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Welcome to our study through Matthew chapter 17, day two of our study. Yesterday
we began the chapter with looking at this mountaintop experience that Jesus and
the disciples and then Moses and Elijah show up have at the Mount of
Transfiguration. And as I said yesterday, the number one lesson, it's the lesson
that God gives on this mountaintop is keep your focus on Jesus.

You see that in the Mount of Transfiguration in the appearance of Jesus and in
the assurance of Jesus. Let's look at both of those. First, the appearance of
Jesus.

Jesus' face. He's the one who had his face shining as bright as the sun, whose
clothes were as white as the light. Everything about this experience says Jesus.

It's like this neon light flashing, this brightness of the sun. Don't miss
Jesus. He is the one to look at here.

Now I want to be very careful to let you know that Jesus didn't change his
nature here. He just showed his nature. The glory of who God is shown through
Jesus in this moment.

There is a false teaching that's been there for thousands of years actually that
somehow Jesus became God on this mountaintop. He wasn't God until this moment.
That's a total false teaching.

That's nothing to do with the New Testament. The New Testament teaches us that
Jesus became God and became flesh in his birth, in the very moment he was born.
That's not what's happening here, him becoming God.

He's just showing the glory of God. The disciples get a glimpse of God's glory
here in Jesus. Jesus, God in man, God in human flesh.

This is Jesus, and that's who we focus on. They see it even in the appearance of
Jesus. Don't miss focusing on him.

But they also see it in the assurance of Jesus. Again, in verses 8 and 9, we
looked at this yesterday. Jesus came and after God had spoken to them, and then
they're on their faces in fear, Jesus comes and he touches them.

"Get up," he says. "Don't be afraid. " And when they looked up, they saw no one
except Jesus.

What an experience with the person of God they have here. God the Father
envelops them. They hear his voice.

His voice terrifies them. And then God the Son touches them and says, "Don't be
afraid. " And they hear his voice and that voice assures them.

They're cowering in fear of God. Jesus touches them and it changes everything.
Jesus' voice changes everything.

And they saw Jesus alone. If you've been afraid of God in your life, this mount
of transfiguration experience is one that you need. Yes, God is powerful.

God is all-powerful. Yes, God's voice and God's actions can be frightening to us
sometimes. You need the assurance of Jesus' touch in your life.

Here, the transfigured Jesus transformed their hearts with a touch. You need
that to happen in your life. You need the transfigured Jesus to transform your
heart with a touch, the touch of his love.

Jesus removes the fear of God because he explains to us who God is, that he is a
loving and forgiving God. Yes, he is all-powerful, but in his powerful nature,
he is loving in person and he is forgiving in person. God wants to touch your
life.

He wants to touch our lives. It is Jesus who helps us to see that that is
possible. Not loud voices from the sky, but the touch of Jesus.

Now, I want you to see what happened in this experience to remind you that the
focus is on Jesus. Two things to remember that happen on this mountain as you
focus on Jesus. God the Father says, "Listen to him.

" Here's Moses representing the law. Here's Elijah representing the prophets.
God says, "Listen to him because he is the fulfillment of the law.

" He's the fulfillment of the prophets. Don't miss what Jesus has to say and
they look up and no one is left except Jesus. When it comes to focusing on
Jesus, that's a moment I need, you need, we all need in our lives.

The circumstances start to press in on us. Doubts start to press in on us. We
need to get in a place where we can be with him and look and have no one left
except Jesus.

Focus on him because that is where the hope is. That's where the relationship
is. That's where the joy is in your relationship with him.

So the disciples have this experience on the mountain. They learn that there's
no one except Jesus to look at, to focus on him. And then they start to come
down from the mountain and walking down from the mountain they have some
questions.

In verse 9, "As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus instructed them,
'Don't tell anyone what you've seen until the Son of Man has been raised from
the dead. ' The disciples asked him, 'Why then do the teachers of the law say
that Elijah must come first? ' Jesus replied, 'To be sure Elijah comes and will
restore all things, but I tell you Elijah has already come.

' And they did not recognize him, but they've done to him everything that they
wished. In the same way, the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands. ' And
then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the
Baptist.

They're walking down from the mountain. Jesus says, 'Don't tell anyone. ' By the
way, this is the number one question as I've had our research team go through
the book of Matthew.

The number one question is why does Jesus keep saying, 'Don't tell anyone. ' And
you might remember a couple of weeks ago we talked about this, so that he would
have time to fulfill his ministry before he went to the cross. If he had people
tell earlier, the Pharisees might have acted earlier, so he needed time to
fulfill his ministry.

It's also an example of the patient ministry of God, the patient ministry of
Jesus. He didn't rush to the cross. He ministered to people on his way to the
cross, and it's a fulfillment of prophecy that he waited until just the right
time.

We have questions about why he waited, but the disciples also had a question
that day, and their question is about Elijah. Now look, this is interesting.
Jesus says to them, 'Don't tell anyone until I have been raised from the dead.

' They don't ask a question about 'raised from the dead. ' What does that mean?
Because they're thinking about what still happened on that mountain.

Sometimes we get stuck on a question, and we can't hear what God is saying. So
they're thinking about what happened on the mountain. They saw Elijah.

Didn't I remember there's something about Elijah having to come first? And so
they ask about Elijah, and Jesus tells them the answer. He says John the Baptist
fulfilled that role.

They had expected that Elijah was going to come back just like he had on the
mountain, some transfigured way, and that he would be the forerunner, the leader
of the Messiah coming in, but God had chosen to send John the Baptist in what
Jesus in another place called the spirit and power of Elijah, and through that
there would be the forerunner, the one who came first. What I want to say about
this is it didn't happen as the disciples expected, and because it didn't happen
as they expected, they had questions, and because they had questions, they
missed what God was doing right now. How often has that happened in my life?

Too many times. How often has that happened in your life? God doesn't work as
you expected, and so you have questions about how he's working, and so you miss
what he's doing right now.

Do not let the fact that God often does not do things as you expect to divert
your focus from Jesus. Questions are good. Questions should be asked, and God
has answers, but sometimes our questions reveal our expectations, and the truth
is we all have to deal with disappointment that God did not do it as I expected,
and God expects us to talk to him about that and to work through that, but if
you get stuck in that place, you're not going to be able to see what God wants
to do now in your life.

When we talk about focusing on Jesus, sometimes we have to focus on Jesus even
through the disappointments. Something you did not get to do. Some ministry that
was not opened up to you.

Some relationship that didn't work out. Life didn't work out as you expected.
Ministry didn't work out as you expected.

So what do you do? You focus on Jesus, because the questions you have about why
that didn't happen or why that should have happened, those might get answered on
this earth. Those may never get answered on this earth, but you can focus on
Jesus and see that he has a plan for your life right now.

So let's take a minute to get our focus on him together. So would you pray with
me? Jesus, we focus on you.

We don't want our disappointments to run our lives, to rule our lives. We don't
want our questions about those disappointments to rule our lives. We know that
you care about us.

We know that you'll listen to our questions. You'll answer those questions when
you can. But Lord, we know that those questions are not your plan for the next
step in our lives.

And so Lord, help us to get our eyes on what you have next. Just like the
disciples needed to get their eyes on the fact that there was a resurrection
coming. Help us to get our eyes on the fact that you have a plan for our lives.

You have a direction for our lives. Jesus, help us to keep the focus on you. We
pray in your name.

Amen. Join us tomorrow. We're going to look at what happens when you come down
from the mountaintop.