# Jesus' Authority Revealed

Sermon transcript from Cross Church Phoenix.
Series: Miracles of Jesus
Date: May 31, 2026
Watch: https://crosschurchcares.com/phoenix/episodes/jesus-authority-revealed

## Summary

What does it mean to truly behold the glory of Christ? How does His authority shape our understanding of suffering and glory? Join us as we explore the profound moment of Jesus' transfiguration and its implications for our lives today. Let's dive in together!

## Transcript

0:13 · How about now? All right, I found Yeah,

0:15 · it's in a different spot. I was like,

0:16 · "Where's the button?"

0:18 · Uh good morning. I'm Pastor DJ. I'm the

0:20 · pastor here at Cross Church Phoenix. And

0:22 · if you're new with us, welcome in. Come

0:24 · find me afterwards. I'd love to chat

0:25 · with you and get to

0:27 · know you more and talk about Jesus.

0:30 · But till then, open your Bibles to

0:32 · Matthew chapter 17.

0:36 · Matthew chapter 17. If you don't have a

0:38 · Bible, there's one in the seatback

0:40 · either in front of you or near you,

0:42 · there should be. And that is our gift to

0:44 · you. If you don't have a Bible, feel

0:45 · free to use it, highlight it, underline

0:48 · it, mark it up, make notes, make it your

0:50 · Bible. We will gladly replace it.

0:53 · And as you're turning there, I want to

0:56 · thank everyone from the bottom of my

0:59 · heart who has put in all the blood,

1:03 · sweat, and tears. Yes, even some blood

1:05 · for VBS.

1:06 · But everyone's been working really hard.

1:09 · And I was thanking someone this week,

1:12 · and she's like, "You know, I do it for

1:13 · the Lord, not for recognition." And I

1:15 · said, "Amen to that." And I know that

1:17 · that is the heart of this church. And

1:19 · so, but you know who you are. Those of

1:21 · you who have helped get our VBS set up.

1:25 · And we will have some lunch lunchy snack

1:28 · stuff too as well for those who want to

1:30 · stay and help us finish preparing what

1:32 · we have. There's a few things left to do

1:34 · after service.

1:36 · And I'm very excited to see what God

1:38 · does with this year's VBS.

1:41 · Well, this is our last sermon in our

1:43 · miracles of Jesus series.

1:47 · Our text this morning is often called or

1:49 · referred to as the transfiguration.

1:53 · The transfiguration.

1:56 · So, no one will be healed, no demons

1:59 · will be cast out, no children raised

2:02 · from the dead, no storms ceasing.

2:05 · However,

2:07 · what Peter, James, and John are about to

2:10 · experience

2:12 · will leave them completely terrified.

2:16 · They will be scared out of their minds.

2:21 · The Transfiguration isn't so much a

2:24 · miracle of Jesus as it is

2:27 · a miraculous revelation of who Jesus is.

2:34 · And it's an invitation to behold the

2:37 · glory of Christ.

2:40 · And so, that's our main heading this

2:41 · morning, beholding the glory

2:44 · of Christ. And if you have an outline,

2:46 · that's what you'll see there at the top.

2:49 · Let's pray. Father, we thank you for

2:51 · this morning.

2:52 · Thank you for your word.

2:57 · And I pray now,

3:01 · like Peter, James, and John, that we

3:03 · would just see you.

3:07 · That we would see Christ

3:10 · exalted in this place.

3:13 · The name above every name.

3:18 · God, help us to see

3:20 · the cross.

3:23 · Help us to see

3:24 · the centrality

3:27 · of the cross.

3:28 · Even in a text like the Transfiguration,

3:31 · the cross takes center stage.

3:34 · We thank you for it. Pray that you'd

3:36 · give us ears to hear

3:38 · what your spirit has to say to the

3:39 · church here

3:40 · at Crossroads Phoenix. In Jesus' name.

3:42 · Amen.

3:44 · Well, let's stand as we read Matthew

3:46 · 17:1-13.

3:48 · And if you're unable to stand, no

3:50 · worries. Uh just stand with us in in

3:52 · heart and spirit as we simply honor and

3:56 · show honor to God's word this morning.

3:59 · Matthew 17 beginning of verse 1. After 6

4:02 · days, Jesus took Peter, James, and his

4:04 · brother John and led them up a high on a

4:07 · high mountain by themselves.

4:09 · He was transfigured in front of them,

4:11 · and his face shone like the sun. His

4:13 · clothes became as white as the light.

4:17 · Suddenly, or behold, Moses and Elijah

4:21 · appeared to them

4:22 · talking with him.

4:24 · And then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord,

4:26 · it's good for us to be here.

4:28 · I will set up three shelters here, one

4:30 · for you, one for Moses, and one for

4:32 · Elijah."

4:33 · While he was still speaking, suddenly a

4:36 · bright cloud covered them, and a voice

4:39 · from the cloud said, "This is my beloved

4:42 · son with whom I am well pleased. Listen

4:45 · to him."

4:48 · When the disciples heard this, they fell

4:49 · face down and were terrified.

4:52 · Jesus came up, touched them, and said,

4:54 · "Get up. Don't be afraid."

4:57 · When they looked up, they saw no one

4:59 · except Jesus alone.

