Welcome to "The
Books of the Book" series.
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We're exploring the
Gospel according to Matthew.
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It's been such a
wonderful journey so far.
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I know that God has
wonderful blessings for us
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and still on this program also.
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I'm Glenn Russell, your host.
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This is our
teacher, Ranko Stefanovic.
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Ranko, it's been just a blessing
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to be here
together studying scripture.
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Yes, Glenn, and it's so
glad to be with you here.
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We worked for a
significant number of years.
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I think nine years we
were together there at
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Andrews University in
the Department of Religion.
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You teach there, I'm coming from
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Theological Seminary
from Andrews University.
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And it's so nice to
participate in this program
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and share the word
of God with our viewers.
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And I think it's just
great to partner with 3ABN.
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Yes. You know to bring
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education and ministry together.
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These
partnerships are wonderful.
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Let's get into the
story a little bit more
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right after we have prayer. Yes.
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Lord, guide us now
as we study Your word.
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We want to set
aside preconceptions
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and biases and distractions.
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We want to hear Your voice.
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We want to
understand what You have for us.
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May we be drawn to You
that when this program is over,
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we have--we will
feel that we have
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been with Jesus,
our Lord and Savior.
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In Your name we pray. Amen.
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Last time and I think we
should say if they missed
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the last program
they should go back
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and watch it
sometime, but the last time
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we were talking about Jesus,
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experience with His
disciples Caesarea Philippi,
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asked the questions,
who do you say that I am?
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And Peter gives that
response, you are the Christ.
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And then He says
well, if I'm the Christ,
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if I'm the Messiah, I'm
heading towards the cross.
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Yes. Let's reflect on that
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just a little bit more
as we continue this time.
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So this is really
very significant moment.
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Jesus takes his
disciple to-- there to the place
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where they were not disturbed
and bothered by people.
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There was no
threat to them there
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because Jesus wants
first to test his disciples,
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to teach them
and to prepare them
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because from this point on
they're now going to Jerusalem
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because Jesus is
supposed to die, okay?
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That's the reason why He
came down, down to the earth.
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Then He asked His disciples
what do you say that I'm
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and we have the
Peter's confession,
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You are the Messiah.
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It means You are
the one who is supposed
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to come and to die
for the human race.
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It's gotten very
personal now because
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if He's gonna go and die
and I'm following that Savior,
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that means I'm
gonna suffer as well.
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Yes. And then
Jesus provides that,
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that statement about Peter.
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You are Peter which
actually means a rock,
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but in Greek it's
Petros, Petros and on this Petra
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which is actually a
rock, "I will build my church,
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and the gates of Hades will not"
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we saw the last presentation.
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Actually the church of
Christ is not build on Peter,
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it's build on that
rock of Peter's confession.
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Rock is Jesus Christ,
so Peter made confession
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to that rock on
Jesus Christ, on that rock,
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actually the church, the
church is supposed to be,
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to be, to be built.
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Built upon Jesus
who goes and suffers.
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When Jesus said
to them, you know,
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"Take up your
cross and follow me.
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For whoever desires to
save his life or lose it,
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whoever loses his life
for my sake will find it."
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Ranko, it's fairly easy
in some parts of the world
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to become a Christian. Yeah.
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But to follow Jesus
through much of history
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and in some places today,
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it is still a life
threatening choice.
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The disciples, look at them,
off the 12, we take out Judas,
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how many of the rest suffered
and died for their Savior?
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You see, how many Christians
we have in the western world,
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they have a
chain around their neck
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and they have huge
cross and this is they,
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they really wear the
cross of Jesus Christ.
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Actually, what Jesus
meant here, it was not that,
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that famous
illusion what He said,
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when Jesus bid
people to follow Him,
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He made them to
die. To come and die.
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With Him. To come,
to come and to die.
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To be the followers of Jesus,
it really means to follow into
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His footsteps and ready to
be ready to die with Jesus,
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to be His
disciples until the very end.
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Evidently Peter had hard time.
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Jesus admitted with His
mouth that Jesus was the Messiah
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and it is on that confession of
that rock the church is built.
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However, when
Peter fails to recognize
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the messiahship
of Jesus, the Messiah
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who's supposed to
die, Peter becomes
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a tool and instrument
in the hands of Satan.
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And, you know, you
might be sitting there
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thinking right now,
look I'm bearing my own cross
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and I'm suffering too for Jesus.
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Be assured that He
is very close to you.
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Be assured that no
one goes to any place
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where Jesus has not gone.
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Jesus goes first to the cross.
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Jesus is raised on
the resurrection day.
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If you're bearing a cross today,
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He's gonna bear with you
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and He will go
through it all with you.
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The problem with the Peter was,
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it's obvious
problem on the base of
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verses 26, 22, 24 through 26.
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Peter wanted to follow Jesus,
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but also to get
some benefit from them.
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And Jesus says in verse 25,
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"whoever wishes
to save his life."
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Peter tried to prevent
Jesus to go to Jerusalem,
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Jesus will die there.
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They'll suffer as
well because of Him.
