In Jason Dohm's sermon 'Hear Him!', the focus is on the transfiguration of Jesus, highlighting His divine glory and the central message from God the Father to 'Hear Him'. Jesus' transfiguration on the mountain with Peter, James, and John reveals His true nature as the glorious Son of God, co-equal with the Father. This event, coupled with the presence of Moses and Elijah, underscores Jesus' fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. God the Father's instruction to 'Hear Him' emphasizes Jesus' authority and His role as the head of the church. The sermon also explores the future roles of Peter, James, and John, prepared through this divine encounter, and addresses the fulfillment of prophecy regarding Elijah and John the Baptist. Through this event, the sermon asserts that Jesus' mission, despite being misunderstood, was fulfilled according to God's plan. It encourages believers to trust in Jesus' authority and glory, even amidst trials and misunderstandings.

May God be glorified by the reading of his word. Now after six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves, and he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light and behold Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with them with him. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord it is good for us to be here. If you wish, let us make here three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And suddenly, a voice came out of the clouds saying, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise and do not be afraid.

When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead. And the disciples asked him saying, Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? Then Jesus answered and said to them, Indeed Elijah is coming first in you and will restore all things. But I say to you, that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they wished.

Likewise, the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist." The title of the sermon this morning is just two words from the text. Hear Him. And it's because that's the centerpiece of the text. This is a text that is about the glorious Son of God.

He did come in the form of a servant, but that was only for a short period of time. We get a glimpse of what Jesus really is in this text. He really is the glorious, almighty God. His Father's testimony to the rest of us is that we ought to hear Him. Jesus Christ is the head of the church.

He is the sovereign over all the people that He would purchase with His own blood. And it is His voice that ought to be preeminent in His church. That's really what the text is all about. Two weeks ago was the text about Peter's confession. In response to Jesus' question, who do you say that I am?

Peter says, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus accepts this as a correct answer. And Jesus makes it clear that that's not something that can be revealed by flesh and blood. That's information that has to be revealed to you by the Father. And then he goes on to speak about the church this entity that doesn't even exist in the time when Jesus is talking about it But he introduces the church to his disciples who were going to lead this church And he talks about how the gates of hell will not prevail against this church.

So it was a text of victory. We have the confession, the profession of Peter, that Jesus is the Christ, the glorious Son of the living God and that there is going to be a church, His people, and the gates of hell will not be able to prevail against this church. Last week was a pretty intense shifting of gears, wasn't it? We go from that, the gates of hell, not prevailing against the Church of the Son of God, to I must suffer, I must be killed, I must be raised on the third day. And so Jesus is taking what's true, a message of glory, a message of victory about his own identity, and he's correcting inaccurate implications that would be drawn from that.

In other words, the disciples aren't drawing the right conclusions from what he's taught is true. And so, he's correcting that. He's teaching them that though it's true that he is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, though it's true that the gates of hell won't be able to prevail against his church, it doesn't mean that he doesn't have to suffer. He doesn't mean that he doesn't have to die. He doesn't mean that he won't be raised on the third day.

And so it's a resetting of the expectations of what it means that he's the Son of God and that the gates of hell won't prevail against His church. In the last two verses of the chapter, in verse 27, Jesus says that the Son of Man will return in glory to judge. And the point that He is making there is that you'd better not lose your life to gain the whole world because he's coming back in glory and he's going to reward everyone according to their deeds. And then in the final verse of the chapter he says essentially, in fact some of you are going to see with your own two eyes, the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Some of you in your lifetime with your own two eyes will see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

As Robert pointed out last week, there's lots to pick from in terms of trying to peg that to an event. Some people say it's the Transfiguration, some people say it's the Resurrection, some people say it's the Ascension, Some people say it's this turning of the world upside down by the early church. That means the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom. Robert said that, as best as he could tell, it was 70 AD, the destruction of Jerusalem. That certainly is a punctuation.

