Transfiguration of Our Lord (2023)

The glory of the transfiguration is a preface to the glory of the cross.

Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and from our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today is a bridge between the Epiphany season, and the season of Lent.

Epiphany began with our Lord’s Baptism and the voice of the Father, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Today, we heard that same voice again, except with this addition — “Listen to Him!”. And the season of Lent — which begins Wednesday — comes to a climax with the Father’s beloved Son, going to the cross for the sins of the world.

But today we are standing on this bridge called The Festival of the Transfiguration. Jesus is on the mountain, and the glory of his divine nature is literally radiating through his human flesh. Of all the manifestations of his glory, this is the chief, but even here, when Jesus is surrounded by the cloud of light and in the council of Moses and Elijah, his cross is in view. Lent is around the corner; Jesus, the God-man, is the Suffering Servant. From the height of the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus has a clear view of Calvary, his goal.

The Epistle lesson from 2 Peter 1 is very important. Peter not only gives his eyewitness of the transfiguration; he also expounds on the theological significance of Jesus’ conversation with Moses and Elijah: “we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed” (2 Pt 1:19).

The Psalm, Psalm 2, is also important. It is a conversation between God the Father and God the Son. The Father confesses for us the eternal begottenness of the Son (Ps 2:7). As the rulers of the world plot together to unbind themselves from the Ten Commandments, the Father and the Son laugh, knowing that Jesus, the Messiah and the King, will be enthroned in Jerusalem. His enthronement is his cross.

In the Old Testament Reading, Moses, together with Aaron, his two sons (Nadab and Abihu), and the seventy elders of Israel, eat with God. Moses and Joshua then travel to the top of the mountain where, transfiguration-like, covered in the cloud of the Lord’s glory, Moses receives the two tablets of the Ten Commandments and the instructions for worship. It is stunning to think that in the transfiguration Moses has to travel to earth to meet with God and talk with his Lord Jesus!

The transfiguration of Jesus is an astonishing account with a lot of moving parts. There is Jesus radiating with divine glory. There are Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus about his departure — his crucifixion. There are the cloud of God’s glory and the voice from heaven. There are treasures in each and every one of the things that the Holy Spirit has put before us today. But for our comfort, we will consider how it was with the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration, and how Jesus was comforting them in the tribulation because

The Glory of the Transfiguration Is a Preface to the Glory of the Cross.

The disciples building tents—all for glory, not for a cross (Matt 17:1-4)

The disciples start out sleeping, but the transfiguration wakes them up (Lk 9:32).

They see Jesus in his glory, they hear the conversation Jesus is having with Moses and Elijah, and they want to keep that going.

Jesus was talking with Moses and Elijah about his going to Jerusalem to die (Lk 9:31).

Peter, though, wanted to stay right there on the mountain. He wanted to capture the glory with tents. He wanted to keep Moses and Elijah here by making homes for them.

We have this temptation to be like Peter. We like the glory of God, the power of God, the strength of God, especially when we think it will make things better for us.

We like the shining Jesus, and we want to hang-on to it. Like meeting a known celebrity. I’ll never forget the day I met Congressman Darrell Issa. I’ve seen him several times on the National News, but this time he was attending the funeral service for one of the sailors killed on the USS Fitzgerald. It was July 7, 2017. I was serving as Chaplain, and was surprised to see him at the National Cemetery where the sailor was laid to rest. The Admiral of the Pacific Fleet was in attendance as well. It was one of those times when you didn’t want to time and conversations to end. Like Peter, we want to hang-on to those times. The time came for handshakes and good-byes, because we had business to attend to.

And Jesus had business to attend to. We need the bleeding Jesus to be saved. Suffering must come first, and then glory, as Jesus preached to the disciples on the road to Emmaus: “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Lk 24:26).

We need the forgiveness of our sins before we are ready to live in God’s glory.

The disciples on their faces, afraid—that’s what glory without a cross will do to you (Matt. 17:5-6)!

God the Father’s voice is a rebuke to Peter.

Peter had his own ideas about how everything should be, but the voice from the cloud says, “Listen to Jesus.”

In particular, listen to what Jesus said just the other day—in the previous chapter of Matthew—the saying Peter rebuked—that Jesus “must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (16:21).

This suddenly puts Peter, James, and John into their right minds . . . which is being afraid!

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10) and the first part of repentance.

The disciples realize that they, in fact, need more than the glory of Jesus revealed in the transfiguration.

This glory does not save them.

As much as we may wish for a glory-train Jesus, we could never stand with a God like that.

Too many sins. When we live in fear instead of faith. When we pay more attention to what other people say, instead of what God has already said. When we break the Third Commandment and do not remember the Sabbath Day. Instead, we replace it with seeking worldly pleasures. Or, men, when we look at a woman and lust starts to fill our heart. Need I go on?

Too many ways we’ve fallen flat on our faces, . . . which means too many reasons to fall on our faces in terror before the holy God.

The disciples standing with Jesus, unafraid—for the true glory of the cross is now ahead (Matt. 17:7-9).

Jesus touches the disciples and commands them to stand and not to be afraid.

In a moment, all the glory is gone. Moses and Elijah are gone. The cloud is gone. The brightness shining from the face of Jesus is gone. And this is for their comfort.

It is Jesus in his humility that saves and comforts us.

From this moment forward, Jesus sets his face to go to Jerusalem, where his glory will be revealed again in his death and resurrection.

The glory of the transfiguration shows us who Jesus is, that he is God in our flesh. We see his power.

The glory of the transfiguration demonstrates to us, as St. Peter said in our epistle reading, that the Word of God is 100% reliable.

Luther illustrates that the transfiguration is proof-positive of the resurrection on the last day. Peter, James, and John see Moses and Elijah alive, which means all those who died in the faith are alive too.

But the terrible humiliation of the cross is Jesus’ true glory, because there he is our Savior. When he is lifted up on the cross, we see his great love.

Now we can look forward to sharing in Christ’s glory, for his great love in the cross has purified us from sin that so terrorizes us before God.

Jesus has purified our sin of allowing fear to control you instead of faith. He has purified you for those times when you’ve listened to what others have said, instead of what God has already said. When we treat the Sabbath Day as a day off, or worse, as optional, He purifies all who confess their sin, even for the lustful thoughts we’ve entertained. Because of Jesus, all your sins are forgiven; in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

We might think of the transfiguration as the “high point” of Jesus’ ministry, but it is only a vantage point from which Jesus can see clearly where he is going. From the height of the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus sees Jerusalem. From the glory of the transfiguration, Jesus sees the humiliation of his death on the cross. From the splendor of the transfiguration, Jesus sees the sorrow to come, and in the midst of that sorrow he sees you, your forgiveness, and your salvation.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And now, may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.