The text for our meditation on God’s Holy Word is the Gospel lesson appointed for the Transfiguration of our Lord Sunday. I bring you grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
In our confirmation class we have just started the section on the Lord’s Prayer and if you can remember back to when you were taking confirmation instruction or helping your kids with their memory work you know that with each petition to the Lord’s Prayer there are two questions: “What does this mean”? and “How is this done”? Repeat.
Those are also good questions to ask when it comes to the transfiguration of our Lord-- but they are difficult questions to answer if we don’t consider the context for this important even in our Lord’s life—so that is what we are going to do first.
Luke begins his account of the transfiguration by saying that it occurred about eight days after these sayings. But what sayings are those? Looking back at what immediately precedes our Lord’s transfiguration, we hear Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ. We hear Jesus explain just exactly what this means: that he will be rejected by his own people, die upon a cross and rise again three days later. And then Jesus goes on to tell his disciples that they too will have a share in his suffering-- but if they will remain faithful to his Word, they will see the glory of God and have a place in his kingdom.
Those are the sayings of Jesus that were spoken before the Transfiguration and they form a nice little summary of the Christian faith and life: trust in Jesus as the Savior of the world—a life of discipleship following him as Lord-- and a future with God.
What the transfiguration does then is show that the one who speaks these words has the right to expect our faith and obedience and is more than able to keep all of the promises he makes to those who follow him. Luke writes:
Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white…and they saw his glory
Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Christ of God—the heaven sent Messiah—was a pivotal moment in our Lord’s earthly ministry and a high point in Peter’s life and the church remembers this event each year in the liturgical calendar. But what did Peter mean when he confessed that Jesus was the Christ?
We know that many, if not most, of the Israelites of that day were expecting an earthly deliverer—someone who would restore the fortunes of Israel—a national hero like Joshua who led the people to the Promised Land or David who ruled a mighty kingdom.
But who Jesus really was and what he had come to do was even more than these great heroes of the past and Jesus revealed the truth slowly—piece by piece.
He turned water into wine. He drove out demons and healed the sick. He fed the multitudes and calms the stormy seas. And last week we saw Peter’s own “aha moment” when we realized for the first time who this Jesus of Nazareth really is: that he is God in human flesh and Peter knowing his own sins, draws back in fear.
Peter’s judgment about the identity of Jesus is confirmed on the Mount of Transfiguration. The uncreated Light and glory of God himself shines through the veil of human flesh that hid the divinity of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity behind the face of a carpenter.
This then is who it is that will be rejected by his own people—this then is who it is that will lay down his life on a cross—this then is who it is that will rise again: it is the Lord-- who has come to the aid of his people-- and that makes all the difference in the world when it comes to how we spend our life and where we spend eternity. Let me explain why it is so important that we get this right.
Virtually every person in the world recognizes that a person names Jesus of Nazareth once lived here on earth. Everyone regards him as decent and good and kind and what human beings ought to be. The world’s religions all respect him. But it is only in the Christian church that he is confessed to be—who he reveals himself to be—and that is God in human flesh.
God in human flesh: 1. That is why the rejection by his own people-- and by so many today is a matter of eternal consequence—2. that is why we be confident that his death on the cross really has atoned for the sins of the whole including those sins that trouble us—3. that is why we can be certain that death is not the end for us—because it had been conquered for us by the Author of Life who rose from the grave.
His identity as revealed on the Mount of Transfiguration (God in human flesh) is the lens through which we view his saving work-- and his call to discipleship-- and his promise of another life to come. Luke writes that:
Two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
What was so important that the veil that separates heaven and earth was pulled back so that Moses and Elijah—departed from earthly life for centuries—could be there with Jesus that day on the Mount of Transfiguration? What was so important? They came to talk to Jesus about his departure—in the original language: his exodus. His exodus. For those who know their Bible history this word is loaded with meaning.
1500 years before this moment, God’s own people the Israelites were slaves in Egypt—living painful lives of sorrow and hopelessness and knowing that nothing better waited for their children either.
But God saw their great need—he saw that they were powerless to help themselves—and he had mercy on them and sent Moses to be their deliverer and bring them to freedom. Taking refuge from the angel of death under the shed blood of a lamb, by the power and might of the outstretched arm of Almighty God, Moses led them to freedom and they witnessed the complete destruction of their enemies. That’s the exodus.
