Sermon February 14, 1999 Good To Be Here based on Matthew 17:1-9

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

0) Introduction

This Sunday we move on in the church year from the season of Epiphany to Lent. With Ash Wednesday, which happens this week, we move into Lent. The Last Sunday in Epiphany is assigned to remember the Transfiguration of Christ. The entire season of Epiphany, from January 6th through Ash Wednesday, has a theme of Christ coming as the light for the world. Christ did not come just to the Jews. The light of the star came to the non-Jewish wise men as we remember on the day of Epiphany. In the same way the light of Christ comes to us.

For our closing verse during this season we have sung, "The people that in darkness sat, a glorious light have seen." We are then singing of the light of Christ our Savior. The Light came to take us out of the darkness of our sins. Without Christ, we sit in the darkness of our sins, but with the Light of Christ our sins are forgiven and we are bathed in the glorious light of God's grace. Therefore, we who have been a long time in the darkness and the shade of death now see the one true light.

As we bring this season of Epiphany to a close, we learn once again of the Transfiguration. In this event, Christ shines with the brightest light of His entire ministry on earth. We turn to our Lord and let His light shine on us once again.

(1) Transfiguration events

Jesus took three of the disciples on a special trip in our text. Peter, James and John went up a mountain side with Jesus to be alone. Jesus was constantly harassed by crowds of people. Now He needed to have a break. The disciples themselves needed to see what Jesus would reveal in the Transfiguration.

What did they see? The text says, Jesus was transformed before them. His form or figure was changed. We call it the transfiguration. This change involved His face beginning to shine like the sun. Likewise, His clothes became white as light.

Along with the transformation in Jesus' appearance, Moses and Elijah appeared there talking with Him. Moses was that leader and prophet which God gave to the nation Israel to take them out of slavery in Egypt, through the desert for 40 years and to the promised land. Moses spoke God's Word to His chosen people and recorded that Word for us in the first five books of the Bible. Moses died about 1400 years prior to the Transfiguration.

Elijah was a later prophet, living about 850 years prior to the Transfiguration. He is know for his challenge of false prophets at Mount Carmel and raising the dead son of the widow. He was taken up into the heavens in a whirlwind and aboard a flaming chariot. Elijah is written about in the books 1st and 2nd Kings in the Bible. The later prophet, Malachi foretold that Elijah would return prior to the coming of the Messiah.

As the disciples watched, all these things took place, Jesus's appearance changed and the two prophets appeared with Him. Then Peter speaks up, saying, "Lord, it is good for us to be in this place." What was taking place there was a profound thing and Peter was glad to be there to witness it. Peter follows with his desire to put up shelters or tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. He wants to give the three participants a place to stay so perhaps this indicates Peter's desire that this event would not come to an end.

As Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud came down upon them. Then, out of the cloud came a voice. It said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" This message caused the disciples to fall down upon their faces and they were greatly afraid. Jesus then touched them and told them to get up and to stop being afraid. After He said this and they got up, they saw that the Transfiguration had ended and only Jesus was present. On the way back, Jesus tells them to keep quiet about this event, until He is raised from the dead.

(2) What does it mean for us today?

As we come to consider the Transfiguration, you are probably asking yourself what does it mean for you? What meaning are you to take away from this portion of Scripture?

It is interesting for me to see how others might answer these questions. I have a couple of sources of discussions on sermons in which I participate via electronic mail. There was a noticeable group this week which suggested looking at the Transfiguration as a "mountain top experience" for the disciples and then we should look for our own experiences. What is meant by this is the idea that the disciples had a important spiritual experience in being present at the Transfiguration. It was an event sure to influence their later life and faith. So, some would suggest that we each must go off in search of our own experiences, for it would be good for us to have that kind of experience.

Spiritual experiences are fine, as long as they lead you to Christ. The experience of Peter, James and John was not something they went off seeking themselves, rather, Christ brought them to the experience. Clearly the experience was about Christ and drew them to Christ.

The problem with most seeking after personal experiences, whether it is a vision on a mountain top, or worship which gives you a warm fuzzy feeling, is that it is a focus on self, rather than on Christ. I am going to get something for myself. Then, there are the inevitable feelings of superiority and inferiority. Those who have some kind of experience feel they are better than those who lack their particular experience. Likewise, those lacking the experience feel inadequate. This all runs in the way of focus on self and also setting up steps beyond the cross, as was mentioned last week.

Rather that taking away from the Transfiguration the idea that we must search for our own experience like Peter, James and John, I would suggest that we take away these two points. First, we see in the Transfiguration that Jesus' identity as Son of God and true God are revealed for us. Secondly, in Jesus' relationship with the disciples during the event, we see the model for how God relates to us in terms of Law and Gospel.

