Jesus’ Glory Unveiled at the Transfiguration

And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man until the Son of Man be risen again from the dead. Would you pray with me this morning? Our fathers, we come again to look at your word and to open our hearts to what you have said.

Lord, we want to see the Lord Jesus clearly. We want to see him in all of his glory, in his true identity. We want to see him, Lord, as he deserves and should be seen. And Lord, please guide us in our study of your word. Guide me as I try to speak the things that will help and encourage and strengthen your people. And I pray that your people’s hearts and minds and ears would be attentive to your word.

Lord, we need you. We need you to help us to get a clear and unobstructed view of the Lord Jesus Christ. Only then can we respond in the right way, as Brother and Sister Yarley sang, that we would see the need to bow the knee to you, Lord, to own you as our Lord. And so Lord, guide us in our study of Matthew 17 today in Jesus’ name.

Amen. So this is the account of the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse one says that the Lord took Peter, James, and John, his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart. And Peter, James, and John are a group of three that are distinct. So that’s a quarter of the disciples being 12. That’s three of them would be a quarter of the disciples. They were on a number of occasions separated off from the other nine disciples for special purposes.

You see them, I won’t read every one of these, but in Mark chapter five and verse 37, when Jesus went in to heal the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, he invited only Peter, James, and John into the room and the parents of the child. And that was it. So he wanted to reveal and show something special to these three men in particular. In Mark chapter 13, verse number three, it was Peter, James, and John that specifically asked the Lord Jesus about his second coming.

That’s the parallel with Matthew chapter 24, but in Mark chapter 13, it was actually Peter, James, and John who were asking the question about when the end of the world would come. In Mark chapter 14, verse 33, it was Peter, James, and John that the Lord took into the Garden of Gethsemane further out than he went with the disciples, the rest of the disciples, in order to pray.

So they were nearer to him when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane right before his arrest. And of course you see them here, which is the fourth time. You see Peter, James, and John only are taken up into the mountain to see the Lord Jesus transfigured. So they had information about the Lord Jesus Christ that none of the other disciples had. Here’s what’s interesting. All of the disciples, maybe with the lone exception of Judas Iscariot, believed that Jesus was the Son of God, believed that Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, and believed that Jesus did and would receive, had and would receive glory.

All of them believed it, but only three of them saw it. Only three of them saw it. And so this is one thing you see with these three disciples that you don’t see with the others. Now keep in mind that, and we’ll see this later in just a little bit, but the book of John was written by one of these men. So John, that’s kind of the context of the book of John is John having seen the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ with his eyeballs, wrote the book of John, and he actually mentions it in a few places.

We’ll see in a minute, but also Peter wrote first and second Peter, obviously, and a lot of people think that Peter was the source of the information for the book of Mark, which is where this is also covered, which I don’t have any problem with that as well, because Mark covers most information about Peter than any of the other gospels. But so you have this eyewitness account of this miraculous event.

And what’s interesting is Luke though, if you’ll look at Luke chapter nine, there’s a few differences, I say differences. There’s more full information given by Luke of the account of the transfiguration than Matthew and Mark give us.

And in Luke chapter nine, we’re given a little bit more in verse 28, the reason that they went up into the mountain aside from the Lord’s transfiguration is given in verse 28 of Luke nine, it says this, and it came to pass that about eight days after these sayings, Jesus took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. Went up into a mountain to pray.

So that’s the occasion. You know, you see the Lord Jesus praying, spending major periods of prayer, or you see him praying in isolation, often in association with major events. Did you know that? This is one of them. This is during the transfiguration of Christ, he’s praying. Of course, you have the Garden of Gethsemane just prior to his arrest, betrayal arrest and crucifixion. But right before the Lord chose his disciples, what is he doing?

You find him praying. You also often find him before a major event or right at a major event, the Lord Jesus is goes away from everyone and prays to his father in secret. Mark, just listen to these verses. You can note the references and look at them later if you wish, Mark 1.35. And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place and there prayed.

Mark six, verse 46. And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. Luke six, verse 12. And it came to pass in those days that he went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God.

Matthew 14, verse 23, which we’ve already covered says this. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray. And when the evening was come, he was there alone. You see it as a practice of our Lord. You know, it was the Lord Jesus himself. He says, but thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet. And when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy father, which is in secret, which is what he’s doing.