5:01 · As they were coming down the mountain,

5:03 · Jesus commanded them, "Don't tell anyone

5:05 · about the vision until the Son of Man is

5:07 · raised from the dead."

5:09 · So the disciples asked him, "Why then do

5:11 · the scribes say that Elijah must come

5:13 · first?"

5:15 · "Elijah is coming and will restore

5:17 · everything," he replied. "But I tell you

5:20 · Elijah has already come, and they didn't

5:22 · recognize him.

5:23 · On the contrary, they did whatever they

5:25 · pleased to him. In the same way, the Son

5:27 · of Man is going to suffer at their

5:29 · hands."

5:30 · Then the disciples understood that he

5:33 · had spoken to them about John the

5:35 · Baptist. Thanks, you can be seated.

5:42 · Amen.

5:44 · >> [clears throat]

5:46 · >> Well, at this point in Matthew

5:48 · walking with Jesus is getting

5:52 · more serious

5:55 · for the disciples. It's been fun

5:59 · seeing the miracles and schooling the

6:01 · Pharisees and the Sadducees and

6:03 · experiencing the blessings that come

6:06 · with, I don't know, hanging out with God

6:08 · incarnate.

6:10 · But in chapter 16,

6:12 · there is a little bit of a change in

6:15 · tone.

6:17 · And while we're not going through the

6:19 · entire Gospel of Matthew, which I want

6:21 · to so bad, I want you to know and see

6:25 · some of the the context leading up to

6:28 · the Transfiguration.

6:31 · And in chapter 16,

6:33 · Peter confesses Jesus is the Messiah. He

6:39 · is the Christ, the son of the living

6:42 · God.

6:45 · And it is after that confession that

6:47 · Jesus starts to point out a sobering

6:50 · truth. And if you look up or back in

6:53 · your Bible at Matthew 16 verse 21,

6:56 · it says this,

6:58 · "From then on,

7:02 · Jesus began to point out or to show to

7:06 · his disciples that it was what?

7:09 · Necessary

7:12 · for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer

7:16 · many things from the chief or from the

7:18 · elders, chief priests, and scribes, be

7:20 · killed,

7:22 · and be raised the third day."

7:26 · Well, Peter didn't like what he was

7:28 · hearing.

7:29 · Lord, that sounds a little bit like kind

7:31 · of that's like a big giant bummer.

7:33 · Um Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord.

7:36 · I don't like hearing that. I don't like

7:39 · hearing that that doesn't sound right

7:40 · that you would suffer and die. So, Peter

7:43 · rebukes Jesus.

7:46 · He just called him the Messiah, the

7:47 · Christ, right? The Son of the Living

7:49 · God. It's not like Peter's oblivious. He

7:51 · knows who he is. And yes,

7:55 · he had the audacity to rebuke the Son of

7:58 · the Living God.

8:01 · Jesus corrects Peter, of course he does,

8:04 · and goes into a solemn discourse.

8:07 · In summary, saying this, look,

8:10 · if you want to follow me,

8:12 · deny yourself, take up your cross,

8:15 · follow me, and be willing to give up

8:19 · your life.

8:23 · Things are starting to get serious.

8:27 · What I love about Jesus is that he

8:30 · matches the sobering reality of

8:33 · suffering and death with the joyous

8:35 · reality of future glory. So, he doesn't

8:39 · leave them on a low note.

8:42 · Jesus balances the truth of suffering in

8:45 · this life with also the truth of coming

8:49 · kingdom glory. And so, if you look back

8:52 · at Matthew 16:28,

8:55 · Jesus says, "Truly I tell you,

8:58 · there are some standing here

9:02 · who will not taste death until they see

9:06 · what? The Son of Man coming in his

9:10 · kingdom."

9:11 · And what do you read? Chapter 17:1,

9:13 · knowing and remembering that chapter

9:15 · divisions are not

9:16 · in the original.

9:18 · They're added for help, but they're

9:20 · connected still. The end of 16 is

9:23 · connected with 17. After 6 days, right?

9:26 · A week later, we find ourselves in

9:28 · chapter 17.

9:29 · And what's happening? Some of them,

9:31 · Peter, James, and John to be exact, will

9:34 · see Jesus

9:36 · in his glory.

9:38 · So, yes, I believe that

9:40 · the transfiguration is a fulfillment of

9:43 · what Jesus just said about a week ago.

9:49 · And so, the first thing we see, I want

9:50 · to point I want us to see three

9:51 · different things here in the text.

9:53 · Verses 1 through 4, the first point, the

9:55 · first thing,

9:56 · the glory of Christ revealed. The glory

10:00 · of Christ is revealed.

10:03 · Now, Luke [clears throat] tells us

10:05 · Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and

10:07 · Luke gives us the reason to go up the

10:10 · mountain to pray. That's what they're

10:12 · going to do.

10:14 · And Luke also adds that he, Jesus, was

10:17 · transfigured

10:19 · while he was praying. Fascinating.

10:24 · Also, what we learn

10:27 · is the disciples, as they often did,

10:30 · fell asleep.

