Transfiguration

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My sermon is based on our Gospel (Mark 9:2-9). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Generically speaking the word, transfiguration, means a change in form or appearance. It also means an exalting, glorifying or spiritual change. Harry Potter diehards define transfiguration as a core subject taught at Hogwarts, the art and science of changing an object’s form and appearance. That is not what we understand and observe today.

I want you to understand why we observe Transfiguration today, that is, why the church places it on the Sunday immediately prior to Ash Wednesday, why Mark placed it in chapter 9, and what practical application the Transfiguration plays in our lives.

The church places the Transfiguration on the Sunday immediately prior to Ash Wednesday. As a Christian feast, the Transfiguration commemorates Christ’s transfiguration or metamorphosis on a mountaintop in the presence of three disciples. It makes a great deal of sense to observe it today, because when we look at the church’s liturgical year beginning with Advent, we see the Sundays after Epiphany framed by the Baptism of Jesus and the Transfiguration. On these Sundays, God the Father proclaims, “You are my Beloved Son” and “This is my Beloved Son.”

The whole Season of Epiphany is about revealing who Jesus is, and emphasizes that He is God’s Son. We hear this at the beginning of his ministry and as Jesus travels to Jerusalem, which happens right after the Transfiguration. After this Sunday, the church observes Ash Wednesday, which plunges us down into the valley of Lent, which precedes Easter.

In the Transfiguration we get a glimpse of the glory of God. That glory is fully revealed in the Resurrection of our Lord. And although the Transfiguration is not a prequel to the Resurrection, on this day, we look over the valley of Lent to Easter. Imagine that you are looking from one mountaintop to another, knowing that there is a deep valley between the place where you stand and the next peak. Today, we say good-bye to Alleluia and anticipate its return at Easter. This is how our feast fits into our liturgical year.

Mark placed the Transfiguration in chapter 9. When we expand the text of our Gospel and look at chapter 8, the account is depressing. After Jesus’ multiplication miracle, the Pharisees demanded a sign, Jesus restored sight to a blind man, and Peter confessed him the Christ. Jesus predicted his passion, death and resurrection, and after Peter and Jesus exchanged rebukes, the Lord stated the cost of discipleship: deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. As a striking counterbalance, the Transfiguration reveals heavenly glory vis-à-vis the humiliation in 8:31, where Jesus said, “that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

 Chapter 9 begins with Jesus saying, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” In this verse, Jesus meant the Resurrection, which all standing there, with the exception of Judas, witnessed on Easter. Mark closed the Transfiguration passage with, “As they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” In other words, although the Easter Resurrection is not the sequel to the Transfiguration, the Paschal Mystery – Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection – frames today’s passage and allows us to read it in its proper context.

If we expand the passage to include the whole Bible, we see that the Old Testament clearly underlies Mark’s Transfiguration account. Now remember, our most reliable lens for understanding the Old Testament is through the teaching of Jesus and the writings of the New Testament. Who among us can say that I or someone else knows the Scriptures better than these? So, Mark opens the account by telling us that Jesus took Peter, James and John – the disciples who witnessed Jesus’ agony at Gethsemane – up a high mountain. Moses took Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu up Mount Sinai to meet God. From the outset, Jesus’ ascent triggered thoughts of a new Sinai experience.

As it was for Moses and Elijah, the mountain was a special place in Mark for prayer, contemplation, apostolic commissioning, and, as shown in the Transfiguration, extraordinary revelation. Elsewhere in Mark, we read, “After he took leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.” In chapter three, Jesus “went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.”

As I explained earlier, transfiguration means a glorifying or spiritual change. There are several Old Testament references regarding this change. In Exodus, after Moses met God, his skin glowed. Later, the Psalmist wrote of God, “You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment.” And Daniel described God’s clothing as white as snow. So, we see the glorifying or spiritual change when man meets God.

In their transfiguration accounts, Matthew described the change in Jesus’ face, and Luke Jesus’ face and clothing. Mark described only His clothes as “radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.” Mark’s point was the disciples could not account for what they witnessed, but identified Jesus through his clothing. This way of identifying Jesus prepared them for the message from the voice in the cloud.

Next, two Old Testament figures appear. Verse 4 states, “there appeared to them Elijah with Moses.”  All the Evangelists used the word ‘appeared.’  Luke used the same word to describe the what occurred after the two disciples returned from Emmaus. He wrote, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Likewise, Paul used the word when he wrote of the Resurrection to the Corinthians. Christ “appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time … He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all … he appeared also to me.” The word ‘appear’ conveyed the presence of God in Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity.

Onto the Old Testament figures. Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark reversed the order when he wrote that Elijah and Moses appeared to the disciples. We quickly think they represented the Prophets and the Law, but the text begs us to dig deeper.

Note that Mark mentioned Elijah twice already – immediately prior to John the Baptist’s death and Peter’s confession. In the minds of Jews during Jesus’ time, Elijah’s appearance meant that the time of fulfillment was near.

While Moses represented the Law, he lifted eschatological – or end-time hopes – as Israel awaited the Messiah. Two Sundays ago, we heard Moses say, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen.”

Therefore, in the minds of Jewish people, the appearance of Elijah and Moses fulfilled every hope, for the glorious end-time had now begun with the coming of Jesus. To the righteous, such an appearance brought delight, but to the sinful, scorn. As with Jesus, people rejected Elijah and Moses. The Hebrew people constantly grumbled against God and Moses; and Elijah was an exemplary model for suffering at the hands of the ungodly.

Responding to the unfolding action of the Transfiguration, Peter proposed what he thought a brilliant idea. Actually, his proposal was a clumsy way for a practical man to express what to do at such a time. Given that God declared and commanded, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him,” Peter’s proposal to put Elijah and Moses on par with Jesus is even more out of place. Mark reminded readers how inappropriate Peter’s idea really was, but first, the cloud.