He’s just not in a room. He’s going out into the wilderness by himself. You see him doing this repeatedly. And that’s only the times that the scriptures record him doing it. There were no doubt many other times because he was known for being one who spent time in prayer. The Lord Jesus was. And he says, pray to thy father, which is in secret. And thy father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

You see our Lord lived the example of prayer. He didn’t just tell us to do it. He lived the example, which is why the disciples came to the Lord Jesus and said, teach us to pray. What better person to ask but the one who knows already how to do it, right? Here’s the sad thing.

I think there are many people who profess to be believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and to be children of God, who the only time they pray is over their meal.

The only time they pray is when another person leads in prayer in their hearing. I’ll tell you something, brothers and sisters, that is a shame. And that will, a prayer life, which is like that, which is no prayer life, that will absolutely hobble your ability to walk with God. You are, if that’s the case for you, you are a spiritual handicap. You are spiritually crippled. That’s where you are right now.

Prayer is, prayer to God is a, one of the best measures of our spiritual temperature because it’s something nobody sees. And it’s the first thing to go whenever we start sliding. It’s the first thing to go. But if our prayer life, listen, if our prayer life is only public, if our prayer life is only at church, if our prayer life is only at meals or when others are around, and that’s the only time we pray, and we have no private, personal, solitary time with God in prayer, we are, listen, we’re not walking with God like we should at all.

We’re not. So I wanna ask you a question. Looking at the example of the Lord Jesus, how is your prayer life? Do you spend time in solitary prayer to God like our Lord did? Where nobody knows but you and God? Do you have a place where you go and you spend time with God like the Lord did in the mountain? It can be in the woods, it can be in a closet, it can be in your bedroom, it can be wherever, but private time in prayer to God.

Listen, that is, you wanna talk about the source of a lot of our ills, the source of a lot of our ailments, the source of a lot of personal conflict that we have? That right there. It doesn’t, it’s not that if we’re in prayer, none of those things happen. It’s that when we are seeking God in prayer, the Lord tends to deal with those things, most importantly in us, before they come to a boil.

Because prayer, one of the purposes of prayer is the Lord uses it to work in us because while we’re talking to God, He’s talking to us. If you have the Spirit of God in you, that’s the way, He talks to you through His word and He reminds you of those things while you’re talking to Him. And He, every time we start praying for another, He turns the mirror on us and says, what about you, are you doing this thing for which you’re praying for another?

I think a lot of the ills we have, a lot of the spiritual problems we have, go back to the fact that we are not spending time with God in prayer like our Lord did. It ought to be a feature, it ought to be a feature of every single person, every single Christian in this room. And to whatever degree it’s not, will be the degree to which we’re hobbled.

How’s your prayer life? You know, if you find yourself with a prayer life that is not pleasing to God, that is inconsistent, that is infrequent, let me encourage you to, sometimes when we’re in that place, sometimes when we’re in that place, we don’t really know what to do. When we’re in a place, we don’t really know what’s wrong with us, we don’t really know why we find it so difficult to pray, we don’t really know what to do to fix it.

I’ve been in that case every week of my life multiple times. You know the best thing to do is to go to the Lord and say, Lord, I am not praying like I should and I don’t know how to fix it. I need you to fix me. Cause you told me that I need to be in prayer and I need to pray without ceasing and without fainting and yet I’m not and my relationship with you is suffering.

We have to take it to him. One of the worst things that we can do when we’re found at fault is to withdraw from the Lord. The Lord says, come to me, come to me. That’s like getting sick and refusing to go to the doctor. The one who can help you and you saying no, whereas he is the one who can help. He is the one that we need the most at that time.

So let me encourage you to do that. Let me encourage you to do that. Look at verse number two, back in Matthew 17. And he was transfigured before them and his face did shine as the sun and his raiment was white as the light. This is what you might call, so many times you’re reading the Old Testament, you see how that there was a manifestation of the glory of God.

Isaiah chapter six, when Isaiah in chapter six, where he met the Lord, he saw the Lord high lifted up upon his throne. You remember that? His train filled the temple and he saw the glory of God. And the glory of God in the Old Testament is often referenced and spoken in reference to light. And that’s exactly what you see. It’s the visible part of the glory of God.

In other words, God is shining. I don’t know if you remember, I guess it was a couple years ago now, the eclipse. I think probably the eclipse, a total eclipse, is the closest thing to the glory of God that I’ve ever seen.