10:32 · The disciples fell asleep, and before we

10:35 · judge them too harshly, we probably

10:37 · would, too, right? Jesus would pray for

10:39 · hours and hours. I don't know, maybe you

10:41 · do, but

10:43 · you probably fall asleep, too. So would

10:45 · I.

10:47 · And according to Luke, the disciples

10:50 · woke up to Jesus being transfigured. So,

10:54 · as Jesus' face shone like the sun, and

10:58 · his clothes became white as light,

11:02 · it's probably difficult to stay asleep.

11:04 · Getting bright around here.

11:07 · I couldn't even sleep under these

11:09 · lights, and that's like nothing, right,

11:10 · compared to the glory of Christ.

11:14 · And so, it wakes them up.

11:16 · And I like what Mark says, so I'm

11:18 · sprinkling in, just so we have the full

11:20 · picture, but in Mark 9, verse 3, his

11:23 · Mark's transfiguration account, he says

11:25 · this about the clothes of Jesus.

11:28 · He says, "And his clothes became

11:31 · dazzling,

11:33 · extremely white as no launderer on earth

11:37 · could whiten them.

11:39 · Meaning no amount of bleach in anyone's

11:43 · laundry could make clothes this white

11:46 · and bright.

11:48 · That's what Mark says.

11:50 · And so this is a glimpse into the

11:53 · majestic glory of Christ. And what we

11:57 · need to remember is that this Jesus

12:00 · is no less real

12:03 · than the Jesus they've been walking

12:05 · around with, but this is him revealing

12:09 · just a a glimpse of his glory.

12:14 · And suddenly, right? Or behold,

12:17 · Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus.

12:21 · Having a conversation with him.

12:25 · Now there are various interpretations as

12:27 · to why Moses and Elijah, right? Why

12:29 · Moses and Elijah of all the Old

12:31 · Testament folks that could have been

12:33 · so-and-so or so-and-so. Why Moses and

12:34 · Elijah? And we don't have uh time to

12:37 · cover every reason. I believe that there

12:38 · it's multifaceted. We could preach for

12:41 · like six, seven weeks on different

12:43 · aspects of the transfiguration, right?

12:46 · But I do want to go over a few. And for

12:49 · one, Moses represents the Old Testament

12:52 · law.

12:53 · In fact, the Old Testament law that God

12:56 · gave Moses was often called simply the

12:59 · law of Moses. Kind of summar-

13:01 · summarizing Genesis to Deuteronomy would

13:04 · be referred to mostly as simply the law

13:06 · of Moses, the Pentateuch, those first

13:08 · five books of the Bible.

13:11 · Elijah would represent the Old Testament

13:14 · prophetic ministry. Those who have gone

13:18 · before Christ came, ending with John the

13:21 · Baptist, but those like Isaiah,

13:23 · Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and of course

13:27 · Elijah, Elisha and others

13:30 · representing that prophetic ministry,

13:33 · those who prophesied the Messiah's

13:35 · coming.

13:37 · And now as we know in the New Testament,

13:39 · what we know about Christ is that Jesus

13:41 · fulfills the law and the prophets

13:44 · perfectly, right? He kept the law

13:47 · perfect.

13:49 · He never fell short of the standards

13:52 · that God set.

13:56 · He didn't break one of the 10

13:58 · Commandments

14:00 · like we do basically every day.

14:04 · But not one. Even if you and I could

14:07 · keep nine,

14:08 · what does the scripture say? If you've

14:10 · broken one, you might as well have

14:12 · broken them all. The the the

14:14 · expectation, the requirement is

14:16 · perfection and you and I don't have it.

14:18 · Jesus does.

14:20 · And he fulfills perfectly the law. He

14:24 · also fulfilled the prophecies concerning

14:27 · him perfectly. No prophecy goes

14:30 · unfulfilled in Christ. Now there are

14:32 · still things to come, yes,

14:35 · the new heavens and the new earth and

14:37 · future glory that we all look forward

14:39 · to, but no prophecy concerning Jesus

14:43 · Christ goes unfulfilled.

14:47 · We see him fulfilling law and the

14:49 · prophets. We also see Jesus as the

14:52 · greater than Moses and Elijah.

14:56 · If you remember when

14:58 · when Moses went up Mount Sinai to

15:00 · receive the law, he would come down, you

15:03 · remember this, with his face glowing.

15:06 · You remember that?

15:07 · With his face glowing and what was it?

15:10 · Moses was reflecting

15:14 · the glory of God having been in God's

15:16 · presence for a period of time.

15:21 · This, Matthew 17, is different. Jesus

15:25 · isn't reflecting

15:29 · any glory.

15:31 · He is This is his own intrinsic glory

15:36 · shining forth.

15:38 · He's not reflecting the

15:41 · whatever glory that Moses or Elijah

15:43 · might have. I don't know. This is Jesus

15:45 · revealing his own intrinsic glory.

15:50 · And then Peter opens his mouth, right?

15:54 · He says, "Lord, this is pretty awesome.

15:56 · It's pretty amazing.

15:58 · Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going

15:59 · to set up three shelters for you guys.

16:01 · One for you, Jesus, one for Moses, and

16:03 · one for Elijah."

16:07 · Now, Mark

16:08 · kind of gives us a little bit of insight

16:10 · into Peter, right? Mark says Peter spoke

16:12 · because he didn't know what to say.

