Seeing the Glory

Transfiguration Sermon- Kingdom Glances

Luke 9:28–36 NRSV

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

“Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.

They kept silent.

The Gospel of Luke vii. The Transfiguration of Jesus 9:28–36

The verb can also mean ‘to remain awake’, and this possibility deserves consideration, in which case the sense would be that although the disciples were extremely sleepy they nevertheless managed to stay awake. But the sense is unaffected; in either case, the disciples failed to take in the message about the ‘exodus’ and only saw the glory of Jesus and the fact that he was accompanied by the two men standing with him (συνίστημι*); the prophecy of glory in 9:26 is substantiated.

Encountering the mystery

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 1 Theological Perspective

The transfiguration of Jesus offers a glimpse of what is possible, not only for Jesus, but for all humanity. For this reason, the last verse in this narrative is somewhat disappointing, or maybe just puzzling. The reader might presume, or at least hope, the disciples finally comprehended the import of the transfiguration; but whatever they understood, they did not act on it. They kept to themselves and told no one (v. 36). So the significance of Jesus’ very public healing of the boy with an unclean spirit in the verses just after Luke’s transfiguration narrative is heightened.

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 1 (Theological Perspective)

The work of Jesus rebuking the unclean spirit was example enough for Neumark. “When Peter and the others came down from the mountain,” she writes, “they found a father and a child gasping for life. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And they found transfiguration. And so it is. When the disciples of this Bronx church unlocked the doors of their private shelter and stepped out into the neighborhood, they did meet the distress of the community convulsed and mauled by poverty.… But they also discovered transfiguration as a congregation in connection with others.”The story of the transfiguration of Jesus loses its power if it does not include that moment when Jesus and the disciples come down from the mountain. The transfigured Jesus is changed, not in essence, but in the way he is seen; he acts in and for the world accordingly. Seeing Jesus differently means seeing oneself and others differently too. The congregation at Transfiguration Church understood: “But living high up in the rarefied air isn’t the point of transfiguration.… [It was] never meant as a private experience of spirituality removed from the public square. It was a vision to carry us down, a glimpse of unimagined possibility at ground level.”

His face and garments became like a flash of lightning.

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 1 Pastoral Perspective

So we might say that in the transfiguration event Jesus is clear about his mission, which continues the redemptive work of God from the exodus through the end times.

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 1 Exegetical Perspective

The account of the transfiguration is often interpreted as a story of an appearance by the resurrected Jesus that has been read back into his earthly ministry, but that interpretation seems unwarranted. In this account, Jesus and the disciples go up the mountain together, while in the appearance narratives Jesus suddenly appears or is revealed to the others who have gathered without him. Furthermore, the resurrection accounts include a commission to the disciples (e.g., 24:46–48), and not words from heaven about Jesus. Finally, the change in Jesus’ appearance in this account is only temporary; once back at the base of the mountain, he returns to his usual self.

The story of Jesus’ baptism (3:21–22) also tells of a heavenly voice that declares Jesus’ identity. There the voice is addressed to Jesus (“You are my Son”) as a call into his ministry. Here the voice speaks about Jesus to those who will have to carry on his ministry. They are told to listen to him while they can. It is an ominous conclusion to the Galilean ministry!

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 1 Homiletical Perspective

We need sermons that point to the God who is at work transfiguring the creation now marked by suffering and death. Shown in glory with Moses and Elijah, two great figures of Israel’s past, Jesus is revealed as the culmination of the story of a God who comes, again and again, to rescue God’s people. Preachers might explicitly name ways in which the transfigured Jesus becomes present to a community not fully awake to the promises of God. Through the gifts of worship and sacraments, prayer and fellowship, service and work for justice and peace, the cloud of Jesus’ glory envelops weary disciples. Look, the preacher proclaims: here shines the one in whom there is power to overcome death. Good news!

Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1–9:50 Synoptic Comparison

Common to Matthew and Luke is the interest in Jesus’ face. Both use the word πρόσωπον (“face,” Luke 9:29*; Matt 17:2*).

Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1–9:50 Structure of the Unit

The first part of the event, the transfiguration and the conversation with Moses and Elijah (vv. 29–31*), is to be seen; but the second part, with the divine voice (vv. 34–35*), is to be heard. The group of three disciples sees the glory of the other group of three, and hears the heavenly voice; both of the disciples’ reactions (vv. 32*, 36*) are structured symmetrically. The only individual episode that has no symmetrical counterpart is Peter’s odd suggestion (v. 33*). The structure that results should not be seen as a static chiasm, but as a dynamic process from a supernatural sign (vv. 29–31*) to its divine interpretation (vv. 34–35*).

Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1–9:50 Genre and Context in the History of Religions

Various interpretations, which reflect discomfort on the part of the exegetes, have attempted to determine the genre of the account: an enthronement scene (Harald Riesenfeld), a prophetic (Félix Gils) or apocalyptic (Maurits Sabbe) vision, a divine epiphany (R. Silva), a midrash (L. F. Rivera), or a cult narrative (R. Hollis Gause).

Are we too heavenly-minded to be any earthly good.?

Transfiguration and Hope book.

Transfiguration as the light at the end of the tunnel.

In that moment on the holy mountain,

“when Christ chose to do was not to give to his disciples and to humanity only words and instructions, but to lift, even if briefly, the curtain that separates this world from the presence of God, and to give his disciples the experience of the kingdom. “ Transfiguration and Hope

I’ve been preaching transfiguration for a few years now and still am not quite sure what to do with it. It is one of those passages that we sort of don’t know what to do with and we want to skip on to the next.

If you have ever climbed a mountain then you can relate in thinking that by the time they got to the top of the mountain that maybe they were having hallucinations. Maybe they needed a rest. I might be sleepy too.

Transfiguration as the light at the end of the tunnel.

How can our lives be a glimpse of glory.

We are changed from glory into glory.

We are to become glimpses of glory as Jesus transfigured us into the mind and likeness of Christ.

When we live with someone it seems like we suddenly start to look like each other over time. When we walk with the Lord, we are meant to be transfigured into the likeness of Christ.

Transformer: More than meets the eye.

Our lives are meant to reflect thin places, places where heaven breaks open inside of us. Shekinah glory- eschatological glory, end time glory. the battle has already been won glory.

Moses and Elijah represent part of restored humanity in God’s new creation.

“Within the limitations of our nature, we have no more hope of reaching God than a mad boatman in the night who hopes to row all the way to the moon that is reflected on the water. And yet, the miracle of the Transfiguration shows us that the grace of God covers the distance.”

Henry Knight says that for the Wesleys, “sanctification is about having heaven in our hearts in the present.”

Transfiguration comes from the Greek word that we get our word metamorphosis from. Luke does not use this term, perhaps because he doesn’t want to confuse new believers about the form of Jesus at the transfiguration. He did not change in form. He was still Jesus,but he did change in figure. His face and his clothes were as white as light.

I. What really happened on that mountain? I’ve been preaching transfiguraiton now for a few years and it still is bewildering. Some of us are still going “Transfigur-what?” That’s right. We call this Sunday Transfiguration Sunday. It is one of those Sundays that may get skipped over like other uncomfortable and strange passages in the Bible. We read it and go “woah,” and then want to move on.

Transfiguration: while certainly not as widely popular as Easter and Christmas, it stands on the precipice between Epiphany and Lent, between the light of Christ coming into the world and the cross. On the one side of the mountain we have the ministry of Jesus in Galilee, on the other side is the road to the crucifixion and resurrection. And here in the middle we have the transfiguration. We say transfiguration because of the Greek word used in the gospel of Matthew and Mark metamorpho in which we think of metamorphosis. Yet Luke doesn’t use this word. His audience is Gentile and so maybe he doesn’t want to confuse them into thinking that Christ changed in form.

Did any of you ever grow up watching Transformers or seeing the movies years ago when they came out? I didn’t grow up with Transformers and so I loved the movies. I used to own a Mini Cooper and I always wished it had powers to transform into an autobot. Remember the tagline for Transformers: more than meets the eye.

The congregation at Transfiguration Church understood: “But living high up in the rarefied air isn’t the point of transfiguration.… [It was] never meant as a private experience of spirituality removed from the public square. It was a vision to carry us down, a glimpse of unimagined possibility at ground level.”

Nightbirde

Going through the valley, the hard stuff, is holy work. But we have a light at the end of the tunnel. A

The disciples couldn’t heal the boy because they still didn’t fully realize who God is. It was right in front of their face.

There are some here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.

Transfiguration Sermon