Now you go out and see the sun every day and nobody ever thinks boo about it, right? It’s just the sun, you see it every day. But what happens in the eclipse is the glory of the sun is temporarily veiled and covered in such a way that you see the same glory that’s always been there, but you see it in a different perspective. You see a different aspect of it and what it does is it draws attention to it.

How many of you have ever seen a total eclipse? You were maybe here, you were there? The first time we saw it was when it went over, we were in Indiana and we saw it there. I know many of you saw it in Greenville. I was overseas at that time, but it was one of the most amazing and awe-inspiring events I’ve ever seen in my life. You know why?

And when I read this, as I was reading about the transfiguration and really praying, just honestly having a hard time, Lord, what do I say? What is it from this passage that your people need? That’s what I was thinking. One of the hard things for me as an individual, for me to understand as I’ve read the Old Testament and I’ve read about the glory of God is to understand what is the glory of God and why is it such a huge feature in the scripture?

Why is it a feature here? The Lord did this obviously on purpose and the best example I can give to that is the sense, the sensation, the response, the almost automatic response when that moon came between the sun and the earth during that total eclipse. And it was like the glory of that event. That’s just an earthly thing. Remember, the God of creation created that. If he created something that glorious, how much more glorious must he be?

How much more glorious and magnificent must he be if our eyes ever fell upon him? But when I saw that and the moon came between the earth and the sun and I saw the corona of the sun appear, it was like the glory of the event sucked all out of my body, the best way I can put it. It was just automatic. There was no control over my response at that point.

I don’t know if any of you experienced that, but obviously I’ve given a lot of thought to this. And that’s the closest thing I can imagine that these disciples saw because actually I think it’s in, it’s either in Luke or in Mark.

Let me see if it’s in Luke here since we’re already here. It must be in Mark. In Luke it says, and as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered and his raiment was white and glistering. That is shining, twinkling, glittering. I think it’s in Mark that describes how his clothing was as the sun. So when you see this, when these disciples saw that, they were sleepy, but when they saw the Lord transfigured and his glory shined forth, in other words, all that happened really, all that really happened was for a moment of time, the veil of the Lord’s earthly body was just set aside so that the glory that he possesses and has always possessed throughout all of eternity was just revealed.

Before the Lord was born in Bethlehem, before the Lord was conceived in the womb, the Lord Jesus Christ existed. He lived eternally in heaven with all the glory that God the Father has and the God the Spirit has. And when he ascended back to heaven, he also, that glory was not restored, but that glory was no longer veiled. But even while he was on earth, that glory was there and that’s what this proves.

And you imagine as those disciples saw it and that veil was just temporarily taken away, that you see them falling down in fear, right? I imagine that the awe and the fear and the alarm of what they were seeing was just sucked out of their body. Every time you see somebody in scripture that sees God in his glory, that’s what happens. Whether it’s Moses, the children of Israel, whether it’s Paul the apostle, or whoever you see whenever they come in contact with the glory of God, and again, it just sucks it right out of them.

I just wanna say something here. Our view of the Lord Jesus Christ is far too low. If there’s anything this event tells us is that our view, my view, your view, all of our view of the Lord Jesus Christ is far too low in human. Was he human? Yes, 100% man, 100% God. None of that detracts from that fact. But the problem is we view him as that.

Did you know that after this, after this, after Jesus ascends, you get to the book of Revelation? Or even with the apostle Paul in Acts chapter nine, what do you see? You see the Lord Jesus and when he appears, he does not appear human. He’s human, but he doesn’t appear without his glory anywhere post his earthly life. You don’t see that anymore, anywhere after that. What do you see?

You see the Lord Jesus appearing in glory. And I think it reveals the way that we should be viewing him. Christianity, air quote, Christianity has taken the Lord Jesus Christ in his glory and has dumbed him down and demoted him to just a bee bopping buddy of ours. Just a good guy there to make our life better and let make our life easier. The Lord Jesus Christ is not a bee bopping buddy.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of glory. If for one moment he revealed himself to us and we saw his glory even but for an instant, that listen, our life would be sucked out of us and we would fall on our face without any control whatsoever.

