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Transfiguration Sunday is February 11, 2024.
This is also Quinquagesima Sunday — the fifth before Easter — and the last Sunday in Epiphany, as well as Shrovetide, the three weeks before Lent begins.
Readings for Year B can be found here.
The Gospel is as follows (emphases mine):
Mark 9:2-9
9:2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them,
9:3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.
9:4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
9:5 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
9:6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.
9:7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”
9:8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
9:9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
Commentary comes from Matthew Henry and John MacArthur.
John MacArthur puts this reading in context for us, summarising the end of Mark 8:
Peter’s confession, you remember, was the high point of chapter 8. That confession in verse 29, where he says, “You are the Christ.” That confession is also recorded in Matthew and Luke, and the full confession that he made on behalf of all the followers of Jesus was, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” That is the apex of Mark’s gospel.
That is the midpoint of Mark’s gospel. Everything leads up to this, everything flows down from this. To acknowledge Jesus to be the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God, is to make the right judgment concerning Him. Peter made that judgment not for himself only but for all the apostles and all the disciples who were followers of Christ. What Peter said there is verified in the passage before us. Peter said it by faith; he will now see it by sight.
This is a very important moment in the life of the apostles and for us as well. Remember, Peter makes this great confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” with the anticipation that the kingdom would come immediately. But no sooner had he made that confession then, in verse 31, “Jesus began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and then after three days, rise again.”
This was so offensive to Peter and the rest that Peter began to rebuke Jesus in his ignorance. Jesus turned to him and said, “Get behind me, Satan, for you’re not setting your mind on God’s interests but man’s.” Peter was committed to the glory but not the cross. He was committed to the exaltation but not the humiliation. This was the introduction of the scandal of the death of Christ, which, to the Jews, was a stumbling block. This is so hard for them to swallow that our Lord needs to lift them up after this massive disappointment.
So in verse 38, same day, same time, same place, He says, “The Son of man will also come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” This is not in place of the glory, this is not in place of the kingdom, this is not in place of the second coming, this is not in place of Messiah’s promised reign, He will come – He will come.
It was very difficult for them to handle the word about the death of Christ. It would be even more difficult for them to handle the reality of it as it unfolded a few months from this moment. When He is arrested, they scatter. And Peter, the self-confessed strongest of them all, who says, “I will never forsake You,” denies Christ on three separate occasions, and the rest of them [except for John, who was at the crucifixion] disappear in terror. It’s a horrendous thing for them, the cross. And they will also suffer as martyrs, virtually all of them but John, and John died as an exile, an old man on a rock in the Mediterranean.
Suffering was coming. They needed to be able to survive it. They needed to have the strength and endurance to get through it. And consequently, the Lord does something for them that is very rare in the New Testament – in fact, this is the only time, really. He moves their faith to sight. He lets them see His glory. If you look at a list of miracles, you probably won’t find this one. If you find a book on the miracles of Jesus, this won’t be one of them, and yet this is the single greatest miracle recorded on the pages of the New Testament prior to the resurrection. Let’s pick it up in verse 2.
Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves; there he was transfigured before them (verse 2).
Matthew Henry says that this was to prevent the offence of the Cross for them:
… he gives them this glimpse of his glory, to show that his sufferings were voluntary, and what a virtue the dignity and glory of his person would put into them, and to prevent the offence of the cross.
He took these three Apostles because they were the most senior and He had the best rapport with them. They were also among the very first He called when John the Baptist was still preaching at the Jordan, Andrew being the other.
Henry says:
Christ did not take all the disciples with him, because the thing was to be kept very private. As there are distinguishing favours which are given to disciples and not to the world, so there are to some disciples and not to others. All the saints are a people near to Christ, but some lie in his bosom. James was the first of all the twelve that died for Christ, and John survived them all, to be the last eyewitness of this glory; he bore record (John 1 14); We saw his glory: and so did Peter, 2 Pet 1 16-18.
Both our commentators agree that the mountain was in the Caesarea Philippi region.
Henry reasons:
Tradition saith, It was on the top of the mount Tabor that Christ was transfigured; and if so, the scripture was fulfilled, Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name, Ps 89 12. Dr. Lightfoot, observing that the last place where we find Christ was in the coasts of Cæsarea-Philippi, which was far from mount Tabor, rather thinks it was a high mountain which Josephus speaks of, near Cæsarea.
MacArthur tells us:
Some have said Mount Tabor, that can’t be, that’s too far south and too low. This is a high mountain. They’re in Caesarea Philippi, the region to the north of Galilee, and a high mountain in that area would be Mount Hermon. Mount Hermon towers over the Caesarea Philippi region where Peter’s confession and these moments have taken place. Very likely that mountain.
Henry explains ‘transfigured’:
He was transfigured before them; he appeared in another manner than he used to do. This was a change of the accidents, the substance remaining the same, and it was a miracle … See what a great change human bodies are capable of, when God is pleased to put an honour upon them, as he will upon the bodies of the saints, at the resurrection. He was transfigured before them; the change, it is probable, was gradual, from glory to glory, so that the disciples, who had their eye upon him all the while, had the clearest and most certain evidence they could have, that this glorious appearance was no other than the blessed Jesus himself, and there was no illusion in it. John seems to refer to this (1 John 1 1), when he speaks of the word of life, as that which they had seen with their eyes, and looked upon.
MacArthur discusses the Greek word used for ‘transfigured’:
The word is metamorphoō, from which we get metamorphosis, two Greek words, morphē, meaning body or form, and meta, meaning change. His form was changed. Nothing changed on the inside, right? He’s God. But the outside changed. This word literally means to transform the morphē, the form, the body, the exterior. It’s used four times in the New Testament and always means a radical transformation. It’s used here once and Matthew 17:2 in that text on the transfiguration. It’s the same verb to describe the same thing …
So we’re talking about a radical kind of transformation. His nature could not change, only His appearance. And that’s exactly what changed. His appearance changed. Matthew 17:2, Luke 9:29 says, “His face shown like the sun.”
Our Lord’s clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them (verse 3).
MacArthur describes what the three Apostles saw:
Listen, these are Jewish men who knew their Old Testament. They knew that when God showed up, He showed up as light. He showed up as light. He showed up radiantly, and He was shining like the sun.
By the way, this is not some kind of mental experience. This is a physical experience for them. This is a real experience, not a vision. Yes, the glory of God shines in the face of Jesus spiritually but here, it happens actually. The blazing glory of His divine nature came through His humanity, pulled the veil of His humanity back. And He was like the sun at high noon.
… “His garments became radiant,” stilbō is the word. It means to glitter like flashing facets reflecting back the blazing sun at high noon on a diamond, an exceeding light. Not flat light but blazing light. Luke says white and gleaming, like linear lightning.
And then I like what Mark says … He says, “His garments became radiant and exceeding white as no bleacher on earth can whiten them,” no gnapheus, the old word used to be fuller, a fuller was someone who bleached things white. This is white – this is white, white, white, blazing white, glittering white, like the sun’s white.
And appearing to them — the three Apostles — were Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus (verse 4).
MacArthur addresses something I have been wondering about for years — how Elijah and Moses received glorified bodies when the Second Coming has not yet happened:
We go from the Son’s transformation to the saints’ association, verse 4, “Elijah appeared to them along with Moses.” Whoa! And they were talking with Jesus. Was this really Moses and Elijah? Yes. But aren’t Moses and Elijah glorified spirits in heaven? Aren’t they part of the just men made perfect, the spirits in heaven? Yes. Don’t they wait to get a glorified body until (Daniel 12:2 says) the establishment of the kingdom and the resurrection of the Old Testament saints? Yes. However, for this occasion, the Lord provided them a visible form.
MacArthur surmises what the three were talking about:
I’ll tell you exactly what they were saying. You say, “How do you know what they were saying?” Because it’s in the Bible. And I will promise you I only know what’s in the Bible, I have never had a vision – I married one, but I haven’t had one. Now – precisely my sentiments.
Listen to what it says in Luke 9:31. “Two men were talking with Him and they were Moses and Elijah who, appearing in glory” – see, they’re in a glorified form, too. “They were speaking of His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” What’s the subject? His death. His death. They’re talking about His death – talking about His death – the subject matters.
I suppose the disciples might have thought they would be talking about the kingdom and the glory and the overthrow of the Romans and the establishment of the Messiah’s throne over the whole earth, but they’re not. They’re talking about His death because that’s what the transfiguration event is intended to communicate to the disciples, that He has to die, and it doesn’t negate the glory, but it isn’t some interruption of the plan. Here are Moses and Elijah, talking about the death of the Messiah.
Again, these are two men and two very special men, and the testimony of these two men is a confirming testimony because they’re two witnesses and they’re talking about the death of Christ, Moses and Elijah. You mean, Moses and Elijah are aware that the Messiah must die? You mean that this stumbling block to all of us, which we cannot understand, is part of the plan and Moses and Elijah affirm this? That’s exactly what this is about.
