Mark 9:2-13 (ESV)

2 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. 11 And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 12 And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”

Intro: When have you been drawn to power? Or repelled by it?

WHAT JUST HAPPENED??
What is the Bible’s view of glory?

OUR TRICKY RELATIONSHIP WITH GLORY
How did Jesus work against our twisted expectations?To fallen creatures like us, how is glory troubling?

LIVING WATER & THE FATHER’S VOICE
What is the interpretive key to Jesus’ glory?

YOU CAN PRAY WITH US …
1 - Worship the LORD for His surpassing glory — His beauty, majesty and worth. Praise Him, Father, Son and Holy Spirit for His sheer greatness in comparison to anyone else or anything else.

2 - How have you lived blind and numb to God’s glory? Confess your pride and willfulness to Jesus, asking Him to forgive you and to give you eyes to see and ears to hear that you would respond to Him as you should.

3 - Give thanks to Jesus for His glory to die — for doing His greatest work by His greatest shame. Thank Him for atoning for your sin and for His glory in His resurrection, victorious over sin, Satan, death and hell!

4 - Who do you know that is clueless to Jesus’ true worth? Pray for them, asking the Lord to help them to grasp 1) their own need for God, and 2) Jesus’ surpassing worth in comparison to what they have been trusting.

5 - Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a true sense of God’s glory. Read Romans 6:4 and pray that “just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”