This is our savior. This is the way he is now. And I just wonder, I look at my own life, do I respond to the Lord like he is the Lord of glory? Sadly, if I’m honest, I was probably more awestruck with this solar eclipse than I am on a regular basis with Jesus.

It shouldn’t be that way, should it? No, we should always stand in awe of the Lord Jesus Christ. You think about Moses. Back in Matthew 17, it says, his face, he was transfigured before them, his face did shine as the sun, his raiment as wide as the light. And you know Moses in chapter 34 of Exodus, Moses went up to the mountain and he saw the glory of God.

He saw what these disciples saw, several people did, Isaiah and others. He saw that, but when he came down, remember, his face shone, right? But Moses’ face was not showing because he had any glory. Moses had none. He had none. Moses is just a guy, just a man like you and me. But his face shone with the glory of God in the same way that the moon shines with the glory of God, the glory of the sun rather.

He had no glory of his own. The glory of God was shining off of him. There’s a good picture there of the Christian. We’ll have to go there another time. But this is not true of the Lord Jesus. When the glory of his own glory is shining, it’s not a reflection of the glory of God. God, no, this glory is emanating from himself because he is glorious.

He is glorious. He deserves the glory. His face and his clothing were not shining due to the remnants of God’s glory, but due to his own glory. Listen to these verses and I encourage you, if you take notes, note these two verses because remember, one of the men here is John. And in John chapter one, verse 14, here’s what he says. And the word, that’s Jesus, 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 in chapter 17, John also says this, he’s referring to Jesus now, he says this, Father, this is Jesus speaking in the garden or on the way to the garden. I will that they also whom thou has given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou has given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world.

You see, this glory emanating from the face and clothing of the Lord Jesus Christ is one more proof of the deity of Christ. He is very God in the flesh. And for that moment, when he laid aside his veil, the glory that the Lord Jesus Christ still retained while he was on the earth was for that moment no longer hidden.

And that glory is actually an attribute of God. You know, whenever the Bible refers to Jesus Christ as being the creator of all things, you know what it’s doing? It’s taking an attribute of God and applying it to Jesus Christ. There’s only one creator. Jesus is the creator, God, the true God is the creator. And that’s what this glory is. God, in the Old Testament, God is always seen with glory.

And now the glory is seen in Christ, which tells us that Jesus is that same God, one and the same. Jesus is very God. Listen to these verses, Isaiah 42 verse eight. God says this, I am the Lord. That is my name and my glory will I not give to another.

Neither my praise to graven images. Isaiah 48 verse 11, for mine own sake, even for mine own sake will I do it for how should my name be polluted? And I will not give my glory unto another. So if God’s glory is seen at the transfiguration of Christ, emanating from Christ, that means that he is that same God. He is God manifest in the flesh. Now, if you would go back to look at Matthew 17, but also look at Luke chapter nine again, Matthew 17, verse number three says this, and behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

This is one of the weirdest things in the New Testament. But it does answer one question. Do people who have died, Moses and Elijah had been dead a long time by this point. Like, Moses had been dead 1,800 years by this point. Elijah less than that. Here they appear. Look at Luke nine verse 30.

Luke nine 30 says this, and behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias, who appeared in glory and spake. Notice, I asked this myself a question before I got to Luke nine and I asked myself, I wonder what they were talking about. Here it is. Who appeared in glory and spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. What are they talking about?

Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, what are they talking about? They’re talking about the cross. That’s what they’re talking about. It does bring up one point. Do those that have passed on and gone to heaven, do they know what’s going on down here? I don’t know that we can answer that fully, but Moses and Elijah apparently knew about the cross that was about to happen, so they knew something that was going to happen in the future down here on earth.

But notice, even those who are apparently glorified, who are with the Lord, even they’re talking about the cross. You see that? Because the cross is their redemption just like it’s our redemption. Some people say, well, in the Old Testament, people were saved by works. No, they weren’t. In the Old Testament, people were saved by the Lord Jesus Christ and his cross, just like they are in the new.

That’s probably why Moses and Elijah are so interested in this event, wouldn’t you say? Yeah, they are interested in this event. They’re interested in this event. If you would go back to chapter four, I’m sorry, chapter 17 of Matthew, verse number four.

Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus, this is Peter, insert foot into mouth. Lord, it is good for us to be here. If thou wilt let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias. Now I’m gonna read verse five, but we’ll come back to verse four in just a minute. 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, which is, notice how I say that, this is my beloved son.

