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KINGDOM PREVIEW (2): PRE-EMINENCE ON DISPLAY

(Luke 9:28-36)

Intro John Newton, the slave trader turned pastor and writer of Amazing
Grace, in his old age used to lose his train of thought sometimes mid-
sermon. Then he would say, I have lost my train of thought, but this I know.
I know what a great sinner I am; and I know what a great Savior He is.
Nothings more important to know in life than the greatness of Jesus.

I. Purpose for the Preview

Last week we saw this strange event is actually a preview of the next age
breaking into this. God pulling back the curtains for a glimpse of the future.
He does this to encourage the disciples as well as Jesus that the hard times
coming would be worth the reward. Following Christ is costly but so worth it.

II. Person of the Preview
A. Supremacy of His Person

In April 1995 San Francisco hosted a retirement party for Joe Montana after
16 years in pro football. John Madden said, This is the greatest quarterback
who ever played the game." A fan yelled, We love you, J oe. But Bill Walsh,
Montanas coach had a long memory. He responded, You werent saying
that in 1979. Then you were saying, 'Where did you get this guy who looks
like a Swedish placekicker? In 79, Montana hardly looked like the greatest
quarterback ever. But in Walshs West Coast offense, Montanas quick step,
cool demeanor, and precision accuracy turned the 49ers into the dominant
team of the 80s. In one Super Bowl, down by 6 with under 2 minutes to play,
Montana huddled his offense, pointed to the stands and said, Hey, isnt that
J ohn Candy over there? Then he led his team 92 yards to the winning
touchdown one of 4 Super Bowls wins highlighting his greatness.

But true greatness only resides one place Jesus Christ. For 33 years earth
hosted the Supreme Being who has ever lived. Like Montana, He didnt look
like much. Isa 53:2: he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him. You wouldnt have looked at Jesus
and said, Theres goes the greatest man that ever lived. But he was all of
that and more. Pre-eminent in Manhood, Majesty and Message.

1. Pre-eminent in His Manhood

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The disciples knew Jesus was a man. They had seen Him walk, talk, sleep,
sweat, eat, drink, tire and tan. They had seen Him bleed, blister, laugh and
weep. Max Lucado writes, He felt weak. He grew weary. He was afraid of
failure. He was susceptible to wooing women. He got colds, burped, and
suffered. His feelings got hurt. His feet got tired. And his head ached. To
think of J esus in such a light iswell, it seems almost irreverent, doesnt it?
I t is much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. Pretend he
never snored or blew his nose or hit his thumb with a hammer. There is
something about keeping him divine that keeps him distant, packaged,
predictable. But dont do it. dont. Let him be as human as he intended to
be. For only if we let him in can he pull us out. He was as human as it gets.

But normal? Normal men dont take their disciples up on a mountaintop and
then light up like a Christmas tree. He was anything but normal! And look
who He hangs with! V. 30, And behold, two men were talking with him,
Moses and Elijah. Were not told how the disciples recognized them. But
there sits Jesus conversing with two of the greatest men in J ewish history
Moses the Deliver and Lawgiver and Elijah the great prophet. Like going to a
retreat in Estes only to find Abe Lincoln and George Washington on hand.
Incredible.

Why are they there? They certainly affirm that when Jesus was talking about
the kingdom of God, He wasnt kidding! But why these two? Why not Daniel
and Joseph or Abraham and David? First, both had unusual exits from this
world. After Moses died at age 120 when His eye was undimmed, and his
vigor unabated (Deut 34:7), God buried him. Elijah never died at all but
during an outing with Elisha, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire
separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven (II
Kings 2:11). This contrasts sharply with the departure which Jesus was
about to accomplish at Jerusalem a reference to the cross that awaited Him.

Second, Moses and Elijah represent the two great divisions of the OT. The
Law came thru Moses and Elijah was a great prophet. Together they represent
the OT that J esus came to fulfill. Mt 5:17, Do not think that I have come to
abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill
them. The disciples are seeing living proof of that intent. What began with
Moses and Elijah, Jesus will finish. Hes the fulfillment of the whole thing.