16:15 · The guy is like, "I don't know what to

16:17 · say, but I got to say something. Oh,

16:18 · Lord, here's what I'm going to do. Build

16:19 · three houses."

16:24 · What's the implication?

16:28 · Oh, we'll get to that.

16:30 · But Peter is taken back by the whole

16:32 · thing, and he doesn't know what to say,

16:33 · and he just blurted something out.

16:36 · And he's immediately silenced

16:39 · by the Father from heaven.

16:42 · And that's our second point here.

16:45 · The glory of Christ we see the glory of

16:47 · Christ confirmed. Confirmed.

16:51 · Now, I love verse 5.

16:53 · While he was still speaking,

16:58 · God doesn't wait for Peter to finish

17:01 · what he has to say.

17:03 · Suddenly, a bright cloud covers them,

17:06 · and the voice says, "This is my beloved

17:08 · son, with whom I am well pleased." Sound

17:11 · familiar?

17:13 · The Father said that at Jesus' baptism

17:17 · when we have the Father speaking from

17:19 · heaven.

17:20 · We have the Spirit descending on him

17:22 · like on Jesus like a dove.

17:25 · And we have the Son being baptized by

17:28 · John the Baptist.

17:30 · And here we have the Father speaks from

17:32 · heaven again. The Son is being

17:35 · transfigured and the Holy Spirit there

17:38 · in the cloud, I believe, represents

17:40 · quite possibly the Spirit being there.

17:44 · But we know that the Spirit testifies

17:46 · the same.

17:52 · And they fall face down terrified.

17:57 · And this whole scene

18:00 · has many parallels to Exodus.

18:04 · Um and I just want to give us a few so

18:06 · that we can see the bigger picture.

18:12 · When Moses received the law from God at

18:14 · Mount Sinai, it says this. Exodus 24:16.

18:19 · The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount

18:22 · Sinai and the cloud covered it six days.

18:28 · And on the seventh day, he called to

18:31 · Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

18:35 · Verse one here it says after six days,

18:37 · what? Jesus took Peter, James, and John

18:38 · up the mountain.

18:40 · Mount Sinai was covered with a cloud

18:42 · here in verse five of our text. A bright

18:44 · cloud covers them.

18:46 · The Lord Yahweh called out to Moses.

18:49 · Here the Father speaks. This is my

18:51 · beloved son.

18:54 · The disciples are terrified of the glory

18:56 · and majesty of Christ and the

18:59 · declaration of the Father. In Exodus

19:02 · 34:30, we read what? Aaron and all the

19:05 · people of Israel saw Moses and behold,

19:08 · the skin of his face shone and they were

19:10 · what? Afraid to come near him.

19:15 · The Israelites were afraid of the

19:17 · reflected glory of Moses, just like the

19:20 · disciples are terrified, probably even

19:22 · more so, by the intrinsic glory of

19:26 · Christ.

19:28 · There are other parallels we could make

19:30 · to Moses and Elijah, both of their

19:31 · ministries, both of their God-given

19:34 · ministries experienced rejection and

19:36 · suffering.

19:38 · Elijah, as you know, raised a widow's

19:39 · son from the dead, Jesus raised the

19:41 · dead, too. There's There's all kinds of

19:43 · parallels.

19:45 · But here's what I want you to see.

19:47 · The Father then says something

19:49 · specifically about Jesus, "Listen to

19:54 · him."

19:57 · This is a direct fulfillment of

20:00 · Deuteronomy 18:15.

20:04 · When Moses himself says this, "The Lord

20:08 · your God

20:10 · will raise up for you a prophet like me

20:13 · from among you, from your brothers." And

20:15 · then what does Moses say? "It is to him

20:19 · you shall what? Listen."

20:23 · The Father's specifically saying that, I

20:26 · believe, I am convinced of, to show and

20:30 · to bring that out. He is the greater

20:32 · than Moses prophet that we need to

20:35 · listen to.

20:40 · Muhammad was about 600 years too late.

20:45 · Islam, right, Muhammad claims to be

20:48 · what? The great the prophet spoken of

20:51 · here in Deuteronomy 18:15. That's what

20:54 · Muhammad claims to be and what Islam

20:56 · claims him to to be.

21:00 · Problem is, the Father already declared

21:02 · that's Christ, and so did Peter, um in

21:06 · the book of Acts confirms that as well.

21:09 · It's the prophet

21:10 · who is spoken of.

21:12 · Unfortunately, Muhammad was about 600

21:15 · years too late to the party.

21:18 · This was already fulfilled 600 years

21:21 · before Muhammad was even a thought in

21:23 · anyone's mind.

21:26 · Christ [snorts] is the greater than

21:29 · Moses, greater than Elijah prophet. It's

21:32 · so it's all coming together here. Christ

21:35 · is the greater than Moses, greater than

21:37 · Elijah prophet, priest, and king. And we

21:39 · must listen to him. This is not a

21:43 · suggestion.

21:45 · This is actually a command.

21:48 · This is an imperative when God when the

21:51 · Father says, "Listen to him." That is an

21:53 · imperative command. Listen to Jesus

21:56 · Christ.

