Transfiguration Sunday
February 26, 2017
Matthew 17:1-9
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Did you watch the Super Bowl a few weeks back? I think most people would agree that it was both an exciting as well as a shocking game. It didn’t take very long for most people to think that the Atlanta Falcons were going to go home basking in the glory of a Super Bowl victory. The score at halftime was 28 to 3— Falcons! Then came the second half of the game! Time after time Tom Brady led his team down the field to even up the score. And then, for the first time in Super Bowl history, the game was decided by an overtime touchdown. Suddenly to many people’s shock and amazement the Patriots are the ones who have the glory of being Super Bowl champions— again! Sadly, however, the glory of their victory will be somewhat short-lived. I hear that the San Francisco 49’ers are already planning on being the ones who walk away with the glory of winning Super Bowl LII!
Down through the ages there have been certain individuals and there have been certain events that have been described as “glorious.” In the end, however, earthly glory quickly fades away and is forgotten. It is only by the grace of God, my friends, you and I have the opportunity to gather together here in the house of our God and with the eyes of faith witness true lasting glory! Today let’s see how this very familiar portion of Scripture focuses our hearts and our lives on this Transfiguration truth: The Glory of the Lord Is Revealed! As we travel to the top of the Mount of Transfiguration this morning we want to see three things. First, we want to see how the glory of the Lord is revealed in Jesus’ Person. Secondly, we want to see how the glory of the Lord is revealed in Jesus’ purpose. And finally, we want to see how the glory of the Lord is revealed in Jesus’ people.
The transfiguration of Jesus Christ took place less than a year before His death and resurrection. The “six days” referred to here in our text go back to Peter’s tremendous confession concerning Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). And while there is some debate over where the Mount of Transfiguration was located in the end it doesn’t really make any difference. What is important is not where this event took place but rather what this event is all about, namely, the glory of the Lord being revealed.
At various times in the history of this world the Lord God openly revealed His glory to His people. We think of the burning bush in Exodus chapter three. We think of the glory of the Lord that appeared in the cloud that guided God’s people out of Egypt (see Exodus 13:20-22; 14:19, 20; 16:6-10) and then led them through the wilderness (see Exodus 40:34-38). We think of our Old Testament lesson for today where we heard how “the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai” (Exodus 24:15-18). We think of the glory of the Lord that filled the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35) and the Temple (II Chronicles 5:11-14) in the Old Testament. Over and over again when the Lord, the one and only true God revealed Himself to His people that revelation centered on a glorious brilliant light— the “glory of the Lord.”
Peter, James and John were given the privilege of seeing the glory of the Lord in the Person of Jesus Christ there on the Mount of Transfiguration. Matthew tells us, “There he (Jesus) was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” The Greek word which is translated here as “transfigured” is where we get our English word, “metamorphosis.” In a way that goes far beyond our comprehension Jesus’ eternal divine nature began to literally radiate forth from His human body. The humble unassuming Rabbi whom Peter, James and John had been following from town to town and from village to village for a little over two years now, the humble unassuming Rabbi who had amazed people with His miraculous powers, His keen insight into the sacred Scriptures and the depth of His compassion for others— this humble unassuming Rabbi was “changed,” He was “metamorphosized,” He was “transfigured” before their very eyes. Yes, the glory of the Lord, the glory of the one and only living God was openly revealed in the Person of Jesus.
Anyone who wants to try and maintain that Jesus is not true God, anyone who wants to try and maintain that Jesus is not the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, anyone who wants to try and maintain that Jesus is not, “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God…of one being with the Father” (Nicene Creed, Second Article) is going to have to perform some rather strange mental and linguistic gymnastics to try and explain away what Peter, James and John witnessed there on the Mount of Transfiguration. These three men would be the first to stand up and proclaim that the glory of the Lord is indeed revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ.
