"Entrances and Exits"
Text:
Matthew 17:1-9
January 6, 2008
Transfiguration Sunday
Delivered by Pastor Douglas C. Breite
"…behold,
a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a
voice from the cloud
said,
"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased."
(Begin sermon by riding down the middle aisle on a
bicycle.)
That’s what I call making a grand entrance!
(When DCE Leah came down the aisle last week for her children's
message, I thought, "That's a great entrance.
That's a great beginning.")
People like to enter with a bang.
Tonight at the Super Bowl, the Patriots and the Giants will run
onto the field and the stadium will explode.
A Huge Entrance. In
a couple of weeks, the Academy Awards will be handed out. There's always
a red carpet that the stars
walk down. The women wear
dresses that cost thousands and thousands of dollars. A Grand Entrance.
People like a grand entrance.
Except Jesus.
It wasn't too long ago that we were celebrating His birth.
The birth of Jesus was anything but grand:
§
Jesus was born in the little town of
§
King
Jesus was born in a stable, not a palace.
§
His earthly caregivers
were Mary and Joseph, not a staff of hundreds who are directed by the
kings and queens.
§
We sing "Silent Night"
because the fanfare was rather muted, considering this was the birth of
the Savior of the world.
It was hardly a Grand Entrance.
Is
it possible that Jesus had in mind, not a huge entrance, but a huge
Exit? Of course, the birth
of Jesus is important. The
incarnation of Jesus Christ is essential.
Jesus is truly God and truly man.
That prophecies were fulfilled through the birth of Jesus,
prophecies that were given hundreds of years earlier, is essential.
However, Jesus certainly wanted to make a Grand Exit.
How Jesus Christ left this world is PIVOTAL, it is the foundation
of our Christian faith.
The cross is where Jesus
substituted Himself for us, where all of our sins were placed upon Jesus
Christ. He died in our
place.
The
tomb of Jesus is
significant, since Jesus' rest in the tomb sanctifies the graves of all
the saints.
The resurrection of Jesus
is the rock upon which our faith is based.
Christ died, but is alive.
Christ is risen from the dead, and lives and reigns to all
eternity. His resurrection
is the proof that He has triumphed over sin, over death, over the devil.
Because Jesus lives, we too shall live forever in heaven.
Christ's exit is pivotal.
And the transfiguration points out to us that Christ's exit is coming
soon! This transfiguration
event is part of the preparation for the cross.
The event would prepare and encourage Jesus
and the disciples.
Jesus is about to make a Grand Exit!
We're not even sure where this mountain is, but since Scripture says
they were in the region of Caesaria Philippi, some guess that this event
took place on
First, we are told that
Jesus began to shine.
His face shone like the sun.
His clothing became white a lightning.
This isn't the warm glow of a Christmas tree on a cold winter's
night. This is lightning.
Do you remember ever coming out of a dark theater on a summer
afternoon, and your eyes hurting as they adjusted to the brightness?
The
light of Jesus was even brighter. But it would bring to mind that story
from Exodus 33 when Moses was in the presence of God and saw the glory,
the brightness of the Lord.
Jesus is truly God. Jesus
is truly God.
Then, when the disciples looked again,
behold Moses and Elijah are
there with Jesus! Moses
is the one who received the law. Elijah was a major prophet.
But why them? Certainly
Jesus is the One who fulfills the Law and the Prophets.
Also, Moses and Elijah understood exits.
They had both been involved in an important exit or exodus!
It was Moses who led the people of
Elijah had a different kind of exit, farewell, exodus. There are only 2 people in the Bible (besides Jesus) who exited this world without tasting of death. A man named Enoch. And also Elijah. Do you remember how God sent a chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire to pick of Elijah and take him to heaven? It is a miraculous story!