I'm not sure how important it is that we peg what Jesus is saying in verse 28 to an individual event in history. Because the point of Jesus saying it is to encourage his people that though he must suffer, though he is going to be killed, that they are going to see in their lifetime with their own two eyes the glory of the coming of His Kingdom. Which one of the disciples then would have died and say, wow, that went unfulfilled? Which one of his disciples having lived through the transfiguration for three of them, or the resurrection, or the ascension, or the explosion of the gospel in the new church would look at what Jesus said there. You'll see some of you during your lifetime will see the coming of the Son of Man and His Kingdom." Which one of them died and said, no, that never happened.

No, they did see mighty evidences that Jesus' Kingdom had been instituted and was flourishing under His care. The ministry of Jesus didn't go away. The ministry of Jesus didn't die when Jesus died. He sent His Spirit. And His Kingdom is coming.

That's the Lord's Prayer, right? Your Kingdom come. Your will be done. Well, Is that happening? Is that increasing?

It is. So all the disciples could say, yes, we did see this with our eyes. As we go to the text, let's pray. Father, this is Your Word. This is Your Word.

We desire to be so humble before it, to be so thoroughly transformed by it, by the renewing of our minds that happens when we come and hear your Word. And the Spirit comes alongside us as a tutor to help us with it. This is what we're praying for, God, that you would be our God, that you would send your Holy Spirit to do a mighty work through the foolishness of preaching. What is a man preaching? Except that when your word goes forth, it accomplishes what you sent it forth to accomplish.

And it doesn't return to you void. And you love your people, and you desire to teach your people, and you have sent your Holy Spirit to bear witness. Oh God, please come and do it in Jesus' name, Amen. In verses 1-5, it begins with a time marker. Matthew says that it was six days later that Jesus takes Peter, James, and John, this three-man subset of His disciples, and He takes them up on a high mountain.

The Commentators love to speculate on what high mountain it is. It's completely irrelevant. If it was important, it would be there. And so we won't spend time there. But Jesus takes these three disciples up on a high mountain by themselves.

He wants to be just with these three men. And it's the first time that Matthew has recorded this. But chronologically it's not the first time that it's happened. In Matthew 9, Matthew records Jairus' daughter, the centurion's daughter being raised from the dead. And Mark tells us, in the parallel account, Mark tells us something in Mark 5 that Matthew doesn't tell us in Matthew 9, which is that Jesus, when he went in to raise this girl from the dead, just took Peter, James, and John, the same three men.

He was exclusive in this sense. He left the other disciples behind, and he took these three disciples for his own special purposes and took them in and they witnessed him raising Jairus' daughter from the dead. So chronologically this has already happened once and now it's happening again. Jesus has something special that he wants to impart to just these three men. Now these three men have a history.

They're the first three disciples that were called, probably all from Bethsaida. Definitely all in a fishing business together. Peter and Andrew and James and John knew each other long before Jesus. They had a fishing business together and presumably they were friends and business partners. Jesus is singling out these three men to be with him for special purposes.

We'll see it again when we get to Matthew 26. In Gethsemane, Jesus says, Peter, James, and John come with me. And they're the ones who go with him to be near him as he is agonizing the day before his crucifixion in Gethsemane. In the book of Acts, we are going to continue to see that Peter and James and John are prominent in leading the church in Jerusalem. Think of the fruitfulness of this investment that Jesus makes in Peter, James, and John.

Wouldn't you love to have that kind of fruitfulness from your own investments. Peter, we've just heard what Peter was in chapter 16. He's one of these foundation stones that Jesus is going to lay down and build his church on. The book of Acts just chronicles over and over again the mighty sermons of Peter, the mighty acts of Peter, as he's one of the men primarily leading this new fledgling church. Have you read 1 and 2 Peter lately?

They are magnificent. They are a treasure and a deposit for the church. That springs from this. The Acts of Peter and the Acts of the Apostles, his leadership in the early church, being a foundation stone that the church is built upon. The books of 1 and 2 Peter are all fruitfulness from the investment that Jesus is making when He pulls these three men aside.

