The Transfiguration of Our Lord

Text: Matthew 17:1-9

Transfiguration is a feast for the eyes and the ears.

What the eyes of Peter, James, and John see is incredible. Jesus suddenly changed before them. His face begins shining like the sun! His clothes are white as light! Glory beams in bright rays from his body. The ears hear the Father's voice proclaiming this glorified and shining person, His beloved Son, whose words we must give our attention. Moses, the Lawgiver, and Elijah, the Prophet, stand in witness to His glory as the Only Begotten Son of the Father. It must have been an incredible sight to behold.

To be clear, Jesus didn't get another body there on the mountaintop; it was his same body, the very flesh that he'd received in the womb of the virgin Mary. That's what beamed with radiance upon the mountaintop. It's essential to remember that if we are to unlock the complete joy of this feast today.

What Peter, James, and John saw here is a foretaste, a glimpse into their future. Into your future and mine. As St. John wrote, "We are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is!" (1 Jn 3:2)

Furthermore, the Apostle Paul wrote, "When Christ, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory!" (Col. 3:4)

Thus, the Transfiguration of our Lord looks to His crucifixion and second coming. It provides a glimpse of what your raised bodies will be like shining in heavenly glory.

The festival of Transfiguration also provides us a glimpse through the disciples of Christ’s victory. It reveals to us a glimpse of His finished and completed work. For the disciples, this is a moment that is meant to last; it is a moment that is intended to comfort, a moment that would abide with them and give them strength for the days that lay ahead while their Lord would soon suffer upon the cross.

For this reason, the events on the Mount of Transfiguration reveal what Jesus will accomplish in us.

While it is on the Mount of Calvary that reveals how He will do it, one may say that upon the Mount of Transfiguration, Christ stands and sees the journey of His passion below. He must travel the road to the cross to bring redemption and new life to the Church. This glimpse, this foretaste of His glory, provides His disciples, both in word and sight, knowledge and truth for the road they must now follow Him on.

The road is the way of the cross; it is the way of suffering and scorn. It is the way of isolation and rejection. It is the way of His crucifixion. Yet, we stand here today and look out from this Sunday of Transfiguration and see Easter in the distance. But before we see Easter, we must see the Mount of Calvary; before this, we must see and journey through the season of Lent. 

If we are honest with ourselves, the season of the Church Year we now approach, the season of Lent, is the journey we find ourselves on most often. It is the journey that reveals how temptations and addictions shape our lives. It is the path that calls us to walk with and support one another in the most grievous times of life, marked by disappointment, disease, and, ultimately, the truth that no one will live forever. 

But, in the waters of Holy Baptism, you were given a gift. At the font, God spoke over you and said, “This is my beloved child!” And there at the font, you too experience a Transfiguration. It’s here God declares you as His own. Maybe some of you were wrapped or brought to the baptismal font with a white gown; this represents your Transfiguration garment. For this reason, the baptismal life begins the road each Christian travels as they move towards eternal glory with Jesus.

In many ways, the Transfiguration is looking to the journey of the other mount of our lives. It is looking to the mount of death—the inevitable pit of the ground. The final glorification of our bodies does not happen without death or Christ’s second coming. The life of Jesus reveals that suffering and death come first, and eternal glorification comes after. Suffering is the difficult lot we all come face to face with. It comes in all shapes and sizes; it affects the body of Christ and each Christian differently. But to suffer is to bear life’s crosses. To suffer with one another is to bear one another’s crosses.

Like Peter, James, and John, the Transfiguration is for us. It reveals how suffering will occur yet provides a foretaste of what will come. It points to the cross and the climax of Christ’s suffering, His victory over sin and the devil. For these reasons, it is not uncommon for Lutherans to keep the cross or crucifix before us. It is the reminder of what Christ has done so that you may have confidence and endurance to approach the challenges of this life, the assaults of Satan, the crosses of addiction, the death notice of incurable disease with a confident faith to the very end.

We can do nothing to stop our aging or our bodies’ deterioration. Daily life serves as a constant reminder that death will one day come to each of us. But we can journey through the rollercoaster of life, the hills and valleys, because we have heard the Words God has spoken over us. He has marked you as one redeemed by His Son in the waters of Baptism. Thus, we are instructed as the disciples to listen to Him, listen to Jesus. Yes, listen to Him, for He has the Words of eternal life; listen to Him, for He has conquered death and now opens heaven to you.

Because of the Son’s obedience, His death and resurrection to glory, and His victory, Luther also writes and points us to Christ in these ways. He writes,

“Your Father in Heaven still address’ you today in this manner: “‘He says, This is My Beloved Son!’ [and] He will continue to do so until the Day of Judgment, heaven will not be closed again. As you are baptized, partake of Holy Communion, receive the absolution, listen to a sermon, and every time you do so – know that heaven is open, and you hear the voice of the Heavenly Father; all these works of God descend upon us from the open heaven above us.” (LW 22:202)

What comforting news to hear!

In the closing verse of today’s Gospel, Jesus said to the disciples Peter, James, and John as they came down the mountain, and Jesus prepared for His Passion, “Tell no one of the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” Well, He is risen, and to that, we say, “Alleluia, Christ is risen!” (He is risen indeed, Alleluia!).

Alleluia, Praise the Lord, for the Transfiguration of Jesus provides a glimpse of the glory to come for His disciples. It is a glimpse of the glory to come for us. It is a glimpse of the day when we shall be raised to stand with Christ with all the faithful saints, forever singing Alleluia’s joyfully! +INJ+