But there is more. Moses led Israels exodus from Egypt, the greatest picture
of salvation in the Bible. Moses is a backward look at how we enter the
kingdom of God. Elijah points us forward. In the next to last v in the OT, Mal
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4:5: I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of
the LORD comes. Elijahs presence points to the kingdom in its fullness at
Christs 2nd Coming. Now look at Rev 11 where God sends two great
witnesses to earth during the Tribulation just prior to Jesus 2
nd
Coming. Rev
11:3, And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy
for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. He describes their miraculous
protection. Then v. 6, They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may
fall during the days of their prophesying (sounds a lot like Elijah during
Ahabs time), and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood
and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire
(exactly like Moses in Egypt). They are eventually killed and lie in the
streets for 3-1/2 days to the joy of the earthly crowds. But in a final appeal,
God raises them. They are never named, but the patterns suggest they may be
Moses and Elijah. And theyre here at the kingdom preview! They are
witnesses here and witnesses later. They are great men.

AND YET, as great as these men are, they are not even close to the greatest
person on this mountain. Glory emanates from J esus, not Moses and Elijah.
They are talking in v. 31 of his departure, which he was about to accomplish
at Jerusalem not about their great exploits. They are from heaven on credit
with no ability to pay the penalty for their own sins. They need Jesus. And
later, v. 36, And when the voice had spoken, J esus was found alone. As the
night ends, J esus stands alone, the One on whom all depends. The Lawgiver
and the prophet are gone. Only Jesus can fulfill all that they represent.

This is why its so sad that a great man like Mahatma Gandhi, attracted to
Christianity while working in South Africa as a young lawyer could write in
1894, "I could accept J esus as a martyr, and the embodiment of sacrifice,
and the divine teacher, but not as the most perfect man ever born. His death
on the cross was a great example to the world, but that there was anything
like a mysterious or miraculous virtue in it, my heart could not accept." How
could he have missed the greatness of Jesus? I hope he changed his mind in
the 50 years he had left. J. C. Ryle says, Moses and Elijah were the Kings
servants, but Jesus was the Kings Son. Moses and Elijah were planets, but
Jesus is the sun. They were witnesses, but He is the truth. It was Jesus
pre-eminence as a man that qualified Him to take away the sin of the world.

2. Per-eminent in His Majesty

He is man, yes, but He is also God. This is the heart of this passage. Jesus is
much, much more than humble humanity. He is God in the flesh. Fully man
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But at the same time, Very God of Very God. V. 29, And as he was
praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became
dazzling white. Imagine the astonishment of this scene! Mt says, his face
shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light (17:2). Mark 9:2
reports, his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could
bleach them. In the dark of night Jesus glows like an atomic reactor Person
and clothing. Matt and Mark say that He was transfigured -- ,
from which we get metamorphosis the change from caterpillar to butterfly
as the true nature of the creature is established. That is precisely what happens
here. Jesus divine nature breaks through in a blazing display of glory.

In Exod 34:29, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he
had been talking with God.

But that was reflected glory resulting from Gods

glory shining on him from without. Jesus shines with a glory that comes from
within. Its His own glory dramatically demonstrating His deity. That glory
has been veiled behind His humanity as he divested Himself of divine
prerogatives for a time by taking the form of a servant, being born in the
likeness of men (Phil 2:7). That veil is briefly lifted to reveal the divine
nature that lies dormant beneath His human existence. But it is the infinite
nature of that deity which will allow Him to pay the penalty for not just one
persons sin, but for all who will believe. Thus, for a moment, He is revealed
in an explosion of glory as the God-man supreme in the universe & history.

After this short preview, His glory is once again veiled. But not for long. Turn
to John 17:4-5 and Jesus prayer,

I glorified you [His Father] on earth,
having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
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And now, Father,
glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the
world existed. The glory that Peter, James and John saw wasnt new. It has
existed from before time began. I t had no beginning and it has no end. It was
put under wraps for 33 years, but that is long over with. The glory is back!
And what the disciples saw that night were going to see as well. Rev 21:23,
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God
gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. Who is the lamb? It is Jesus, of
course, and His glory will light heaven forever. Isnt that something?

