WATCH CHAPEL VIA LIVESTREAM AT 10 A.M. EACH WEEKDAY cedarville.edu/chapellive facebook.com/cedarville/live youtube.com/cedarvilleuniversity GOD MADE VISIBLE The following is an excerpt from an April 3, 2024, chapel presentation by Carl Trueman. Listen to his full message at cedarville.edu/TruemanApril2024. Christians must not be focused upon the things of this world. We are to be heavenly minded, as Paul calls us to be so. And yet, I think that leads to another interesting question. What does heaven look like? And that is where the transfiguration is so important. The transfiguration of Jesus Christ gives us a glimpse here and now of what heaven will be like. The context and language of the transfiguration tells us that Jesus is somebody of great significance. Mark doesn't put many details into his Gospel. Mark does not waste time on information that has no deep, profound significance to it. And here, what details do we get that weren’t necessary at first reading? Well, we have the timing. We're told that this takes place after six days. Six days speaks to us of creation. After six days, on the seventh day, God rested. Secondly, he gives us the location. They go up a mountain. Big things happen at the top of mountains in the Bible. Here I think Mark is alerting us: Something big is going to happen. Then there’s the language that's used: transfigure. Paul will use this word elsewhere when he's talking about the transformation of the believer. Something profound is happening to Jesus at this point. He is being utterly transformed before their eyes. All of this sets the stage for us to understand that this event is not just one event among many in Jesus's ministry. It brings something unique to the table. Second point: the light of the transfiguration reveals who Jesus is in terms of His person. This is a glorious, divine picture that is being painted before us. I think this passage points us to the fact that in Christ, God is made visible. There's nothing more basic in some ways than the biblical teaching about God on His invisibility. God is pure light, the most intense kind of light. There is no way that any mortal being can look directly at God. And yet here, the invisible is made visible. The transfiguration reveals Jesus as God as the light shines through His flesh. The third point is that the companions of the transfiguration reveal who He is in terms of His work. Moses and Elijah represent the law and the prophets. Here, their presence with Jesus tells us that He is the fulfillment of that to which they point. And then we have God the Father. God the Father speaks as He did at the baptism. “This is my beloved son. Listen to him.” In Genesis 22, Isaac is referred to as Abraham's beloved son. Genesis 22 is fulfilled on the cross at Calvary. So we have hints here of the final shape of Christ's mission. What is revealed on the mountain will find its culmination in the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many mysteries about what heaven will look like, but we know one thing for certain: it will involve the exalted humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, revealing Him as God. And that's what happens here. The glimpse the disciples get here, I would suggest, is a glimpse of heaven itself. We will see and know God in eternity through the incarnate flesh of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Focus upon Christ who dwells above and long for that day when you will not only know that Christ is God, but you will see that He is God for all eternity as well. Carl Trueman is a professor of biblical and religious studies at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania. 31
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