Who am I?
Who is Jesus? We stand 2000 years after the event of Jesus. How do we work out who Jesus is? We could probably categorise their answers into four ideas, four ‘L’ words.
Perhaps some people might say he didn’t exist, like Santa Clause. That is one reason I tell my kids the truth about Santa Clause. Because I heard of this one child. His parents told him that Santa was real. But he later found out that Santa didn’t exist. So he said to his parents. So does that mean Jesus doesn’t exist either?
Well, that would be pretty extreme for someone to say Jesus didn’t exist. More likely, people would say he was blown out of all proportion. He was a figure that became a legend. This line of thinking might go, ‘Yeah, sure Jesus was good. Maybe he even helped people. And he had some good moral teachings, just like Buddha, and Confucius, and Ghandi. But the Son of God? But equal with God? That’s taking it a bit far.’ And so really the church got carried away with a good thing.
And anyway, so much of Jesus teaching was all about himself. Jesus’ seems to think the world revolved around him. So to say that Jesus was a good moral teacher might be true, but is inadequate. For Jesus also claimed to be the Christ, the king of the Universe, the Son of God, and that he existed before the world began.
Now we sometimes have people claiming to be Jesus, the Son of God. And what usually happens to those people is that they end up in a psychiatric ward. So is it possible that Jesus was a lunatic?
But that just doesn’t make sense of the Jesus of the Gospels. He is the one in control of everything. A lunatic is not the Jesus of the bible.
Or perhaps he was just a hardened liar. That is, that he knows he isn’t the Son of God, but just lied about it. Well, Jesus would then be the worst deceiver or con-man that has walked the earth, because he deceived his closest friends and family into thinking and teaching that he was the Son of God. Not only this, but then we could never say of Jesus, ‘He is a good moral teacher’, because he lied about his own identity.
So the only conclusion left is ‘He is Lord’.
In the account read from Luke chapter 9, Jesus asks the disciples what the crowd thinks of him.
And the crowd says, ‘John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others that an ancient prophet has risen up’.
But this isn’t good enough for Jesus. So Jesus asks the disciples, his closest friends, what they have concluded. And Peter speaks for all when he says, ‘The Christ of God’.
What Peter means is this: ‘Jesus, I am convinced you are the king and Lord of the universe. God has chosen and anointed you to rule everything.’ And Jesus accepts this, and warns them to keep it secret, because he also wants to explain the job description of the Lord of the Universe. The job description is ‘to be rejected, killed and to rise again’. Essential Jesus page 33, second last paragraph:
And he sternly commanded them not to say this to anyone, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised up”.
Now this simply didn’t fit with most people’s ideas about what the Christ would do. The Christ wasn’t going to be killed, in most people’s thinking. He was going to be a victorious military leader who would kick Roman butt and re-establish Israel and Jerusalem as an influential world power, as it was during the reign of David and Solomon. And you can almost hear Peter saying, ‘Jesus, You can’t die! You have to save the world. You have to defeat God’s enemies and rule as God’s King. You can’t waste time dying.’ And indeed, Matthew and Mark tell us Peter did say something just like that.
But Jesus also says, ‘No, everyone who follows me will die.’ That is in the bottom paragraph on page 33:
He said to them all, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and pick up his cross each day, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it’ but whoever loses his life for my sake – he will save it. For what profit does a person get if he gains the whole world, but loses of forfeits his very self?”
So friends, Jesus calls us to give up our lives, to live for him, and to die for him.
I read this with a person once and he said, ‘Christianity is like Islam. It is fanatical’. Now my friend was both right and wrong. Christianity is very much unlike Islam in many ways. We are called to peace, to turn the other cheek, and not to suicide bombing and holy war. We believe in Jesus who is fully God and fully man, who is God the Son and the Son of God, unlike Islam. But my friend was right in this, that we are called to follow Jesus to the point of death. Jesus calls us to give up everything, and follow him. It is radical. But that is what real Christianity is about.
And only a Jesus who is fully God has the right to demand our lives. Only a Jesus who has died for us on the cross and therefore bought us back can say to us, ‘and now, you go and do the same’.
Have you caught a glimpse of greatness? Has any one every seen the queen in the flesh? What about Elvis Presley? What about someone else famous? Have you met someone important? How close have you come to greatness? Who is the important person you have seen in the flesh?