In between Peter’s suggestion and God’s command came the cloud, a theophanic motif, or a sophisticated way of saying how God showed himself. In Exodus we read, “The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way.” And later, “When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. When the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door.”

Transfiguration’s cloud on the mountain and the voice of God that spoke from it echoed what occurred to God’s people in the Sinai. In short, as God spoke there, God spoke here.

The Transfiguration remained the disciples’ private event until after the Resurrection. It encouraged them to persevere. Before the Transfiguration, the disciples could only focus on Jesus Crucified; after it, they could focus on Jesus Resurrected. Biblically and liturgically, we look over the valley of Lent and see the Risen Lord on Easter Sunday.

Having examined why the church places the Transfiguration on the Sunday immediately prior to Ash Wednesday, and why Mark placed it in chapter 9, we now examine what practical application the Transfiguration plays in our lives.

Returning to Peter’s proposal, we see it was inappropriate. Tents were dwellings of the world to come. Peter wanted the vision to last and to withdraw Jesus from this earth. Fortunately, the voice commanded Peter to “listen to him,” a message Peter did not like.

“Listen to him,” is a message we, like Peter, dislike and disregard. To listen to Jesus requires intimacy. To listen requires intimacy, but after 37 years of counseling couples preparing for marriage, counseling couples enriching their marriage, and counseling couples dissolving their marriage, the complaint underlying all faults is, “You’re not listening.”

Now, if the person with whom you are most intimate informs you that you are not listening, how often does our Heavenly Father say it? I know He tells me multiple times throughout the day. I am sure He reminds you too.

First, let us presume that God wants us to listen to Him. Evidently, He does, for early in Mark, Jesus summoned disciples, created The Twelve and called them into fellowship with him. We read, “He went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. He appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.”

That they might be with him was the first duty of the apostle. Before preaching or casting out demons, they were to be with or in fellowship with Jesus. This is part and parcel of the portrait of the fully human Jesus. He needed a support group. He longed for fellowship. He lived as a person in community, not as an isolated prophet. These were not merely Jesus’ pupils, but his friends and coworkers. He appointed them for fellowship and to witness.

Jesus calls you into fellowship with Him. He calls you to be with Him. The Father calls you to listen to Him. The time we call fellowship over coffee and cookies pales in comparison to what we are doing right now. Fellowship is listening to God speak to us and receiving Christ’s Body and Blood to nourish our souls. Fellowship elsewhere is simply talking to one another about mundane stuff.

Now, friends, throughout each day, how much time do you fellowship with or listen to Jesus? To put that into perspective, let me read a snippet of A Man’s Guide to Spiritual Disciplines. 

“A young businessman told me, ‘I really don't have a lot of time for prayer and Bible reading. I have young kids, I'm building my career, and I'm very active in my church.’

When I was in that same mindset, I took a suggestion from management guru Peter Drucker. I sat down with a piece of paper and charted how I actually spent my time. Drucker says everyone has expectations about what their chart will say, and without exception, everyone is surprised by what they actually find. I discovered that I spent one to two hours every night watching television. … I started going to bed early instead of watching TV, and getting up two hours earlier in the morning. People sometimes think I'm crazy to get up at 4 a.m., but that's okay. I'm in conversation with God.

Martin Luther is famous for commenting, ‘I have so much to do today that I'm going to need to spend three hours in prayer in order to be able to get it all done.’ We must learn to see prayer as the most powerful and efficient use of our time.

If you want a close relationship with Jesus, you can have it, but you must cultivate that relationship through conversation.”

If you want a close relationship or fellowship with Jesus, you can have it, but you must cultivate that relationship through conversation. Cultivating that relationship first means that we have the right understanding of fellowship. Fellowship with Jesus is being here with the community of believers listening to God’s Word and receiving Christ’s true Body and Blood. During our Divine Worship, we have a conversation with God primarily by listening to God and accepting Christ’s Body and Blood in, with and under the form of bread and wine. Here, we pray. Here we have a conversation with God. Here we listen.

Now, responding to the unfolding action of the Transfiguration, Peter proposed what he thought a brilliant idea. Actually, his proposal was a clumsy way for a practical man to express what to do at such a time. A selfish, sinful or worldly way for a good man.

When we scrutinize many of the brilliant ideas we propose, we see that they are actually clumsy, selfish, sinful or worldly. While this observation makes me squirm with remorse, regret or revenge, I know it is true. Like Peter, I do not listen to Him because I do not take time to listen to Him. I am too busy for prayer and Bible reading. I have young children. I'm building my career and my friendships. I have lots of social activities that keep me busy. And so on.

Question: Do I make choices based on listening to Jesus or to a sinful world and my sinful self? Are the choices I let my children make based on the teachings of our church or the values of our culture?

Friends, your presence here, listening to me, tells me you want a close relationship with Jesus. You want to fellowship with Him. You can have that relationship, but you must cultivate it through prayer. Listen to him as he prepares to take his disciples to the mountaintop.

“Calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?’”

From here, the mountaintop of Transfiguration, I can see our Risen Lord on Easter morning and when we gather in fellowship with Him. Today, His Word washes away my sinful inclinations and thoughtless ideas; enriches my choices and relationships. His Body and Blood nourish me for the journey through Lent’s valley and life’s trials. His Spirit enlightens my mind and moves my heart to love deeply as Jesus loved.

Between now and Ash Wednesday, chart how you spend your time. Throughout Lent, instead of watching TV or reading social media, turn in early and spend that amount of time in conversation with God each morning. If you want a close relationship with God, you can have it, but like the people Jesus called into fellowship, you must cultivate that relationship through prayer and conversation. When you do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your heart your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.