Participants: Glenn Russell & Ranko Stefanovic (Host)
Series Code: MTBOTB
Program Code: MTBOTB00013A
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00:22 Welcome to "The Books of the Book" series.
00:24 We're exploring the Gospel according to Matthew. 00:26 It's been such a wonderful journey so far. 00:28 I know that God has wonderful blessings for us 00:31 and still on this program also. 00:33 I'm Glenn Russell, your host. 00:35 This is our teacher, Ranko Stefanovic. 00:37 Ranko, it's been just a blessing 00:39 to be here together studying scripture. 00:41 Yes, Glenn, and it's so glad to be with you here. 00:44 We worked for a significant number of years. 00:48 I think nine years we were together there at 00:50 Andrews University in the Department of Religion. 00:52 You teach there, I'm coming from 00:54 Theological Seminary from Andrews University. 00:57 And it's so nice to participate in this program 00:59 and share the word of God with our viewers. 01:02 And I think it's just great to partner with 3ABN. 01:05 Yes. You know to bring 01:06 education and ministry together. 01:08 These partnerships are wonderful. 01:10 Let's get into the story a little bit more 01:13 right after we have prayer. Yes. 01:15 Lord, guide us now as we study Your word. 01:18 We want to set aside preconceptions 01:20 and biases and distractions. 01:22 We want to hear Your voice. 01:24 We want to understand what You have for us. 01:28 May we be drawn to You that when this program is over, 01:31 we have--we will feel that we have 01:33 been with Jesus, our Lord and Savior. 01:35 In Your name we pray. Amen. 01:39 Last time and I think we should say if they missed 01:43 the last program they should go back 01:44 and watch it sometime, but the last time 01:47 we were talking about Jesus, 01:48 experience with His disciples Caesarea Philippi, 01:51 asked the questions, who do you say that I am? 01:53 And Peter gives that response, you are the Christ. 01:56 And then He says well, if I'm the Christ, 01:57 if I'm the Messiah, I'm heading towards the cross. 02:00 Yes. Let's reflect on that 02:03 just a little bit more as we continue this time. 02:05 So this is really very significant moment. 02:09 Jesus takes his disciple to-- there to the place 02:12 where they were not disturbed and bothered by people. 02:15 There was no threat to them there 02:17 because Jesus wants first to test his disciples, 02:21 to teach them and to prepare them 02:23 because from this point on they're now going to Jerusalem 02:27 because Jesus is supposed to die, okay? 02:31 That's the reason why He came down, down to the earth. 02:34 Then He asked His disciples what do you say that I'm 02:37 and we have the Peter's confession, 02:39 You are the Messiah. 02:42 It means You are the one who is supposed 02:44 to come and to die for the human race. 02:46 It's gotten very personal now because 02:48 if He's gonna go and die and I'm following that Savior, 02:52 that means I'm gonna suffer as well. 02:53 Yes. And then Jesus provides that, 02:58 that statement about Peter. 03:00 You are Peter which actually means a rock, 03:06 but in Greek it's Petros, Petros and on this Petra 03:09 which is actually a rock, "I will build my church, 03:14 and the gates of Hades will not" 03:16 we saw the last presentation. 03:18 Actually the church of Christ is not build on Peter, 03:23 it's build on that rock of Peter's confession. 03:28 Rock is Jesus Christ, so Peter made confession 03:31 to that rock on Jesus Christ, on that rock, 03:34 actually the church, the church is supposed to be, 03:37 to be, to be built. 03:38 Built upon Jesus who goes and suffers. 03:41 When Jesus said to them, you know, 03:43 "Take up your cross and follow me. 03:45 For whoever desires to save his life or lose it, 03:48 whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." 03:51 Ranko, it's fairly easy in some parts of the world 03:55 to become a Christian. Yeah. 03:57 But to follow Jesus through much of history 04:00 and in some places today, 04:01 it is still a life threatening choice. 04:05 The disciples, look at them, off the 12, we take out Judas, 04:09 how many of the rest suffered and died for their Savior? 04:14 You see, how many Christians we have in the western world, 04:18 they have a chain around their neck 04:20 and they have huge cross and this is they, 04:23 they really wear the cross of Jesus Christ. 04:25 Actually, what Jesus meant here, it was not that, 04:29 that famous illusion what He said, 04:31 when Jesus bid people to follow Him, 04:34 He made them to die. To come and die. 04:36 With Him. To come, to come and to die. 04:39 To be the followers of Jesus, it really means to follow into 04:43 His footsteps and ready to be ready to die with Jesus, 04:49 to be His disciples until the very end. 04:53 Evidently Peter had hard time. 04:55 Jesus admitted with His mouth that Jesus was the Messiah 05:00 and it is on that confession of that rock the church is built. 