21:59 · And did you know

22:00 · that the gospel itself, the good news of

22:03 · Jesus Christ is actually a command to be

22:06 · obeyed? Did you know the gospel is

22:08 · actually a command?

22:10 · The gospel is not a suggestion.

22:13 · It is a command. It's a It's not a

22:15 · suggestion to consider, it's a command

22:17 · to believe. Did you know that?

22:20 · Paul teaches this in 2 Corinthians 1:8.

22:25 · And in 2 Corinthians 1, basically Paul

22:27 · is describing the future return of Jesus

22:30 · Christ. And he says he's going to come

22:33 · and he's going to righteously judge.

22:36 · Let me describe it for you in his terms.

22:38 · 2 Thessalonians 1:8. He's going to come

22:41 · in what? Flaming fire.

22:45 · In flaming fire inflicting vengeance on

22:48 · those who do not know God and on those

22:51 · who do not obey the gospel of our Lord

22:55 · Jesus.

22:58 · Rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ

23:02 · is not like rejecting vanilla ice cream

23:05 · in favor of chocolate ice cream. Like

23:08 · it's some neutral choice. Like this is

23:11 · an even playing field. Like it has no

23:12 · other ramifications. Okay, you prefer

23:14 · this over this. No, no, no, no.

23:16 · Rejecting the gospel is an overt act of

23:20 · disobedience to God, to the command to

23:23 · believe the gospel.

23:29 · And here in our text, the Father is

23:31 · commanding

23:33 · listening to Jesus.

23:37 · And at the Father's voice, they are

23:39 · completely terrified. Rightfully so.

23:42 · And God in his grace relieves them of

23:44 · his of their terror when Jesus come

23:47 · and as he does with many who have fallen

23:49 · down terrified,

23:51 · he does this with John in Revelation 2,

23:53 · just comes, touches them, says, "Get up.

23:56 · Don't be afraid."

23:59 · They look up and everyone's gone

24:01 · except Jesus.

24:03 · Why? Because it's all about him.

24:06 · This is not about being infatuated with

24:09 · Moses or Elijah. It's about centering

24:12 · all of the attention on Jesus Christ.

24:18 · And now it's time to come down the

24:20 · mountain, right?

24:22 · Let's go down the mountain. Verses 9

24:24 · through 13, our final point, the glory

24:27 · of Christ's cross.

24:29 · >> [clears throat]

24:30 · >> The glory of Christ's cross.

24:33 · I don't want you and I to miss this.

24:35 · Please don't miss this.

24:38 · You realize

24:43 · our lives depend on verse 9, Jesus

24:47 · coming down that mountain.

24:52 · Though Jesus revealed his great glory,

24:55 · his purity, his majesty, He will come

24:58 · down that mountain to go to the cross.

25:03 · Because remember back in chapter 16

25:06 · verse 21, when Jesus was pointing this

25:08 · out to the disciples, he said, "It is

25:11 · necessary."

25:13 · Not optional. The cross is not seen as

25:16 · optional in the Trinity. The Father,

25:18 · Son, and Holy Spirit all agree the cross

25:20 · is necessary.

25:22 · It is necessary

25:25 · for him

25:27 · to go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed,

25:30 · and be raised.

25:33 · And so when Peter pulls the Messiah

25:35 · aside and says, "Oh, no, no, no, no,

25:37 · Lord, this will never happen to you."

25:40 · What is Peter saying?

25:43 · He's saying, "You're the Messiah. You're

25:45 · the Christ. You're the son of the living

25:47 · God. You don't need to die on a cross.

25:51 · You don't need to do that. It's

25:53 · completely unnecessary.

25:55 · You can have the crown without the

25:57 · cross."

25:59 · And while that's true that Jesus is too

26:01 · good, too pure, too holy for a cross,

26:02 · too perfect to die such a horrible

26:05 · death, the scriptures declare it's

26:07 · necessary because it is his mission. His

26:11 · mission from the get-go, from eternity

26:13 · past, read Ephesians,

26:16 · is to go to the cross

26:20 · for you and for me.

26:23 · And so Jesus tells Peter those strong

26:25 · words, right? "Get behind me, Satan."

26:27 · Right? You're like, "Man, those are

26:28 · strong words, Jesus." Right? Like, "Get

26:29 · behind me, Satan. Man, you just called

26:31 · Peter Satan. Geez." No, no.

26:33 · He says, "You Get behind me, Satan. Why,

26:36 · Peter? Why? Because you're not thinking

26:39 · about God's concerns, but human

26:40 · concerns." In other words, back in

26:42 · chapter 16, Peter is focused on merely

26:45 · human concerns, which would be what?

26:47 · Anything you and I would be concerned

26:49 · about, um avoiding a painful and

26:51 · excruciating death if we don't have to,

26:53 · right? Or if we think we don't have to.

26:57 · But God that's Peter's concern, right?

26:59 · Avoid Lord like you don't need to go

27:01 · through that. God's concern was what?

27:03 · The salvation of his people which

27:06 · requires

27:08 · Christ death on the cross.

27:12 · The reason Jesus rebukes Peter so

27:15 · strongly is because of the the necessity

27:18 · of the cross is that important to God's

27:20 · agenda. And so when we come here, Peter

27:23 · speaks up again right at the

27:25 · transfiguration. Here he is talking

27:27 · again.

