The Story of Jesus According to Mark, Pt 24: The Greatest Show On Earth

 

November 24, 2024     NOTES NOT EDITED
The Story of Jesus According to Mark, Pt 24:
“The Greatest Show on Earth”
Mark 9:2-13

 SIS – An encounter with the Living Lord Jesus Christ will, radically and eternally change your life.

I don’t remember how old I was.  I was quite young, perhaps 8 years old or so.  The Barnum and Bailey Circus was coming to town and my Dad got tickets.  I say coming to town, but actually it was coming to Pittsburgh, PA which was then about an hour an half drive from our home in Moundsville, WV.

I remember driving into the parking lot.  I remember my heart pounding as I saw the big tents.  I remember I could hardly stay in the back seat of that Rambler sedan.  But, it’s hard to move when you stuff five kids in the back seat of a small car.  I guess that is why we never had seat belts.

I remember finding a seat in the arena of the big tent.  I remember the clowns all stuffing themselves inside a Volkswagen.  Most of all, I remember the elephants.  An elephant is not a sight often seen by a boy growing up in the hills and hollers of WV.

That circus experience was by any measure one of the most glorious events of my childhood.  Truly, the circus lived up to the title of “The Greatest Show On Earth.”  An Oscar-winning movie of that name was made in 1952.

I’ve since had many glorious experiences that rival or exceed that experience nearly 60 years ago.  But, by far and without even a close challenge, the most glorious experience I’ve ever had is when I encountered the Living Lord Jesus Christ and He became my Savior.  That glorious event “eternally and radically changed my life.”

That’s why I refer to our text this morning as, “The Greatest Show On Earth.”  In our text we are given just a glimpse, just a hint, just a taste of the awesome glory of the Living Lord Jesus Christ.  For one brief moment God pulls back the veil on the glorious nature of His Son and we see Jesus transcendent and glorious on a mountain top.

READING: Mk 9:2-13

The hymn-writer captured the essence of our text in a great hymn:

Blessed assurance // Jesus is mine
O, what a foretaste of glory divine.

I hope to show you within the limits of my oratorical skills what takes place when we as humans encounter the Living Lord Jesus Christ.  There are four fundamental facts to take note of.

1. Note the PERSONAL INVITATION (v2)

(NIV84) 2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.

Here we see a veiled reference to one of the Bible’s most important, and at the same time most difficult to understand doctrines. The doctrine of election. The doctrine of election teaches:

God chooses who He will save based upon nothing but His Own Sovereign Will, apart from anything a person does, and in fact, before a person has ever done anything.

Another way to say it is: “Salvation is by Invitation Only!”

We see Jesus asserting this doctrine more directly in the Gospel of John, 6:44, NIV84) “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

We must not press this issue too hard in this passage by suggesting that “some” disciples are “more saved” or more privileged than other disciples. Peter, James, and John were leaders of the group and often went aside alone with Jesus. That does not make them special. It simply made them “strategic.” God calls some in his body to positions of leadership, and others take a support role. It is not a matter of one group being more important than another, but just a different part of the same strategy. Romans 12:4 calls us, “members of the same body.” Each part is important to the health of the whole.

What I want stress here is that, “Salvation is a deeply personal matter.” God chooses each of us to be “with him” (v2, NIV) God doesn’t save people in groups and batches, but one soul at a time as each individual has a personal life changing encounter with Christ. This brings us to another fact in regard to the Transfiguration.

2.  Note the Glorious Change related to this event. (2-3)

(NIV84) There [on the mountain] [Jesus] was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.

The language here indicates something greater than spectacular.  Mark piles on the adjectives trying to describe the scene:  “dazzling, extremely white, [whiter] than the best laundry detergent could do.”

These words attempt to describe what Mark calls a “metamorphosis” (fr. μεταμορφόω).  Literally it can be translated, “remodel.”  It describes a complete change from one form to another—like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar to a butterfly. The KJV translators rendered this word, “transfigured,” and hence the title of this story that appears in many Bibles is, “The Transfiguration.” Just the description of Jesus’ appearance alone could justify a sermon or a series of sermons.