Moses is the greatest leader in Israel’s history, rescuer of the nation from captivity, its greatest general, can we say? God was the one who drowned Pharaoh’s army but Moses was the victor by divine power. In authority, he was a king, though he never had a throne. In message, he was a prophet. In service to God, he was every bit a priest, serving God on behalf of His people. He was the author of the Pentateuch, the agent by which God gave His holy law. He’s the greatest.
If you’re going to have somebody give testimony to the fact that the Messiah needs to die, you couldn’t get a better witness than Moses – unless it was Elijah. He could stand with Moses because he fought against every violation of that law. He battled the nation’s idolatry, and he battled it with great courage and words of judgment, and he validated his preaching with miracles. There are only two miracle eras in the Old Testament, the time of Moses – and you know what the miracles were, they were in Egypt – and the time of Elijah. You can read them in 1 Kings 17 to 19, 2 Kings 1 and 2.
There was no lawgiver like Moses and there was no prophet like Elijah. Moses gave the law; Elijah was its greatest guardian. Here are the most trustworthy eyewitnesses. No one could bring the apostles more assurance and confidence that the death of Jesus was in the plan than to hear it from Moses and Elijah, the very men that they look to as the heroes of the Old Testament faith.
So this is in the plan. And here they are, in glory, confirming the glory to come, talking about Jesus’ death. So you have it all there. His death is a part of it, but His glory is coming. And they actually appear, I just read, in glory, in some form like Christ. That shouldn’t surprise you because we’re going to have a body like unto His glorious body. That was a glimpse there.
Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’ (verse 5).
Peter, having heard our Lord say that He would have to die, wants to circumvent this.
MacArthur says:
Holy fear is mixed with stunning, exhilarating wonder at the most divine and incomprehensible experience of their lives. But what’s running through his mind still is this problem of suffering has got to go away. He’s not giving up on this. He’s a tenacious guy. So his plan is this, let’s end all this here. We’ll make the tabernacles and we’ll finish off this deal right here, and we’ll go right into the kingdom, this is good – this is good. Moses and Elijah are talking about the cross. Peter interrupts their conversation, he wants to establish the kingdom on the spot.
… oh, by the way, Matthew says he added, “If you wish.” This is humble. He’s not asking for a tent for himself and James and John, just the glorious ones. He’s wanted the kingdom from the start. His excitement is heightened by what he sees. He hates the idea of death.
It is important to note when the Transfiguration takes place:
He [Peter] knows Elijah is supposed to come at the end (Malachi 3 and 4), and get this: the timing of this event is in the month of Tishri, six months before Passover, when He will die.
And in the month of Tishri, a special event was happening right at this time in Jerusalem. You know what it was? It’s called the Feast of Tabernacles. And what did it commemorate? It commemorated God leading the exodus from Egypt. What perfect timing. This is the time we commemorate the great exodus. What a great time to have our exodus right now. We’ve got Moses, we’ve got Elijah, we’ve got Jesus in glory, let’s just have the Exodus out of this corrupt life of bondage into the glorious kingdom.
Peter’s got his theology pretty well wired. Forget dying, let’s just go to the kingdom. You know, the picture here is really powerful. As one writer said, “This shows that Jesus is not a walk-on in the divine economy.” This is Moses, this is Elijah. The presence of Moses and Elijah signify that this is God’s Son, the King who will reign in glory, and here they are talking about His cross, which means that’s a part of the plan, that’s not an interruption.
Then Mark tells us that Peter did not know what to say; the three Apostles were terrified at what they saw (verse 6).
In the King James Version the word ‘wist’ is used for ‘know’, as we see in Henry’s explanation of the verse:
… whatever was incongruous in what he said, he may be excused, for they were all sore afraid; and he, for his part, wist not what to say (v. 6), not knowing what would be the end thereof.
Then a cloud overshadowed them and from the cloud came a voice saying (verse 7), ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’
Henry says:
… This is my beloved Son, hear him. God owns him, and accepts him, as his beloved Son, and is ready to accept of us in him; we must then own and accept him as our beloved Saviour, and must give up ourselves to be ruled by him.
MacArthur describes the enormity of the cloud and the message from God — for Peter:
So you have the Son’s transformation, the saints association, and then the sleeper’s suggestion, bad suggestion. There’s one more thing, the Sovereign’s correction. This is amazing. Verse 7, “Then a cloud formed.” Guess who showed up? “A cloud formed, overshadowing them.” Matthew 17:5 says, “A bright cloud and it engulfs Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.” They’re engulfed. It symbolizes the Lord’s presence. Luke says Jesus, Moses, and Elijah entered the cloud. They’re all engulfed in the arrival of God. Then a voice came out of the cloud.
Friends, this is the third witness. Moses is one, Elijah is two, here’s the third witness, “This is my beloved Son.” Luke adds that the voice said, “My chosen One.” Matthew adds, “In whom I am well pleased.” And here comes the Father’s testimony. He says this, “Listen to Him.” Listen to Him. Shut your mouth, Peter. That is a very direct rebuke. He has just been rebuked by Jesus and now he gets rebuked by God Himself. “Listen.” Listen. Listen to what? “Listen to what He has to say about His death.”
The kingdom will come in its time – listen to what He says about His death. The transfiguration, obviously, is a glimpse of glory, but its main point was to demonstrate that the glory is later and the cross was now.
Suddenly, when the three Apostles looked around, there was only Jesus (verse 8) — as He was before the Transfiguration.
Henry explains:
Suddenly when they had looked round about, as men amazed to see where they were, all was gone, they saw no man any more. Elias and Moses were vanished out of sight, and Jesus only remained with them, and he not transfigured, but as he used to be. Note, Christ doth not leave the soul, when extraordinary joys and comforts leave it. Though more sensible and ravishing communications may be withdrawn, Christ’s disciples have, and shall have, his ordinary presence with them always, even to the end of the world, and that is it we must depend upon. Let us thank God for daily bread and not expect a continual feast on this side of heaven.
MacArthur says that the three Apostles re-entered reality, life as it was and would be — even unto the Cross:
The preview of the kingdom is gone. Kingdom’s not going to come. The only one left is Jesus, and He’s not in glorious form anymore, it’s Jesus alone, and He’s on the road to the cross, and they will follow. That’s the plan and that’s the message the apostles preached, didn’t they? They preached Christ, crucified and risen again.
Someday, according to Philippians, we will appear ourselves in a body like unto His glorious body. Someday we’ll have that experience, but in the meantime – in the meantime, we suffer for the sake of the cross, we suffer for the sake of the gospel, because it’s suffering and then glory. They had a hard time with the cross, as you can see. They eventually got the message, but it wasn’t easy. And I imagine that when it was hard to handle the suffering, they remembered this experience. The glory will come, and they gave us their witness, “We beheld His glory. We were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”
As the three Apostles descended the mountain with Jesus, He told them not to say anything about what they had seen until He — the Son of Man — had risen from the dead (verse 9).
Henry explains why Jesus said that:
He charged them to keep this matter very private, till he was risen from the dead, which would complete the proof of his divine mission, and then this must be produced with the rest of the evidence, v. 9. And besides, he, being now in a state of humiliation, would have nothing publicly taken notice of, that might be seen disagreeable to such a state; for to that he would in every thing accommodate himself. This enjoining of silence to the disciples, would likewise be of use to them, to prevent their boasting of the intimacy they were admitted to, that they might not be puffed up with the abundance of the revelations. It is a mortification to a man, to be tied up from telling of his advancements, and may help to hide pride from him.
MacArthur has more:
He gave them a command and the command is a “not to” command, not to relate to anyone what they had seen until the Son of man rose from the dead. I can’t imagine how hard that would be. I don’t know whether I could do that. There had been other commands to silence, chapter 5, verse 43; chapter 7, verse 36; chapter 8, verse 30. These are commands to silence … When Jesus did certain miracles and certain healings, He said, “Don’t tell anybody.” When Peter gave the confession on behalf of all of them, “You’re the Christ, the Son of the living God,” He warned them, “Don’t tell anybody.”
And now they come down the mountain, having had this amazing experience, indescribable experience, something like being caught up into the third heaven, I’m sure. And they can’t wait to talk about this and they’re told to say nothing – to say nothing – nothing at all until after the resurrection …
The message is not that Jesus is a healer. The message is not that Jesus is a political liberator, which is what the Jews thought. This would have added fuel to their fire. This would have poured gas on the fire. This would have fanned the flames of Jewish messianic expectation for a liberator.
Already thousands of Jews have been killed in insurrections and rebellions against Rome, trying to overthrow the Roman occupation.
MacArthur answers another question I had about the Transfiguration, namely, could the three Apostles discuss it amongst themselves? MacArthur says:
Interestingly enough, as hard as it must have been, they obeyed. Luke 9:36 says, “And they kept silent and repeated to no one in those days any of the things they had seen.” It must have been good that they could at least talk to each other about it, but they didn’t talk to anyone else.
