Transfiguration Luke 9: 28-36 Listen to Jesus
Deuteronomy 34:1-12 Hebrews 3:1-6 Luke 9:28-36
January 6th is observed on our church calendar as Epiphany. It is a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.
Epiphany is the day that we recall the Wise Men who saw the bright star God placed in the sky to mark the birth of Jesus, our King. Epiphany has come to mean a manifestation or sudden realization of something of great importance. Epiphany is a light bulb moment where we grasp the reality of something we had never considered or never realized the full implication or something or someone has on our life. Throughout the season of Epiphany, we have been looking at the light of Jesus Christ as He is revealed to us in scripture.
In the verses before our Gospel lesson, Jesus asked His apostles who they thought He was and Peter answered for the whole group saying, “The Christ of God.” But they really had no idea as to what Jesus was going to do or even who He truly was. Even after Jesus told them that He must die and be raised three days later, they still did not grasp the importance or the significance of the work Jesus was about to complete.
The full truth about Jesus must be revealed from above. When people confess the truth, they simply say yes to what God has revealed. So about 8 days after Jesus had told His disciples what must occur, He took Peter, James and John up on the mountain to pray. For those three apostles, that mountaintop experience would be the start of their epiphany.
Luke 9:29 says, “And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.” When we pray, we need to allow our view of God to change. Our God is not like us in regard to His power and Glory. God is bigger and more powerful than anything we can imagine. And when we get a glimpse of heaven, we still do not see all that is waiting for us there.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.”
As children of God we live in a dim twilight here on earth where the things of heaven are not clearly seen. The nearer we get to the blazing white light in which God dwells, the darker our sin looks; and the more wonderful His divine forgiveness appears. Peter, James and John awoke from their sleepy state to hear Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus about His departure which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. The word used for departure in our lesson is ‘Exodus.’ Like Moses, Jesus was about to lead His people to the Promised Land.
Jesus was going forth from a land of captivity to one of plenty and freedom; to the land of promise, the Promised Land not on Earth but in Heaven. The order of the kingdom is that suffering must precede glory.
Jesus knew what lay ahead before His departure. Like Moses His path would lead through bondage, pain, humiliation, and death. In order to accomplish His task, Jesus would have to die on a cross for the sins of all mankind. Because of that great task that lay ahead, and in order to give strength to the three Apostles, they were allowed to view some of the glory of Jesus Christ as they stood in heaven with Moses and Elijah. Indeed the ‘Exodus’ of Jesus embraces not only His suffering and death, but also the resulting resurrection and ascension. But Peter did not understand all this.
Notice what Peter says as the men were parting from him, “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.”
Mountaintop experiences are beautiful and wonderful. Peter found himself in heaven. He saw and felt the radiance, the bliss and the comfort that only those who experience heaven can know. But there is also a danger in mountaintop experiences. It’s a danger that the three apostles faced. It’s a danger we all face.
You see Peter was so captivated with the whole experience that he wanted to stay there. Remember Peter’s words to Jesus? “Master, it is good for us to be here.” A more literal translation would be, “It is good for us to be always here.”
“Let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Peter adds. Peter didn’t want to come down from the heavenly mountain into the dark valley of life; the valley of the shadow of death. (Psalm 23) To be sure, neither He, James or John wanted the glorious event to end. They wanted to stay there and bask in His radiance and glory. But our Lord’s work was not yet complete. Jesus still had to go to Jerusalem. He still had to carry the sins and guilt of all people to the cross and die upon the cross. Peter’s words were actually a temptation to Jesus to stay in heaven and not do the hard work that lay ahead.
The danger with mountaintop experiences is that they are so wonderful and so revealing that we don’t want them to end. Many people try to live out their life on the mountaintop, trying to always live in earthly happiness. But, life here on earth is not nor will it ever be the glorious life that awaits us in heaven.
Indeed we cannot fully comprehend the glory of God unless we realize the extent of His pain and suffering for us by realizing the extent of sins and evil that exists here on earth. Life for a follower of Jesus means living in the valleys below and living a life in obedience to Jesus Christ. To prove that very point, a voice came out of the cloud saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to Him!”
Scriptures reveal to us who Jesus really is and what He was chosen to do. Jesus was chosen to die on the cross for the sins of the whole world. The great prophet Elijah could not accomplish that. He could only point to a time when that would be accomplished for us. Moses could not obtain salvation for us. The Law only shows how we fail to live up to God’s requirements.
After Moses had spent time with God on Mt. Sinai his face shone with such radiance that the people were afraid of him, and he had to put a veil over his face. But Moses still came down off the mountain to serve others. (Exodus 34:29-35)
Moses was always willing to continue in his work and he was blessed by God in body and health; but when His work was finished, God declared that he should not enter Canaan. But the Lord also promised that Moses should have a view of it, and showed him the land that was ahead for his people.
Such a sight believers now have in the form of worship. Our Lord’s love was revealed as He laid down His life for you and His power was revealed as He was raised back to life. You can see His Glory revealed to you through the faith given to you by the Holy Spirit. You are never closer to God than when you earnestly pray to Him especially where two or more are gathered in His Name. There is comfort in His words spoken and sung in Worship. There is peace and grace to be seen and felt in the waters of baptism and we see, hear and taste of His forgiveness revealed to us in His very Body and blood given for you in His supper. Here Christ’s body and blood is given and shed for you. Taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8)
His glory is partially revealed through His suffering and death on the cross for the sins of the whole world. Yes, even though we see His glory and believe in His promise, because the wages of sin is death, all men will die. His full glory, however will be realized when He returns to unite all believers to Him in His eternal promised land. It is so easy to linger on the mountaintop with those thoughts of peace and joy but God jolts us out of our idleness and reminds us that our work is not finished. We still need to listen to what Jesus has told us because there is still much work to be done in the valley.
When Peter, James and John came down from the mountain with Jesus, they found people who were hurting and in need. They came back to the harsh reality of every day life. The very next day, they healed a boy with an evil spirit and Jesus continued on His journey to the cross. On that cross His work of salvation would be completed.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven however, He gave His disciples this command, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20
The work of the Apostles would continue and our work of spreading the Good News is not yet finished.
So we all share in His exodus as we listen and follow our Lord. As pilgrims on the path of righteousness we are privileged to lift up our hearts in prayer and enter into that heavenly conversation with Moses and Elijah. When we commune with Jesus through His supper, we commune not only ‘with angels and archangels but with all the company of heaven,’ including those who have gone before us.
So let us always remember that we are but strangers here doing the work that Christ has given us to do until the time of our departure to our true home in heaven. Until that time, we in the church who make up His house, hold fast to our confidence and witness our hope of eternal life given to us by God’s grace through faith in the work of Jesus Christ. Then when our work here is finished, we can truly say alongside Peter, “Master, it is good to be here.” In Jesus Name, Amen.