Matthew
17:1-9
1 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and
James and his brother John 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 dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and
Elijah, talking with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good
for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you,
one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly
a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This
is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" 6 When
the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7
But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be
afraid." 8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself
alone. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell
no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the
dead."
And when they looked up, they saw no
one except Jesus himself alone.
§ Our Lutheran Church puts the festival of the Transfiguration just
before the beginning of Lent for much the same reason it appears in the Gospel.
In the Gospels, the event is placed just before Jesus begins his journey to
Jerusalem and his death there. The story of the Transfiguration is place to
show encouragement to the disciples before the horrifying events of Calvary…
and possible as a foretaste of Easter Sunday.
§ Jesus is show in glory and in normal human guise and he touches
his disciples and tells them not to fear.
§ So we might ask: Is he a Divine being masquerading as a human or a
human raised to the status of Divine being? Just who and what is this Jesus?
§ The answer is not really simple. In Matthew’s Gospel, this even
takes place just after Peter’s confession: You are the Messiah, the Son of the
living God. Jesus also declares that his disciples must take up
their cross and follow him. It seems there is no following of Jesus without the
cross.
§ As for what we call the Transfiguration, it shows the disciples
and us that Jesus is who he is; not “either/or” but “both/and.” Heaven and
earth meet in him and because of him, they are not separated any longer.
§ I realize that this will be confusing to us. We like things in
nice clean and defined categories. We don’t like “messy” things that flow over
into other things. But that is not reality as we perceive it if we look
closely.
§ Jesus show us that heaven and earth are not really separate
places. In his birth, what is considered divine becomes part of our earthly
reality on a full time basis, not simply a visit.
§ In the Scriptures, the places where the separation of heaven and
earth is least powerful and least seen are the so-called ‘high places’, the
mountains. Some ancient cultures even built artificial mountains for their
temples. I suppose to the human mind the higher a thing is, the closer it is to
heaven.
§ The Gospels speak of three mountains, each of which are the site
of a special and specific revelation about Jesus and the Kingdom. They are –
the mountain where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount; Mount Tabor – the mountain
of Transfiguration; and Mount Calvary – the hill of crucifixion.
§ Looking over the entire Bible, we’d need to add Mount Sinai where
Moses receives the Law. In all cases, the high places are high points in the
history of salvation.
§ On that mountain with Jesus’ face shining like the sun and his
clothes becoming dazzlingly white, the disciples – Peter, James, and John – saw
him transfigured and they saw him in his everyday ways. And when they looked up, they
saw no one except Jesus himself alone. That would be how they
continued to see him until his Resurrection and seeing him there took some
recognizing.
§ We don’t often – if ever – see Jesus transfigured as he was on the
mountain, although we may have seen his disciples around us transfigured in a
way. I think we’ve all seen Jesus through
the lives of the Christians around us and I hope we always will.
§ It is possible that each and every one of us can be transfigured
so that the presence and maybe even the glory of Jesus could be seen through
us. Whether that is the case for us or not, there are things we can take with us today.
§ The three disciples heard the voice from the bright cloud tell
them “This
is my Son, the beloved... Listen to him!” As disciples of Jesus,
this listening will be part and parcel of our lives. Hearing his Word in the
Scriptures, whether preached or read is vital. We are called to be ‘hearers of
the Word.’
§ When those terrified disciples finally looked up and saw Jesus by
himself. He touched them and told them “Get up and do not be afraid.”
No matter what they’d been through, he was with them still and he wanted them
to walk with him and not be afraid. That’s both good advice and a good calling
for each of us as well. Whenever something important in the Gospels happens,
the watch word is “Do not be afraid.” The angels say it to the shepherds at the
Nativity. Jesus says it to the disciples when he joins them after the
Resurrection. Just so, we too are to get up and not be afraid as
we get on with following Jesus. We are called to be ‘do-ers of the Word’ as
well as hearers of the Word. This is how we follow Jesus today, tomorrow, and
for as long as we live.
Jesus came and touched them, saying,
"Get up and do not be afraid." And when they looked up, they saw no
one except Jesus himself alone.
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