Ultimately, here is the lesson from this glimpse of future glory in the Apostles’ present day:
There would always be the temptation, and there are people who think this is the message of Jesus, that Jesus is a healer. There would always be the temptation to present Jesus as God, as the Messiah, as the Lord, but those are incomplete. That’s not the gospel. The gospel is that Jesus died and rose again. And He restrains those people who are His followers from giving an incomplete message. “Don’t say anything until you get the full message.” It’s only after His death and resurrection that the great commission comes, to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
It’s only after that that the Spirit comes and they become witnesses to the glories of the gospel, which the heart of the gospel, of course, is the cross and the resurrection, as indicated in Acts 1:8, and they spread that message around the world.
… the important message is the cross and the resurrection.
… Without it, there is no salvation, there is no kingdom, there’s no hope, and there’s no heaven for anyone.
Re that last sentence, I really wish that someone had explained that to me when I was a youngster! I could never understand why Jesus did not stay on earth, with mankind.
Readers might wish to examine verses 10 through 12, which I wrote about in 2012.
I wrote an exegesis on Matthew’s version of the Transfiguration in 2023, Year A.
Next week is the first Sunday in Lent. Shrove Tuesday (for some, Fat Tuesday, literally Mardi Gras) is February 13, and Ash Wednesday is on February 14. I hope that does not put too much of a dent into anyone’s Valentine’s Day.
This post continues an exegesis on the Gospel reading for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity in 2023, which was the same for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity in 2020, both being in Year A of the Lectionary.
Part 1 explains why Jesus called Peter ‘Satan’ when the forthright Apostle said that He must not die.
The reading is as follows (emphases mine):
Matthew 16:21-28
16:21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
16:22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.”
16:23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
16:25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
16:26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
16:27 “For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.
16:28 Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Commentary comes from Matthew Henry and John MacArthur.
We continue with verse 24, wherein Jesus told the disciples that anyone who wishes to follow Him should deny himself, take up their cross and follow Him.
Matthew Henry’s commentary explains the verse, which involves obedience to Christ, not our own desires. It involves sanctification, or continual spiritual improvement in the Christian journey:
It is as if Christ had said, “If any of the people that are not my disciples, be steadfastly minded to come to me, and if you that are, be in like manner minded to adhere to me, it is upon these terms, these and no other; you must follow me in sufferings as well as in other things, and therefore when you sit down to count the cost, reckon upon it.”
Now what are these terms?
(1.) Let him deny himself. Peter had advised Christ to spare himself, and would be ready, in the like case, to take the advice; but Christ tells them all, they must be so far from sparing themselves, that they must deny themselves. Herein they must come after Christ, for his birth, and life, and death, were all a continued act of self-denial, a self-emptying, Phil 2 7, 8. If self-denial be a hard lesson, and against the grain to flesh and blood, it is no more than what our Master learned and practised before us and for us, both for our redemption and for our instruction; and the servant is not above his lord. Note, All the disciples and followers of Jesus Christ must deny themselves. It is the fundamental law of admission into Christ’s school, and the first and great lesson to be learned in this school, to deny ourselves; it is both the strait gate, and the narrow way; it is necessary in order to our learning all the other good lessons that are there taught. We must deny ourselves absolutely, we must not admire our own shadow, nor gratify our own humour; we must not lean to our own understanding, nor seek our own things, nor be our own end. We must deny ourselves comparatively; we must deny ourselves for Christ, and his will and glory, and the service of his interest in the world; we must deny ourselves for our brethren, and for their good; and we must deny ourselves for ourselves, deny the appetites of the body for the benefit of the soul.
(2.) Let him take up his cross. The cross is here put for all sufferings, as men or Christians; providential afflictions, persecutions for righteousness’ sake, every trouble that befals us, either for doing well or for not doing ill. The troubles of Christians are fitly called crosses, in allusion to the death of the cross, which Christ was obedient to; and it should reconcile us to troubles, and take off the terror of them, that they are what we bear in common with Christ, and such as he hath borne before us. Note, [1.] Every disciple of Christ hath his cross, and must count upon it; as each hath his special duty to be done, so each hath his special trouble to be borne, and every one feels most from his own burthen. Crosses are the common lot of God’s children, but of this common lot each hath his particular share. That is our cross which Infinite Wisdom has appointed for us, and a Sovereign Providence has laid on us, as fittest for us. It is good for us to call the cross we are under our own, and entertain it accordingly. We are apt to think we could bear such a one’s cross better than our own; but that is best which is, and we ought to make the best of it. [2.] Every disciple of Christ must take up that which the wise God hath made his cross. It is an allusion to the Roman custom of compelling those that were condemned to be crucified, to carry their cross: when Simon carried Christ’s cross after him, this phrase was illustrated. First, It is supposed that the cross lies in our way, and is prepared for us. We must not make crosses to ourselves, but must accommodate ourselves to those which God has made for us. Our rule is, not to go a step out of the way of duty, either to meet a cross, or to miss one. We must not by our rashness and indiscretion pull crosses down upon our own heads, but must take them up when they are laid in our way. We must so manage an affliction, that it may not be a stumbling-block or hindrance to us in any service we have to do for God. We must take it up out of our way, by getting over the offence of the cross; None of these things move me; and we must then go on with it in our way, though it lie heavy. Secondly, That which we have to do, is, not only to bear the cross (that a stock, or a stone, or a stick may do), not only to be silent under it, but we must take up the cross, must improve it to some good advantage. We should not say, “This is an evil, and I must bear it, because I cannot help it;” but, “This is an evil, and I will bear it, because it shall work for my good.” When we rejoice in our afflictions, and glory in them, then we take up the cross. This fitly follows upon denying ourselves; for he that will not deny himself the pleasures of sin, and the advantages of this world for Christ, when it comes to the push, will never have the heart to take up his cross …
(3.) Let him follow me, in this particular of taking up the cross. Suffering saints must look unto Jesus, and take from him both direction and encouragement in suffering. Do we bear the cross? We therein follow Christ, who bears it before us, bears it for us, and so bears it from us. He bore the heavy end of the cross, the end that had the curse upon it, that was a heavy end, and so made the other light and easy for us. Or, we may take it in general, we must follow Christ in all instances of holiness and obedience. Note, The disciples of Christ must study to imitate their Master, and conform themselves in every thing to his example, and continue in well-doing, whatever crosses lie in their way. To do well and to suffer ill, is to follow Christ. If any man will come after me, let him follow me; that seems to be idem per idem—the same thing over again. What is the difference? Surely it is this, “If any man will come after me, in profession, and so have the name and credit of a disciple, let him follow me in truth, and so do the work and duty of a disciple.” Or thus, “If any man will set out after me, in good beginnings, let him continue to follow me with all perseverance.” That is following the Lord fully, as Caleb did. Those that come after Christ, must follow after him.
John MacArthur has more on taking up the cross, which had to do with a mass crucifixion that all the disciples would have known about:
You don’t get mystical about the cross of Jesus Christ. The disciples aren’t thinking of that. He hasn’t died yet. They don’t even know – are you ready for this? – that He’s going to die on a cross, He hasn’t said that yet. All He said in verse 21 is He’s going to be killed, that’s all. So they’re not looking at some mystical apprehension of the cross of Jesus Christ. What are they thinking on that dusty road in Caesarea Philippi, up on the plateau where the cool breezes blew and they could overlook the Galilee area, what are they thinking in that day 2,000 years ago when He says “take up His cross”?
I’ll tell you what they’re thinking. Eight hundred men had been crucified in that area, not much earlier than this very event. Something about a hundred twenty years before. And from a revolt following the death of Herod the Great, the Roman Proconsul Varus crucified two thousand Jews. Crucifixion was somewhat common in the Roman Empire, somewhat common in middle Asia, somewhat common in Egypt, somewhat common in Italy. They had seen crucifixions a lot.
Now, when He said, “Take up your cross,” you know what they saw? They saw these poor, sad, condemned souls marching along the road with at least the cross beam of their own instrument of death strapped to their backs. That’s what they thought of. To them, the cross meant you’re walking to death, you’re moving toward your martyrdom. That’s what it meant. And that’s what the Lord is saying. You must perceive following me as putting on the instrument of your own execution. Because the world is going to cut you off. Not all of you will die, not all of the twelve died, but many of them did, as martyrs.
MacArthur warns us about today’s easy Christianity:
… those who come to Jesus Christ, come on His terms. You don’t just sign on the dotted line, folks. You don’t just stick your hand in the air. You come to the end of your self and you are so enamored and so desirous of the precious gift of salvation that He offers that you will sacrifice even your life. And then after you’ve received the gift, isn’t it interesting how we back off from that original commitment? That’s why He’s reminding the disciples as well as instructing the crowd …
No, you’re not called to Christ to get the goodies. You’re called to Christ to abandon your self in service to Him. That’s the essence of the epistles. It is this cross that marks the true disciple. You know, if you want a good test to separate the wheat from the tares, the tares are the one who are not willing to suffer the reproach for Christ. They won’t pay the price.
