as we gather the sun's going to keep moving that's its appointed purpose and if you find yourself in the sun please feel free to move and I won't pick on you unless it's Pastor Gordon who's up and moving but please we want you to be as comfortable as possible so feel free during the sermon to move if you suddenly find yourself in a hot spot there's a nice shade up front so our scripture reading is from Luke chapter 9 some of you will remember that when Pastor Gordon was on sabbatical I was doing a series in Luke's gospel and I'm taking up where we were beginning at Luke 9 verse 1 reading down through verse 36 let us hear God's own word. And Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases. And he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. And he said to them, take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money, and do not have two tunics. And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them. And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. Now Herod the Tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. Herod said, John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things? And he sought to see him. On their return, the apostles told Jesus all that they had done, and he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place. But he said to them, you give them something to eat. And they said, we have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we are to go and buy food for all these people, for there were about 5,000 men. And he said to the disciples, have them sit down in groups of about 50 each. And they did so, and had them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up 12 baskets of broken pieces. Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him, and he asked them, who do the crowd say that I am? And they answered, John the Baptist, but others say Elijah, and others that one of the prophets of old has risen. Then he said to them, but who do you say that I am? And Peter answered, the Christ of God. And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 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. And he said to all, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God. Now about eight days after these sayings, he took with him Peter and John and James and went up to the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah, not knowing what he said. And as he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the clouds, saying, This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him. And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone, and they kept silence and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen. So far, the reading of God's Word. Well, when you turn on the television, you find very little about Jesus. The television is full of what the world would call big issues. It's full of pandemic. It's full of politics. It's full of prosperity. How are we going to stay healthy? Who are we going to elect? How do we keep our money? And for many, many people, these are the really important issues of life. Health and wealth and elections. And it leaves us then with a question as Christians, is Jesus relevant to these questions? Is Jesus relevant to our lives today? Does it make sense that we should gather for worship and listen to His Word? Does His Word really speak to the situations that we're facing today? And as I thought about preaching from Luke 9 with those questions in my mind, I was further challenged as I looked at this part of Luke 9, and I thought, well, here's one episode after another that smart preachers preach on individually, and I'm going to try to look at all together. Do they fit together? Do they have a message that belongs together? What is being said to us as the people of God about Jesus to show that in fact He is the one that we need to know in precisely days like this? And I think the key to this passage in many ways is what we find in the story of the transfiguration, verse 32, that the disciples, when they woke up, were told they saw his glory. They saw his glory. And I think what this passage in Luke 9 is about, culminating in what we call the transfiguration, is helping us to see the glory of Jesus. The glory of Jesus in the situation that we face. Because those disciples lived in days when there were diseases that people couldn't control. When issues of economics and politics were out of their hands. they too might have thought, how relevant is Jesus to most of what goes on in our lives? And yet this passage in Luke 9, I think, in a wonderful way helps us to see that particularly in the difficult times of life, we need to see Jesus. We need to see his purpose, and that means seeing his glory. And that's what Luke is doing for us here, helping us see something of the glory of Jesus that helps us understand and stabilize our lives in times of distress. And so the first point of this sermon is glory displayed. Glory displayed. That's what Luke is doing here. And he displays the glory of Jesus, First of all, I think, with glimpses of that glory. Glimpses of that glory. That's what we see as we go through this passage. Glimpses of the glory of Jesus. He has 12 apostles. You know, it's not just because 12 makes a nice small group. It's not