05:04 However, when Peter fails to recognize 05:08 the messiahship of Jesus, the Messiah 05:10 who's supposed to die, Peter becomes 05:12 a tool and instrument in the hands of Satan. 05:16 And, you know, you might be sitting there 05:18 thinking right now, look I'm bearing my own cross 05:21 and I'm suffering too for Jesus. 05:23 Be assured that He is very close to you. 05:27 Be assured that no one goes to any place 05:30 where Jesus has not gone. 05:32 Jesus goes first to the cross. 05:34 Jesus is raised on the resurrection day. 05:37 If you're bearing a cross today, 05:39 He's gonna bear with you 05:40 and He will go through it all with you. 05:42 The problem with the Peter was, 05:43 it's obvious problem on the base of 05:45 verses 26, 22, 24 through 26. 05:49 Peter wanted to follow Jesus, 05:52 but also to get some benefit from them. 05:56 And Jesus says in verse 25, 05:59 "whoever wishes to save his life." 06:01 Peter tried to prevent Jesus to go to Jerusalem, 06:04 Jesus will die there. 06:05 They'll suffer as well because of Him. 06:07 And Jesus says, "Whoever wishes 06:09 to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life 06:13 for My sake will find it. 06:15 For what will it profit to man if he gains 06:17 the whole world and forfeits his soul? 06:21 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" 06:24 Evidently these words change Peter completely, 06:28 especially the experience that he had there, 06:31 just before the day that Jesus died. 06:35 Actually, it is exactly how Peter 06:37 finished his life by dying on the cross. 06:40 Yes, that's exactly right. 06:42 Now, Ranko, moving on, I want us to move to verse 28, 06:45 'cause there is a strange statement here it would seem. 06:47 "Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing 06:50 here who shall not taste death till they see 06:52 the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." 06:55 Now the son of man coming in His kingdom, 06:58 what does Jesus mean? 06:59 Actually, this is a very difficult text. 07:03 But the Bible students, they noticed something 07:06 very interesting in this, that in old three synoptics. 07:09 We know what synoptics are, Matthew, Mark and Luke. 07:13 All three of them after this statement, 07:17 they have the following text. 07:19 Unfortunately, many readers of the Bible are confused, 07:22 division into chapters, that's why 07:23 we stop reading this again. 07:25 Actually, the text goes on, 07:26 we have the Transfiguration of Jesus 07:29 or the Mount of Transfiguration, 07:30 so everybody agrees that actually this text 07:33 is the introduction to the text that follows. 07:36 So the question is answered by the story that happens next. 07:40 Actually it is on the Mount of Transfiguration, 07:42 the disciples had a foretaste. 07:46 Is it foretaste? That's right. 07:47 For shadow of Jesus in His glory, 07:51 how He will look when He comes. 07:52 So, Glenn, I'd really like to ask you, 07:55 if you can read from verse 1 until the verse 13. 07:59 Its long text but we sure read it, okay. 08:01 All right. Matthew Chapter 17. Yes. 08:04 "Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, 08:07 and John his brother, led them up 08:09 to a high mountain by themselves. 08:12 And He was transfigured before them His face shone 08:15 like the sun, and His clothes 08:16 became as white as the light. 08:19 And behold, Moses and Elijah 08:21 appeared to them, talking to Him. 08:24 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, 08:26 'Lord, it is good for us to be here, 08:28 if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles, 08:32 one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.' 08:35 While he was still speaking, behold, 08:37 a bright cloud overshadowed them, 08:40 and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 08:43 "This is My beloved Son, 08:45 in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" 08:49 And when the disciples heard it, 08:51 they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. 08:54 But Jesus came and touched them and said, 08:56 'Arise, and do not be afraid.' 08:59 And when they had lifted up their eyes, 09:01 they saw no one but Jesus only. 09:04 Now as they came down from the mountain, 09:05 Jesus commanded them, saying, 'Tell the vision to no one 09:09 until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.' 09:12 And His disciples asked Him, saying, 09:14 'Why then do the scribes and Pharisees, 09:16 say that Elijah must come first?' 