Think of the Gospel of John. Are you glad we have the Gospel of John? 1st and 2nd and 3rd John. Are you glad that we have those? The Book of Revelation all coming through this mighty disciple.

He is a mighty disciple because Jesus took him aside with these other two men and made special investment. He was doing something here. He knew exactly what he was doing. It was a fruitful investment. Think about James.

James is the first martyr of the church. Acts doesn't really get up a good head of steam until James is martyred, but as is so often the case, this seed of the church is watered by the blood of the martyrs. And when James is martyred in Acts 12, there's a continuation of this explosion of growth in the early church. Now, we do have two parallel texts for this. The first is in Mark 9, the second is in Luke 9.

And in Luke 9, Luke records this, they went up on the mountain to pray. So Matthew doesn't tell us this, but Luke does. The purpose of Jesus taking Peter, James, and John aside, up on a high mountain by themselves, was to pray. And so they're there, and they're praying, and Luke records that these disciples are starting to doze, not unlike Gethsemane. They're starting to doze off.

They're weary. And at that point, Jesus' appearance is radically transformed right in front of their eyes. It says that His face shone like the sun. When was the last time you went out and tried to just look at the sun? You're not supposed to do that because it's really bad for your eye.

You can't even do it, but just for a fraction of a second. This is what Jesus' face was like. It was shining like the sun. It says that his clothes were white as the light. So in Mark, in our parallel text in Mark, Mark 9 verse 3, Mark says, his clothes became shining exceedingly white like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them." There's a commercial in there somewhere.

Get your whites, transfiguration white, ladies. And so you get the sense from Mark that he's struggling. How do I describe what his clothes were like? It's like no launderer, it's whiter than any launderer can get these clothes. Now we think This is unusual.

This is strange. His face was shining like the sun. His clothes were white and shining and whiter than anyone could ever launder them. How odd. Exactly opposite the truth.

The truth is actually 180 degrees different than that. This isn't strange at all. This isn't the exception. This is the rule. For the Son of God, co-equal member of the Trinity, Glory is the rule, not the exception.

So we're used to thinking of this little slice of time, almost just a blip, not even a full lifetime, 33 years, and Jesus is appearing in the form of a servant. But that's the slice that we're used to looking at. But that's only a grain of sand in all of eternity. And in all of eternity, except for that one grain of sand, this is Jesus. His face shines like the sun.

His garments are white as light. Listen to John 17, verses 4 and 5. John 17, verses 4 and 5. Jesus says this, I have glorified you Father, I have glorified you on the earth, I have finished the work which you have given me to do. And now, oh Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was.

Glorify me together with you with the glory which I had with you before the world was." Genesis 1, the left hand cover of our Bible. Genesis 1. Let us make man in our image. It's our first little glimpse that there's one God but three persons. There's a plurality in the Godhead.

Let us make God in our image. There's Jesus Christ in glory. And so in John 17 as Jesus is winding down his ministry, He's actually looking forward to returning to his rightful place, which is a glorious member of the Godhead. Now turn in your Bibles to Revelation 1. Revelation 1.

Revelation 1. Revelation 1 and I'm going to begin reading in verse 12. Revelation 1 verse 12. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Now this is John, right?

This is our author of Revelation and our participant in the Transfiguration in 17. So don't miss that. We are talking about John here. The same John that is on the mount with Jesus. Then I, John, turned to see the voice that spoke with me.

And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. He had in his right hand seven stars out of his mouth when a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.

But he laid his right hand on me, saying to me, Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am he who lives and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.

And I have the keys of Hades and death." Isn't this a magnificent resource? Looking at the transfiguration, knowing that John was there, that he saw Jesus with his face shining like the sun. And then as he is given this vision, this revelation of the last things, here he is again. He is shining with his face like the sun. He has resumed His glory.

And John has the same response as we'll see that he has in our text today. He falls down on his face like he's dead. And Jesus does the same thing he does on the mountain. Puts his hand on him and he says, Don't be afraid. This is Jesus.

