Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
The text for
this meditation is written in the 17th
Chapter of the Gospel according to St Matthew: Verses 1 – 9:
And after
six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led
them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was
transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes
became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to
them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter
said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make
three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 He
was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice
from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they
fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came
and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.”
8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one
but Jesus only.
9 And as
they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised
from the dead.”
Today is the Last Sunday in the
season of Epiphany. Every year we read
about the Transfiguration of Our Lord as we come to the end of Epiphany. Since we are in the first year of the three
year series, it is Matthew’s turn to tell us about the transfiguration.
The season of Epiphany is all about
revealing Jesus. We portray the
revelation of Jesus using our experience with dark and light. Just as physical darkness causes us to
stumble and get lost, so also we are in eternal darkness if we do not have the
revelation of Jesus. Just as light
reveals the world around us, so also the revelation of Jesus reveals our
eternal salvation to us.
The season of Epiphany begins with a
literal light, the star that led the magi to worship Jesus. Today’s Gospel tells us of a different kind
of light … the heavenly light of Jesus.
This appearance of Jesus was in stark contrast to His everyday
appearance to the people of that time.
The Gospel accounts tell us that
Jesus regularly went into the mountains to pray. Sometimes, He was alone. Other times, as in today’s reading, He took
disciples with Him. I suspect that
Peter, James, and John were expecting another time of prayer on the mountain
with Jesus. What actually happened was
radically different from what they expected.
The Greek word for what happened
after this foursome arrived on the mountain is metamorphosis. It pretty much means the same thing in Greek
that it does in English. Jesus changed
His appearance. He shone like the sun
and even His clothes glowed.
Then Jesus showed that the Kingdom
of Heaven is not really that far away.
Moses and Elijah appeared and held a conversation with Jesus. Moses is the great law-giver. Elijah is not only a prophet, but he went up
by a whirlwind into heaven (2 Kings 2:11).
He did not experience death before he entered eternity. The law-giver and the prophet were right
there on the mountain chatting with Jesus.
To top it all off, God the Father
joins the scene in the form of a bright cloud, and a voice from the cloud said,
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am
well pleased; listen to him.” Once
again, we hear those words that we heard when John baptised Jesus in the
Jordan. This is one of those very rare
times when God the Father spoke directly to His people.
Naturally, when the disciples saw
what was happening, they were petrified; their minds were in disarray. At first, Peter was all set to build a
worship centre right there on the mountain.
He wanted to build a shelter for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Then when God the Father revealed His presence,
all the disciples could do was cower in fear.
When we read this account the
heavenly glory revealed to mankind we are compellingly impressed. It is good for us to remember that Jesus
really is the eternal Son of the Father.
It gives a mental image that reinforces our faith.
However, we should also notice that
this is not the normal way that Jesus presented Himself to the disciples and
the other people who came to hear and see Him.
The Bible makes it very clear that if we had to judge Jesus by His physical
appearance alone, we would say that Jesus just looks like any other man.
Many pious artists and movie
producers have given us an image of Jesus that is just a little too good to be
true. One movie shows us a blue-eyed
Jesus who never blinked. Many portraits
portray Jesus with a neatly combed beard, every hair in place, and chiselled
good looks. Then there are all the
portraits that show Jesus with a halo or some kind of an eerie glow. Such portrayals are fine if they help us
think about Jesus and what He did to save us from sin, but we should not think
of them as accurate.
If we went back to the first few
decades of First Century Israel, we would not be able to pick Jesus out of a
crowd. He blended in with His disciples
so well that the guards needed Judas to identify Jesus with a kiss. He was condemned with common criminals. He died by crucifixion, a common method of
execution. Everything about Jesus was
common, ordinary … the prophet Isaiah said, [Isaiah
53:2] “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no
beauty that we should desire him.”
Never the less, this homely,
traveling Jewish rabbi was and is the Lord … the Almighty Son of God. Everything that is God resides in this
seemingly ordinary man.
Why is it so important that we
understand that Jesus is the true Son of God who has taken on humanity in this
most humble way? Why is it so important
to understand that Jesus is and forever will be the most ordinary human and the
only true God in one person?
Jesus took on ordinary humanity in
order to save ordinary humans. Jesus
came to save sinners. If we are sinners
… if we struggle with life … if we wonder how in the world a holy, righteous
God could be interested in us, then Jesus came to save us.
If, on the other hand, we are deluded
and think we are in pretty good shape … if we think that you have done a pretty
good job of getting our life in order … if we think that, for the most part, we
are a pretty good person, untouched by sin, then we probably feel no need for Jesus
as our Saviour. I mean, after all Jesus
Himself said, [Mark 2:17]
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Friends in Christ, the Gospel message for all the human race is that Jesus
came for ordinary human beings and that means that Jesus came to save sinners;
and as the Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
Although Jesus never sinned, He
became a sinner. He did this by lifting our
sin away from us and carrying it Himself.
He did this for all people and so He became the greatest sinner of them
all as the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write, [2 Corinthians 5:21] “For our sake he made him to
be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of
God.”
Jesus carried our sin to a cross
outside the city of Jerusalem. There He
endured the full punishment for our sin.
His suffering began in Gethsemane where He sweat drops of blood for us. It continued in the unfair trial, the unjust
beatings and floggings, and execution by crucifixion. It especially continued in the moment of
forsakenness on the cross. It continued
until Jesus issued that cry of triumph, “It is finished!” With that cry, He signalled that our entire
sin-debt is paid in full. We are adopted
into His family. We are righteous in
God’s sight.
Jesus showed us who He truly is with
His transfiguration. His ordinary
appearance showed that He is true man.
His transfigured appearance showed that He is true God. This will help the disciples survive the
events of Jesus’ Passion. This will
remind all Christians that their sins are truly paid in full.
The Transfiguration of Our Lord also
serves to remind us that there is one more transfiguration in our future. Although Jesus died on the cross, the grave
was unable to hold Him. His resurrection
is the promise that the day will come when Jesus will return and all people
will see Him in all His eternal glory.
On that day, Jesus will raise all
the dead. He will transfigure all who
believe in Him. We who believe will no
longer be mortal, but we shall be clothed in immortality. The corruption of this sinful world will pass
away and we shall be citizens of a new creation where we shall see our saviour
face-to-face. Then we shall fully know
the inheritance that already belongs to us as the adopted children of God.
The Sunday of the Transfiguration of
Our Lord is the gateway between Epiphany and Lent. This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. We begin our annual pilgrimage in memory of
Jesus carrying our sin on the road to the cross. As we make this annual trek, we repent and we
look forward in faith to the final transfiguration … our transfiguration … our
final resurrection into eternal life.
Amen
The love and peace of our Great
Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds
in Christ Jesus. Amen
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