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And Jesus says, "Whoever wishes
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to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life
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for My sake will find it.
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For what will it
profit to man if he gains
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the whole world
and forfeits his soul?
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Or what will a man give
in exchange for his soul?"
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Evidently these words
change Peter completely,
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especially the
experience that he had there,
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just before the
day that Jesus died.
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Actually, it is
exactly how Peter
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finished his life
by dying on the cross.
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Yes, that's exactly right.
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Now, Ranko, moving on, I
want us to move to verse 28,
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'cause there is a strange
statement here it would seem.
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"Assuredly, I say to
you, there are some standing
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here who shall not
taste death till they see
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the Son of Man
coming in His kingdom."
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Now the son of man
coming in His kingdom,
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what does Jesus mean?
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Actually, this is a
very difficult text.
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But the Bible
students, they noticed something
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very interesting in this,
that in old three synoptics.
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We know what synoptics
are, Matthew, Mark and Luke.
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All three of them
after this statement,
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they have the following text.
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Unfortunately, many readers
of the Bible are confused,
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division into
chapters, that's why
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we stop reading this again.
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Actually, the text goes on,
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we have the
Transfiguration of Jesus
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or the Mount of Transfiguration,
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so everybody agrees
that actually this text
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is the introduction
to the text that follows.
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So the question is answered
by the story that happens next.
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Actually it is on the
Mount of Transfiguration,
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the disciples had a foretaste.
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Is it foretaste? That's right.
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For shadow of
Jesus in His glory,
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how He will look when He comes.
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So, Glenn, I'd
really like to ask you,
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if you can read from
verse 1 until the verse 13.
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Its long text but
we sure read it, okay.
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All right.
Matthew Chapter 17. Yes.
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"Now after six days
Jesus took Peter, James,
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and John his
brother, led them up
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to a high
mountain by themselves.
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And He was transfigured
before them His face shone
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like the sun, and His clothes
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became as white as the light.
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And behold, Moses and Elijah
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appeared to
them, talking to Him.
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Then Peter
answered and said to Jesus,
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'Lord, it is good
for us to be here,
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if You wish, let us
make here three tabernacles,
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one for You, one for
Moses, and one for Elijah.'
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While he was
still speaking, behold,
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a bright cloud
overshadowed them,
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and suddenly a voice
came out of the cloud, saying,
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"This is My beloved Son,
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in whom I am well
pleased. Hear Him!"
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And when the disciples heard it,
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they fell on their
faces and were greatly afraid.
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But Jesus came and
touched them and said,
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'Arise, and do not be afraid.'
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And when they had
lifted up their eyes,
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they saw no one but Jesus only.
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Now as they came
down from the mountain,
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Jesus commanded them, saying,
'Tell the vision to no one
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until the Son of Man
is risen from the dead.'
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And His disciples
asked Him, saying,
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'Why then do the
scribes and Pharisees,
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say that Elijah
must come first?'
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Jesus answered and said to them,
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'Indeed, Elijah is coming first
and will restore all things.
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But I say to you that
Elijah has come already.'"
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Who is that Elijah?
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John the Baptist.
John the Baptist. Yes.
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"And they did not know him
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but they did to him
whatever they wished.
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Likewise the Son of Man is also
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about to suffer at their hands.
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Then the
disciples understood that
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He spoke to them
of John the Baptist."
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What an experience to those
disciples up in the mountain
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seeing the
Transfigured Lord and Savior,
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seeing Him in
His glory of heaven.
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Ranko, what an amazing scene?
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You know, in
verse 28, Jesus said,
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"There are some of you."
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Jesus did not say all
of you, "But some of you
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who will not taste
death until they see
00:09:59.67\00:10:02.01
the Son of Man
coming in His kingdom."
00:10:02.02\00:10:04.60
And then verse 7--chapter
17 begins, six days after that.
00:10:04.61\00:10:10.92
Jesus took
Peter, James, and John.
00:10:10.93\00:10:16.27
They went there to the mountain.
00:10:16.28\00:10:17.85
It says "And Jesus was
transfigured before them."
00:10:17.86\00:10:22.23
I have been thinking a
lot about this text and I want
00:10:22.24\00:10:24.98
to understand how Jesus
appeared to His disciples.
00:10:24.99\00:10:27.92
And there is only one
text in the New Testament,
00:10:27.93\00:10:30.57
it comes to my mind
that I can understand
00:10:30.58\00:10:33.02
how Jesus transfigured
is Revelation Chapter 1.
00:10:33.03\00:10:35.96
I thought we get Revelation
sooner or later, Ranko.
00:10:35.97\00:10:38.34
Yeah. Revelation Chapter 1,
00:10:38.35\00:10:39.94
that great portrait of Jesus.
00:10:39.95\00:10:41.46
When John saw that Jesus
and actually it's interesting
00:10:41.47\00:10:45.33
is when John the Revelation
1 saw that glorified Jesus,
00:10:45.34\00:10:49.83
he fell down
before his feet as dead.
00:10:49.84\00:10:53.45
Jesus lifts him up, He
says, "stop being afraid."
