Transfiguration of Jesus

Transfiguration Sunday Year B| | 2.11.18

This is the Sunday in the church season known as Transfiguration Sunday. It’s the culmination of Epiphany, which has of it’s many themes Jesus as the light shining in the darkness. You might remember that 6 weeks ago we began Epiphany with the inauguration of Jesus public ministry which was his baptism. And now we come to really the climax of Jesus appearing which is the transfiguration. Jesus reveals his glory to Peter, James and John.

This is many ways for the disciples will begin a new part of their journey with Jesus, the journey to the cross. Right before this event Jesus tells his disciples about his death and resurrection and he says: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever will loses his life for my sake will find it. We’ll look more closely at this passage in 2 weeks.

Up until this point in Jesus ministry he hasn’t spoken much about his death and his journey to the cross but now he is and in the transfiguration he is really preparing them for them to head into Jerusalem and for Jesus to go to the cross. But before that, Jesus brings Peter, James and John up this mountain.

Read Mark 9:2-9

This week began one of the great interruptions winter doldrums: the winter Olympics. It’s the only when I’ll say sure: sure I’ll watch curling, or get really into short track speed skating. But of course part of the fun of the Olympics is learning the athletes’ stories who for the most part live in relative obscurity until their event and their great moment. And time and time again you will hear: they are chasing Olympic Glory. They are going for the gold.

And of course the best stories involve some major setback or crisis and the moment when no one thought they would make it and now low and behold here they are, chasing glory.

And one of the reasons I think it resonates with us is because it’s pictures what we are all after. We are all chasing glory. It’s not the glory of Olympic Gold. But we want to shine and we want to be recognized and be lauded for what we do, for who we are, whether in our relationships, our careers, in school for our achievements… we want glory for the hard work. We want to know that we matter than our lives matter.

Now what the Bible says all throughout is that we are made in God’s image and so the desire to be glorious is part of what it means to be made after God’s image. But so often it’s the way we go about striving for that glory the places we look for glory that are so misguided and ill conceived and dangerous to our selves.

But here in this passage, Jesus is inviting these three into glory. And I want to explore how he does that and what it means for us. See this passage gives us the promise of Glory and the path to Glory.

The promise of Glory

Now what is happening in this passage is Jesus revealing his glory to Peter, James and John. They go up this high mountain and in v3: He was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.

And now up on this mountain they not only see Jesus but lo and behold they see Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

Why Moses and Elijah? If you are familiar with the OT, then you know they are the greatest representatives of two key periods in Israel’s history. Moses led the people of Israel out of captivity to Mt. Sinai where he met God and received the Law for God’s people. Scripture says that when Moses came down the mountain with the 10 Commandments his faced glowed from being in God’s presence and the people asked him to veil his face. Moses was unique in all of Scripture and was revered as the great Law Giver.

What about Elijah? He is one of the most colorful and entertaining characters in the Bible (and that’s saying a lot). He, too, ascended a mountain to do the work of God. He boldly challenged the priests of Baal, the local deity responsible for lightning and rain, to a duel on Mt. Carmel..

Elijah in 2Kings 2 is taken up into glory leaving behind Elisha. Needless to say, Elijah became a prominent figure in Israel’s history. And the later prophets would promise that Elijah would come again during the messianic age. That’s why so many guessed that Jesus was Elijah when he shows up on the scene.

So here you have the great law giver and the great prophet talking with Jesus. But Jesus is not their peer. He’s the one who is transfigured and shining.. He alone was the anointed one who would establish a kingdom of justice and peace. This is a King worthy of trust and confidence. He is Supreme over all of creation…and he is glorious. And that’s why this voice comes out and says: This is my beloved Son; listen to him.

But it’s not just the glory of Jesus that is being revealed up on this mountain, Peter, James and John are getting a glimpse and promise of their glory.

What’s being revealed here isn’t just Jesus’ divinity, but his humanity and the nature of true humanity. Remember, God created human beings in his image so that we might reflect who he is. And Scripture says that God is light so it’s no surprise that anyone who spends time in God’s presence reflects that light. Moses glowed when he came down from Sinai, not because he was divine, but because he had been with God.

In the NT, as Stephen was being stoned, the heavens opened and God’s glory shined on him. Jesus didn’t just come to reveal God, he came to reveal who we were created to be in him.

This is our passage in 2 Cor3: listen again to v. 6: For God, who said, “Let light sine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”. We reflect this light and glory of God.

See James, Peter and John are witnessing the glory of Jesus but they are getting a glimpse at a redeemed humanity. This is what they will look like after following Jesus.

Now what I find utterly fascinating about this passage other than the Moses and Elijah…Jesus transfigured. All of that of course, but the fact like this seems like such a lost opportunity. Because only 3 people saw it. Peter, James, and John…that’s it. This feels like poor planning? Why not get the crowds why not bring everyone up the mountain? The 2018 version of an event like this, is everyone with cell phones out, liking it and posting it.