The second point we need to take home from this text is to see and understand how the glory of the Lord is revealed in Jesus’ purpose for being on this earth. That all-important purpose is brought out in verse three of our text, “Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.” Moses, the great representative of God’s holy revealed Law, and Elijah, perhaps the greatest of God’s Old Testament prophets suddenly appeared there on the Mount of Transfiguration and were “talking with Jesus.” What were they talking about? For that we turn to Luke’s account of the Transfiguration. Luke tells us, “Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:30-31).
Within about nine months Jesus would enter into the depths of His humiliation. The eternal Son of God would be betrayed by a friend. The eternal Son of God would be deserted by His disciples. The eternal Son of God would be beaten and publicly humiliated by mortal human beings. The eternal Son of God would be stretched out and nailed to a cross by sinners. And it was all a part of the purpose for which Jesus came to this earth, my friends. How does that purpose reveal the glory of the Lord? The glory of the Lord is revealed in the fact that Jesus, the eternal Son of God, did not have to allow any of that to take place!
Think about it, my friends. Jesus did not have to be born as our true Brother. Jesus did not have to live a perfect life as our Substitute. Jesus did not have to suffer and die in our place. It is only because of His grace— His undeserving love for us— that the eternal Son of God lived and died and rose again for our eternal salvation! For all the times that you and I have rebelled against the Almighty by shattering the Law He gave to us through Moses, for all of the times that you and I have not trusted in the promises which the Lord has made to us through His prophets— through men such as Elijah— for all of that and more the Lord our God made and carried out a plan for our salvation. That plan was embodied in the humble unassuming Rabbi whose true glory as the eternal Son of God became visible here on the Mount of Transfiguration. Can we see the glory of the Lord revealed in Jesus’ purpose for coming to this earth? Absolutely, my friends! Absolutely!
How then is the glory of the Lord revealed today? The glory of the Lord is now revealed through us— His people. In the closing verse of our text Matthew tells us, “As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, ‘Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’” Even though Jesus had very clearly told His disciples exactly what was going to happen to Him in Jerusalem and why (see Matthew 16:21ff) the disciples still did not quite understand Jesus’ purpose for being here on this earth (see also Acts 1:6). And since so many of the Israelites were still hoping that Jesus would be a political Messiah, someone who would drive out the hated Romans and restore the nation of Israel to a position of power and prestige, Jesus did not want Peter, James and John to tell anyone about what they had seen and heard until after Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead. Once Jesus had completed His mission, once Jesus had died to pay for the sins of the world, once Jesus had raised Himself to life to prove that He had indeed won the victory over sin, death and the devil, then Peter, James and John were to tell everyone what they had seen and heard here on the Mount of Transfiguration!
In humble obedience to their Lord Peter, James and John did exactly what Jesus had told them. For the next nine months they kept this “secret” to themselves. But once the Son of Man had been raised from the dead these men told— and are still telling— millions of people about who this Jesus of Nazareth is and what this Jesus of Nazareth has done for our eternal salvation! Think back to our Epistle lesson for this morning (2 Peter 1:16-21). The Apostle Peter tells us, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.” And in the very first chapter of his Gospel account the Apostle John writes, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Yes, to this very day the glory of the Lord is being revealed through the words and through the witness of the men who were there on the Mount of Transfiguration.
Now it is our turn, my friends. There are millions of people today who look at Jesus Christ as just another prophet, just another holy man. There are millions of people today who do not even know Who Jesus is or what Jesus has done for them! They haven’t even heard that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, this world’s only Savior from sin. Among those millions of people are individuals whom you see and talk to on a regular basis. Let the glory of the Lord be revealed through you, His people. Through your words and through the witness of your day-to-day life take people to the top of the Mount of Transfiguration so that they can see the glory of the Lord revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ. From the top of that glorious mountain point them to the cross on the top of Mount Calvary so that they can see that the glorious purpose for which Jesus came into this world was to save them from their sins. Then point them to the glory of Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, so that even when they are walking across the plains of a routine mundane life, even when they are struggling through the valleys of hardship and difficulty they will always have the comfort of seeing the glory that the dear Lord Jesus has waiting for them in His eternal heavenly home.
Truly, Transfiguration Sunday does indeed empower us to say:
To God be the glory!
Amen