00:10:53.46\00:10:56.61
He was afraid. By the way,
00:10:56.62\00:10:58.22
this is the same situation is
here when disciples saw Jesus,
00:10:58.23\00:11:03.23
that's glorified Christ, boy,
they fell down on the ground
00:11:03.24\00:11:08.68
before Him and Jesus
takes them, you know,
00:11:08.69\00:11:11.64
lifts them up and
say, hey, don't be afraid.
00:11:11.65\00:11:15.24
Would there have
been significance
00:11:15.25\00:11:16.86
to the fact that
it's Moses and Elijah?
00:11:16.87\00:11:20.98
Yes. Now evidently
several significance,
00:11:20.99\00:11:26.10
you see, in the light of the
conservation in verses 9 to 11
00:11:26.11\00:11:30.08
between Jesus and His disciples.
00:11:30.09\00:11:31.99
The disciples asked
Jesus, is it true, we heard that
00:11:32.00\00:11:35.87
the Pharisees are talking
and the teachers are talking
00:11:35.88\00:11:38.94
that before the
Son of Man comes,
00:11:38.95\00:11:41.11
you know who is the Son of Man,
00:11:41.12\00:11:42.70
it's the Book of
Daniel Chapter 7,
00:11:42.71\00:11:46.71
"when Daniel saw the Son
of Man coming on the cloud"
00:11:46.72\00:11:49.37
so it's reference to
the second coming of Jesus.
00:11:49.38\00:11:53.29
When He comes on
the cloud, they said,
00:11:53.30\00:11:55.14
is it true that
Elijah will come first?
00:11:55.15\00:11:59.40
Jesus says that's true.
00:11:59.41\00:12:01.10
That's the prophecy
of the Old Testament.
00:12:01.11\00:12:04.58
By the way, this is the pointer
00:12:04.59\00:12:09.26
to Book of Malachi, the last
verses where Malachi said that,
00:12:09.27\00:12:13.43
"Before the
great and terrible day
00:12:13.44\00:12:16.30
the Lord comes, I will send
00:12:16.31\00:12:18.55
Moses my servant
and I will send Elijah."
00:12:18.56\00:12:22.67
So what do we have here,
we have the Moses and Elijah.
00:12:22.68\00:12:28.63
What is the
significance of this?
00:12:28.64\00:12:30.11
You see we're
talking about the great day
00:12:30.12\00:12:33.70
when Jesus comes which will
be actually the Judgment Day
00:12:33.71\00:12:36.89
for the people but
this event took place
00:12:36.90\00:12:41.12
right before the cross.
00:12:41.13\00:12:44.30
The cross was the
means of the salvation
00:12:44.31\00:12:47.18
for the human
race, when the Messiah
00:12:47.19\00:12:49.18
came to die for the human race.
00:12:49.19\00:12:51.42
But for all those
who rejected Jesus,
00:12:51.43\00:12:54.54
the cross was the
Judgment Day for them.
00:12:54.55\00:12:58.52
So the prophecy of
Malachi of the coming
00:12:58.53\00:13:01.59
of Moses and
Elijah was actually,
00:13:01.60\00:13:05.00
partially fulfilled with
the first coming of Jesus.
00:13:05.01\00:13:08.29
The Judgment came with
the first coming of Jesus.
00:13:08.30\00:13:11.69
That does make
sense. You see who is Moses?
00:13:11.70\00:13:15.74
Moses in the Old Testament,
00:13:15.75\00:13:17.94
he represents
the law, the torah.
00:13:17.95\00:13:20.94
The greatest authority.
The law. What about Elijah?
00:13:20.95\00:13:25.27
The prophets. Prophets.
00:13:25.28\00:13:26.99
We know that we have
in the Old Testament,
00:13:27.00\00:13:29.07
the law and the prophets.
00:13:29.08\00:13:31.46
You remember that
Jesus said that actually
00:13:31.47\00:13:34.21
He came according to
the law and the prophets.
00:13:34.22\00:13:37.24
We saw that the
Gospel of the Matthew
00:13:37.25\00:13:39.12
is routed in the
Old Testament prophecy.
00:13:39.13\00:13:41.46
Jesus came as the fulfillment
of the Law and prophecy.
00:13:41.47\00:13:46.58
But now they're on the
Mount of Transfiguration
00:13:46.59\00:13:49.97
before Jesus is in Jerusalem,
00:13:49.98\00:13:53.66
here, this event took
place on the way to Jerusalem.
00:13:53.67\00:13:57.61
Now, Jesus is there on the mount
00:13:57.62\00:14:00.27
and Moses and
Elijah are there, why?
00:14:00.28\00:14:05.42
Let's see about
that after the break.
00:14:05.43\00:14:07.73
All right, well,
you've got my curiosity.
00:14:07.74\00:14:10.30
I'm looking forward to getting
a little further into this
00:14:10.31\00:14:13.22
experience of Jesus on
the Mount of Transfiguration.
00:14:13.23\00:14:16.23
We'll be right back
after a break. Don't go away.
00:14:16.24\00:14:18.93