(3) Point 1: Jesus Identity Revealed

Now consider the first point, that Jesus' identity is revealed. Through the events of the Transfiguration, we get to see the depth of who He is. Jesus is shown in glory to be the Son of God. The voice speaking from the cloud is the voice of the Father, telling us that in Jesus we have His Son. Jesus' change in appearance points out His majesty and honor. He is indeed someone special, not simply a man, not simply a wise philosopher, not simply a great teacher. In Jesus Christ we have true God, one of the three persons of God.

With the revealing of Jesus we are also given the command: we are to listen to Him. Jesus is not just for show, but we are to follow Him, do what He commands, and believe what He says.

Certainly, Jesus had told the disciples who He really was prior to the Transfiguration. Therefore, in the Transfiguration Jesus' prior statements were confirmed. The disciples were given further confidence that Jesus was whom He said.

What was seen by the disciples is now reported for us in God's word. It is based on eye-witness accounts as our Epistle reading from Peter testifies. He says it wasn't a cleverly invented story. The Transfiguration was real. It did happen. We have the sure witness of God's inspired and inerrant Word to back up our faith that Jesus Christ is God. Just as the disciples were given further confidence, we too are given further confidence in Christ as our Lord and Savior by the events of the Transfiguration. We don't need to travel to the mountain top ourselves, for we have God's certain Word to tell us what took place there. The Transfiguration does not need to be repeated for us, we simply believe that it happened.

(4) Point 2: Jesus' Relationship to the Disciples

The second point that we take from the Transfiguration is that Jesus' relationship with the disciples reflected Law and Gospel. First, when the disciples hear the voice of the Father, on top of Jesus' transformed figure and the appearance of Moses and Elijah, they fell face-down and were very afraid. They had become immediately and intensely aware of the presence of an almighty God. To be acutely aware of the presence of the one who created you, who has all the power in the universe, who sets rules for you, and who knows which rules you have broken, leaves a person with no other response but to fall face-down. How else could you respond to the presence of God?

There is another way. The disciples initially responded with a Law relationship towards God, but we can see from the events of the Transfiguration that Jesus brings the disciples back to a Gospel relationship. Jesus brings them back by going to them as they lied face down and telling them to get up and to stop being afraid. When they look up, they only see Jesus. What they see is their mediator Jesus. Jesus goes between them and the Father. He intervenes for them with the Father. Further, Jesus is the one they see. No longer do they look to Moses or Elijah. Now they look to Jesus alone.

God relates to His people in a similar way as He did to the disciples at the Transfiguration. We are first struck down with Law. We come to know God in His almighty power. We are blinded by God's glory and majesty and struck down with the power of His voice. We come to understand God's law. In humility we come to know our failures in keeping His law. We are before God in fear because of our sins. We come to God first, confessing our sins. This is why we have confession of sins at the beginning of our divine services. We confess our sins and then receive the forgiveness or absolution of those sins. Then we can worship God in a holy and blameless state.

After God relates to us in the way of Law, He relates to us in Gospel. Jesus picks us up and tells us to stop being afraid. We have nothing to fear before God, for Christ does take our sins away. We don't need to bow our heads in fear.

Jesus told the disciples to remain silent about the Transfiguration until He was resurrected. The resurrection completes Jesus' work for us. Once the resurrection was seen and understood, then other people could understand the Transfiguration. Once Jesus died for our sins upon the cross and was raised from the dead to bring us into eternal life, then we could truly see the Gospel.

As a result of Jesus doing this for us, we can raise our heads in the presence of God. Jesus Christ, both God and man is our mediator between us and the Father. Jesus tells us to lift up our heads and stop being afraid over our sins. We need not fear God's punishment for our sins, for Christ has removed those sins.

In the end, the disciples left the scene of the Transfiguration with only Jesus. This is how it is to be for us also. We come to our Lord looking at ourselves and our own sins. We leave looking at Jesus, our only Savior. In the end, we don't look to ourselves, our deeds, our mountain-top experiences, or anything in ourselves, but we simply look to Christ alone. Only Christ calms our fears and only Christ lifts us up.

(5) Conclusion

In the Transfiguration we come away with two points today. In the Transfiguration Jesus was revealed as the Son of God, true God, well pleasing to the Father, and one to whom we should listen. We gain confidence in Jesus as our Lord and Mediator with the Father. Our faith is confirmed in the Transfiguration. We also learn how God deals with us in the way of Law and Gospel. Law puts us face down, and trembling in fear because of our sins in the face of an almighty God. The Gospel comes and lifts us up and removes our fears. Gospel takes the focus off of ourselves and directs it to our Savior instead. Gospel leaves us looking at only one person, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.