27:29 · And he says, "Let me build you Moses and

27:31 · Elijah three shelters or three

27:32 · tabernacles." God interrupts Peter

27:34 · again. Stop Peter. Stop.

27:38 · Listen to him.

27:40 · Listen to him.

27:44 · And he's about to tell him going down

27:45 · the mountain, "I got to suffer and die

27:47 · again."

27:50 · Listen to Jesus. Why? Because Jesus

27:54 · ultimate mission wasn't to come show off

27:57 · his glory on a mountain and go back to

27:59 · heaven without going to the cross.

28:03 · Peter's like, "Man, it's good to be

28:05 · here. Let's build uh little houses and

28:07 · what?"

28:08 · What would be the implication?

28:11 · What point is Peter missing?

28:13 · Let's build houses and what? Stay up

28:15 · here.

28:16 · That's what you do if you built a little

28:18 · tabernacle up there. The implication is

28:20 · that you'd stay up there for a little

28:21 · while.

28:22 · And that wasn't the point. The point was

28:25 · never to stay on the mountain in glory.

28:28 · It was to come down to the cross.

28:35 · When you read the other gospel accounts,

28:39 · Luke especially,

28:42 · please don't miss this.

28:44 · Turn over to Luke 9. Um so we'll be out

28:47 · of Matthew 17. I need you to see

28:49 · something yourself in Luke 9.

28:55 · So, Matthew, Mark, Luke, you'll go

28:57 · through Mark.

29:00 · And

29:01 · Luke 9, beginning at verse 28.

29:08 · >> [snorts]

29:10 · >> Here's what I want you to see. I'll give

29:12 · you a second.

29:15 · >> [clears throat]

29:17 · >> The cross

29:19 · has been center stage in the

29:23 · transfiguration

29:25 · all along.

29:29 · Luke 9, beginning at verse 28. About 8

29:32 · days after this is Luke's way of saying

29:33 · about a week later. It's not a

29:35 · contradiction. Well, they said 6 days

29:37 · after they said No, this happened on the

29:39 · 7th day, but he's saying about 8 days

29:40 · after this conversation. Luke is saying

29:42 · about a week later. He took along Peter,

29:46 · James, and John and went up on the

29:47 · mountain to pray. And he was I'm sorry,

29:51 · as he was praying,

29:53 · the appearance of his face changed and

29:55 · his clothes became dazzling white.

29:58 · Suddenly, two men were talking with him,

30:00 · Moses and Elijah. Don't miss verse 31.

30:05 · They appeared in glory

30:07 · and were what? Speaking of his

30:10 · departure, which he was about to

30:13 · accomplish in Jerusalem.

30:16 · When Moses and Elijah

30:19 · appear talking with Jesus, what's the

30:22 · topic of conversation?

30:26 · The cross is.

30:29 · The cross is the conversation. They're

30:32 · talking about his departure, which he

30:34 · was about to accomplish in Jerusalem,

30:36 · which would be his death on the cross in

30:39 · Jerusalem and his resurrection.

30:43 · The Greek word for uh departure

30:47 · there is the Greek word exodus.

30:50 · Exodus, what does it sound like? Exodus.

30:53 · Right?

30:55 · They're talking about the exodus Jesus

30:59 · is about to accomplish at Jerusalem,

31:02 · which refers to his death. One of the

31:05 · major themes in the Gospels, especially

31:08 · in Matthew,

31:10 · especially in Matthew, who gives some of

31:12 · the most obscure Old Testament

31:14 · references to explain himself, and it

31:16 · does kind of puzzle people, but you have

31:18 · to understand this major motif or theme,

31:21 · that Jesus Christ is king and leading a

31:26 · second exodus from this world into glory

31:30 · for those who are in Christ.

31:32 · Moses led the first exodus out of Egypt

31:35 · into uh the promised land, and he gets

31:38 · them close, and Joshua takes over, and

31:40 · all that. Yes. But Moses leads that

31:42 · first exodus from

31:44 · Egypt to to Canaan literally,

31:47 · physically. Jesus is leading the second

31:51 · spiritual exodus from this world to

31:53 · glory.

31:55 · That is a major motif that you have to

31:57 · understand, and so he's speaking They're

31:59 · speaking about his exodus.

32:02 · And And Peter uses this exact same word

32:05 · in 2 Peter 1:15 when he's writing. He's

32:07 · saying, "You know, I want to remind you

32:09 · of the truth, so you'll be established

32:11 · in the truth, because I'm about to die."

32:13 · And what does Peter say about his own

32:15 · death? 2 Peter 1:15, he says, "And I

32:17 · will make every effort

32:19 · so that after my departure, or after my

32:23 · exodus, when he dies to go and goes to

32:25 · be with the Lord, after my exodus, you

32:27 · will be You may be able at any time to

32:29 · recall these things." He cares about the

32:30 · people knowing the word, loving the

32:32 · Lord, and growing in their maturity when

32:34 · he's gone. So, he's writing to them

32:36 · saying, "After my exodus, I want you

32:38 · guys to know all this stuff."

32:42 · Of all the things Jesus, Moses, and

32:44 · Elijah could have talked about, it was

32:47 · the cross.