In other words, not Moses and Elijah. This is my beloved son. Notice what the next three words say. What do they say? I’m sorry, in whom I am well pleased. Then it says, hear ye, hear ye, and hear him. In other words, Peter, shut up and listen.

Stop talking and start listening. Stop talking and start listening. Because Peter’s idea is stupid. Peter’s idea is stupid. Peter’s idea to build one tabernacle for Moses, is like a tent, right? Build one tabernacle for Moses. Moses is a great guy. One tabernacle for Elijah. Elijah was a great guy. And then one for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he did at least put Jesus first in that list. Okay, I’ll give him that. Here’s your dog bone.

He did put Jesus first in that list. But what business do Moses and Elijah have to do in the same category, in the same universe as the Lord Jesus Christ? They do not belong there. They do not belong in the same list. Any list that involves the Lord God Almighty and his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is a list of but one item. No other person, no thing, no thing in your life, no thing in my life, no human being, no material possession, no thing of value. There is nothing, listen, there is nothing in the universe that deserves to be in the same list with the Lord Jesus Christ. Not in my life and not in your life.

He is unique and he is alone. I want to ask you, is that his place in your life? Or is it Jesus is first and then these other things are close behind? I’ll build three tabernacles.

Or is Jesus alone, God of all, and no one, no one is to be compared with him in your life? The Lord said, we don’t have to wonder what the Lord thought about this because God from heaven spoke one of only three times that he did it. One at the baptism of Christ, one at the transfiguration, and one time in John chapter 12 where there is an audible voice of God in the New Testament. In both times, in the baptism of Christ and the transfiguration he said the same thing, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. I’m not well pleased with Moses and Elijah, but he is well pleased with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now if you would go back to Matthew 17 verse number 4, well let’s go to verse 5. And he says, hmm, while he yet spake these things, let me pause here. Let me just pause one more time. I know when people do an examination of world religions, comparative religions, they put Jesus Christ next to Mohammed, next to Buddha. Some people put Jesus Christ next to Moses, and Elijah, and King David. Some people in our day and our world put Jesus Christ next to Trump, or Biden, or some other figure past or present. Listen, I don’t know your mind and heart. I only know my own. But I will say this, I know my own mind and heart.

Listen to this, there is no one, there is no one like or similar to the Lord Jesus Christ. He stands alone. I don’t care how great the political figure is, the religious figure, the word Mohammed and the word Jesus should not be in our mouth at the same time. Mohammed was a pedophile, a pedophile creator, demonic creator of a religion. The Lord Jesus stands alone. Let’s go to verse 5. 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. Notice, I want you to pay attention to the last three words, hear ye him. Now, to Peter, it’s a rebuke to Peter. Listen to, stop talking and listen to, listen to, to my beloved son. He has something to say, you need to listen to him instead of running your mouth about Moses and Elijah. But beyond that, there’s a greater statement being spoken here.

Hold your place here if you would and go to Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1, verse number 1. The Bible says this, notice the parallels with the transfiguration.

Hebrews 1, 1, God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. Now he’s talking about the Old Testament now. Now remember, after transfiguration, who are the two figures that are there talking with Jesus? Moses and Elijah. Moses the law giver. Elijah, one of the greatest prophets, right? Which is actually interestingly one of the ways you can divide the Old Testament. The Old Testament can be divided in two ways. You can divide it as the law and the prophets or you can divide it as the law and the prophets in the writings. That’s how it’s seen in the scripture. In this case, it’s the law. Moses represents the law and Elijah being the greatest prophet represents the prophets. Notice that the law and the prophets in their conversation are talking about what? They’re talking about the cross, right? Because that’s what you find in the Old Testament. You find in the scripture it bears witness to Christ going to the cross. But beyond that, here’s in verse number 1 it says God spoke through Moses and the prophets diverse manners in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. In other words, God spoke to man and he uses people like Moses. He used people like Elijah and the other prophets. Verse number 2, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, and by whom also he made the world. Now notice in verse 2, he says God has spoken to us by his son. Now go back in your mind to Matthew 17, the transfiguration, what did the Lord tell those three disciples to do? Hear ye him. Here it says God has spoken to us by his son. In other words, listen to Jesus.