What God did for the people of Israel in 1500 B.C. he was about to do for the world in 30 A.D. as Jesus Christ, in his death and resurrection, would lead us out of slavery to sin and death and take us into the Promised Land of: life with God here on earth and forever in heaven. That’s why Moses and Elijah were there! That was the exodus he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem—God’s plan of salvation from before the foundations of the earth—witnessed to by the Law and the prophets.
Of course Moses and Elijah were there—for the promise of God they proclaimed: the reconciliation of God and man--was about to be fulfilled. Luke writes that:
As the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
Poor old Peter has been getting grief from preachers for the last two thousand years—“there he goes again, letting his mouth run ahead of his mind”—“how ridiculous to think that tents on earth were suitable for the Lord and the saints of heaven”—and on it goes.
But I’ll tell you the truth—Peter is absolutely right in what he desires—to remain in the presence of the Lord and his saints—certainly a lot more right than all of the sinful, earthly things that we so often desire. His desire was right and good and God-pleasing—it’s just that his timing is a little bit wrong.
Peter had this same trouble the week before the transfiguration as well and it’s not because he’s bad—it’s because he’s human.
Earlier, when he confesses that Jesus is the Christ and then is told what this means—that it means suffering and death—he tries to correct the Lord-- but is himself strongly rebuked.
The glorious light of the Lord’s presence for eternity is the absolute promise that Jesus makes to all who would trust in him as Lord and Savior. But that journey to heaven goes through the cross—it did for Jesus and it does for his people—there is no way of escaping it. The Bible says that it is only through much tribulation that we enter into the kingdom of God. Peter had to be reminded of that and we do too.
We need to remember that because there are all kinds of false prophets who want us to believe that God wants to give us our best life here on earth and that the life of the Christian is nothing but health and wealth. But we also need to remember it because our own sinful flesh wants us to believe it—and we kick and scream and moan and groan when life doesn’t work out that way.
But Jesus and the apostles never sugar-coat what the life of a disciple is really like—that each of us are called to take up our cross and follow Jesus-- and that it profits us nothing to gain the world and lose our souls.
That said, the Transfiguration of our Lord is a wonderful confirmation that the promise that Jesus makes to all who follow him about seeing the glory of God and having a part in his kingdom and enjoying life everlasting—is absolutely true --and something that we can look forward to and comfort ourselves with as we follow Jesus in this life. And until that day, we have his Word to guide us and strengthen us each step on the way of the cross. Luke writes:
A voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
One of those sayings of Jesus before the Transfiguration that Luke mentions concerned the importance of Jesus’ Word. Jesus said that if anyone was ashamed of his Words, the Son of man would be ashamed of him on the Last Day. On the Mount of Transfiguration we hear the voice of God himself speaking to the world and directing them to listen to his Son. Faithfulness to the word of Christ is the mark of a disciples of Jesus Christ.
Perhaps we think we don’t need this warning—that simply by being members of a congregation that affirms the inspiration and inerrancy of the Word of God that we have somehow met God’s expectations. But while it is vitally important to be a member of a Bible-believing congregation-- the command of God to listen to Jesus and honor his Word with our lives and in our lives-- is given to each of us individually and personally.
His Word—must be the final Word—in our lives—unashamedly—unapologetically—unreservedly--which is easy enough to do sitting here in church with our fellow Christians but when we go out back out into the world-- as we all must do—how much more difficult this becomes. The words of Jesus about marriage and priorities and values and how we are to treat our enemies become much more difficult to follow and much more easy to simply ignore because they are so different than what we hear and see all around us in the world.
But if there is anything that we learn on the Mount of Transfiguration it is that the One who speaks authoritatively and says “my words are truth” and the One who speaks from the majestic glory and says “listen to my Son” cannot and must not be ignored-- for the words he speaks are the dividing line between life and death—promising judgment to those who are ashamed of him-- but the kingdom of heaven itself to those who believe what he says.
Peter, James, and John saw how true that was on the Mount of Transfiguration and bear witness of that Good News to us: that Jesus would lead a people from slavery to freedom in a land of their own—that death was not the end for those who trusted in him—but that life in the very presence of God was promised for all who follow Jesus. May the truth of the Transfiguration grant us the same faith and a place in God’s kingdom! Amen.
And now may the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
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