By the way, Luke adds a wonderful word here. Luke doesn’t just say “take up His cross,” Luke says “take up His cross daily,” every day, every day, every day. It’s a way of life, folks, for us.
Jesus continued, saying that those who want to save their lives — eternally in the kingdom of God — will lose it on earth, and those who lose their lives for His sake will find it (verse 25).
Henry explains the paradox:
(1.) The weight of that eternity which depends upon our present choice (v. 25); Whosoever will save his life, by denying Christ, shall lose it: and whosoever is content to lose his life, for owning Christ, shall find it. Here are life and death, good and evil, the blessing and the curse, set before us. Observe,
[1.] The misery that attends the most plausible apostasy. Whosoever will save his life in this world, if it be by sin, he shall lose it in another; he that forsakes Christ, to preserve a temporal life and avoid a temporal death, will certainly come short of eternal life, and will be hurt of the second death, and eternally held by it. There cannot be a fairer pretence for apostasy and iniquity than saving the life by it, so cogent is the law of self-preservation; and yet even that is folly, for it will prove in the end self-destruction; the life saved is but for a moment, the death shunned is but as a sleep; but the life lost is everlasting, and the death run upon is the depth and complement of all misery, and an endless separation from all good. Now, let any rational man consider of it, take advice and speak his mind, whether there is any thing got, at long run, by apostasy, though a man save his estate, preferment, or life, by it.
[2.] The advantage that attends the most perilous and expensive constancy; Whosoever will lose his life for Christ’s sake in this world, shall find it in a better, infinitely to his advantage. Note, First, Many a life is lost, for Christ’s sake, in doing his work, by labouring fervently for his name; in suffering work, by choosing rather to die than to deny him or his truths and ways. Christ’s holy religion is handed down to us, sealed with the blood of thousands, that have not known their own souls, but have despised their lives (as Job speaks in another case), though very valuable ones, when they have stood in competition with their duty and the testimony of Jesus, Rev 20 4. Secondly, Though many have been losers for Christ, even of life itself, yet never any one was, or will be, a loser by him in the end. The loss of other comforts, for Christ, may possibly be made up in this world (Mark 10 30); the loss of life cannot, but it shall be made up in the other world, in an eternal life; the believing prospect of which hath been the great support of suffering saints in all ages. An assurance of the life they should find, in lieu of the life they hazarded, hath enabled them to triumph over death in all its terrors; to go smiling to a scaffold, and stand singing at a stake, and to call the utmost instances of their enemies’ rage but a light affliction.
On that theme, Jesus asked two questions (verse 26): ‘For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?’
MacArthur gives this analysis:
… another way to look at it, verse 26, “What will a man give as an exchange or with what will he buy his soul?” Let’s say he owned the whole world, could he buy back his soul with it? No – no. You see, if you’re going to throw your life away in this world, you will be bankrupt forever. But if you abandon your life and give it to Jesus Christ, you’ll be rich forever. And He may just choose to pour out riches in this life as well.
Henry urges us to think of our souls when reading the verse:
What is a man profited, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? ten psychen autou; the same word which is translated his life (v. 25), for the soul is the life, Gen 2 7. This alludes to that common principle, that, whatever a man gets, if he lose his life, it will do him no good, he cannot enjoy his gains. But it looks higher, and speaks of the soul as immortal, and a loss of it beyond death, which cannot be compensated by the gain of the whole world. Note, First, Every man has a soul of his own. The soul is the spiritual and immortal part of man, which thinks and reasons, has a power of reflection and prospect, which actuates the body now, and will shortly act in a separation from the body. Our souls are our own not in respect of dominion and property (for we are not our own, All souls are mine, saith God), but in respect of nearness and concern; our souls are our own, for they are ourselves. Secondly, It is possible for the soul to be lost, and there is danger of it. The soul is lost when it is eternally separated from all the good to all the evil that a soul is capable of; when it dies as far as a soul can die; when it is separated from the favour of God, and sunk under his wrath and curse. A man is never undone till he is in hell. Thirdly, If the soul be lost, it is of the sinner’s own losing. The man loses his own soul, for he does that which is certainly destroying to it, and neglects that which alone would be saving, Hos 13 9. The sinner dies because he will die; his blood is on his own head. Fourthly, One soul is worth more than all the world; our own souls are of greater value to us than all the wealth, honour, and pleasures of this present time, if we had them. Here is the whole world set in the scale against one soul, and Tekel written upon it; it is weighed in the balance, and found too light to weigh it down. This is Christ’s judgment upon the matter, and he is a competent Judge; he had reason to know the price of souls, for he redeemed them; nor would he under-rate the world, for he made it. Fifthly, The winning of the world is often the losing of the soul. Many a one has ruined his eternal interest by his preposterous and inordinate care to secure and advance his temporal ones. It is the love of the world, and the eager pursuit of it, that drowns men in destruction and perdition. Sixthly, The loss of the soul is so great a loss, that the gain of the whole world will not countervail it, or make it up. He that loses his soul, though it be to gain the world, makes a very bad bargain for himself, and will sit down at last an unspeakable loser. When he comes to balance the account, and to compare profit and loss, he will find that, instead of the advantage he promised himself, he is ruined to all intents and purposes, is irreparably broken.
What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Note, If once the soul be lost, it is lost for ever. There is no antallagma—counter-price, that can be paid, or will be accepted. It is a loss that can never be repaired, never be retrieved. If, after that great price which Christ laid down to redeem our souls, and to restore us to the possession of them, they be so neglected for the world, that they come to be lost, that new mortgage will never be taken off; there remains no more sacrifice for sins, nor price for souls, but the equity of redemption is eternally precluded. Therefore it is good to be wise in time, and do well for ourselves.
Then Jesus referred to His Second Coming: the Son of Man returning to earth with His angels in the glory of the Father, at which time He will repay us according to our deeds (verse 27).
Henry says:
The great encouragement to steadfastness in religion is taken from the second coming of Christ, considering it,
[1.] As his honour; The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels … The Son of man shall come. He here gives himself the title of his humble state (he is the Son of man), to show that he is not ashamed to own it. His first coming was in the meanness of his children, who being partakers of flesh, he took part of the same; but his second coming will be in the glory of his Father. At his first coming, he was attended with poor disciples; at his second coming, he will be attended with glorious angels; and if we suffer with him, we shall be glorified with him, 2 Tim 2 12.
[2.] As our concern; Then he shall reward every man according to his works. Observe, First, Jesus Christ will come as a Judge, to dispense rewards and punishments, infinitely exceeding the greatest that any earthly potentate has the dispensing of. The terror of men’s tribunal (ch. 10 18) will be taken off by a believing prospect of the glory of Christ’s tribunal. Secondly, Men will then be rewarded, not according to their gains in this world, but according to their works, according to what they were and did. In that day, the treachery of backsliders will be punished with eternal destruction, and the constancy of faithful souls recompensed with a crown of life. Thirdly, The best preparative for that day is to deny ourselves, and take up our cross, and follow Christ; for so we shall make the Judge our Friend, and these things will then pass well in the account. Fourthly, The rewarding of men according to their works is deferred till that day. Here good and evil seem to be dispensed promiscuously; we see not apostasy punished with immediate strokes, nor fidelity encouraged with immediate smiles, from heaven; but in that day all will be set to rights. Therefore judge nothing before the time, 2 Tim 4 6-8.
Jesus ended His discourse saying, ‘Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom’ (verse 28).
Jesus was referring to His Transfiguration, which opens Matthew 17:
The transfiguration
17 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’
5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!’
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. ‘Get up,’ he said. ‘Don’t be afraid.’ 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, ‘Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’
However, Henry looks at the verse more broadly, with reference to the growth of the Church:
At the end of time, he shall come in his Father’s glory; but now, in the fulness of time, he was to come in his own kingdom, his mediatorial kingdom. Some little specimen was given of his glory a few days after this, in his transfiguration (ch. 17 1); then he tried his robes. But this points at Christ’s coming by the pouring out of his Spirit, the planting of the gospel church, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the taking away of the place and nation of the Jews, who were the most bitter enemies to Christianity. Here was the Son of man coming in his kingdom. Many then present lived to see it, particularly John, who lived till after the destruction of Jerusalem, and saw Christianity planted in the world. Let this encourage the followers of Christ to suffer for him, [1.] That their undertaking shall be succeeded; the apostles were employed in setting up Christ’s kingdom; let them know, for their comfort, that whatever opposition they meet with, yet they shall carry their point, shall see of the travail of their soul. Note, It is a great encouragement to suffering saints to be assured, not only of the safety, but of the advancement of Christ’s kingdom among men; not only notwithstanding their sufferings, but by their sufferings. A believing prospect of the success of the kingdom of grace, as well as of our share in the kingdom of glory, may carry us cheerfully through our sufferings. [2.] That their cause shall be pleaded; their deaths shall be revenged, and their persecutors reckoned with. [3.] That this shall be done shortly, in the present age. Note, The nearer the church’s deliverances are, the more cheerful should we be in our sufferings for Christ. Behold the Judge standeth before the door. It is spoken as a favour to those that should survive the present cloudy time, that they should see better days. Note, It is desirable to share with the church in her joys, Dan 12 12. Observe, Christ saith, Some shall live to see those glorious days, not all; some shall enter into the promised land, but others shall fall in the wilderness. He does not tell them who shall live to see this kingdom, lest if they had known, they should have put off the thoughts of dying, but some of them shall; Behold, the Lord is at hand. The Judge standeth before the door; be patient, therefore, brethren.