09:18 Jesus answered and said to them, 09:19 'Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. 09:23 But I say to you that Elijah has come already.'" 09:26 Who is that Elijah? 09:27 John the Baptist. John the Baptist. Yes. 09:29 "And they did not know him 09:31 but they did to him whatever they wished. 09:33 Likewise the Son of Man is also 09:35 about to suffer at their hands. 09:37 Then the disciples understood that 09:40 He spoke to them of John the Baptist." 09:42 What an experience to those disciples up in the mountain 09:45 seeing the Transfigured Lord and Savior, 09:47 seeing Him in His glory of heaven. 09:49 Ranko, what an amazing scene? 09:52 You know, in verse 28, Jesus said, 09:55 "There are some of you." 09:57 Jesus did not say all of you, "But some of you 09:59 who will not taste death until they see 10:02 the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." 10:04 And then verse 7--chapter 17 begins, six days after that. 10:10 Jesus took Peter, James, and John. 10:16 They went there to the mountain. 10:17 It says "And Jesus was transfigured before them." 10:22 I have been thinking a lot about this text and I want 10:25 to understand how Jesus appeared to His disciples. 10:27 And there is only one text in the New Testament, 10:30 it comes to my mind that I can understand 10:33 how Jesus transfigured is Revelation Chapter 1. 10:35 I thought we get Revelation sooner or later, Ranko. 10:38 Yeah. Revelation Chapter 1, 10:39 that great portrait of Jesus. 10:41 When John saw that Jesus and actually it's interesting 10:45 is when John the Revelation 1 saw that glorified Jesus, 10:49 he fell down before his feet as dead. 10:53 Jesus lifts him up, He says, "stop being afraid." 10:56 He was afraid. By the way, 10:58 this is the same situation is here when disciples saw Jesus, 11:03 that's glorified Christ, boy, they fell down on the ground 11:08 before Him and Jesus takes them, you know, 11:11 lifts them up and say, hey, don't be afraid. 11:15 Would there have been significance 11:16 to the fact that it's Moses and Elijah? 11:21 Yes. Now evidently several significance, 11:26 you see, in the light of the conservation in verses 9 to 11 11:30 between Jesus and His disciples. 11:32 The disciples asked Jesus, is it true, we heard that 11:35 the Pharisees are talking and the teachers are talking 11:38 that before the Son of Man comes, 11:41 you know who is the Son of Man, 11:42 it's the Book of Daniel Chapter 7, 11:46 "when Daniel saw the Son of Man coming on the cloud" 11:49 so it's reference to the second coming of Jesus. 11:53 When He comes on the cloud, they said, 11:55 is it true that Elijah will come first? 11:59 Jesus says that's true. 12:01 That's the prophecy of the Old Testament. 12:04 By the way, this is the pointer 12:09 to Book of Malachi, the last verses where Malachi said that, 12:13 "Before the great and terrible day 12:16 the Lord comes, I will send 12:18 Moses my servant and I will send Elijah." 12:22 So what do we have here, we have the Moses and Elijah. 12:28 What is the significance of this? 12:30 You see we're talking about the great day 12:33 when Jesus comes which will be actually the Judgment Day 12:36 for the people but this event took place 12:41 right before the cross. 12:44 The cross was the means of the salvation 12:47 for the human race, when the Messiah 12:49 came to die for the human race. 12:51 But for all those who rejected Jesus, 12:54 the cross was the Judgment Day for them. 12:58 So the prophecy of Malachi of the coming 13:01 of Moses and Elijah was actually, 13:05 partially fulfilled with the first coming of Jesus. 13:08 The Judgment came with the first coming of Jesus. 13:11 That does make sense. You see who is Moses? 13:15 Moses in the Old Testament, 13:17 he represents the law, the torah. 13:20 The greatest authority. The law. What about Elijah? 13:25 The prophets. Prophets. 13:27 We know that we have in the Old Testament, 13:29 the law and the prophets. 13:31 You remember that Jesus said that actually 13:34 He came according to the law and the prophets. 13:37 We saw that the Gospel of the Matthew 13:39 is routed in the Old Testament prophecy. 13:41 Jesus came as the fulfillment of the Law and prophecy. 13:46 But now they're on the Mount of Transfiguration 13:50 before Jesus is in Jerusalem, 13:53 here, this event took place on the way to Jerusalem. 13:57 Now, Jesus is there on the mount 14:00 and Moses and Elijah are there, why? 14:05 Let's see about that after the break. 14:07 All right, well, you've got my curiosity. 14:10 I'm looking forward to getting a little further into this 14:13 experience of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. 14:16 We'll be right back after a break. Don't go away. |
Revised 2014-12-17