The Transfiguration of Our + Lord
March 2nd, A+D 2025
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran
Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
God’s Glory, Revealed for You
Luke 9:28-36,
Exodus 33:12-23, 1st Kings 19:11-13
Why were Moses and Elijah the particular Old Testament heroes chosen to
appear with Jesus at His Transfiguration?
bending truth that the Glory of Heaven is INSIDE His physical body. Proof that this Man is also God, come to dwell in our midst. There’s a lot to unpack in the Transfiguration, and a helpful place to start is to ask “Why were Moses and Elijah chosen to appear in Jesus’ glory on the mountain?
Moses is an obvious choice. God’s chosen man to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt, Moses received God’s Law, ruled God’s people, and served a priestly function, preparing the Tabernacle and installing his brother Aaron as Israel’s first High Priest. And of course Moses was also a prophet, the greatest Hebrew prophet, until that day when a new prophet, like Moses but even greater, would come. Jesus is that greater prophet. No one in all the Hebrew Scripture foreshadows Jesus and His ministry more than Moses, so of course he was at the Transfiguration.
Elijah is a great prophet too, probably the greatest after Moses. But there were many other important Hebrew prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezequiel, to name a few. And since Moses was also a prophet, why did we need a second one at the Transfiguration? Why wasn’t some faithful High Priest chosen, or perhaps King David or King Solomon?
Well, many suggest that Moses is meant to narrowly represent the Law, and Elijah represents the Prophets. And since Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Law (recorded for us in the five books of Moses), and also the fulfillment of the Prophets, (who produced sixteen books that prophesied His coming and His salvation), it makes sense for Moses and Elijah to be on the mountain when Jesus let His glory be seen for a few moments. I don’t disagree with that. But our Old Testament reading today points us to another connection, one that might help us understand why the Transfiguration and its teaching are also important for us, today.
Moses in Exodus chapter 33 is stressed out. In chapter 32 he was up on Mt. Sinai, receiving God’s Law, His Torah, or instruction, when the Lord sent him down to deal with the Golden Calf incident.
The people of Israel, with Aaron’s enabling, had quickly abandoned the
LORD God who had just delivered them out of slavery in Egypt. God was still present up on the mountain,
hidden in a cloud, filled with thunder and lightning, that was pretty
obvious. But who knew what might have
happened to Moses up there? The people didn’t
want the scary God they imagined up on Sinai; they demanded a god they could
see and manipulate. And Aaron obliged
with the Golden Calf. Faithful
Israel? Not so much.
Moses had to come down and deal with this idolatry. He had to correct the people, and also intercede for them, to ask God not to abandon Israel, even though they had abandoned Him. Moses prayed that the LORD would not give them the punishment they deserved. And God agrees. After Moses straightened out the Golden Calf mess, God called him back up on the mountain to receive more instruction, which is the setting of today’s Old Testament reading.
Moses obeys God’s call, and heads back up Sinai. But his confidence is shaken. He is looking for reassurance. He asks the LORD to promise to always to be present with him, and to be with the people of Israel, to never leave them. God agrees.
Then Moses asks to see God’s glory. Moses has seen so much, so many great works had been done by the LORD through Moses and Aaron. But Moses knows there is more to God’s glory, and he would like to see it.
The LORD, ever patient with Moses, replies: “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But, he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back. But my face shall not be seen.”
God understands Moses’ desire. Indeed, God’s ultimate plan is to have Moses and all His faithful people with Him, in His glorious presence, forever and ever. “But not yet, Moses. You cannot yet see my glory. But I will pass by you, sheltering you in the cleft of the rock. And, when my glory has passed by, then I’ll let you see my back. That’s as far as it can go, for now.” Don’t blame God for shielding us from His full glory. Our sinfulness, Moses’, and yours, and mine, our sinfulness is the reason we cannot see the unveiled glory of God. Not yet.
But God does not leave us, even though His glory is veiled. He loves us, He remains with us, and has a plan for us. Which we can see in the life of the prophet Elijah. Almost 600 years after Moses, Elijah was prophet to Israel, a mighty warrior for God and His Truth. But his career had its ups and downs. After destroying the false prophets of the idol Baal in a “call-down-fire-from-heaven” contest, Elijah is up, way up. But then the wicked Queen Jezebel swears to kill Elijah, and he falls down, very far down. Elijah is so frightened, he flees, and eventually, he hides in a cave.
There the LORD comes and finds Elijah. He needs to be encouraged, picked up and dusted off, and set back on the path. So the LORD draws near to Elijah. He called to him to come out of the cave. “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.” (1 Kings 19:11-13)
The wind, earthquake and fire were frightening, portents of the dangers of this fallen world. But God’s whisper, His still, small voice emboldened Elijah to come out of hiding, and approach the LORD, who had drawn near to him. The LORD then explained His plan to Elijah, God’s plan to relieve him of his duties, appoint Elisha prophet in his place, and continue to preserve a remnant of faithful souls within Israel. For us today, the key point is that the LORD did not come to Elijah in anything obviously glorious. He was not in the mighty wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in fire, but in a whisper. A still small voice. Listen Elijah, listen to Me. For I come to you to bless you, not destroy you, to bless you with my Word. And my Word will accomplish what I send it for. Open your ears, listen, and trust; I AM the LORD.