Don't get duped by the fact that we just look at this one grain of sand on the beach of eternity and think that Jesus has always been in the form of a bondservant. That's not true. Paul speaks of this in Philippians 2 when he's exhorting us to have the mind of Christ. Who being in the form of God did not consider it to be robbery to be equal with God, but took on the form of a bond servant. Jesus was a bond servant.

We know Him as a bond servant. But we should put away our crucifixes because Jesus isn't eternally crucified. Jesus is raised from the dead and glorified. And His face when you see Him next will shine like the sun. This is Jesus.

Being in the form of God is the rule. Being in the form of the bondservant is the exception. Moses went up on the mountain and he came down shining, his face was shining, he had to put a veil on, just reflected light, just reflected. It's not his own light. Moses is not generating light when he comes down off of the mountain.

Off the mountain. For all but 33 years of all of eternity, Jesus is what we see Him as in Matthew 17. Verse 3, Moses and Elijah appear to them. This is such an unbelievable scene. Jesus and Moses and Elijah together, they've appeared to him, and they're talking with Jesus.

So everyone can see him, but there's a three-man conversation and it's Moses, Elijah and Jesus. According to Ryle, it's been 1, 480 years since Moses was alive and walking the earth. I don't know how he got there, but Ryle is generally pretty reliable. So we'll say it's almost 1, 500 years. For Elijah, it's been more than 900 years since he's been alive on the earth.

So if you're wondering if there's going to be a bodily resurrection, yes, there sure is. Here are Moses and Elijah in their bodies and they are talking with Jesus. How do they know it's Moses and Elijah? Well, the text doesn't say. But suffice it to say that this is compressed.

We are getting very little of something that was probably very extensive. Maybe it was the context of the discussion. Maybe it was Moses talking about the last time he was on a mountain and was receiving the law of God. And there are Peter and James and John listening to this discussion, perhaps, and gleaning from context, this is Moses. Or maybe Jesus told them it was Moses.

Or maybe it had been revealed to them, the text doesn't say. But Whatever it was, Jesus is talking to Elijah and Moses. Maybe Jesus said to Elijah, remember the time you stared down those 400 prophets of Baal, called down fire from heaven? Yeah, that was great. You cannot read this account without thinking about Matthew 5 17.

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Here on the Mount of Transfiguration are the Law and the Prophets. Here they are. Here's Moses through whom came the law, and here's maybe the most high-profile prophet.

At least he's one of them in the Old Testament. So if you want to know, does Jesus endorse the law and the prophets? The Mount of Transfiguration says, yes. If you want to know, did the law and the prophets endorse Jesus? The Mount of Transfiguration says, yes.

Jesus didn't come to destroy these things, but to fulfill them. So here is Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah. In Luke 931, Luke records that they spoke of his decease which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. So these three accounts, the only content of this discussion that is preserved or recorded at all is that they are speaking of Jesus' death which he is about to accomplish at Jerusalem. That's what they were talking about.

Maybe among other things, but at least that, they were talking about Jesus dying in Jerusalem. In verse 4, Peter offers to make three tabernacles. And a tabernacle is just simply a temporary shelter, a tent, a structure that would do in the interim. And he says, if you wish, if you wish, at least we'll give Peter this. At least he was offering this in humility.

Mark and Luke both tell us things about this offer. In Mark 9.6, Mark records, because he, Peter, did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. He didn't know what to say. In Luke 9.33, Luke 9.33 says this, then it happened, As they were parting from him, as they, Elijah and Moses, were parting from him, Jesus, that Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here. And let us make three tabernacles for you.

One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah, not knowing what he said. It's just like what Mark had recorded. He really didn't know what he was saying. He was afraid. And maybe he didn't want this to end because there's a parting happening here.

And so, maybe Peter thinks if he offers temporary shelter, he can just get this conversation to go on for longer. In verse 5, Peter is actually interrupted by God the Father. It says while he was still speaking, Peter doesn't even know what he's saying. He's afraid. He didn't know what to say.