He has something that he is trying to communicate. God is communicating to us. Now look at verse 3, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, there’s this decease about which they were talking, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. You see that? You see all the major factors of the transfiguration. It mentions his glory, the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person. It mentions his power as the creator upholding all things by the word of his power. This is a description of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here’s what I want you to see. God is communicating his will to us. God is talking to us. God does not communicate with us like he did before. This is what Hebrews is telling us. God no longer communicates his will to mankind outside of Jesus Christ. From now on, from the time the Lord Jesus Christ came, all of God’s communication with mankind is funneled into that one individual. God’s not talking to anybody, you, me, or anybody else on this planet outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s a lot of people who think he is. There’s a lot of people thinking they have messages from God, but messages from God that are not by means of and through a right, right, right, right, right, right, understanding of who the Lord Jesus Christ is are not communications from God. They might be a voice in this world, but they are not a voice of God. The Lord Jesus, the Lord God only communicates with us through his son. You’re not going to hear anything from God apart from his son. You see that? Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son.

Verse 1, verse 18, listen to this verse. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten son which is in the bosom of the Father, notice, he hath declared him the Father. In other words, anything you want to know about God you will find through Christ and not without Christ. This is, brothers and sisters, this is one of fundamental problems with any religious group that teaches that Jesus is anything less than the very, the very true and living God manifest in the flesh. Is they think God’s talking to them outside of who Jesus truly is. You know, if the transfiguration of Christ tells us anything, it tells us who Jesus Christ is, does it not? Lastly, I want you to turn to 2 Peter, 2 Peter chapter, chapter 1. It is verse number 1. 2 Peter 1, verse number 15. Now remember, this is an older brother Peter now. Same man who saw this transfiguration with his own eyes. Verse 15, Peter says this, moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease, isn’t that interesting?

That the same word decease is used here of Peter as is used about the transfiguration with Moses and Elijah’s conversation with Jesus. I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice what he says, but were eye witnesses of his majesty. What is he talking about?

He’s talking about the glory. He’s saying, I saw it with my eyes. These aren’t made up stories. This is real. I saw it and two other witnesses saw it. Jesus showed that he was very God in the flesh. I saw it. These are not fables at all. You know, to this day, that’s still what people think. All the claims of Christ are. They’re just a bunch of made up stuff by his disciples hundreds of years after he died. That’s what they think. That is the going theory. And yet you have this right here where Peter’s saying, it is not a fable. I saw him glorified. He says, for he received from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Obviously a reference to the transfiguration. Not only did Peter as an eye witness see the glorified Christ, he also heard the testimony of the Father with his eyes and with his ears. Verse 18, and this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mount. Now look at verse 19. Now this is where it takes a turn that is unexpected. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. More sure than what? What’s the answer? In the context, what word of prophecy is more sure in this context? You know what it is? The word of prophecy, he’s saying what I’m about to tell you is more certain than what I saw with my eyes and what I heard with my ears. Whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. What word of prophecy is he referring to?

Knowing this first, verse 20, that no prophecy, there it is again, of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy, time number three, came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And think about what he’s saying here. No prophecy of the scripture. The scripture is only one thing. The scripture is the written word of God. What God spoke is not scripture. What God had meant right is scripture. And here’s what we’re saying, we’re finished. Even though Peter, James, and John were privileged to see the Lord Jesus Christ in his glory and were absolutely awestruck by it as you and I would be as well. Even though they saw the glory with their eyes, even though they heard the voice of God from heaven bearing testimony to who Jesus was, yet Peter’s saying this is more certain than that. This Bible, this Bible is where you will find more information, more sure testimony to who Jesus is and of his glory and of his cross than any other place on earth. If it’s a more sure word than the testimony of an eye witness of the actual image of Jesus, then it’s a more sure word than the testimony of an eye witness of the actual image of Jesus. And if you’re more sure word than the testimony of an eye witness of the actual event, it is certainly a more sure word than the chosen series on Netflix or any other modern attempt to describe these events. Listen, you can trust the Bible. You can know God by means of his word. You will know more about God from the words of scripture than any other testimony that exists.

Are you in it? Are you studying it? Are you receiving it? Is it a part of your life? Is the word of God a part of you? Is it something that you resort to every day of your life? Is it something that is your food, your spiritual food and drink every day of your life? This is where you find the voice of the Lord Jesus that God is using to speak to us in these days. This is sure. This is sure. Let’s pray.