Well, one of the things that has freaked Jesus’ disciples out is wondering, ‘Who is this man?’ He calms the storms, the demons obey him, he heals the sick, he raises the dead. And Peter speaks for the lot of them when he confessed that Jesus is the Christ.
But Jesus is going to give them something more to think about. About a week passes by, and Jesus took his inner circle—Peter, James and John—up a high mountain. Only these three went up. And up on the mountain, amazing things happened. Those three watch. Jesus was metamorphosed. He was changed. His clothes were whitened. His face was brightened. (It sounds like a washing powder ad, so far).
But there was more. For Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus, the great lawgiver and the great prophet. And they were talking with Jesus. And Luke tells us what they were talking about. Page 34, top paragraph, last sentence:
[Moses and Elijah] appeared in brilliant glory, and spoke about his departure, which he was about to complete in Jerusalem.
Literally, they spoke about Jesus’ ‘exodus’. Jesus is on his way out and up. Jerusalem is on the launch pad, where he will be lifted up like a rocket ship to start his return to his Father. And his death will be primary ignition, and his resurrection will begin the countdown. And his ascension will be lift off.
Moses and Elijah had looked forward to this great event during their earthly lives. And now, in this vision, they talked with Jesus about what they so looked forward to during their earthly lives.
But there was more. They were surrounded by a cloud, which overshadows them. But there was still more. And this isn’t just the mist rolling in. This cloud rather reminds them of what God did at the Old Testament exodus. The cloud symbolized God’s presence, just as it did when Moses dedicated the tabernacle, and Solomon dedicated the temple. This cloud is telling us, ‘God is here’.
And if there was any doubt about it, it is dispelled by the voice. A voice from the cloud spoke. The disciples could hear it and they were afraid. And the voice says, ‘This is my chosen one, my Son, listen to him’. At the beginning of his ministry God spoke a similar thing, as Jesus rose up from the Jordan River and John’s baptism. And now, at the end of the beginning of his earthly ministry, and at the beginning of his end, the voice again confirms his identity, this time for his disciples.
Well, I don’t think the disciples enjoyed the experience. They caught a glimpse of the real Jesus. Peter has no idea what he is talking about. He is so frightened he talks about putting up little branch and leaf humpies for the three. Don’t you love Peter? Always first to speak, even when he doesn’t think. Enthusiasm without thought. But he was afraid. He freaked out, because he saw Jesus as he really is.
He is the Son. He is the Chosen Son. He is the beloved Chosen Son. He is the one who shines a radiance exactly like God’s. In fact, he is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of God’s being. If you want to know what God is like, you look full into the face of Jesus. But it is like looking into the sun. He is so glorious, so bright, that you cannot bear to look at his face.
What is going on here? Peter and James and John are seeing a glimpse of who Jesus really is. Jesus came as a human being, just like us. But in a way, him being truly human hid the fact that he was God. He was fully God, in whom all the fullness of the deity dwelt. But the transfiguration was an unveiling. It showed the disciples Jesus’ glory.
Luke tells us that the disciples kept quiet about this and told no-one about what they had seen at that time. And the reason they did this is told us by Matthew. Jesus told them to keep this quiet until the Son of Man was raised from the dead. That was perhaps because it was a foretaste of what would happen when Jesus rose from the dead.
In other words, Peter, James, and John had a glimpse of who Jesus really is now, as he is in heaven, and his glory that will be revealed when he returns.
John, who was there on the mountain, got to see this Jesus again. And he writes about it in the Book of Revelation.
I turned round to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man", dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash round his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. (Revelation 1:12-18 NIV)
This is the true Jesus, though we do not see him this way now. What are the appropriate responses?
1. Believe in Jesus, and not be afraid. Sure, if you are his enemy, be afraid. But if you believe in him, if you trust him, don’t be afraid. For those who fall at his feet, he is the living one. He died for us. That is why he came as a human, and hid the majesty that was his. And in doing so he defeated all the powers of death.
2. Listen to him. Listen to Jesus’ word, found in the bible There he still speaks to us.
3. Talk about Jesus this way, because he has now risen from the dead. Peter loved to talk. And once Jesus rose from the dead, he always talked about what he saw on the mountain that day:
So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received honour and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. (2 Peter 1:12-18 NIV)
Jesus is majestic in splendour and glory. He is our Lord who is now forever transfigured and worthy of our praise. And one day we who have put our trust in him will see him as he is and be like him. This is our resurrection hope.
Let’s pray.