And he should have just been quiet. But he speaks and he's interrupted by God the Father. And a bright cloud overshadows them all. Now this is familiar. This is very familiar.

We have a history for clouds in the Old Testament. The cloud represents the glory of God and the presence of God in the Old Testament. Here are just four examples of that. Exodus 13, a pillar of cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night. This is how the people knew where to go.

This pillar of cloud, the glory of God, the presence of God, would go before them and they would follow it. Exodus 24, A cloud covers the mountain. This is Moses going up to receive the law. Exodus 24. A cloud covers the mountain and it says there in that text, now the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai.

It's the glory of God, the cloud. Exodus 34, very similar. The cloud on the mountaintop, and this is where God passes before Moses. He hides him in the cleft of the rock so He won't be destroyed by seeing the glory of God. So he has to hide him in the cleft of a rock.

And a cloud has come down on the top of the mountain. And then finally, in 1 Kings 8, Solomon has built the temple. They've consecrated the temple. And the cloud of the presence of God fills the temple. So much so that the priests have to stop doing what they're doing.

The priests can't minister before the Lord anymore because The presence of God is so thick in the form of a cloud in the temple that they can't even conduct their duties. The cloud is the presence and the glory of God. Suddenly a voice comes from the cloud and says this, God says this, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased, hear Him. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, friends. This is our salvation.

This is our salvation. Do you understand? It all depends on God the Father being pleased with God the Son. There must be an acceptable sacrifice. A sacrifice that is accepted by the just, wrathful God the Father.

And God the Father here is pronouncing His acceptance of His Son. I'm well pleased in Him. Listen to Ephesians 1-6. Paul says this, To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. We're accepted in the Beloved.

We're only accepted in the Beloved. Without the Beloved, you're not accepted. Without the Beloved, you're excluded. But here's the Father announcing, pronouncing, that Jesus is Beloved. And He'll accept Him as a sacrifice, and He'll allow in a people in the beloved, in His beloved Son.

Now these are the exact words spoken when John the Baptist baptized Jesus. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, except that two words are added here. Hear Him. That wasn't said at the baptism. So the baptism happens in Matthew 3 and it's that great Trinitarian passage where God the Father there is pronouncing His blessing.

God the Son is being baptized and God the Holy Spirit is coming and resting on the Son in the form of the dove. But here, God the Father says, hear Him. So here's what we have. We have three men. One is a mighty prophet.

One has stared down 400 idolatrous priests. And he's challenged them publicly and he's called down fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice. And He's looked the king in the eyeballs and rebuked him. A bloodthirsty wicked king, and he's looked the wife of this king, Jezebel, in the eyeballs. This bloodthirsty wicked queen, and he's rebuked her.

We have another man faithful in all God's house. The humblest man whoever lived, Moses, through whom the law was given, who liberated the people of God and led the people of God. And God the Father says, listen to the other one. Do you know how significant that is? In all of the Old Testament, who is more honored than Moses and Elijah?

Who would it be? Who would you name? Who was more faithful to God than Moses and Elijah in the Old Testament? Who was used more mightily by God in the Old Testament than Moses and Elijah? And here are these two men.

And God says, turn to Deuteronomy 18. In Deuteronomy Deuteronomy 18. In Deuteronomy 18, our Moses from the Mount in Matthew 17 prophesies about prophesize about this moment. And about the hearing of the Son of God. Moses chapter 18, starting in 15, Moses says, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren.

Him you shall hear. According to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die. And the Lord said to me, What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren, and I will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him." At the time when this is written, the people wanted no part of coming into the presence of God.

And they were happy to have Moses as a mediator to go on their behalf and to hear from God and communicate to them. But Moses here prophesied what the Lord has shown him, which is that one will be sent, a prophet like him, who they will hear. And he'll be another mediator, but He'll also be God. And that if you won't hear Him, it will be required of you. When Peter uses this text from Deuteronomy 18 in Acts 23.