MacArthur acknowledges that and offers more explanations before returning to the power of the Transfiguration:
… in verse 28, look what He says, “Verily I say unto you” – and whenever He says “truly I say unto you” or “verily,” it’s something very important – “there are some standing here who shall not taste of death” – that’s a Jewish phrase simply meaning not to drink the cup of death, not to die – “some of you won’t die until you see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Now, that is amazing.
And you say, “Somewhere in this world, there are some very old fellows.”
Has anybody found them? How – how – what is this? “Some standing here will not taste death.” Well, first it was only some. Most did taste death before they saw Him, just some wouldn’t. Most would die before they saw Him, but some wouldn’t.
And commentators come to this verse, and it’s amazing what happens to their thinking. First of all, may I note for you that what He is saying, I think, in verse 28, best could be translated this way: “Some of you standing here shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in His royal majesty.”
You have the right, with the term basileia used 150 plus times in the New Testament, to render it not only as the kingdom itself, but the kingliness of the King in regal splendor, royal majesty. In fact, you might put that there in your text, because that’s the best way to see this, “There are some of you standing here who will not die until you see the Son of Man coming in His royal majesty, His regal splendor.”
Now, what does that mean? Well, some commentators suggested it means the resurrection, that He came out of the grave in royal splendor. Some suggest it means the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, that the Spirit of God came in the majesty and so forth, and all that happened in the birth of the Church.
Others say that it was the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., when He came down in judgment against the apostate Israel and, using the royal army, wiped them out. And some have even suggested that it refers to a spiritual coming when Christ comes and enters into your heart.
Well, all those are wrong. All those things happened, but they don’t have anything to do with this verse. It can’t be the resurrection, because the resurrection is never expressed by the verb “coming,” it’s the first step in Him going back to heaven. And it can’t be Pentecost, because He didn’t come. Who did? The Holy Spirit. And it can’t be the destruction of Jerusalem, because it says some of you will see the Son of Man, and nobody saw Him there. And it’s just mystical to make it some spiritual coming.
If you want to know what it means, you just have to keep reading, folks. And unfortunately, they stuck a chapter deal in here, and then a bunch of other headings and a few other verses you could look up, when you ought to have these things flow together.
And may I suggest to you an interesting thought? This same promise, “Some of you are not standing,” and so forth – “Some of you standing will not see death,” appears in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And in all three cases where it appears, it is immediately followed, every single time, by the same incident so that what the Lord is simply doing is interpreting what He just said by what happens. “Some of you standing here shall not die till you see the Son of Man in regal splendor.” You know what they were about to get? A personal, private preview of second coming glory. It’s exactly what they were going to get.
Do you want to get in on it? Verse 1, “After six days, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John his brother” – that’s it, just those three; that’s the “some” who didn’t die till they saw Him in regal splendor. The rest died, folks, before they saw Him in regal splendor, because they haven’t – He hasn’t come in regal splendor yet.
… Now, this was an overwhelming scene.
“And Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here.’” Man, this is what we’ve been waiting for, and this is it. And then he makes a really dumb suggestion, “Let us build three booths: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” His idea was just to live there permanently, never go back down.
“While he yet spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them.” God had another plan. “Behold, a voice, out of the cloud, which said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased; hear ye Him!” Now, the disciples, according to Luke, were already terrorized, and this didn’t help.
“And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face and were very much terrified. And Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Arise, be not afraid.’ And when He had lifted up their eyes” – they had lifted up their eyes – “they saw no man except Jesus only.” And you could stop there.
What an experience, huh? They went on this little retreat into the mountain privately with the Lord. And Luke says they were sleeping. They often did that. Jesus was praying, and they were sleeping. Same thing. And in the middle of this prayer of Jesus, and just as they were coming out of their sleep, He pulls the veil back and says, “I just want you fellows to know that when I said I was coming in glory, I meant it”. And He pulls the veil of His flesh back, and He shines like the sun at midday. And they’re terrified. And then comes the voice of God, and Moses and Elijah, and it’s overwhelming. It is a preview of the second coming. Every single, minute thing that happened depicts an element of the second coming. An incredible event.
It changed Peter’s life. It changed his life. It became the theme of his message. You read 1 Peter or 2 Peter, basically the theme is the second coming. “Don’t worry about your pain, don’t worry about your suffering, folks; He’s coming. He’s coming.” And if you want to have somebody interpret that passage properly for you, all you have to do is listen to what Peter said.
Second Peter chapter 1. The one thing Peter knew Jesus would do was return. And the resurrection just verified it. He sort of waned a little bit when Jesus died, but he was strengthened by the resurrection. And this became His great anticipation. And I believe he was literally consumed with the coming of Jesus Christ.
And when he wrote 2 Peter 1, in verse 16, he says, “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He says, “When we go around preaching that Jesus is coming in power and glory, this isn’t some human fable; we didn’t make this up. We were eyewitnesses of His royal majesty. We were eyewitnesses of His regal splendor.”
When was that? You were? “For He received from God the Father honor and glory. It was when there came a voice to Him from the excellent glory, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” And, you know, Peter never forgot that. I mean he was a basket case when that voice came out of that cloud. That’s when it was.
MacArthur concludes:
And Peter writes, at the end of 2 Peter and says, “I know in the last days, mockers are going to come, and scoffers are going to come, and they’re going to say, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? All things continue as they were from the beginning’” …
And Peter says, “Have you forgotten the flood? And just as God destroyed the world by water one time, He’s going to destroy it in the fiery, furious judgment when Jesus comes.” And then Peter says this, “Seeing these things shall come to pass, what manner of persons art ye to be in all holy living and godliness?”
That’s the message, folks. Jesus is coming. He previewed it for us … You can’t hide it. There’s no escape. For those of us who love the Lord Jesus Christ, there’s a sweetness about His coming; it is a promise filled with hope. For those who do not know Jesus Christ, it is a warning filled with terror.
Indeed. Some unbelievers have said to me, ‘I don’t need to worry about judgement, because I don’t believe in God. You do. You’re the one who has to worry’.
Well, we shall see on that fateful day who has to worry. Let no one say I didn’t warn him or her far in advance.
Forbidden Bible Verses will appear tomorrow.
The three-year Lectionary that many Catholics and Protestants hear in public worship gives us a great variety of Holy Scripture.
Yet, it doesn’t tell the whole story.
My series Forbidden Bible Verses — ones the Lectionary editors and their clergy omit — examines the passages we do not hear in church. These missing verses are also Essential Bible Verses, ones we should study with care and attention. Often, we find that they carry difficult messages and warnings.
Today’s reading is from the English Standard Version with commentary by Matthew Henry and John MacArthur.
Jesus Compared to Melchizedek
11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.
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Last week’s entry delved deeper into the universal priesthood of Melchizedek, a king and priest to whom Abraham paid homage and a tithe (Genesis 14). Melchizedek, in turn, blessed him. That is all we know about Melchizedek. After that, the next few chapters of Genesis reveal how God blessed Abraham.
These are the important verses from that entry (emphases mine):
7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.
9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
Aaron and all the Jewish priests were descended from Levi.
As John MacArthur points out, Melchizedek preceded the Levitical priesthood and was a universal priest of God-fearing men. Similarly, Jesus, who was not of the Levites, is a universal priest according to the order of Melchizedek:
You see, Melchizedek wasn’t a priest by any physical standard. He was a priest because of his character. And in that sense, he pictures Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ can do what Aaron couldn’t do; he takes us into the presence of God, and He anchors us there.
Although Hebrews is aimed at early Jewish converts who could not leave ceremonial and ritual law behind as well as at Jewish people who were still mulling over whether Jesus is Messiah, we Christians have much to learn from this book, which explains the eternal pre-eminence of Christ as King and Great High Priest.
It is important for every Christian to understand that Jesus accomplished what the Levite priests could never do, and that was to break down the barrier to God. Recall that, before the destruction of the temple, only the high priest could enter into the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, once a year on the Day of Atonement and only for a few seconds because even he was not worthy of being there.
At the Crucifixion, after Jesus died on the Cross, God rent the veil of the tabernacle, meaning that people would come to Him through His Son, who had made the full, perfect, sufficient sacrifice for our sins.
