The Search For Glory

You and I are searching for glory. It’s what we all want. What would happen if God showed it to you? What if he showed his glory to you…but you totally missed it?

Peter and a few others saw God’s glory in Mark 9 verse 2: After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves to be alone. He was transfigured in front of them, and his clothes became dazzling  —  extremely white as no launderer on earth could whiten them. 

These three disciples get to see something super intense. For years everyone has looked at Jesus and seen a man, just like any other man. But here at this event, Jesus was transfigured in front of them. They were no longer looking at Jesus in his humanity, his flesh. Something else burst through. His clothes became more white than was humanly possible. That language is used all over the Bible to talk about what we’ll be wearing in heaven. In Revelation it says that God the Father and Jesus will be sitting on their throne robed in white, that 24 elders will be seated around them robed in white, that everyone who was killed, who gives their life for Jesus will be around them clothed in white, and then a great multitude from every tongue, tribe, and nation around them, get this, clothed in white. So these disciples are getting to see Jesus in his heavenly clothes. They’re getting a glimpse of the future. 

In Matthew, it also says that Jesus face was shining as the sun. Do you remember back in Exodus when Moses said that he wanted to see God’s glory? Look what Moses said in Exodus 33: Then Moses said, “Please, let me see your glory,” He said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you and I will proclaim the name ‘the Lord’ before you…But he added, “You cannot see my face, for humans cannot see me and live.” So God wedged Moses in this cracked rock and passed by Moses so that his BACK was exposed to Moses. Not his face, his back. And the result was that God’s back glory got all over Moses’ face and when Moses came down the mountain his face was shining, people had to whip out their Ray Bans. Because Moses face was reflecting God’s BACK glory. But here with Jesus, his face isn’t reflecting anything, like Moses’ was. It was producing glory. It was like the sun was inside of Jesus face. Jesus was showing these guys the fullness of his glory here. 

We are just like Moses. We all have this immense, deep desire to see God’s face, talk with him face to face, have a relationship with him. We all want it. Because we used to have it. When man was created, mankind had a relationship with God that was beautiful. We could be in God’s presence, talk with him, look at his face, be loved by him and love him. But we messed it up by turning away from God and sinning, and that relationship totally changed. Now we can’t look at God’s face, or we’ll die, because we have sin. And so now there’s this void, this hole in our lives. The relationship that we once had with God isn’t there anymore, and we’re all trying to find it again. We all are. We’re trying to find it in all kinds of places: relationships, adventure, sex, comfort, food, fame.

That’s why we’re all looking for love. We want to be loved and to love someone, and we think that if we find a wife or husband, that this hole will be filled. When we realize it didn’t work the way we thought, we get divorced or cheat.

It’s why we’re all looking for approval. We want to be accepted and validated, and so we try to find it through advancement at work or acceptance with a group of friends or obsessive exercise. When it doesn’t work, we sink into depression or self-loathing. 

It’s why we’re all looking for security. We want to be secure and feel like we’re ok, so we get a lot of money and buy a house and have a retirement account. When those things don’t keep us secure, we self-medicate to forget. 

We wonder how a someone who has everything they ever tried to get is able to take their own life. It’s because they have all that stuff, and still there’s a void. That void, that emptiness, used to be filled with everything we need. But we ran away from it. We all rebelled, and now that’s why we can’t look at God’s face and live. We can’t see his glory, like we used to, and stay alive anymore. But here, here these guys see Jesus unveiled, the fullness of God’s glory, and they live. This is different. God is giving these guys some amazing grace. Maybe he’s showing us that he’s making a way for us to have it again. 

Look at verse 4: Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s good for us to be here. Let us set up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” — because he did not know what to say, since they were terrified.

Oh Peter. What a dork. He’s watching all this happen, and the heroes of Israel show up. Moses, who turned a river into blood, crushed an Egyptian army, rolls in. Elijah, who called down fire from heaven, right there in front of them. I don’t know who you’re favorite superhero are but if Batman and Thor walked in here right now, I’d geek out a bit, alright. And Peter does. Yo, It’s pretty good that we’re here. Good call Jesus! Can, can I build you guys a tent? Why? Why would he want to do this? I think it’s because he wants a little glory for himself. He’s witnessing God’s glory, but he wants a little credit. If he builds some tents, which were his idea, he can show them off. Look, I was here! See these three tents? I got to hang with three superheroes! It’s why you post pictures on Facebook and Instagram of yourself with a celebrity or looking at some cool thing, you don’t want that thing to get all of your friends’ praise, you want a little too! 

This might be one reason why we’re not transformed when God shows you his glory. We might want glory for ourselves. God shows up and does something amazing, even miraculous in your life, and when people ask you about it you don’t give him credit, you talk about how you made good life decisions. God’s glory isn’t going to change us if we’re always looking for ways to advance ourselves through it. 

Look at verse 7: A cloud appeared, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him! ”  Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

After Peter says his dumb thing, God speaks, and you almost wish he’d say, “Peter you’re a moron.” But he says, “Jesus is the son that I love. Listen to him.” You’re seeing my glorious Son Peter. Listen to what he says. Ok, well what’s Jesus been saying? At the end of chapter 8, just before this, Jesus was teaching his disciples how he was going to suffer, be rejected, be killed, and then be raised from the dead. Peter didn’t want to believe it when Jesus said it. But now God is saying, “This isn’t a crazy man, this isn’t just a prophet, look at his glory! This is my Son! Listen to this thing he’s telling you. It might be exactly what you need. It might fill that void that you’ve been trying to fill. It might give you life and joy. Listen!” 

