SERMON FOR FEBRUARY 18, 2007

TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2007 Luke 9:28-43

“Are You a Witness?“

The Transfiguration of our Lord must surely be one of the most unusual stories in the Bible. But, for all its power, the point of the story isn’t immediately obvious. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all three describe the incident (Mt 17:1-8, Mk 9:2-8, and Lk 9:28-36). Luke tells us the most about it, but each Gospel’s account adds a few more details to the picture.

The story seems to start when Jesus takes three of his closest followers up on a mountain to pray. We aren’t told how long they were there—Jesus, Peter, James, and John. But we are told that, while he was praying, Jesus’ appearance began to change: First his face began to shine (Matthew says that it “shone like the sun”). Then, his clothes became “dazzling white” (The writer of Mark’s Gospel says, white “such as no one on earth could bleach them”).

And, as if this transfigured appearance weren’t amazing enough, suddenly two men who had been dead for centuries appear alongside Jesus—the prophet Elijah and Moses the law-giver. We don’t hear what these three are saying, but we are told that Moses and Elijah are talking with Jesus. Whether Peter, James, and John can hear this incredible conversation, we don’t know.

But then another voice enters the scene. From out of heaven comes a bright cloud, hiding the shining Jesus and his historic companions. And from within the cloud, God the Father speaks: “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the three disciples hear that voice, they fall to the ground, overcome by fear. Clearly, this is one of the most bizarre and awe-inspiring things ever to happen. But, as soon as the voice stops, the cloud disappears, and Jesus—now back to alone and “normal”—goes over to his disciples, touches them, and says to them, “Get up and do not be afraid” (Matthew 17:6-7).

We call this event “The Transfiguration.” There was only one. “To transfigure” mean “to change the outward form or appearance.” Transfiguration is not the same as transformation. Nothing happened on that mountain top that changed who Jesus was. What changed was how the disciples saw him, and, because of what they saw and heard, their attitude toward him changed.

No, we do not see the disciples coming to full maturity of faith immediately after the Transfiguration. They continue to bumble around, misunderstanding Jesus’ words and actions. They continue to argue among themselves about their own fame and importance. In fact, they don’t fully “get it” for many months afterward—when they finally see Jesus in his resurrected glory. But this strange event—the Transfiguration—witnessed by only three of Jesus’ closest disciples, had a profound effect.

And what I like is that we know the effect it had because we hear about it from one of the men who was there. Listen to the words of Peter, written in the book of 2 Peter, years after the Transfiguration: “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain. So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed” (2 Peter 1:16-19).

What was the effect of the Transfiguration? Jesus’ shining face and clothing, the appearance of those legendary men, that cloud, that Voice—all that the disciples saw confirmed what they had heard Jesus say. Just a few days before the Transfiguration, Jesus had given his disciples a pop quiz on their faith. He asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” They told him, “Some say you are the prophet Elijah.” He went on, “But who do you say I am?” Finally, Peter made the greatest confession of faith: “You are the Messiah, the Christ of God” (Lk 9:18-20).

Jesus was pleased, so he told them a secret: “[I] must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third be raised” (Lk 9:22). But Jesus’ disciples didn’t understand that. They resisted that truth. They heard Jesus’ words, but they didn’t understand. They needed further confirmation of who he really was. And the Transfiguration provided that. After the Transfiguration, their faith is confirmed, because they know that Jesus is not merely a man with delusions of grandeur. They have witnessed His glory.

This is the same shekinah glory of God that Moses witnessed on Mount Sinai when he received the Ten Commandments. It is the same glory that the prophet Isaiah witnessed in the year when King Uzziah died—when Isaiah saw the Lord, high and lifted up, with the train of his robe filling the temple. This is the inconceivable splendor of the Divine Majesty always revealed to the angels in heaven, but never seen without veil by human eyes (Ex 33:18-23; Ex 34:29-35; Deut 5:24; John 1:18; 1 Tim. 6:13-16).

Christ’s transfiguration was a glimpse of the glory in which he will one day come to judge and rule the world forever. He knew his disciples’ weakness, their natural skepticism, and the shallowness of their faith. He knew that they had to see that glory, to be inspired by it, to walk with him to Jerusalem.

Because the Transfiguration didn’t happen only for those three who witnessed it first-hand. I’m sure, to some extent, “you had to be there.” But the Transfiguration is one of the very few events of Jesus’ earthly life that the disciples reminisce about in their scriptural writings. So, why does Peter mention it? Because being an eyewitness gave credibility to his testimony about Jesus. People believed Peter because he was a witness of the glory that day.

Those three disciples—Peter, James, and John—were witnesses of this sign from heaven. Their senses confirmed the prophecy—Jesus is God the Son—Lord and Savior of the world. And, on the foundation of their witness, Jesus builds His Church to this very day.

So, what have you and I witnessed of the glory of God? Some of us have had more dramatic lives than others, but all who follow Jesus have a testimony (John 11:40). So, to what can you witness: a revelation of reason? a vision in the night? an answered prayer? an abiding sense of God’s presence in the dark times? joy in the morning?

God gives you and me experiences of His glory so that we will share them, so that we can encourage each other in faith, so that we can strengthen someone else’s hope in a time of despair. So that God, through our experiences and our words, can continually repeat the promise of His unfailing mercy and never-dying love: What God has done for others, He will do for you.

And what if your witness today is not so glorious? What if today all you witness is questions and doubts or fears? God’s Word to you is the same.

With his memory of the Transfiguration still fresh, Peter says it clearly: “So we [had] the prophetic message more fully confirmed. And you will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19b).

And so I close with Jesus’ words: “Get up. Don’t be afraid.” We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses and the dazzling glory of God is only a mountain top away. Amen.