just because 12 makes a nice seminar. It's because he's saying in everything he does that he is recreating Israel. He is fulfilling all that the Old Testament was, and he's laying the foundation of a new Israel in his kingdom. And so he gives us a glimpse of his glory that is to come when he shows us his 12 apostles who will be the foundations of that new Israel, of that church. And he gives us a glimpse of that glory when he shows us the mission that is given to them. He gives them power. He gives them authority. And he sends them out to cast out demons and to cure diseases. This is a glimpse of who Jesus really is in his glory. He's the one who controls all things. He is the one before whom demons must flee. He is the one in whose presence disease disappears. This is a remarkable glimpse of who he is and what his kingdom will look like ultimately. And now he's giving us just glimpses of that. And as these miracles of healing and casting out demons are a glimpse of his glory, so too the feeding of the 5,000 is a glimpse of that glory. Moses fed the people in the wilderness. We've heard about that recently from John 6. And Luke is clearly relating us back to that time when Moses was used by God to feed the people in the wilderness. And now the people are in the wilderness. And now Jesus is feeding them. He's feeding them as the greater than Moses. And we see there displayed for us something of his glory. And then we see something of his glory in the message that is being preached. The message is the good news, the gospel of a kingdom that is coming. Of a kingdom that is coming. That's what we see over and over again in the preaching and ministry of Jesus and the apostles. The announcement that the kingdom is coming. It's not fully here yet. But it's coming. And in that preaching, in hearing about the kingdom and the king, we see a glimpse of the glory that one day will be fully revealed. That means as we gather for worship today and listen to his word, listen to the message of Jesus as king and of his kingdom that he'll bring, we're getting a glimpse of glory. Do you think about that as one of the definitions of worship when we gather? It's a glimpse of glory. it's not just certain men's hairy legs or sitting in the sun or wondering about what mistakes the preacher will make it's a very human activity but when we hear God's word when we hear God's truth when we hear God's word coming to draw our minds away from the noise of the world to the truth of God that undergirds all that we know and live and experience, that's a glimpse of glory that is a privilege of ours that God has given to us. And then we see a glimpse of glory in that repeated question that kind of echoes through this text, who is this Jesus? Who is this Jesus? Herod asked the question. The crowds asked the question. Jesus asked the question. Is he John the Baptist raised from the dead? Is he Elijah? Remember, Malachi had promised that Elijah would come before Messiah. Is he one of the prophets of old. Who is he? He's clearly somebody special, but who is he exactly? And it's Peter then who makes that confession. You are the Christ. And so we see glimpses of the glory of Jesus as we see his identity, who he really is. You know, boys and girls, that if you had been on those streets in Galilee 2,000 years ago and saw Jesus walk by, he would not have had a halo. There would be no light on his head. He wouldn't even have been apparently remarkably handsome. He wouldn't have been particularly tall, probably about five foot seven. You wouldn't have taken a second look at him just from his appearance. He had no form or comeliness that we should desire him, the prophet Isaiah said. He was ordinary looking, unless you really knew who he was. And then suddenly you had a glimpse of his glory. He's the Christ. He's the Messiah. He's the anointed of God. He's the appointed of God. He's God sent among us to reveal the truth. And in that confession, we have a glimpse of His glory. But Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wants us to have more than a glimpse of His glory. He wants us to see the fullness of that glory just for a moment. And that's why, having had glimpses of his glory, we're led up the Mount of Transfiguration to where, for a brief time, we'll see the fullness of his glory. Jesus promised his disciples that that would happen. He said, some of you standing here will not die before you see the kingdom of God. In its glory, in its fullness. And so he takes three disciples, eight days later, up the hill of transfiguration. In some ways, following the path that Moses took up a mountain to meet with God. And there for a moment is revealed the fullness of the glory of Jesus. We're told he was changed. And suddenly his face and his clothes became dazzling white. In the Old Testament, dazzling white clothing is an attribute of God. Psalm 104, God covers himself with light as a garment. Or Daniel 7, verse 9, the ancient of days with clothing as white as snow. Jesus is revealed in his divinity as well as in his humanity, in his glory before his disciples. a sight almost blinding in its radiance. Here's who he really is. Here's who he really is. And this is a gift to his people, that they might see him and know that