It's used much more strongly. If you don't hear Him, you're cast off. Jesus Christ is the great head of the church. He is the one to be heard. Many men teach, many men have opinions, many men assert things.

Jesus is to be heard. The disciples did hear Jesus. And they've given us this mighty deposit. That's what this is. It says, hear Him.

He's speaking today. He's speaking even so through His Word. And that's not to despise Moses or Elijah or men who stand in the pulpit today. To the extent that they're faithful and they're speaking the words of Christ, then people are hearing Christ. Through Moses, through Elijah, through men who were in the pulpit all over the land today.

Verses 6-9. Back to our text. Matthew 17, verses 6-9. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid that Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise and do not be afraid. When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no one, until the Son of Man is risen from the dead. At the voice of God the Father, Peter, James, and John, a fall on their faces before God. In Luke 934, our parallel text in Luke, it says, While he, Peter, was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. So As this bright cloud is descending upon them, they are already afraid. And then when they hear the voice of God, they prostrate themselves before God.

The presence of God has this effect. Men who have a lot of bluster like Peter, men who are proud, change their tune in the presence of God. Isaiah 6, this mighty prophet, this righteous man, comes into the presence of God. He prostrates himself before God. Woe is me.

I am undone. Revelation 1, John again, we just read the text, he falls on his face as if he were dead. In Genesis 3, we find out that Man used to walk, be face to face with God, because God was coming to walk in the garden in the cool of the day. And all of a sudden, Adam and Eve were afraid. They wanted to hide themselves.

And it's been the same since the fall, because we know that we're filthy. That's why the presence of God causes us to prostrate ourselves before Him, because we know of our filthiness. Being away from the presence of God, you can forget what you are. You can think well of yourself by comparing yourself to the other filthy people. But the presence of God will not allow that.

Here again we see Jesus being so gentle, so patient, so merciful, He touches them. He touches them and He says, arise and do not be afraid. And this has precedent in the Gospel of Matthew. In Matthew 14 verse 27, as he's walked out to them on the water, they're scared to death, they think they've seen a ghost, and he says, Be of good cheer. It is I, do not be afraid.

Don't you want more of the presence of Jesus? The presence of Jesus banishes fear. Wait a minute. The presence of the Father makes you afraid. But the presence of Jesus banishes fear.

That's right. The presence of God makes us know what we are and brings us low. But for those who are in Christ, we are not left that way. And so what is accomplished is a beautiful outcome of humility and yet confidence to be before God. Isn't this what we want to be?

Don't we want to be humble, not being blind to what we really are, but really understanding what we are and yet to be free from the fear of that, and to be able to come into God's presence with confidence, with boldness even. This is what it means to know the Father and to know the Son is that we're humbled knowing what we are, but we're freed from a slavish kind of fear because Jesus will put his hand on you and he'll say, don't be afraid. Peter, James, and John lift up their eyes and they find that only Jesus is there. Moses and Elijah are gone. And as they're coming down the mountain, Jesus says this to them, Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.

Don't talk to anybody about it now, wait until the Son of Man is risen from the dead. Jesus is on message. Jesus keeps saying the same thing. He keeps teaching them the same thing. In the last chapter, chapter 16 verse 20, it says this, then he commanded his disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.

He's been saying, I'll give you no sign except for what? The sign of Jonah. That as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so the Son of Man will be three days and nights in the heart of the earth." The full revelation of the Gospel is waiting on the resurrection. Don't tell anybody about this vision until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. This is where Paul begins Romans.

In Romans 1 verse 4 it says that it's the resurrection that declares Jesus to be the Son of God with power. So if they start talking about this now, then the credibility of that is going to be shaken by His death. But after the resurrection, they'll be able to speak freely of it because Jesus will have been declared to be the Son of God with power. Verses 10-13. And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?

Jesus answered and said to them, Indeed Elijah is coming first and will restore all things, but I say to you that Elijah has come already, and that they did not know him, but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise, the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the Baptist. The disciples asked this question, why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? The key word there to helping us understand what this is about is the word then. Why then?