MacArthur explains:
Drawing near to God is the goal of Christianity. That’s the whole point. This is the essence of Christianity. This is its highest experience. This is the design of God for Christianity: access to His presence. Coming into His presence with nothing between. And I think sometimes we forget this. Christians look at their Christian life usually in three or at least three ways. Some look at their Christian life, and they see Jesus Christ only as a means to salvation and personal happiness. And that’s about how they look at their Christian life: they’re looking for happiness; they’re on a quest for security. They found Jesus; there’s their happiness; there’s their security. And that’s about as far as it ever goes.
Other people look at their Christian life like this: they see it as a relationship to Jesus Christ, and they seek to know Christ better. Now, that’s fine, just as number one was fine. But still, they haven’t grasped really what Christianity is. It’s not just security and happiness; it’s not just knowing Jesus Christ deeper and deeper.
Thirdly – and this is the key; this is what Christianity really is – some Christians understand that Christianity is drawing nigh unto God. That is the essence of Christianity. That’s what it is. The fullest expression of our faith is to enter into the presence of God, into the Holy of Holies, and to sit on the throne with Him. That’s the fullest expression of our faith.
Jesus is the door to God, and in a sense, many Christians fellowship with the door and never get into the Holy of Holies. We need to understand that the design of God, in our faith, is to bring us into a full kind of access to the God of the universe.
With regard to Hebrews 7, beginning with today’s verses and continuing to the end of the chapter, the author, inspired by the Holy Spirit, uses Psalm 110:4 as an illustration of Christ’s universal priesthood:
The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
First, the author examines the Levite priesthood, supreme to the Jews of that time. He asks his audience to consider whether, if it were so perfect, even though those priests were the ones to uphold Mosaic law, why there would be a need for any other priesthood, one after the order of Melchizedek (verse 11). If one form of priesthood is perfect, surely, there is no need for another.
Yet, those priests had to continue offering sacrifices, generation after generation. Therefore, it could not have been perfect.
As Matthew Henry points out, it was a framework for the future, one that, by necessity, would come to an end:
They could not put those who came to them into the perfect enjoyment of the good things they pointed out to them; they could only show them the way.
MacArthur directs us to Psalm 110:4 (above):
If God had intended the Aaronic priesthood to introduce the age of perfection, the time of perfect access to God, why would He then have prophesied Messiah to be a priest of a different order?
You see, when God set aside Israel, that was no accident. God had planned that way back in the Old Testament, even before the world began. God knew Messiah would be a different priest, because He knew the Aaronic priesthood was imperfect.
Jesus supercedes any Jewish priest — and Mosaic Law — because He is now our Great High Priest. As the author of Hebrews says, a change of priesthood necessitates a change in the law (verse 12).
Henry explains:
That therefore another priest must be raised up, after the order of Melchisedec, by whom, and his law of faith, perfection might come to all who obey him; and, blessed be God, that we may have perfect holiness and perfect happiness by Christ in the covenant of grace, according to the gospel, for we are complete in him …
… a new priesthood must be under a new regulation, managed in another way, and by rules proper to its nature and order.
MacArthur discusses the Greek used in the original text, meaning ‘to replace’:
So, if there’s going to be a different priesthood, “For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.” Now, the idea of change here, metatithēmi, means to put one thing in the place of another. You don’t add Christianity to Judaism; you take away Judaism and you put Christianity in. You replace it. The priesthood of Melchizedek was not added to Aaron’s; it replaced it. You see it there, “For the priesthood being changed” – metatithēmi, replacing another one. Aaron’s is defunct. It says, then, “There is made of necessity a change also of the law.”
The ‘law’ as discussed here relates to the ceremonial and ritual law of the Old Testament. The Ten Commandments, which mandate that we love God above all and that we love our neighbour as ourselves, still stand.
MacArthur tells us:
Certainly there’s not a doing away of God’s moral law; it’s not all of a sudden right for us to say, “Well, we’re under the new covenant. We may now commit adultery, steal, lie, covet, etcetera, etcetera, take the Lord’s name in vain.” No, God does not set aside his moral law.
The author of Hebrews moves on to Jesus, saying that He did not descend from a line of Old Testament priests (verse 13). He came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never said anything about priests coming from that group of people (verse 14).
So, the priest has changed, the priesthood became universal and Mosaic law became obsolete.
Henry says:
This change of the family shows a real change of the law of the priesthood …
… the high priest of our profession holds his office by that innate power of endless life which he has in himself, not only to preserve himself alive, but to communicate spiritual and eternal life to all those who duly rely upon his sacrifice and intercession …
… the priesthood of Christ carries in it, and brings along with it, a better hope; it shows us the true foundation of all the hope we have towards God for pardon and salvation; it more clearly discovers the great objects of our hope; and so it tends to work in us a more strong and lively hope of acceptance with God. By this hope we are encouraged to draw nigh unto God, to enter into a covenant-union with him, to live a life of converse and communion with him. We may now draw near with a true heart, and with the full assurance of faith, having our minds sprinkled from an evil conscience. The former priesthood rather kept men at a distance, and under a spirit of bondage.
That bondage was one of sin, but also one of ceremony and ritual, as MacArthur explains. As we saw during my series on Acts, the tensions between Jews and Christians were palpable, not unlike those that the new converts of Hebrews had endured:
… some who had come to Christ, were still worshiping at the temple, still hanging on to the ritual of the old system. And the setting aside was extremely difficult for the Jews to grasp. In fact, so difficult that it was the reason they stoned Stephen and they vented their wrath on Paul on that very basis. The issue of setting aside the old.
And even some believers, even some who had been redeemed obstinately contended that the Mosaic system still remained in force. And you had to go through all the rigmarole of the Levitical priesthood still. I think that’s the issue in Acts – yes – 21:20, “And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto Him, ‘Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews are there who believe; and they are all zealous of the law.’” There were Jews being saved but not breaking with the old system. It was the same contention that caused so much trouble in the early Church you remember. The early Church was always being harassed by the Judaizers; that’s the word that means certain Jews who came in and tried to impose the whole Old Testament system on the Christians. They were telling the Christians you had to be circumcised, and you had to go through the Aaronic priesthood, and you had to go through all the sacrifices and so forth. And the book of Galatians is really written as kind of a reaction to that. And in Galatians chapter 4, verse 9, writing to this very problem, he says, “But now, after you have known God, why are you turning to the weak and beggarly elements unto which you desire again to be in bondage?” You already have access to God, why do you want to back out of the Holy of Holies and go through the ritual in front of the veil again? You see?
He says, “You observe days, and months, and times, and years.” You’re back into the old ceremonies. Chapter 5 he says, “Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Don’t go back to the old rituals, the old system. You’ve been turned loose. “For in Jesus Christ” – verse 6 – “neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision” – that isn’t the issue any longer. That’s over with.
The Transfiguration illustrates this issue, as MacArthur explains. This is exceptionally important to remember:
Mark 9, listen to it, “And Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Master, it’s good for us to be here’” – he’s up on the mountain – “‘let us make three booths, one for thee, and one for Moses, and on for Elijah.’” – now watch – “For he knew not what to say” – which was often his problem ; it never seemed to stop him from saying anything – “for they were very much afraid.” Peter just kind of blurted it out. Now watch. “And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son: hear Him.’” Now watch. “And suddenly, when they had looked around about, they saw no man any more, except Jesus only.”
God said, “Don’t listen to Moses and Elijah; this is my Son,” do what? – “hear Him.” You see, in a sense, God was illustrating that the old covenant had passed. And after the thunderstorm – after the cloud or whatever it was had vanished, they saw Jesus only. That’s the point. The old system is defunct.
I’d never thought about it that way, but that’s an excellent point — and one I’d not read or heard of before. I understand the Transfiguration much better now.
In next week’s reading, the author continues to discuss Psalm 110:4. More insights will follow.
Next time — Hebrews 7:15-19
What follows are the readings for the Second Sunday in Lent for Year B in the three-year Lectionary.
These come from the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, a handy online reference for Sunday readings.
Themes are God’s covenant with Abraham, God’s infinite love, faith through grace and salvation via a belief in Christ Jesus. Emphases mine below.
The Old Testament reading recounts God’s renaming of Abram and Sarai, promising that Abraham would be the father of many nations. At that time, the couple were elderly and Sarah was barren:
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.
17:2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.”
17:3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him,
17:4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.
17:5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations.
17:6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
17:7 I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
17:15 God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
17:16 I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
The Psalm exhorts the twelve tribes of Israel — Jacob’s offspring — to glorify the Lord, who is faithful to His people:
Psalm 22:23-31
22:23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
22:24 For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.
22:25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
22:26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD. May your hearts live forever!
22:27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.
22:28 For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
22:29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.
22:30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord,
22:31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.
In the Epistle, Paul explains that God’s covenant with Abraham was based not on legalism but on faith, similarly our salvation through a belief in Jesus Christ:
Romans 4:13-25
4:13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
4:14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.
4:15 For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
4:16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us,
4:17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) –in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
4:18 Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.”
4:19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.
4:20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
4:21 being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
4:22 Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.”
4:23 Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone,
4:24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
4:25 who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
Clergy have the choice of two readings from Mark’s Gospel, the second of which is the Transfiguration. It is useful to contemplate the two together, for reasons which follow.