32:49 · Moses could have been like, "Hey Jesus,

32:51 · remember when you parted the Red Sea?

32:53 · That was awesome. Or Elijah, remember

32:55 · when you allowed me to raise that

32:56 · widow's son? Or or called down fire from

32:59 · heaven on Mount Carmel?

33:01 · That was cool, huh? Yes, it was."

33:04 · But none of those compare to the cross.

33:07 · And here, Moses and Elijah are not

33:09 · talking about the past. They are talking

33:11 · about the future, the departure Jesus is

33:15 · about to accomplish. This is about to

33:18 · happen. It's coming, and it's all Moses

33:21 · and Elijah could talk about, and it's

33:23 · all we ought to be able to talk about.

33:26 · We,

33:28 · Cross Church Phoenix, may we be about

33:32 · preaching Christ and him crucified.

33:35 · It's about knowing Christ.

33:38 · And Christ reiterates the centrality of

33:41 · the cross as they come down the

33:42 · mountain, right? The disciples ask about

33:44 · Elijah, right? Why do they say Elijah's

33:46 · supposed to come? Yes, it's a great

33:48 · question because that is on the

33:49 · prophetic calendar. It's legit prophecy.

33:53 · And Jesus says, "Yeah, that's absolutely

33:55 · true. And you know what? Elijah has

33:57 · come. It was John the Baptist in the

33:58 · spirit and power of Elijah.

34:00 · And look what they did to him."

34:04 · Jesus immediately takes it back to, "And

34:06 · look what they did. You remember what

34:08 · they did?"

34:09 · They beheaded John the Baptist. That's

34:12 · what just happened a little while ago, a

34:13 · few chapters back.

34:16 · John the Baptist lost his life because

34:18 · some king was having a party, liked how

34:21 · this woman danced, and said, "What do

34:23 · you want? I'll give you anything she you

34:24 · want." And she says, "John the Baptist's

34:27 · head on a platter." And he's got to do

34:28 · it because he's a man of his word,

34:30 · right?

34:32 · And so John gives up his life for

34:34 · seemingly the most ridiculous thing

34:37 · ever.

34:38 · And Jesus says,

34:40 · "You know how they treated him?

34:42 · They imprisoned him, chopped off his

34:44 · head.

34:47 · Suffered many things from the other

34:49 · people. Guess what's going to happen to

34:51 · me?

34:52 · I'm going to suffer the same and die.

34:55 · Right?

34:59 · They killed John the Baptist. Guess

35:00 · what's going to happen to me? I'm going

35:01 · to suffer and be killed at their hands

35:03 · just like John."

35:05 · The glory the the glory of Christ cross

35:08 · is center stage from beginning to end in

35:10 · the transfiguration. The cross is the

35:12 · greatest act of humility in the history

35:16 · of the universe because it's Christ in

35:19 · all his glory steps down to suffer and

35:22 · die on a cross made for sinners like you

35:25 · and I. We should be there.

35:27 · The step Christ took down from the glory

35:31 · to becoming a man of flesh, Emmanuel,

35:34 · God with us. The step down is eternally

35:37 · greater than if you became a slug to

35:39 · save slugs.

35:42 · It would be we can't even comprehend the

35:44 · step down.

35:46 · And Paul says, right, that this is

35:49 · an act of humility. Have this mind in

35:51 · you which was in Christ Jesus cuz he was

35:53 · humble.

35:54 · And he took on the form of a servant.

35:57 · Became man, fully God, fully man. He was

36:00 · obedient to death, even death on a

36:02 · cross.

36:04 · The cross is the focus of Moses, the

36:07 · focus of Elijah, Peter, James, John, all

36:09 · the rest, all the disciples, Matthew,

36:11 · Mark.

36:13 · Name the rest of them.

36:15 · It's the focus of all of them.

36:18 · Jesus fulfills the law and the prophets

36:20 · and he accomplishes what? Their

36:22 · salvation, too.

36:25 · Christ had to die for Moses and Elijah's

36:28 · sins, too.

36:30 · The cross is the focus of the Trinity,

36:33 · the Father and Holy Spirit confirming

36:35 · Christ the Son. The cross is the central

36:38 · focus of Moses and Elijah. Is it yours?

36:43 · Is the cross your focus?

36:48 · Or are you distracted by eternally

36:51 · lesser things like lunch?

36:54 · Something. Just

36:56 · Nothing wrong with going I know we're

36:57 · all hungry, right?

36:59 · But I'm trying to say what I'm trying to

37:01 · say is is anything

37:03 · Does anything anything take away

37:07 · from the cross in your life? Anything?

37:13 · Because if Christ's

37:15 · and him crucified is not central in your

37:18 · life, whatever else is is an unworthy

37:21 · idol.

37:22 · Can I just put it to you that way? It's

37:24 · an unworthy idol. You get rid of it. The

37:26 · old King James, right? It says, "Mortify

37:28 · it." Right? Kill it. Mortify it. Take

37:29 · care of it.

37:31 · I don't care what's in the way.

37:33 · If sports is in the way of the cross in

37:35 · your life, get rid of it.

37:38 · Get rid of it.

37:40 · You think it's worth it? No, it's not.