Both Moses and Elijah had close encounters, unique encounters with the LORD God. Moses’ saw God in the burning bush, and heard the LORD speak to him. Moses was God’s instrument for performing many mighty deeds. Later, when Moses went up on Mt. Sinai to receive the Law, even though God veiled His glory there, so great was God’s power that, even His veiled glory made Moses’ face shine, even still when he came down to talk to the people.
Moses and Elijah certainly represent the Law and the Prophets. But there’s more. Their prior close encounters with God are another reason Moses and Elijah were the right Israelite heroes to appear with Jesus. For God’s desire has always been to dwell in the presence of His people. And Jesus of Nazareth, Mary’s Son, is the LORD God in human flesh, the same God who had spoken and appeared to Moses and Elijah.
We sinners cannot see the full glory of God and live, for God’s glory rejects and destroys sin, which we all have. God does not often make visible even a little bit of His glory to us, likely because of how easily we are impressed by shiny things. How quickly we are distracted from what God wants to teach us, because we are staring numbly at some bright lights. We tend to gawk at every limited glimpse of glory, and stop listening to what God says. We like glorious things, but we can’t distinguish true glory from the Devil’s counterfeits. God does want to share all His glory with us, but only when it will be good for us. And while we are still sinners, we are not ready.
Which brings us to Peter, who along with James and John, are amazed, baffled and frightened by the glory shining from Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter betrays his imperfect understanding of Who Jesus is, when he babbles on about building three booths, one each for Jesus and Elijah and Moses. Peter plans to honor these three, as if they are co-equals. But Moses and Elijah appear IN the glory of Jesus, they do not emit glory. They are followers of Jesus, wiser than, but in the same category as Peter, James and John.
God the Father gently corrects Peter, and points us all in the same direction that He pointed Elijah. The LORD was present for Elijah in a small voice, a whisper. As His plan of salvation nears its climax, God the Father speaks at the Transfiguration: “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” Listen to Jesus when He says “My sheep hear my voice and follow me.” Listen to Jesus when He says he has come not to be served, but to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many. Listen to Jesus when He predicts His departure, His exodus, from Jerusalem, through a Roman Cross. Listen to Jesus when He says “I will rise again, on the 3rd Day,” and that “I will not leave you as orphans.”
Does your life have ups and downs? Stupid question, right? We all have better days and worse days. And we all struggle to rightly appreciate the good gifts God gives us.
Even the most precious things in our lives can lose their attraction: our spouses,… our children, …our parents, brothers and sisters,… our friends… the miracle of daily bread and shelter, the sun that shines down in a reminder of God’s power and love,
- all of these wonderful gifts can become,
in our foolish perception, commonplace and boring.
Beyond this, truly evil things do come into our lives, temptations to deny God and pursue the false gods of our appetites. And, as we chase our personal idols, other bad things come to us. Words that cut, from a friend, to whom you turned to seeking kindness. Pains and worries, as these bodies God gave us continually wear out. Now, any teenager in an honest moment will remind you our bodies and our beauty have never been perfect. But most of us have long forgotten this truth, and long to be 21 again.
What do you do when you are in a downturn, when problems great or small dominate your life? Are you more like Moses, or Elijah? Do you like Moses seek God’s face, boldly asking Him to show you His goodness, if not His glory? Or, do you like Elijah run away and hide in a cave, unable to face Him, or the world? I think hiding from God is pretty common these days. It’s certainly my temptation.
Many of the greatest accomplishments of mankind, which truly do bring us amazing blessing, can be and are abused by us, for excess and escape. The digital age puts the universe of human knowledge and even ancient wisdom at our fingertips. Actually, more and more you don’t even need your fingers, you can talk to your device, Hey Siri, Hey Alexa, and words and images will be delivered to you. But do we use them to develop our minds and find new ways to serve each other? Or, do we fall down the rabbit hole of one click leading us to the next, pursuing the glory of entertainment, faster and faster, till we forget why we started to scroll in the first place?
Food is another blessing that can easily become a damaging distraction. Plentiful and cheap food should be a blessing, right? Way better than famine and starvation. But, consuming too many calories and making our bodies deal with too much sugar and chemical have joined forces to replace starvation as the major threat to our physical health and life today.
Well, whether we are bold to seek God like Moses, or trying to hide like Elijah, God is seeking us. God seeks you, because you already belong to Him. All who are baptized into Christ Jesus have been claimed by God; you are His own. And so, because God loves His people, He is always seeking you.
The same promises He made to Moses, the same reminder that He gave to Elijah, these all apply to you. You, along with Moses and Elijah and all the faithful, you are all joined together in the same glorious Savior, who briefly revealed the brightness of His glory at the Transfiguration. Even more importantly, and more usefully for you and me, the greatest revelation of God’s glory in the face of Jesus came when that face was stained with blood and twisted in pain.
The glorification that we need to be ready for heaven was revealed, not in bright light, but in deep darkness, where Jesus Christ, God’s Son, suffered in our place. The Innocent Man suffered to rescue us guilty sinners, to rescue us from suffering and death, forever.
Whether you are seeking God, or are running from Him, God is always seeking you to bless you. Now, you must remember, His blessing will require separating you from your sin. But He is seeking you to bless you. You might ask, “How can I be sure?” The proof is found in His Cross, where He made the Way for you to be with Him in the fullness of His glory, forever.
