Sermon: Transfiguration - 2019

10 February 2019

Text: Matt 17:1-9 (2 Pet 1:16-21)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

It always amazes me how so many people have no idea who Jesus is.  The cluelessness seems to increase with each passing year, and it’s not limited to unbelievers.

Some people think of Jesus as a kind of self-help guru, like the Dalai Lama (only with a beard and blue eyes) who spouts goofy spiritual soundbites.  Other people think of Jesus as a moral scold who has come into our world to remind you not say bad words and be sure to promote social justice causes.  Some people think of Jesus as the ultimate American (who of course drinks the same beer and cheers for the same teams that we do).  Others think that Jesus is the ultimate nice guy who drinks soy lattes and only says positive, uplifting things (and those people have never, ever actually read the Bible).  There are also other people who vilify Jesus as a backward rube whose hateful followers became a cult.  

Ironically, God created man in His image, but men like to create Jesus in their own image.

Even our Lord’s first disciples were guilty of this.  And this is one of the proofs that the Gospels are truthful: the apostles at times look foolish and clueless about who Jesus is.  There is no airbrushing going on in the pens of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Our Gospel reading from St. Matthew – the account of Peter, James, and John being given a glimpse of Jesus unveiled –  is one such passage.  We know it today as the Transfiguration.

At this point, the inner circle of the followers of Jesus still don’t get it.  In the chapter before our text, the disciples hear Jesus warning them of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and they are so clueless that they think He is talking about their lunch plans.  Then Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ (for which Jesus praises him), and then immediately, Peter rebukes Jesus for saying that He must be crucified (for which Jesus calls Peter “Satan”).  Peter thinks he knows what Jesus is supposed to be doing more than Jesus does Himself.  And in the chapter just after our Gospel reading, the disciples want to know who is the greatest in the kingdom. 

In reading the Gospels, it becomes apparent that a good bit of the time, the Twelve seem as ignorant of who Jesus is, and why He has come, as a lot of people are today.

And so, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John and sets them straight about who He is.  For a brief moment, Jesus takes off the figurative veil and lets them see His unhidden form.  “He was transfigured before them” – or to use the Greek term, Jesus went through a metamorphosis.  Instead of the ordinary guy they have come to love hanging out with, they see something frightening.  Jesus’ face “shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light.”  If this weren’t surreal and strange enough, they then see Jesus holding forth with Moses and Elijah.  

St. Peter, once again trying to tell Jesus how this is all supposed to work, starts plans for a building project to house Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.  But “while he was still speaking,” another frightening thing happened: “a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him.’”

This interruption put an end to Peter’s pontification, and the three – Peter, James, and John – immediately fell “on their faces.” 

This is not a Jesus that they can control.

No soy latte guru, no swaggering John Wayne, no finger-wagging scold, and no Mister Nice-guy – just pure, unapologetic divine power emanating from Jesus in His flesh.  Jesus is not messing around.  This isn’t about making sure you say “please” and “thank you” and use the right fork for your salad.  Not that those things are bad, of course.  But Jesus has come to eviscerate our enemy and to cure us from our mortal illness called “sin.”  He has broken into our time and space to redeem us and the world that we have corrupted.  Jesus has also come to vanquish the devil and to restore creation to its original glory.

And in order to do this, He has to die.  He comes to fall on the grenade for us.  He comes to interpose himself between the assassin’s bullet and us.  He comes to do the messy, dirty, bloody work of extracting the poison from our flesh and blood, by cleansing us with baptismal water, and then giving us His transfigured flesh and blood.  We don’t see the blazing white light from His flesh, nor do we hear the voice of God bellowing out of the clouds.  For Jesus has again veiled Himself under the forms of bread and wine.  And the Word of God is spoken by a pastor who is under holy orders by God to speak the Word of Jesus: “This is My body, which is given for you… Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood… for the forgiveness of sins.”

Those are not the pastor’s words, but the Son’s words.  And it is God the Father who says: “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him.”

Jesus has come into our world to redeem the world.  Jesus has come in the flesh to cure our flesh of its mortality.  Jesus has not come to scold, but to save; not to promote a nationality, but to make disciples of all nations; not to promote niceness, but to crush our enemies: sin, death, and the devil – into the dust.

He has come to drag us out of the pit, to pull us out of hell’s flames, and to bring breath and life into our dying bodies and souls that are ridden with gangrenous sin that threatens to drag us down into the grave.  Our blessed Lord means business.

Jesus has come to put the world into its proper orbit, to order the particles and emanations of energy of the universe, to restore harmony to every creature that lives and breathes, and to put an end to all suffering and conflict, to all scarcity and want, to every manifestation of disease and discord.  Jesus has come to re-create the universe, and He comes to start with us: His often clueless disciples upon whom He has mercy.

Jesus was transfigured for our sake – to prove His divinity.  Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah for our sake – to demonstrate His fulfillment of the law and the prophets.  Jesus receives the approval of the Father who tells us to listen to Him – for our sake, to point us to the Word – even as Jesus was crucified, died, and rose for our sake.

And once more we hear His voice, His invitation to “Rise, and have no fear,” for He has come to redeem, to heal, and to save.  He has come to forgive our sins and to restore us to life.  And when we lift up our eyes, dear friends, let us see “Jesus only,” confessing Him both as God and man, both as Lord and Savior, both as the one who has come to destroy evil, and to sanctify us by His Word.

And though we did not witness this transfiguration, one who did, St. Peter, reminds us that “we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”  

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory.”  Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.