37:44 · There is no no sports or game more

37:46 · important.

37:48 · Right? Come February,

37:50 · churches I don't know. We'll see what

37:52 · happens, right? The Super Bowl becomes

37:54 · more important than God.

37:57 · There's no sports game more important.

37:59 · There's no accomplishment more vital.

38:00 · There's no life goal more worthy than

38:03 · knowing Jesus Christ. Can I just put it

38:06 · that way?

38:07 · Yes, we have hobbies and we go to work

38:09 · and we have to do things. I'm not I I

38:11 · what I'm saying is is the cross of

38:14 · Christ central in your life, in your

38:17 · daily walk with Jesus?

38:21 · Or does it take a backseat Monday

38:23 · through Saturday and oh yeah, Jesus on

38:25 · Sunday?

38:30 · My challenge for our church is that the

38:33 · It's in our name, Cross Church, right?

38:36 · It's in the name.

38:39 · Are we Are all of us about the cross?

38:41 · We're about to have like 65 kids in VBS,

38:44 · if they all come.

38:47 · And it's going to be fun.

38:49 · We'll do cool things.

38:51 · But we must give them Christ and we must

38:55 · show him the cross, show them the cross

38:57 · and what he did for them on the cross,

38:59 · because if we don't, it's all for

39:01 · nothing. It's a complete Our VBS will be

39:03 · a complete waste of time if we don't

39:06 · show them Christ and him crucified. You

39:09 · say, "Even at a young age, my

39:10 · five-year-olds coming to They don't need

39:11 · to know about Jesus' excruciating death

39:13 · on the cross?" Yes.

39:16 · Yes.

39:25 · As I was working on this this week, I

39:28 · confess that I really struggle with

39:29 · application of it. I was like, "How do

39:31 · we apply this text?" Like really,

39:33 · the whole point is just the majesty and

39:35 · glory of Christ. I was like, "Well, then

39:37 · that's going to be the application."

39:39 · Will you, not just on Sunday, but every

39:42 · day behold the glory of Christ in your

39:44 · own life? When you wake up in the

39:46 · morning, Christ and him crucified,

39:48 · that's what I want to know more about.

39:50 · When you go to work,

39:52 · how can I learn How can I just be more

39:54 · like Christ today?

39:56 · When you go, play, do stuff, whatever,

39:58 · hang out with friends and fam,

40:00 · how can I be like Christ or how can I

40:02 · just I don't know, consume more of God,

40:05 · learn more and grow closer to him. Don't

40:08 · let anything get in the way.

40:11 · May the cross

40:12 · of Christ be central in our lives this

40:15 · morning.

40:17 · And we have um

40:19 · another celebration this morning of

40:22 · baptism. So, I want to invite Mona to

40:24 · come on down and we're going to

40:26 · uh baptize her. And I also want to

40:28 · invite the worship team to come on up so

40:30 · we're ready for the last song. Um

40:33 · but uh here, let me meet you down here.

40:47 · All right.

40:53 · Oops. Don't get close to there.

40:55 · All right, come here, Mona.

40:57 · All right, everyone, this is Mona.

40:58 · Everyone say hi, Mona. Hi, Mona. What's

41:01 · up? Yeah, so she came up to me um

41:04 · actually we talked last week and you

41:06 · basically you're like, "We need to talk

41:08 · about baptism, too."

41:10 · And I said, "All right, let's meet and

41:11 · talk about it." And you had um you've

41:13 · come to Christ as well, but have never

41:15 · been baptized as a disciple of Jesus

41:17 · Christ. And so we met, we talked through

41:19 · the gospel. She's like, "That's me. I

41:21 · love the Lord. I've come to him, but I

41:23 · want to obey him

41:25 · in uh baptism." So, we're here to do

41:28 · that, right? We're here to obey God and

41:30 · do what he says.

41:31 · All right, publicly proclaim you love

41:33 · Jesus.

41:35 · All right. Well, if you want to step in,

41:36 · it's freezing cold. I forgot I'm just

41:38 · kidding, it's not. I do that every time

41:39 · to see No, I'm just kidding. No, you're

41:41 · good. You can step on it.

41:43 · >> Facing this

41:43 · >> Yeah, facing this way.

41:48 · And then if you'll come down here.

41:50 · All right.

41:52 · All right, Mona, is Jesus Christ your

41:54 · personal Lord and Savior?

41:56 · >> Yes.

41:56 · >> Do you believe that he died on the cross

41:58 · for your sins personally and that he

42:00 · rose again on the third day to show his

42:02 · power and authority over sin and death

42:05 · and that he has authority over your

42:06 · life?

42:07 · >> Yes.

42:08 · >> Well, upon your profession of faith, it

42:09 · is my privilege to baptize you. You can

42:11 · cross your arms if you like. Baptize

42:13 · you, my sister, in the name of the

42:15 · Father and of the Son and of the Holy

42:17 · Spirit. For we are buried with him by

42:19 · baptism unto death

42:21 · and raised to walk in newness of life.

42:24 · >> [applause]

42:29 · [applause]

42:34 · >> All right, here's a towel for you.

42:36 · All right, let's stand and sing our last

42:38 · song.

42:41 · >> [snorts]