Thats what makes the comments of TV evangelist Creflo Dollar so damning.
Somebody said, well, J esus came as God! Well, how many of you know the
Bible says God never sleeps nor slumbers? And we see J esus asleep in the
back of a boat. This aint no heresy. I am not some false prophet. I f he
[J esus] came as God and he got tired he says he sat down by the well
because he was tired boy, were in trouble." He refuses to see Jesus lived
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with mans limitations. How else could He die? But that did not for one
moment erase His deity. And belief in Jesus deity is the heart of saving faith.
John says in I John 4:2-3, By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit
that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
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and every
spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the
antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

The gospel is this: J esus is both fully God and fully man. To deny that is not
to be Christian, but antichrist. In Jesus Christ Superstar, Mary Magdalene
sings, "He's a man, he's just a man." Well, He is a man, but not just a man.
Far from it. Jesus is the man who is also God, and that is the way we must
accept Him or reject Him. C. S. Lewis wrote, "The doctrine of Christ's
divinity seems to me not something stuck on which you can unstick, but
something that peeps out at every point, so that you would have to unravel
the whole web to get rid of it." Salvation hinges on taking all of J esus.

3. Pre-eminent in His Message

V. 32: Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep (this
seems to be a nighttime event), but when they became fully awake they saw
his glory and the two men who stood with him.
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And as the men were
parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good that we are here. Let
us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijahnot
knowing what he said. Isnt this so like Peter? Moses and Elijah are taking
their leave. But Peter wants the kingdom now! Lets make it permanent!
Well build a tabernacle for each of you just stick around. Of course, its
total nonsense. Who would stick around in a tent when youre heading back to
heaven? Peter doesnt know what hes saying. But he sure got a response!

V. 34,

As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them,
and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
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And a voice came out of the
cloud, saying, This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him! The cloud is
God. Its the OT Shekina glory. Fear overcomes everyone. Then comes the
voice, This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him! Peter, stuff it!
Youre in the presence of My Son! Listen to Him. Remember who else is
there. Moses the human author of the first five books the Torah. Hes
there! And Elijah who defeated and killed 400 prophets of Baal. But with all
that human firepower readily available, the Father says, Listen to J esus.

At one point in His ministry, the chief priests and Pharisees sent out a
delegation to detain Jesus. John 7:44, Some of them wanted to arrest him, but
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no one laid hands on him.
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The officers then came to the chief priests and
Pharisees, who said to them, Why did you not bring him?
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The officers
answered, No one ever spoke like this man! Want to know why? John
7:16, My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.
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If anyones will is to
do Gods will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am
speaking on my own authority. No wonder the Father said, Listen to Him.
He was speaking Gods words. No one ever spoke like Jesus.

Think of going up against the greatest minds in your world constantly. Sooner
or later, theyre going to trap you, right? Have you noticed that that never
happened to Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth? Not once! Someone has said,
No one has ever yet discovered a word that J esus ought to have said. Read
the accounts. You come up with better lines! If someone just made this up we
would be sitting here having the discussion, Who is this incredible person
who made this up? Who could possibly be this wise and discerning all the
time on the spur of the moment? Jesus is one of a kind. Listen to Him.

When Jesus hit a crisis in His ministry, we read in John 6:66, After this many
of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
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So Jesus said to
the Twelve, Do you want to go away as well?
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Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,
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and we
have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.
They got the message. Have we? Know why listening to Him is critical? John
12:48:
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The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge;
the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. It comes down to
this. Jesus was pre-eminent in His message because He spoke the words of
God. We either accept and get eternal life, or we reject them and will be
judged by them. The Father will ask, Were you there that Sunday J uly 27,
2014? Then did you accept the words of my Son?

Conc In 1973 a man named Gary Kildall built the first operating system for
personal computers, named CP/M. IBM approached Kildall in 1980 about
developing the operating system for IBM PCs. But Kildall snubbed IBM
officials at a crucial meeting, choosing to go fly his new airplane. So, the
frustrated IBM execs turned instead to another young developer a college
dropout named Bill Gates and contracted for his MS-DOS operating system.
14 years later Bill Gates was worth more than $8 billion. And no one knows
how much today. Author Paul Carol says of Kildall, "He was a smart guy
who did not realize how big the operating system market would become." In
a similar way, people often don't realize how big God's kingdom will someday
become. God comes calling with the offer of a lifetime, created for us by the
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greatest person who ever lived, and we find other things to do. Dont blow
Him off, Beloved. There is no one like Jesus. Lets pray.