Transfiguration Was the Ultimate Epiphany Moment (Transfiguration)

 An Epiphany moment is when we see something in a dramatic new way. In this case Peter, James and John see Jesus with his body and cloths changed in a dramatic, visible way; talking to Elijah and Moses (Mark 9.2-13). This is not a dream. There are three very awake and frightened witnesses. The witnesses are having the epiphany moment of their lives. They are seeing Jesus as part of the invisible spiritual dimension of the Bible. This is a glimpse of the heavenly kingdom in intruding into our physical world.

 

1. We have trouble with the supernatural in the Biblical 

• We have been raised in a culture based on science and reason
• Liberalism in the Enlightenment rejected the supernatural as Biblical myths
• Anglican Church theology based on authority of Scripture, Tradition and                                        reason rejected latersupernatural experience
• Led to depending on flawed human reason as the authority for truth, social chaos Nietzsche warned about and totalitarian leadership we are seeing in our time. (What my new book Recovering Truth, Freedom, and Democracy: Challenging Woke Totalitarianism is about)
• Extreme liberalism has Christianity to a philosophy without a divine Jesus, Holy Spirit, Satan, sin and a need for forgiveness and hope for eternal life
• Healing Ministry gives us ‘observable and repeatable evidence of the supernatural dimension
• Examples - spirit of cancer, deliverance from trauma (tricycle)

2.   God says: “This is my Son, whom I love, listen to Him” (Mark 9.7)

• There is nothing vague here - Jesus is very, very special
• Jesus has a special authority as the Divine Son of God
• Secondly, we are told God loves Jesus. 
• God desires to have a love relationship with His creation. 
• The love of God, requires a response of love. 
• The expected response is - we are to behave like Jesus
• Why we are called “Christians” - not “Goodians” or “Niceians”. 

3. So why don’t people listen to Jesus?

• Apostle Paul tells us that the reason people do not listen is that “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers...” (2 Corinthians 4.4). 
• Who or what is the ‘god of this age’ - money, sex, popularity’, ‘power’ or is it our all “all about me” approach to life?
• but there is something more 

3. The Biblical worldview reveals a different ‘god of this age’

• The Bible tells us that we are not alone in this world
• The world is not a neutral place or a ‘level playing field’ where all problems can be solved by dialogue and education
• The Bible tells us that we have a spiritual enemy – Satan
• Satan is a fallen angel who rebelled against God and is now totally devoted to the destruction of God’s Creation. 
• Satan first tempts us to take our eyes off Jesus and very gradually distracts us ever so slowly from listening to Jesus. 
• When we do give in to distractions, he accuses us of failure
• You could put a positive spin on it and think of Satan as God’s helper in testing humans. 
• This is the supernatural worldview of the Bible that modern people find hard to believe without personal experience 

Our spiritual life is a series of Epiphany moment experiences

·     Epiphany moments open our spiritual eyes and challenge us, like Peter, James and John, to grow and change in our thinking