In other words, in consequence of what you just said, why did the scribes say that Elijah must come first? Now in Mark, it's clearer. You can get it from here because the word then is here and that points you back to what he's just said which is that the Son of Man is going to be risen from the dead. We have to connect this with this question to the Son of Man rising from the dead. Listen to Mark 9, 9-12.

Now as they came down from the mountain, he commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant. So as they're coming down the mountain, Jesus said, don't tell anyone until after the resurrection until the Son of Man is raised from the dead and they're wanting to know what that means What is all this about being raised from the dead and? They asked him saying why did the scribes say that Elijah must come first then he answered and told them Indeed Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man that he must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?

In the parallel text in Mark, we get the picture that what they don't understand is if the scribes are saying that Elijah ushers in the Messiah, What's all this about being raised from the dead? Because the expectation that the scribes had that Elijah comes first and he restores all things, meaning that he's bringing in the golden age of the Messiah. If Elijah ushers in this golden age, What are you talking about being raised from the dead for? Now the scribes had their understanding from Malachi 3 and 4. That's where the scribes are getting Elijah.

And so in that sense they're sort of right. Those are the right texts to talk about the coming of the Messiah. Listen to Malachi 3.1, you're familiar with it. Malachi 3.1, Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight.

Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts." Now, Jesus quotes that in Matthew 11. In Matthew 11, Jesus is speaking to the multitudes. Remember back in Matthew 11, Jesus is talking to the multitudes about who John the Baptist is. And he quotes Malachi 3.1, Behold I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And then two verses later he says this, For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.

And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. So they had gotten it right That God would send a forerunner, a messenger, before him to prepare the way for him, but they thought that when it says that he would suddenly come to his temple, that They were talking about a golden age when actually he's coming to his temple in judgment. Finally, listen to the last verses of the book of Malachi. Malachi 4, 5, and 6. Again, you're very familiar with these.

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." This is actually called, the forerunner is actually called Elijah. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Now this is also quoted in association with John the Baptist, only it's not Jesus doing it, it's an angel doing it in Luke 1. So the angel comes to John the Baptist's father, Zechariah. And the angel says this in Luke 1, 14-17.

And you, Zechariah, will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his, John the Baptist's, birth. For he, John the Baptist, will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

And so John the Baptist is definitely Elijah. We have that on the testimony of Jesus. We have it on the testimony of an angel who is speaking to John the Baptist's father. Now this is the sense in which John the Baptist restores all things. After hundreds of years of apostasy, John the Baptist comes with a ministry of repentance, preaching repentance.

And there's a revival in Israel. The people of God, the national, the genealogical people of God, begin to turn away from their idolatry and from their apostasy and begin to repent because John is preaching repentance. And he restores things for the coming of the new kingdom and the new covenant. Now, It's confusing because John the Baptist is called Elijah. Why is he called Elijah?

Here's why. God does this repeatedly through the prophets. I'm going to give you three verses to demonstrate this. The first is Jeremiah 30 verse 9. Listen to this.

But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise for them. Who's Jeremiah talking about? Jesus. David's dead and gone. And Jeremiah's talking about a future time.

And he says, they will serve the Lord their God and David their king whom I will raise up for them. He is talking about the Messiah. But He calls this Messiah David. Why? Because He's a type.

He's a shadow, but the Messiah will be the substance. Listen to Ezekiel 34. Ezekiel 34 verse 23. I will establish one shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, my servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd." Who's Ezekiel talking about?

Jesus. David's dead and gone. Ezekiel's talking about the future just like Jeremiah. He says, I'll send them one shepherd, David. Because David is the shadow.

As a shepherd of his people, as a king of his people, he's a shadow of the Messiah. Jesus is the substance. Three chapters later, Ezekiel 37 verse 24, David my servant shall be king over them, and they shall have one shepherd. They shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. The Messiah is not the reincarnation of David.

It's not David coming back from the dead. But David is a type. David is a shadow. And Christ is the antitype. Christ is the substance.

