Transfiguration Sunday
February
19th, A.D. 2023,
Our Redeemer and Our
Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, SD
The Best Show (Is the Show
That Has No Pictures)
Matthew
17:1-9, 2 Peter 1:16-21
Have you seen anything good lately? We love a good show. We curl up on the sofa, incessantly scrolling and clicking through videos and memes and the offerings on Netflix, trying to find a good show. We don’t care who wins the Superbowl, just that it be a good game. Our desire for a good show will even take us into places we know we shouldn’t go. Even though we knew someone might get hurt, and even maybe that the police could show up and get everyone in trouble, most of us at one time or another have found irresistible the chance to watch a fistfight, or a car race, or some local daredevil try a stupid stunt. A few of us have gratified the crowd by being a protagonist in these low-brow dramas. Most of us have a desire, some of us a great desire, to be caught up into something dramatic and spectacular, if not as participant, at least as observer.
Peter and James and John saw a good show. Dramatic and spectacular beyond anything you or I can imagine. 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.”
Now that was a show. Jesus, this man who had been teaching and healing and leading his disciples all around Galilee, now reveals his glory, shining like the sun. Heaven breaks into earth, and Moses and Elijah, two of the greatest figures of Israel’s history, appear. Peter knows a good thing when he sees it. So, he suggests they could put up some tents, and stay, to dwell in this glory. Jesus had earlier taught them he was the Son of God. Now His transfiguration seems to removes all doubt, and Peter hopes to stay there, to bask in the glory. “Tis good Lord, to be here.” It is good, but the revelation isn’t yet complete.
For while he was still speaking, 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. Suddenly, the Good Show turned into more than Peter and James and John could handle. Despite the great comfort of the message spoken, the voice of the Father terrified them.
You see, Jesus is their friend and teacher. They’ve been living together, walking about Judah and Galilee for a couple years. Now it is revealed that Jesus has heaven’s glory, inside Him, inside His body. That’s tremendous. But then, a bright cloud surrounds you, envelopes you, and you hear God speak to you from heaven? Ancient Israel, gathered at the foot of Mt. Sinai, had trembled when God spoke from the top of the mountain. They begged Moses to speak with God for them, lest they die. Likewise, Peter, James and John fear for their lives. As the revelation of God on the Mount of Transfiguration deepened, the sinners present trembled. One moment Peter wants to build tents to dwell there. The next, he and his partners in sin bury their faces in the dirt. They want off the mountain. They want out of God’s presence.
Peter, James and John couldn’t stay in God’s glorious presence, not yet. So the merciful Father withdraws his sensible presence. Moses and Elijah return into the unseen realms of heaven. And Jesus, their teacher and friend, once again looks like he has always looked. 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.”
This show, this revelation, is different. The Transfiguration of Jesus is not like the spectaculars that people of all times and places have sought to see. Heaven visibly broke into earth for a moment; all of Israel’s history and the glory of God collide in a few intense moments. Nothing quite like it had ever happened before, anywhere on earth.
Often our favorite part of seeing a great show is to tell the story to others who missed it. But no. Jesus specifically forbids Peter, James and John to tell anyone, not until after He has been raised from the dead. Peter and James and John had been allowed this special revelation, not in order to increase Jesus’ fame or spread His message, but rather to give them a glimpse of the future, a promise of glory, a heavenly vision to hold on to, as Jesus’ heads to the hell of the Cross.
We might expect that after Jesus died and rose again the Transfiguration would be front and center in the proclamation of the Church. Surprisingly, it is rarely mentioned in the New Testament. Peter makes reference to it in our Epistle lesson today, and there are a few other allusions to it. But in total the story of the Transfiguration is not front and center in the Church’s preaching. The Transfiguration is important. But the center of Christian proclamation is the Cross. And the glory of the Resurrection outshines even the Transfiguration. The New Testament is filled with references to Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself for our sins, and His victorious Resurrection. Because this is the show that really matters to God.
It was important for Peter and James and
John to have a glimpse of the glory that is inside Jesus, for they would be
front row witnesses to Jesus passing through Hell’s punishment. They needed this vision to be sustained in
the darkness that was about to descend all around them.