The Jews of the first century believed that God’s people will receive new, glorified bodies upon entrance into God’s Kingdom.  This also could justify many sermons.  One particular text the early church looked to in anticipation of what a “heavenly body” would be is

1Cor. 15:42-44:

(NIV84) 42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Matthew’s account specifically mentions the change in the face of Jesus (Mt. 17:2):  His face shone like the sun

This harkens back to another mountain experience; that time involving the great leader, Moses.  He had gone up on the Holy Mountain to commune with God.  Incidentally, Mark’s and Matthews exact reference to “six days” (Luke says “about 8”) no doubt points the reader back to the mountaintop experience of Moses.  The Book of Exodus 24:15-16 points out, “ (NIV84) 15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud.

The parallels between these two mountaintop experiences are specific and intended to link them together.  As Moses was the Law-giver for the people of God, Jesus is the Law-fulfiller.

Here’s the point I want you to see about “encountering God through the Living Christ.”  An encounter with God through the living Christ will radically and eternally change a person.

Just as Matthew points out the “glorious change” in the Lord’s face, so the Book of Exodus says of Moses (the second time he came down from meeting God on the Holy Mountain (Ex34:29):

 (NIV84)  When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD.

An encounter with the Living God, the Lord Jesus Christ, will radically and eternally change a person.

The Glorious Transformation of Jesus Christ foreshadows and predicts the Glorious Change that a personal encounter brings about—or should bring about—in any person that has truly experienced the “Glorious Christ.” One who says he or she has been with Christ but has not been gloriously saved only deceives themselves.

This is partly what an encounter with the Lord changes us “from”:

3.  A Foolish Proposal (5-7)

 (NIV84) 5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) 7 Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

If any single characteristic typifies mankind everywhere and throughout all time it would be this:  man is inherently religious.  Man inherently seeks to put his existence into some cosmic context. The problem is man’s “default” religious position is “based upon works,”—Our Efforts Instead of God’s Offer.

Biologists refer to modern man as homo erectus, with the identifying feature of walking upright.  One noted theologian refers to man as homo religius, with the identifying feature of universally seeking to put one’s life into a greater, larger, cosmic context. 

Man is inherently religious, meaning all men seek “The Ultimate.”  Religion is like a ladder that man props up against his existence in order to reach The Ultimate.  That’s exactly what Peter was doing. His initial response to the event of the transfiguration was to “do something.”  His initial response, his knee-jerk response, was to be “religious.”

Peter’s proposal to build “religious shrines” was foolish for at least three reasons.

(1)  His proposal was founded upon “self-righteous pride.”  Look at verse 4.  Peter said, “Lord, it is good us to be here.”  In his foolishness, Peter thought, “Hey, I need to help the Lord out.  The Lord is so fortunate to have me here.”  The fact of the matter is this:  God does not need our help and nothing we can do could possibly add to God’s grace, or our salvation experience.  The Word could not be clearer (Eph 2:8-10):

(NIV84) 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Good works are the RESULT of salvation, not the CAUSE.

The Bible warns over and over again against the sin of “pride.”  Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before a fall.”  James 3:16 warns, “Where there is envy and self-interest disorder exists and EVERY KIND of evil.”

(2) Second, Peter’s proposal was foolish because—as was typical with Peter—he spoke out of ignorance.  He moved his mouth before he engaged his brain.  Verse 6 says Peter made the proposal because “he did not know what he should say.”  Many people today, especially on T.V., presume to speak for God but they speak out of ignorance in regard to the True Identity of God.  If we are going to speak something, or do something, we must first make sure our proposal is grounded in the truth of God’s Word.

(3) Third, Peter’s proposal is foolish because he puts Moses and Elijah on the same level as the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus did not even dignify Peter’s proposal with a response.  Instead, God responded.  In verse 7 we have God once again speaking from a cloud (as it was at the Lord’s baptism):

A cloud  appeared, overshadowing  them, and a voice  came from the cloud:  This is My beloved  Son; listen to Him!

Moses was a great leader and a pre-N.T. picture (ante-type) of Jesus.  Moses represents the glorious Law of God which had guided the Israelites for centuries.  Elijah represents the prophetic message of God that would tell in advance of the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, and the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross, as crowned by His glorious resurrection.  But, God in His own voice, declared that Jesus was more glorious than the Law and He was the very substance of the prophetic message of the Word of God.

Peter like many people want to accept Jesus as a great teacher, even a great law-giver, or one come in the tradition of the great prophets.  Even false religions, like Islam, honor Jesus as a prophet. But, God said, “No.  This is my Son.”  Jesus is both the Son of God and God the Son; One far greater than any teacher or prophet.

