Transfiguration of our Lord – 7
February 2016 – Year C
Grace to you and peace from our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
The text for this meditation is written in 9th
Chapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses 28 - 36
28 Now
about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James
and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was
praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became
dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were talking with
him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and
spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now
Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became
fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 And
as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “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. 34 As he was saying
these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they
entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud,
saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” 36 And
when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told
no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
One of the most important guides for
interpreting the Bible is very similar to an old Real Estate saying. Just as the three most important things in
Real Estate are location, location, and location, the most important thing in
understanding any passage in the Bible is context, context, and context.
It is often unfortunate that the readings on any
given Sunday are so short. We often miss
out on the very context that can give some extra insight into the passage we
are reading. For example: today’s Gospel
is the account of the Transfiguration … the time when Jesus gave a glimmer of a
glimpse into the glory of heaven. What
the Gospel text does not tell us is that the Transfiguration took place in a
very interesting context.
A few days before Jesus took those three
disciples onto the mountaintop, He had been giving them some seminary
instruction. As part of that instruction
[Luke 9:18-20] He asked them,
“Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others
say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” 20 Then he said
to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of
God.” Luke is gentle and doesn’t tell us that although Peter might have gotten
the words right, he really didn’t understand what he had said.
We know that Peter didn’t understand because
Matthew was not so kind to Peter when he recorded this account. After Peter got the words right [Matthew 16:21–23] Jesus began to
show his disciples that he 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. 22 And Peter
took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This
shall never happen to you.” 23 But he
turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For
you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
As I said before, Luke is not so hard on Peter,
but Luke does tell us that Jesus said, [Luke
9:22] “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be
raised.” Peter confessed Jesus as
the Christ and Jesus then explained what it meant to be the Christ. As we look at the Gospel accounts, it is
clear that the disciples are bewildered.
This is the context for today’s Gospel.
The disciples know that Jesus is the Christ but they are still labouring
under the notion that the Christ is going to be some great political liberator
who lead an army against Rome and drive them out of Israel. He might even restore the glory of Israel
from the days of David and Solomon. This
teaching of the Christ who suffers, dies, and rises from the dead is outside of
their understanding.
So it is that as we start today’s reading from
the account of Luke, we learn that Jesus led a very confused and bewildered
Peter, John, and James up on the mountain to pray. Peter, John, and James did what they usually
do when they are alone with Jesus while He prayed. They went to sleep. What they saw when they woke up totally
overwhelmed them. Jesus was shining like
the sun. Not only was Jesus lighting up
the mountaintop, but He was also having a conversation with Moses and
Elijah. This conversation was pretty
amazing because Moses and Elijah had been dead for centuries. We have an account of Moses’ death and burial
in today’s Old Testament lesson.
Moses and Elijah appeared and spoke of his departure, which he was about
to accomplish at Jerusalem. This was
Luke’s gentle way of telling us that they were talking about Jesus upcoming
death in Jerusalem. The disciples were
bewildered by Jesus’ upcoming death, but Moses and Elijah spoke of it
openly. It was the topic of their
conversation with Jesus. It was the
topic of conversation in heaven. Peter,
John, and James heard Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah about His upcoming
death in Jerusalem … a conversation about what it means to be the anointed one
of God … the Christ … the Messiah.
Everyone reacts in different ways when confused
or bewildered. Peter’s usual response to
such things was to open his mouth. Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good
that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and
one for Elijah” We don’t know
exactly what Peter was thinking, but we do know that Peter still didn’t
understand. Luke tells us that Peter
didn’t know what he was saying.
God the Father interrupted Peter as he uttered
this foolishness. A cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they
entered the cloud. 35 And
a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen
to him!” It is almost as if God the
Father is saying, “Peter, I gave you two ears and one mouth. You should listen twice as much as you
talk. You should especially listen to My
Son. When He says, ‘The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders
and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised,’
pay attention!”
Peter, the rest of the disciples, and all the
people who listened to Jesus teach had a similar problem. They were not looking for a saviour who would
die for them. The saviour who lit up the
mountaintop fit right into their plans.
A saviour on His way to die in Jerusalem did not.
It is part of our fallen human nature to want a saviour
who is spectacular. We like this show of
glory that lights up the mountaintop. We
like fireworks. We like light
shows. We like fancy, showy displays
that grab our attention. They are
fun. They are entertaining. They make us feel good. This is the saviour that we think we want.
Here is the problem. We would be in big trouble if the spectacular
display that lit up the mountaintop was the only god we knew. If the spectacular display that lit up the
mountaintop was the only god we knew, then our relationship with God would be a
relationship of punishment. God is holy
and just. He must punish sin. We are wretched sinners. Therefore God must punish us. That is, He must punish us if the spectacular
display that lit up the mountaintop was the only god we knew.
The Transfiguration is God’s answer to Jesus’
question … who do you say that I am?” He
is indeed the Christ, the Son of the Living God and that means He is the Christ
who will go to another mountain near Jerusalem and die to take away all our
sins. God must punish sin, but will not
punish us. Instead this very Christ will
take our sin onto Himself and the punishment for sin will rain down on
Him. In this way, He will stand in our
place and satisfy the justice of holy God.
This is the saviour that we see on the mountaintop as He talks with
Moses and Elijah. God the Father
identifies this saviour and tells us to listen to Him.
Jesus taught that He would suffer and die. He also taught that He would rise on the
third day. He kept these promises. He battled sin, death, and the devil as He
suffered on the cross. He followed death
into death and with His death He conquered death. Jesus is our true saviour.
We know that Jesus conquered death because death
could not hold Him. Jesus returned to
life. He promised us that even though we
die, He will raise us as well. When that
day comes, those who rejected Him will have to deal with the full glory of the
justice of God and they will try to flee from Him. The Jesus who lit up the mountaintop will
terrify them. Those who trust the saviour
who went to the other mountain and died for them will rejoice in the presence
of God’s love. They will live forever
with their saviour who loves them.
The Transfiguration is like a giant hinge in the
middle of the Gospel account. It is a hinge
between the seasons of Epiphany and Lent.
Epiphany is all about shining a light on Jesus
so that we can come to know Him.
Epiphany begins with the light of the star that led the magi to the
Christ child and it ends with the light of that same person who is now an adult
as He reveals just a touch of the majesty that is His from all eternity. We even have a voice from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen
One; listen to him!” The
Transfiguration fulfils all the elements of an epiphany that shows our saviour
to us.
Lent is about the journey of Jesus to the
cross. As we consider Jesus and His
journey to the cross, we also consider that Jesus is going to the cross to pay
for our sin. As we consider our sin, we
more deeply consider our need to repent of our sin. So Lent is a time of repentance as we
consider Jesus on His way to the cross and trust in Him to grant us
forgiveness.
The Transfiguration prepares us for Lent. As it fulfils its role as a true epiphany of
Jesus, it also identifies Jesus as the one who must journey to the cross and
sacrifice Himself for the sins of the world.
It also identifies Him as the saviour who will conquer sin, death, and
the power of the devil and rise from the dead.
The Transfiguration informs us of the journey to the cross … the great
theme of Lent.
In the Transfiguration we learn that Jesus is
indeed the reign of heaven on earth. He
is the answer to the prayer, “Thy Kingdom come.” We also learn that He is the one who
journeyed to Jerusalem so that He could suffer, die, and rise so that we could
enjoy the presence of the reign of heaven forever. Amen
The love and grace of our great Triune God that
is beyond all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen
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