Likewise, we can and should contemplate our glorious future in heaven. But not too much. We who are still plagued by sin dare not dwell too long on heavenly glory in our minds. Because it is the Cross, not visions of glory, that gains us access into this same heaven. The New Testament gives glimpses of heaven here and there, in parts of Revelation, a little in Paul, a little here in Peter. But even these glimpses quickly point us back to earth, back to the Cross.
Heavenly glory is our promise, our inheritance. But one of the great paradoxes of Christian life is this: to know God’s glory and experience His love, we must be brought face to face with the the reality and consequence of our sin. Our sin made it necessary that Jesus die on the Cross, a bitter pill to swallow, no matter how many times the Holy Spirit uses this truth to bring us repentance.
We are, in a negative way, responsible for Jesus’ suffering. But in this bitter repentance, the Spirit draws us even closer to the Cross, so we can also see God’s love. For while Jesus was suffering for our sin, ultimately it was love which led Jesus to do what was necessary. Love for His Father, and love for you.
God wants you in heaven, to live with Him forever, in glory. This is the story of Jesus, greatest and most important story ever told. But, we are far too often interested in other stories, interested in seeing something spectacular, or titillating, something to distract us from the pain or dullness of life. Something to make us feel good, right now. Be careful with this tendency, dear friends.
Not every earthly show is wicked. Many are, of course. The Super Bowl halftime show has for a long time been unworthy of our attention. Usually, like this year, it is soft pornography, which is more enticing, especially to young eyes. Thank God for clickers. Just turn it off. Set a timer and return when the 3rd quarter starts.
Not every earthly show is wicked, but even the harmless ones can distract us from the truly important, the truly valuable. Which is this fact: God wants you, you and your whole family and all your friends, to be in heaven, to live with Him forever, in glory. To get you there, Jesus went to Calvary. Also to get you there, the Spirit keeps you focused on the Cross. Which is what Peter does today, by pointing us away from the vision of Majestic Glory, and to the humble Word.
Yes, Peter tells us, it was wonderful on the Mount, being “eyewitnesses of his majesty.” But Peter doesn’t tell us to try and dwell in that majestic vision. For one thing, that would be cruel. Because you and I can’t get to the mount of Transfiguration. But we do have something even more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
We can’t get to the Mount to see Jesus in
splendor. But do not worry about this,
you have something better. You have the
Word of the prophets made more certain in Jesus. Peter points us to the Scripture, the Holy
Bible, for it is through the Word that God comes to us. He who hears me hears the Father, promises
Jesus, and where two or three gather in my Name, there I am with you. My sheep hear my voice, and I lead them into
good pastures. Now, and unto the end of
the age.
It is by means of the Word that God comes to us, because we, as sinners, cannot yet stand in his unveiled presence. The Father gives us the Son, the Word made flesh, to atone for our sins. The Spirit inspired the writers of Scripture, so that the Biblical Word, the Church’s Word, is all about Jesus and His Mission. As Peter continues: Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. By God’s will and grace, in the Biblical Word, we find truth and life, as Jesus comes to us.
We do well to ponder the words from heaven which terrified Peter and James and John: "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" The Father tells us that we can find what it takes to please him, in his Son. Through his Word. You want to be closer to God? You want to understand His plan, feel greater trust, have more peace, know what to do with you life? Well, you have the key, in your Bible, in the Word written down, for you. No time to read? Then listen to it. The saving Word of God is available, to you, every day. It is impossible to make too big a deal out of it. We would do well to imbibe deeply. If you are not sure how, let me know; I’d be thrilled to help you find a way to get more Bible in your every day, the way that works for you.
Listen to Jesus as he says we must come down off the mountain and accompany Him to Calvary. Listening closely to all that Jesus did to save us will strengthen your faith, and help you rightly interpret and withstand the darkness that is all around us in this world. No matter how deep the darkness, the Word shines brighter.
Listen to Jesus as He tells us to take, eat, take drink, for the forgiveness of sins. Listen to Him as he tells Peter and James and John and the Church to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Listen to the Son, for this is pleasing to the Father.
None of these things shine visibly. They don’t look spectacular. But looks are deceiving. For here, this morning, Christ has come into your midst once again, to wash you clean in His own blood. The Word of the prophets, made more certain in Christ, tells us these things. It is in this Word, spoken and joined to water, wheat and wine, that God the Father reveals that he is pleased with His Son. And so He is also pleased with you, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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