The last verse in this first Gospel reading is particularly important to remember:
Mark 8:31-38
8:31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
8:32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
8:33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
8:34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
8:35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.
8:36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?
8:37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?
8:38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
The story of the Transfiguration features each year during Lent. Jesus took His leading apostles to witness what was a ‘terrifying’ experience for them. A New Covenant was being made with the world:
Mark 9:2-9
9:2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them,
9:3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.
9:4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
9:5 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
9:6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.
9:7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”
9:8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
9:9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
Ligonier Ministries has a concise and excellent explanation of the two readings, ‘The Mount of Transformation’. Excerpts follow:
Peter and the other disciples found it difficult to believe that Jesus would have to suffer and die, and they were no doubt troubled by our Lord’s teaching that true discipleship involves suffering (Mark 8:31–38). They needed encouragement that all was proceeding exactly as God had planned and that suffering for Christ’s sake would be worthwhile. In the transfiguration, they received such encouragement and assurance.
The account of Jesus’ transfiguration is so familiar that we must be careful not to miss the significance of the details. It occurred on a high mountain (9:2), which recalls Moses’ meeting with God high up on Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:20). The disciples, on the Mount of Transfiguration, were participating in an event that marked a key transition in the history of the Lord’s people. At Sinai, the mediator of the old covenant—Moses—was established; on the Mount of Transfiguration, the mediator of the new covenant—Jesus Christ was revealed and confirmed …
… Peter, James, and John saw the purity and deity of our Savior on that occasion, which would strengthen their faith over the course of the rest of their lives (2 Peter 1:16–18).
Reading the coming Sunday’s Scripture in advance of the church service often reinforces the messages we are meant to understand.
The three-year Lectionary that many Catholics and Protestants hear in public worship gives us a great variety of Holy Scripture.
Yet, it doesn’t tell the whole story.
My series Forbidden Bible Verses — ones the Lectionary editors and their clergy omit — examines the passages we do not hear in church. These missing verses are also Essential Bible Verses, ones we should study with care and attention. Often, we find that they carry difficult messages and warnings.
Today’s reading is from the English Standard Version with commentary by Matthew Henry and John MacArthur.
10 And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 11 He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
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This discourse involved Peter and brothers James and John — ‘the disciples’ — who were coming down the mountain after the Transfiguration. Luke’s version of this event (Luke 9:28-36) was the gospel reading for the Second Sunday of Lent in 2016.
Matthew 17 begins with this dramatic episode, which manifested what Jesus had said a short time earlier (Matthew 16:28), the preceding entry in Forbidden Bible Verses before Easter 2016:
Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
This is Matthew’s description of the Transfiguration:
17 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son,[a] with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
9 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”
Before going into today’s reading, it is worth giving John MacArthur’s explanation of a few aspects of this indescribably glorious event which are not always included in sermons elsewhere. Emphases mine below.
The first is the nature of God:
God is a spirit and as a spirit is invisible. The Bible says a spirit hath not flesh and bones. That is God is an invisible spirit, God has no form, God is everywhere. He cannot be confined to a form in fullness of His being. When God does reveal Himself in the Old Testament, He chooses to reveal Himself as light, as blazing glowing light.
It is easy for some of us to forget that God is a spirit, especially when we reflect on Genesis 1:27 which says He created man in His own image.
The second is how His divine nature relates to Jesus’s transfiguration (verse 2):
So when Jesus wants, then, to reveal Himself for who He really is, He pulls back the veil of His flesh and reveals Himself as glorious, radiant, dazzling light, the Shekinah of God. And that’s what we’re seeing in this text.
The third is Peter’s mention of tents, which appears straightforward on its own but also has a greater significance. The Transfiguration took place during the Feast of Tabernacles, or the Feast of Booths, which all Jews were — and are — required to observe. It takes place during the month of Tishri, six months before Passover.
In Jesus’s day, all male Jews were required to go to Jerusalem at this time to commemorate the time the Israelites spent in the wilderness in booths — tents — before God led them to the Promised Land.
However, Jesus, Peter, James and John were not in Jerusalem at this time. So, Peter offered to make tents for Him, Moses and Elijah (verse 4):
… it’s just very likely that Peter was thinking about the Feast of Tabernacles and thinking about the feast of booths and realizing how important it was to have such a thing, he has that in his mind.
The fourth is the conversation between Jesus, Moses and Elijah:
They’re talking about Jesus’ departure, or Jesus’ decease or Jesus’ death. And you know what the Greek word is that they use? Exodos, it’s a Greek word, exodos. They’re talking about Jesus’ exodus. Now when you hear the word “exodus” what figure do you think of? Moses, right? Moses led the exodus. But Moses said this, Deuteronomy 18:15, he said, “A prophet like unto me is going to come, He’s going to be like me.” Well, what do you mean? Well, what is Moses? Well, Moses is the one who led the exodus. They’ll be a prophet like you? You mean another prophet who will lead another exodus? See, they were looking for another deliverer. O, this time He was to be a deliverer in different circumstances. Moses led them out of Egypt to the promised land. They were looking for another exodus leader and they thought they wanted to get out of Roman bondage into freedom. But what God had planned was out of sin into righteousness, out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, out of bondage to death into life, you see. And so, they were looking for a greater prophet than Moses, another Moses to lead another exodus. And here was Jesus and He was talking about His exodus. And surely Peter thought this is it, folks, this is the greater prophet than Moses. And they’re comparing exoduses in their conversation.
Finally, we have God’s divine affirmation in verse 5. Many Muslims deny that God ever said Jesus is Lord because it is not recorded the way they would like. MacArthur explains this is one of three gospel verses making that proclamation:
Now if you really want to have believable testimony to the deity of Jesus Christ, how about God? Will that do? Three times, Matthew 3:17, John 12:28 and 29, and Matthew 17 verse 5, three times in the holy record of the gospels, God speaks out of heaven and says “This is My Son,” or “This is the One.” Now that is testimony beyond argumentation. And when God gives His testimony, men should listen. And this is a very traumatizing thing. They’re already scared and then in verse 6 it says, “When they heard God’s voice, they fell on their faces.” I mean, they just went flat prostrate prone on the ground with a mouth full of dirt and was scared out of their wits. They were very afraid.
Then we come to verse 9, where Jesus makes it clear the three are not to say a word to anyone. It was not yet time. Matthew Henry’s commentary gives us His reasoning:
If they had proclaimed it, the credibility of it would have been shocked by his sufferings, which were now hastening on. But let the publication of it be adjourned till after his resurrection, and then that and his subsequent glory will be a great confirmation of it … Every thing is beautiful in its season. Christ’s resurrection was properly the beginning of the gospel state and kingdom, to which all before was but preparatory and by way of preface and therefore, though this was transacted before, it must not be produced as evidence till then (and then it appears to have been much insisted on by 2 Peter 1:16-18), when the religion it was designed for the confirmation of was brought to its full consistence and maturity. Christ’s time is the best and fittest for the manifesting of himself and must be attended to by us.
Moving on to today’s reading, the three apostles asked Jesus about Elijah’s second coming. Elijah had been taken into heaven by chariot many generations before. The Old Testament has prophesies concerning his return prior to the Messiah’s arrival. Every Jew knew the prophecy that the prophet Malachi received (Malachi 4:4-5), which also mentions Moses:
4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules[b] that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”[c]
The apostles here, Henry tells us, wondered if this was the moment and, if so, why it was so brief and so secret.
Jesus responded saying that, indeed, Elijah does come (verse 11) then adds that Elijah has already come, no one recognised him and, therefore, people treated him accordingly (verse 12) in their spiritual and sinful blindness. And, He said, the same would happen to Him. He left it unsaid that it would occur in His humiliating crucifixion, which would have astounded the three apostles at the time. So, Jesus left prophecy and events understated and unmentioned.
The three disciples then understood that the Elijah Jesus referred to in verse 12 was John the Baptist (verse 13), brutally beheaded by that time by order of Herod for his step-daughter’s amusement.
Henry’s commentary states that the Jewish hierarchy were too busy analysing Scripture to make the connection between Elijah and John the Baptist. Consequently they:
understood not by the signs of the times the fulfilling of the scripture. Note, It is easier to explain the word of God than to apply it and make a right use of it. But it is no wonder that the morning star was not observed, when he who is the Sun itself, was in the world, and the world knew him not.
So, the prophet Elijah himself appeared to these three select apostles in Jesus’s presence. The public Elijah for all divine intents and purposes was John the Baptist who came in the holiness and spirit of the great prophet.
In closing, given the socio-political nature of today’s left-wing and conservative strains of Christianity, John MacArthur reminds us of Jesus’s purpose. This relates to His instruction to the three apostles not to tell anyone of the Transfiguration:
Why? Because if you wait till after the resurrection, they’ll know that I didn’t come to conquer the Romans, I came to conquer death, see. And they’ll know that that’s a spiritual reality, not an earthly one, not a political one, not a material one, not a military one, not an economic one. Jesus is not involved in politics. He is involved in conquering death and sin and hell. And if you wait till after the resurrection they’ll see that. So they aren’t to say anything.