So look at verse 9: As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept this word to themselves, questioning what “rising from the dead” meant. Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? ” “Elijah does come first and restores all things,” he replied. “Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did whatever they pleased to him, just as it is written about him.”

Alright so these guys know the Old Testament, that the scribes were teaching about this verse in Malachi that Elijah was going to return, and right after that Israel was going to kick everyone’s butt and take over the world. And these disciples are like, “Hey Jesus, we just saw Elijah…so…we about to kick some butts? Is that what you came to do?!? We about to take over all the other nations?!?” 

They just don’t get it. God says listen to my Son, he’s saying he came to suffer. See here’s the other problem sometimes guys, we want glory without grief. The disciples wanted to be glorious, but they didn’t want it the way Jesus was talking about it. They wanted to be mighty, take over everyone, to be rulers! Jesus was talking about dying. He’s saying that glory doesn’t come through power, it comes through weakness. Glory comes through a cross. Yes, glory is coming. Jesus will be like this forever, and so will all those around him, But suffering comes first. 

You see guys, Jesus suffered, was nailed to a cross, and died SO THAT we can experience his glory and be transformed by it. Moses couldn’t see it. Even when Moses saw the burning bush he was terrified. When God’s glory filled the tabernacle the people were scared to death. When Isaiah saw God’s glory in Isaiah 6 it says he fell on his face and screamed “Woe is me!” That literally means he saw God’s glory and yelled “Kill me now!” 

All these people saw what their heart was longing for, and they were terrified and wanted to die. 

You see we have a huge problem. We all desire to see God’s glory and to be connected to him but when we do, when we really do, we see that we are unbelievably sinful, unworthy, and can’t get anywhere near God. Our heart’s deepest longing in life is for God, but because of our sin and brokenness, we’re terrified of him when we see him. That’s why a lot of people are content to call themselves atheists rather than deal with their problem. 

And look we get an example of someone who struggled to see God’s glory here. Look at verse 14: When they [that’s Jesus and the dudes who saw his transfiguration] came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing with them. When the whole crowd saw him, they were amazed and ran to greet him. He asked them, “What are you arguing with them about? ” Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you. He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”

So while this small group was up the mountain, the other disciples have been trying to cast this demon out of this boy, but they couldn’t do it. I don’t know exactly what they’re trying, but Jesus makes it pretty clear that they’re really messing this up. 

Look what he says in verse 19: He replied to them, “You unbelieving generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me.”

They’re trying to cast out this demon without faith. They are an unbelieving generation. Later, what Jesus is going to say is that they’re trying to do this miracle without praying. They’re not asking God for help at all. They’re trying to do it in their own power. They’re pursuing their own glory, just like Peter was on the mountain. They’ve seen Jesus do all these miracles, seen all the crowds come to him, and they want in on that action. They didn’t want to pray and ask God to do it, they want to do it on their own. 

And Jesus is fired up. He says bring him to me. Me writing letters. Heejung, bring it to me. 

So look at verse 20: So they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, it immediately threw the boy into convulsions. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. “How long has this been happening to him? ” Jesus asked his father. “From childhood,” he said. “And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’? Everything is possible for the one who believes.”

This is a man who doesn’t believe. Because he’s rolling up to Jesus and saying, “Hey man, if you can do something, I’m not sure if you can, but if you can, please do it.” That’s not faith. That’s rolling the dice. And Jesus calls it out. “There’s no if you can. EVERYTHING is possible if you believe.” 

Now, That’s a cute saying. It’s been put on a lot of shirts and mugs and facebook statuses. But what does that mean? What are we supposed to believe in? Believe in yourself? That’s what a lot of people are telling us to do. Every movie or tv show, the entire Disney corporation, everybody’s telling us to believe in ourselves. Is that what Jesus is saying? 

No, it’s what happened on the mountain. If you believe that Jesus is God. If you believe that he came to meet your greatest need. If you believe that everything that you’re searching for in life is made possible because of what Jesus did on the cross, THEN everything is possible. Everything. You can see the glory of God and not die. You can be forgiven of your sins, your rebellion, of trying to find life and joy and hope in everything else but Jesus, and you can have the relationship with God that your soul longs for. 

So the father says in verse 24: Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief! ”

This is amazing. Just amazing. He says, “I, I think I believe, but I don’t know if I believe all the way. I’ll be honest with you Jesus. I’m struggling here. I can’t even figure out how to believe correctly. So you’ve got to help me. Help me when my unbelief.” This man saw his weakness and confessed it to Jesus, and look what Jesus did in verse 25: When Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you: Come out of him and never enter him again.” Then it came out, shrieking and throwing him into terrible convulsions. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up. After he had gone into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out? ” And he told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer.”

Jesus shows this broken man his glory. His disciples don’t understand why they couldn’t cast this demon out, and Jesus says it’s because you can only cast this one out by prayer. The kind of prayer that the dad just prayed. God I’m weak, but you’re strong. Help me in my weakness. Guys if you want to see God’s glory in your life, if you want to see the shining face of Jesus and not be terrified, you don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to clean yourself up and be righteous. You don’t have to follow all the rules. You have to be helpless. You have to be weak.

We usually think that God will bless us as soon as we have enough faith and clean ourselves up. Get our act together. Get the sin out of your life, THEN God will bless and love you. But that’s not faith in Jesus. That’s faith in ourselves. If we do enough, God will do something for us. That’s trying to earn God’s glory in your life. But the dad confessed that he’s helpless. He admitted that he hasn’t conquered his own sin. And that’s when God’s glory shows up in this guy’s life. 

We can’t have God’s glory without grief. We can’t have what our heart longs for without admitting that we don’t deserve it and we can’t earn it.

You are searching for glory. Are you finding it in Jesus?