And so the forerunner has a type, Elijah. And God will raise up a man in the spirit and power of Elijah to be the fulfillment of that, to be the substance of that. David is a type, as a shepherd and a king. And there will be a fulfillment of that and a substance of that. It will be Christ.

So in the same way, Malachi calls the forerunner Elijah. Not because Elijah the Tishbite is going to come back from the dead, but because God will raise up one in the Spirit and power of Elijah to act like Elijah in this generation. Just like the angel in Luke 1 told Zacharias. Think of Elijah reproving Baal's prophets. This stare down with 400 idolaters.

And now think of John the Baptist beside the Jordan saying, you brood of vipers to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, just like Elijah. Think of Elijah looking at Ahab and Jezebel in the eye and rebuking them for their wickedness, think of John the Baptist looking at Herod and Herodias in the eye and saying, It's not lawful for you to have her. John the Baptist was in the spirit and power of Elijah. A few concluding remarks. A few concluding remarks.

Do you realize how important really understanding the identity of Jesus Christ is. He's here. His face is shining like the sun. And if our faith is going to hold, we need to know Jesus not just in His form as a bondservant. We need to know that he is at the right hand of God the Father in his glory, a co-equal member of the Trinity, glorious, almighty.

Consider this. Listen to 2 Peter 1, 16-18. Peter writes this. For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But were I witnesses of His majesty, for He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. Peter never forgot this moment. Peter saw Jesus in His glory. His garments were whiter than you could ever wash them. His face shone like the sun and Peter never forgot it.

And when it came time for Peter to die, he said, I'm not worthy to be crucified like Jesus, crucified me upside down. I'm not even worthy to be killed in the same way as my Lord. Do it a different way. He saw Jesus glorified and he never forgot and it sustained him when he needed it. Because he knew that you could gain the whole world and lose your soul.

But he knew you could give up this life. And on the other side of death, there would be the glorious resurrected Jesus Christ. Listen to John 1, 14. Here's John. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." You can tell John was here when you read John 1.

What's the rest of John 1? Light, light, light, light. He beheld his glory. And it sustained John through all manner of trials. It is good to know Jesus.

Humble, broken, Humble, broken, but there are times that you need to know that he's glorious. Secondly, the complexion of John the Baptist's mission was misunderstood. The complexion of the mission was misunderstood. Everyone thought he was ushering in the Golden Age. And because it was misunderstood, the world missed it and they killed him.

But you know what? His mission was still fulfilled. It was all part of the plan of God. The complexion of Jesus' mission was misunderstood. People thought that the time of the Messiah would be so different than it turned out to be.

And because of it, the world killed Jesus, but you know what? His mission was fulfilled anyway. It was all part of the plan of God. John the Baptist accomplished his mission. Jesus Christ accomplished his mission.

Let's not be so easily discouraged. As if the train is off the tracks because we've met resistance, because things didn't go according to our plan. God was glorifying Himself even though Their missions weren't understood and he was fulfilling their missions. Could it be that some of our discouragements are right? God putting us right where he wanted us?

Could that be? It was with John the Baptist. It was with Jesus Christ. Could it be with you that some of your discouragements are actually positioning you for what God is desiring to fulfill through you? Of course it could be.

Finally, then as now, the message of God the Father is this, hear Him, listen to Him. Moses was faithful, Elijah was mighty, Jesus Christ is the head of the church. Hear him and be doers of the word and not just hearers. Let's pray. Jesus you are glorious.

Jesus, you are glorious. I thank you for this glimpse of your glory. You've been that way from eternity past. You are that way into eternity future. Our great head of the church.

Help us to draw upon that, O God. As we encounter difficulties and discouragements to know that you are all glorious, you are almighty, that all authority and heaven and on earth has been given to you. And you're working out a plan and It's not a requirement that we understand it. It is a requirement that we obey you and love you from the heart. I pray that you would bless the reading of this text and the explanation of it.

Help it to push us forward in our walk with you, in our life. In Jesus' name, Amen.