Something to keep in mind during these tumultuous times.
Next time: Matthew 17:14-21
Continuing a study of the passages from Luke’s Gospel which have been omitted from the three-year Lectionary for public worship, today’s post is part of my ongoing series Forbidden Bible Verses, also essential to understanding Scripture.
Today’s reading is from the English Standard Version with commentary by Matthew Henry and John MacArthur (The Gospel: Self-love or Self-Hate?, The Gospel in Perspective, Who’s Ashamed of Whom?, A Glimpse of the King’s Return — Part 1) .
25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
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The preceding verses to this passage are:
23And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
It is noteworthy that already Jesus has mentioned the cross — and our own personal cross of trial and tribulation in this world.
Matthew Henry says (emphases in bold mine):
1. We must accustom ourselves to all instances of self-denial and patience, Luke 9:23. This is the best preparative for martyrdom. We must live a life of self-denial, mortification, and contempt of the world we must not indulge our ease and appetite, for then it will be hard to bear toil, and weariness, and want, for Christ. We are daily subject to affliction, and we must accommodate ourselves to it, and acquiesce in the will of God in it, and must learn to endure hardship. We frequently meet with crosses in the way of duty and, though we must not pull them upon our own heads, yet, when they are laid for us, we must take them up, carry them after Christ, and make the best of them.
2. We must prefer the salvation and happiness of our souls before any secular concern whatsoever.
In verse 25, Jesus asked how a person benefits if he seeks after the pleasures and trinkets of this world whilst forfeiting his soul. No doubt we can think of any number of people who must have the latest ‘must have’ item as soon as possible. They think mainly in terms of buying things and going on holiday.
Yet, spiritually, they are bereft. Most abandoned their faith — if it ever existed — a long time ago. For them, the final breath they draw will mean the end of their physical life with no afterlife. No wonder they see fit to enjoy themselves with such abandon.
Yet, Jesus’s words tell us otherwise. In verse 26, He clearly tells us of His Second Coming. People who are ashamed of Him during their lifetimes will not share in eternal life in His presence. Clearly, not all of us will be entering the Kingdom of God. Yet, universalism persists.
Who is ashamed of Jesus? Those who lost their faith when they married an atheist. Those who refuse to investigate the truth of Scripture because their spouse is an unbeliever. Those who place more value on family, pleasure or work than in Christ. And there are likely to be churchgoers in this group.
When Jesus spoke, He had an immediate message for his Jewish audience. John MacArthur explains:
If you’re not willing to come to Me with such complete abandon, such total commitment that it might cost you your father, your mother, your wife, your children, your brothers, your sister, and your life, you’re not coming on My terms. What He means, of course, by that is you’re stepping away from their religion and it’s going to cost you that relationship. Many people know this, of course. You become a Christian, everybody else in your family who’s not a Christian is immediately alienated. It is especially severe if you happen to come out of a family like these people were in, in the…steeped in the midst of historic Judaism, the price was high. And so this is another way of Jesus saying it will cost you everything. And if you’re not willing to pay that price, although He may not require it, if you’re not willing to pay, you’re not desperate enough, you don’t understand the narrowness. You’re coming through without the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, the baggage you’ve always carried, you’re coming through without holding on to all the relationships, you can’t drag everybody with you through the narrow gate, it’s…you come alone. You can’t even consider your life something to hold on to because the Lord may require that.
Today, in Europe, the challenge is to admit one is a faithful Christian. It is as difficult for us as it was for Jews following Christ. It is a narrow road and one must be prepared to be denounced, to be denied work, to be forced to the margins of society in subtle and unsubtle ways. My advice to American parents is to prepare their children for this eventuality in the United States; it is surely on its way within the next generation or so. To that end, pray and study Scripture with them. Make sure they know what they believe and why they believe it. Too many Sunday school lessons are bereft of biblical messages, which makes it all the easier for adolescents and young adults to drift away from Christ.
In verse 27, Jesus makes what must have been a curious statement at the time. He said that some would see His Kingdom before they died. They were already seeing great manifestations of it in His creative miracles, although it wasn’t registering quite as it should in their minds. In the near future, they would know of His crucifixion and His rising from the dead. He would then ascend into Heaven and send the Holy Spirit. More immediately, however, another manifestation of the Kingdom came roughly a week later with the story of the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36). Jesus chose Peter, John and James to see Him with Moses and Elijah.
MacArthur analyses this heavenly and marvellous event for us:
Why Moses and Elijah? Well I thought about this and I thought…well, if I could go back to the Old Testament and think of which two characters most prominent in the Old Testament had unusual demises, or unusual exists out of this world, the first two that come to my mind are Moses and Elijah. Most people, they died and he was buried with his fathers, right? You go through Genesis, he died and he was buried, he died and he was buried. You know, it’s kind of a routine thing. It’s still going on, obviously. But not Moses and Elijah. Moses had a very unusual death and his body was never found. His body was never found because there was a battle over his body between Satan and Michael and they were fighting over the body of Moses. Satan wanted to do something really bad with the body of Moses. We don’t know what because he didn’t succeed. They were contending for the body of Moses and it tells us in Deuteronomy 34:6 that God just took his body and buried it Himself. Nobody knows where…nobody knows where. So somebody could raise the question…well what happened to Moses? We’re not sure what happened to Moses? Well good news, he’s over there on the other side. You may not be able to find his body, you may wonder about where it is and why he disappeared in such a strange way, but the good news is he’s over there because here he is appearing on the other side.
Deuteronomy 34 describes Moses’s death and Joshua’s ascent to leadership. What follows is Deuteronomy 34:4-8:
4And the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD, 6and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
9But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”
Calling all wishy-washy Anglicans — especially clergy: note the mention of the devil, the one whose existence is theologically difficult to justify.
Back now to MacArthur and his analysis of the Transfiguration:
And Elijah, Elijah, do you remember what happened to him? He didn’t even die … He went to heaven in a chariot of fire. That’s what it says in 2 Kings 2:11, he just…God just picked him up in His private chariot and shwissh, he was in heaven. Never died. So that’s the second person who had the sort of strange exodus …
What follows are excerpts from 2 Kings 2, which describe Elijah’s and Elisha’s dramatic final walk together and what happened to Elisha afterward:
6Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. 7Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.
9When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” 10And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.” 11And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.
Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 13And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.
Elisha went on to cleanse — ‘heal’ — the local water in the Lord’s name. At the end of the chapter, a group of boys ridicules him:
23He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” 24And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys. 25From there he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
MacArthur says:
Now if there were two Old Testament witnesses that the people of Israel would trust more than any others, it would probably be Moses and Elijah. Moses was the most revered, still is the most revered among the Jews. The greatest leader in Israel’s history led them out of captivity, that’s why he’s their final hero. He was a king in authority, he was a prophet in message, he was a priest in service to God for His people. He gave the Pentateuch, the five books that set down the law. I mean, he was trustworthy. As a witness to the other side, couldn’t get better than Moses and running a close second to Moses would have to be Elijah. Elijah was such a godly person that like Enoch, the only other person who was so beloved by God that he didn’t die, and Moses stands for the law and Elijah stands for the prophets and the Old Testament was always called the law and the prophets. And what was Elijah’s distinction? He had fought against idolatry. Moses gave the law, and Elijah guarded it. He was probably the primary guardian of the law of God among the people. First Kings 17 through 19, 2 Kings chapters 1 and 2, he fought for the law, he fought for the honor of God against idolatry. God validated his prophecies with miracles, you remember. Moses the prominent lawgiver, Elijah the prominent prophet, they represent the Old Testament. They represent the saints. And there they are standing in the presence of Jesus having a discussion about Jesus’ upcoming exodus. There couldn’t be anybody give more assurance to Peter, James and John than Moses and Elijah ...
Here the men representing the Old Testament and what they’re saying is as those who represent the Old Testament, isn’t it wonderful, Lord, that You’re on schedule. This is not an interruption. Your departure is coming and down the way, so is Your glory. The very men from inside the Kingdom representing the law and the prophets standing with Jesus in His glory is a confirmation of His messiahship, confirmation of His deity, confirmation that the plan of God is on schedule, confirmation that it will ultimately end in glory. They appear, verse 31 says, in glory. That is to say they’re a part of that whole majesty, that whole glory, that whole essential life that’s characteristic of that eternal kingdom. And they’re talking about the departure which he was about to accomplish. That’s wonderful. The word accomplish means to fulfill. It wasn’t an accident, it wasn’t a breach in the plan, it was a fulfillment of the plan.
Jesus, as ever, has given us much to consider in these verses. He warns us about lukewarm or convenient belief; He tells us that the road to salvation is indeed difficult but He also gives three blessed Apostles a glimpse of what Kingdom life will be like.
May we never be ashamed to confess Jesus as Lord.
Next time: Luke 9:37-43
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