lightning.
It's the only place we see it in the Bible.
But it to flash out as lightning in Matthew chapter 24 and verse
27, it says, for as the lightning cometh out of the east
and shineth even under the West, so shall also the sun, the so
shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
So I think a very interesting phrase there that that Luke uses
different than Mark and Matthew, but white and glistering,
talking about like a flash of lightning like that's that's
what in his mind that this whiteness of the raiments of
Jesus Christ was like a flash of lightning.
But Matthew Matthew talks about that there in chapter 24.
But this helps us to understand the final piece of prophet,
priest and king that was beast was so important to the Jewish
people as prophet Christ reveals the sinfulness of mankind,
right. We we talked about that as
priest, he provides the means of cleansing the sin and the stain
and makes their hearts whiter than snow.
We see that Jesus Christ outside the the gates dies on the cross
and their sins are as scarlet, but they can be made as white as
snow. But then one day as king, Christ
will return to earth to rule and reign in a Kingdom which has no
sin. And it's we're, we're done just
because of time. But that's the part we have yet
to see. We've seen him as prophet, we've
seen him as priest. And we, we will get to in the
Bible, but we will get to see him as king reigning over the
entire earth. And we see that in in Revelation
chapter 2, Psalm chapter 2, we see that the kingdoms of the
earth will bow their knee to Jesus Christ.
And this mount of transfiguration is a preview of
those things that were coming, prophet and priest.
We already saw they were a preview of what was coming in
the life of Christ here on this earth.
But the king that Luke talks about, this flash of lightning,
we're going to see that in the in, in, in in the entire or, or
after Christ comes back to this earth to reign as king.
And I'm excited about that. And I hope you are as well.
But John chapter 1 and verse 14. And we'll close with this verse.
And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of
grace and truth. And the disciples didn't quite
understand it. So he has the amount of
transfiguration to to show them and just shore up.
And then he tells them, don't tell anybody you saw this until
I until I die and resurrected and I go then you can start
talking about this, but I don't want anybody to know about it
until then. Interesting that he says that.
But anyways, that's a lesson for another time.
Let's pray and we will be finished with Sunday School.
Father, I thank you for this day you've given us.
Got to thank you for the time we have here to open your word.
Got to pray that this lesson would have been one that your
people could understand. And I pray that it would just
just give us a confidence as I prayed before God in in your son
and in the Messiah, in the Savior that we trust and that we
worship as the sacrifice for our sins.
And I got to just pray that you bless this next hour as pastor
preaches, fill them with your power and speak to our hearts.
In Jesus name I pray, Amen.