We must avoid making any such foolish proposal as Peter did. We must recognize that Jesus Christ is nothing less than God Himself cloaked in human flesh and walking among us. Jesus doesn’t want our religion—He wants a relationship.

We can learn another lesson from the presence of Moses and Elijah on that mountain.

4.  A Fantastic Promise (4; 9-12)

(NIV84) 9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant. 11 And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” 12 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.

Moses and Elijah together sum up the entire message of the O.T. which identified and prophesied the first coming of Jesus Christ.  The Law was a shadow cast by the holiness of Jesus Christ, and Jesus was the Substance that gave meaning to the message of the prophets.

But, there is another reason Moses and Elijah stood with Jesus on that Mountain that day.  They represent the two ways a man, woman, or child will enter heaven.

Moses represents the most common way—by death.  As you recall, Moses died at the age of 120 before the Israelites entered Canaan.  The Bible says that Moses was full of life:  “his eye was not dim nor his strength weakened.”  The Bible also says that Satan fought to gain possession of the body of Moses—to use it for whatever propaganda purposes he could come up with—but, God “hid the body of Moses.”

Now, here on the mountain one thing is made quite clear:  Moses may have died in the body, but he was very much alive in the spirit.  Scholars debate as to exactly what kind of body we have in heaven before the “final resurrection,” but my point here is that “through death God’s promise of heaven is fulfilled for His saints.” Paul declared,

“To be absent from the body [this life] is to be present with the Lord”  (2Cor 5:8; also Phil. 1:23).

Elijah’s presence represents the other way a select group of people will enter into heaven.  Elijah never died in the flesh (at least not yet, but that’s another sermon).  The Bible describes Elijah’s departure from this world (2Kings 2:11):

¹¹ As they [Elisha and Elijah] continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire with horses of fire  suddenly appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up into heaven in the whirlwind.

Makes me want to break out and sing:

Swing low, sweet chariot // Comin’ for to carry me home.
Swing low, sweet chariot // Comin’ for to carry me home.

The Bible gives a certain, but not altogether clear, picture of a future event that parallels Elijah’s (and Enoch’s) home-going.  The early church teachers referred to this event as the “rapture.”  The Bible refers to it as the “snatching away.”  (1Thess 4:16-17)

¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,  ^g with the archangel’s  voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ  will rise first. ¹⁷ Then  we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds  to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord.

While not every veiled issue in regard to the rapture can be explained by this verse, at least one great truth is clear:  there are two groups.  Those who rise through death, and those who rise in rapture.

Look carefully at the conversation the disciples had coming down off the mountain. They were having trouble grasping the meaning of all the Lord’s talk about His dying. The whole idea of death and dying still troubles mankind today. How does all the “life after death” stuff work? That was their conundrum. Then they focused on Elijah who was “prophesied to come before the Messiah.” It was all very confusing to them. It is to us today. Remember, Elijah is a picture of being “snatched away” or “raptured” in the KJV. Elijah would come “before” the Lord arrived. That much the disciples knew.

Now, make a special note of these words by the Lord in v13: (NIV84)  But I tell you, Elijah has come. Here, the use of the Greek perfect tense indicates a “super-completed” event that needs no further completing action. The same is true of “it is written” It’s done, finished, complete, fulfilled. Nothing more can be added nor taken away. It is immutable, unchangeable. As certain as certain can be, and even more certain than that. The key to understanding future prophesy is to look at the past prophesies; hence, the references to Moses, Elijah, and John.

That’s how it is with the coming rapture, or snatching away of the church—NOTHING further needs to happen [Perfect Tense] before that event. It could happen at any time. Hallelujah! This just might be THAT TIME.

The word rapture comes from the Latin Vulgate (rapiemur).  It means to “snatch away suddenly as without warning.”  Just like Elijah was “snatched away” (raptured) from the presence of Elisha, so those who are alive in Christ when He comes in the air, will be snatched away from the presence of unbelievers all over the world.

What a day that will be, When my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face, The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand,
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.

That’s the “Spectacular Finish” awaiting anyone who has had an encounter with the Living Lord Jesus Christ.  Either you will enter heaven upon your death, or in the rapture – but you will end up with the Lord.

I can only imagine what that Encounter with Jesus was like for Peter, James, and John. What I do know is that it will pale in comparison—as a light bulb compares to the Sun—to what a born-again, blood bought, Holy Spirit-filled believer will experience when we meet Jesus in the Rapture!  That and what follows will surely be, “The Greatest Show On Earth.”