this is what awaits us in the kingdom of God when it's fully revealed. And there with him are Moses and Elijah, also glorious. This is a wonderful indication that those who are in heaven with Jesus are glorified like him in remarkable ways. I think it's also an indication and encouragement that the saints in heaven recognize one another. I don't think Moses and Elijah had name tags on. But the disciples knew who they were. We'll know one another. We'll commune with one another. That's one of the hopes of glory. Those who have gone before are not lost. They will be ours again. But Moses and Elijah are there for a special purpose. They're there to testify that all that the law said and all that the prophet said are being fulfilled and what Jesus is going to do when he goes to Jerusalem. Jesus is the glorious one that God has been preparing his people for centuries to welcome. It's taken God centuries to prepare Israel and its history to recognize and to welcome Jesus and to understand who he is and to encourage us. To encourage us who wait. To encourage us who most of the time have only glimpses of glory. We now have the curtain pulled back and the fullness of glory revealed. That's what we have here. That's the blessing here. glory displayed for us. But that's not all that Luke 9 is telling us. It's telling us not only about glory displayed, but it's telling us about glory delayed. I worked hard on that. I don't want you to miss that. Glory displayed and glory delayed. The minute we hear about glory, we want to say, why can't we have it now? The minute we read about Jesus and the apostles healing the sick, we want to know, why don't they do that now in just the same way? Why do we have to live in a world of glory delayed? And Luke wants to underscore in a variety of ways, that is the purpose of God. They saw his glory in its fullness, and then the glory was gone. And Jesus was alone, looking just the same ordinary fellow that he'd looked before that moment of transfiguration. Why the delay? Because Jesus had work to do before it was time for glory. Jesus had reminded them of that, hadn't he, just before they went up on the Mount of Transfiguration. Verse 22 of chapter 9, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and only then on the third day be raised to glory. Suffer, rejected by all the leadership, killed. That's what awaited Jesus after the Mount of Transfiguration. You might well wonder, why did he come down? Why did he come down? Because he knew that for the sake of salvation, glory had to be delayed. For the sake of salvation, it was necessary that he do certain things on earth that were not glorious, that were not glimpses of the glory that would be revealed in the perfection of the kingdom of God. He had to suffer. He had to suffer rejection at the hands of the leadership of the people that God had prepared for thousands, hundreds of years to welcome him. Think how great that suffering was in that rejection. The stone that God had hewn and prepared was rejected by the builders. but that was our salvation. That was our life. That was the work he had to do. And that's why even in the glory of the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah are there to help him prepare for his departure, or as it might better be rendered, for his exodus. Jesus is about to undergo an exodus, a death, a departure in Jerusalem for the salvation of his people. And Moses and Elijah understand fully what that means because they were part of the preparation for his coming. And it's not only Jesus, then, who experiences the delay of the glory and takes up his cross. But Jesus says to you and to me as his disciples, you too must endure the delay of glory and take up your cross. That's why that word about self-denial is so important in this text. We have to deny ourselves, Jesus says, to follow him. And here, denying ourselves doesn't mean we have to reject all fun. It doesn't mean that we have to reject all the good things of this life. It doesn't mean that we have to become monks and nuns. That's a misunderstanding of the call to denial. What Jesus is calling us is away from our wisdom and our timetables. That's what we need to deny. Now, we've all thought at moments, haven't we, that we could run the world better. Better than the mayor. Better than the governor. Better than the president. I mean, that's a low bar, isn't it? Running the world better than our government does. But in our hearts of hearts, there have been moments when we thought we could run the world better than God does. God's actions and God's timetable, we could improve on. He ought to do things differently. And he ought to do things in a different time. Hurry up. And Jesus is saying the essence of self-denial and following me is to trust my wisdom and to trust my timetable and to reconcile yourself that I know what I'm doing and I'm doing it for good. That's so hard for us, isn't it? And part of the glory of the Psalms is that they capture that restless spirit in us. How long, O Lord? How long? Rise up, O God. Why are you delaying? Why are you standing around with your hands in your pockets? There's work to do. Do it now. And Jesus says, if you come after me, trust me. Trust me to do the work in the right way at