The Transfiguration; The Purpose

Mark 9:2-9

"After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead."

Introduction

In 2 Kings 2 we read that Elijah was taken up into heaven in a fiery chariot. In today's text we find him reappearing to meet with Jesus. When Moses died his eyes were as good as ever. His physical strength had not diminished. Now here he is with Jesus, as if he had never died. The brilliance of Jesus shining in the midst of these two, along with the three disciples cannot be compared with anything we know.

Peter wanted to stay on the mountaintop and bask in this experience. However, the Voice from heaven called on the disciples to “Listen to Jesus” who immediately led them down off the mountain. We might be looking forward to heaven when we can see Jesus in all this same radiance, and be done with all the troubles of this life, but Jesus calls us powerfully to the NOW! Real faith cannot be lived apart from real life!

Keeping Real

We love mountaintop experiences. They change our lives profoundly... for awhile. Then life hits us squarely in the gut again. We can almost hear Jesus saying, “Okay, let’s go, time’s wasting. There’s too much to do, too many places to go, too many people to feed, and too many who need the gospel. We can’t linger too long on the mountaintop.”

Jesus understood that time away was important. He knew the necessity of time for prayer, meditation, reflection and spiritual rejuvination. We cannot run long on empty before we suffer complete collapse. A Transfiguration retreat was a great way to show the three disciples this. Indeed, they were energized by the event.

Conclusion

The purpose of the Transfiguration, then, was to renew our call to follow Jesus. Following Jesus takes us to:

• quiet places of prayer

• long days of feeding the hungry

• nights in lonely gardens and angry storms

• the ecstasy of mountaintop retreats

• back down the mountain into the valley of need.

To follow Jesus requires that we:

• deny ourselves

• watch after ourselves

• take up our crosses

• remember that we are never alone, but always in the power of the Holy Spirit.