Jesus is preparing them for the rest of their journey together. He wants them to see and behold his glory and see the promise of their own, so that they will listen to him and trust him. Because they do not stay on this mountain. Peter of course wants to stay but they must come down and as they do they start their journey to Jerusalem, they need to be captivated by the glory of Jesus, and see the promise of their own glory.

God’s mission is to redeem the world and that means he is going to make all things glorious. He has come so that the light will shine in the darkness, the light will overcome the darkness. In other words his mission is get you to shine like Jesus on this mountain. That is where he is taking the world.

The path to glory

But remember we said that we are right in the middle of Jesus ministry. This isn’t where it ends. And in many ways the ministry of Jesus and the disciples is just beginning.

And you see that in v. 9. Where they come down from the mountain. Peter wants to stay, but Jesus is leading them back down. Down from the glory, the safety the awe and wonder of sight of Jesus, and Elijah, and Moses. Back into the darkness of the world, into the power of a Roman empire, and into the confusion of their own mission.

See as they leave this mountain the disciples are following Jesus to the cross. Jesus is going and Peter and James and John and the rest of the disciples will go as well. Confused, reluctant, scared, but they’re going. But first he brings them up to this mountain to show them his glory, and in doing that he is showing them that the way of the cross is the way of glory

And as they come off the mountain, Jesus tells them to tell no one what you have seen until the Son of Man has risen from the dead. Now this throws Peter, James and John into confusion. But what is also happening here is that Jesus is revealing to them the path to glory. Which is the path to the cross.

And that’s why they are brought up to this mountain. And that’s why we need to behold the glory of Jesus as well. Because if we can see Jesus for who he really is, if we can behold his glory and in so doing see the promise of our own, than following him no matter what the cost will be something that we don’t shy from but that we long to do.

That’s what the Transfiguration shows. That’s the point. They can’t go the way of the cross without first beholding his glory. And we will never be able to heed Jesus’ words and take up our cross until we too see the beauty and glory of Jesus.

There is no other way to glory. There is no other way to life, to lasting glory that your hearts long for and that you and I search for all the time and with all of our energy. You can only get there one way.

You are going to get there they way Peter did, the same way James, John, Paul, and all Christians throughout all the ages, the same way Jesus did…It’s not through mountain top experiences…it’s through the cross. That’s why Jesus tells them to wait.

Consider the implications here: if God’s mission is to make you glorious and radiant, and that is going to happen through the cross, than that means the trials in your life, the frustration, the pain, the loneliness, aren’t a sign of God’s absence or displeasure. The places where you make choices, to be generous, to live a life of fidelity sexually, to give yourself for your enemies…the moments that feel like death…It is most likely a sign that he is making you even more lovely, more like Him….glorious.

So how do we do this? How do we live like this? Where the glory we long for is found through dying to ourselves and our own pursuits and going the way of the cross.

Well the first thing is to listen to Jesus. That’s what Peter, James and John are told up on the mountain. If we are going to be people who live cross-centered lives (and by the way if you don’t know what the cross-centered life is, stick around) than we are going to have to learn to listen to Jesus. And that’s not easy to do. Remember, Peter, James and John were Jesus’ best students, yet God had to remind them to pay attention because they were distracted by their own fears and their misguided agendas.

The same thing happens to us. We become so pre-occupied with our own interests that we no longer listen to the voice of Jesus.

And you might say, “I could go the way of the cross if you put me up on that mountain with James, Peter, and John. Give me an experience like that and I’ll be good to.” But Peter says you have way more than that.

Well about 30 years after this event Peter reflects back on his time on that mountain and he says this in 2 Peter 1:16-19 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts

Peter says, “we have something even better than what they experienced on that mountain. We have the testimony of Scripture, which is the voice of the living God. If you want to hear Jesus, then listen to what he says. Come to worship, hear the scriptures read and taught and listen to Jesus. Join a cultivate group and study the Bible every week and listen to Jesus. It’s better than being on that mountain.

But also remember like Peter and James and John, you are following Jesus. You are not going this journey alone. And in fact, even though Jesus invites them to the top of this mountain, he will be alone on the next one. He will climb the mountain of the cross alone. Because no one could follow him there. Noone could bear that weight, could suffer that death, no one could face that darkness, no one but Jesus himself. And he did it not for his glory, but for yours. Not for his life but for yours.

I found this poem this week by a 17th century pastor and it gets at this notion: A Strange Opportunity, when his head shone with glory, to tell him how it must bleed with thorns; when his face shone like the sun, to tell him it must be blubbered and spat upon…when his garments glistened with celestial brightness, to tell them they must be stripped and divided…And while he was transfigured on the Mount to tell them that he must be disfigured on the cross. –Joseph Hall

This one, whose head shone with glory, would let it bleed with thorns. Garments of celestial brightness to be stripped and divided. And the one who was transfigured on the Mountain must be disfigured on the cross. All for your glory.

This is captured really wonderfully in the BCP prayer:

BCP Collect of Holy Week: Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

And that is our hope as we head into lent and consider the call of Jesus to pick up our cross and follow him. That we too would find the cross none other than the way of life and the way of glory. And so it starts here up on this mountain. This rather strange and remarkable occasion.