the right time. And I've said before, if the disciples could have had their glory right then, what would have become of us? None of us would be in heaven because none of us would have been. But God had a plan that included us. And for us to be included, glory had to be delayed. Jesus says the Son of Man will come again in glory when all the elect have been gathered. That's the truth. That's the encouragement. That's the hope that we have. Glory delayed means salvation. Means the saving work of Jesus on the cross could be done. Means the saving work of Jesus in the hearts of his elect could be done. The church could be gathered, the kingdom of God peopled. That's what glory delayed has meant. And so we need to deny ourselves. Deny ourselves with our motive, our easy fallback position of knowing how God ought to do things and the timetable on which he ought to do it. Why did Jesus rise on the third day? Why not on the first day, or on the second day, or on the third day, or on the fourth day? Well, glory was delayed just the right amount of time, just according to God's timetable. And when glory had been delayed long enough, glory was displayed. And so the call to us is that we not be amongst those for whom glory is, are you ready, betrayed. Because glory is not only going to be displayed at the last day, and glory is not only delayed for right now, but in the hearts of some people, glory is betrayed. Glory is betrayed by those who want glory now. I think that's really behind what Peter said when he said, can I build three tents? And Luke says he didn't know what he was saying. I don't think Peter was confused. I think Peter wanted to stay on the mountain. I think Peter wanted to stay in the glory. And so he knew if we're going to stay here in glory, we need some place to live. He didn't want to glory delayed. He didn't want to go back. He didn't want to go down. He wanted glory now, permanently, fully. But you see, he didn't know what he was saying because it was necessary that the Christ should suffer, that glory should be delayed. And some of us understandably want only glory. You know, one of the curious things in this text, if we include the last verse of chapter 8 of Luke, is that three times Jesus does something glorious and the disciples tell no one. The disciples tell no one. Haven't you wondered about that? Haven't you scratched your head about that? Why don't they tell? Jairus' daughters raised from the dead, they don't tell. They recognize Jesus is the Christ, they don't tell. They see what happened on the Mount of Transfiguration. They don't tell. It's because people are so attracted to glory that they'll never understand the delay if they're told too much about glory. Jesus worried about the crowds becoming so huge, so insistent when he raised the dead or when he healed the sick that he had to be careful or he couldn't have done his work. We have to be reconciled to glory, delayed, or glory is betrayed. And of course, for some, what they really want is only glory for themselves. That's why I think Herod's in this text. Herod the Tetrarch, Herod the son, the younger son of Herod the Great. Herod the Tetrarch, who built the city of Tiberias in 22. AD, Herod Antipas, who is perplexed about Jesus and wants to see him, but it appears it never entered Herod's mind that Jesus was the Christ. And when at the end of Luke's gospel, Herod does see Jesus, it never enters his mind that he's the Christ. Because Herod only wants glory for himself. He wants to be the center of his own world. And it's to Herod the question comes, and to people like Herod the question comes, what will it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his own soul, his own self. Herod was honored as something of a king. He was a city builder. But in 39 AD, just a few years after the death of Jesus, he was exiled, deposed from his throne and died in exile. He thought he had gained the world and he gained nothing but loss. And so Luke, I think, has spoken to us in our time of frustration and confusion and maybe anger. And he said to us, yes, this is a world full of affliction and difficulty and frustration, but glory's coming. Glory's coming. You've had a glimpse of it this morning in the Word of God. Glory's coming when Jesus returns in glory to make all things new. I watch the news, and so many people are angry. People on the right are angry. People on the left are angry. What are they all angry about? They're angry because things aren't right, because things aren't good, because things aren't perfect. Let me tell you, things will never really be good and never really be right and never really be perfect until Jesus comes again in glory. So let's not be an angry people. Let's be a thankful people. And in being a thankful people, let our light shine as a glimpse of glory in this dark world. And let us be filled with hope and confidence in our Lord Jesus Christ. Because he's coming again, and he'll make all things new. Amen. Let us pray. Well, Lord our God, we thank you for the encouragement of your word. We thank you that that word draws us to Jesus, our Savior. And we pray that in his glory and in his promise and in his saving work, we might have hope in believing. Bless us, we pray in his name. Amen.