I remember a time when I had misplaced my good pen and I was looking for it everywhere. I looked in drawers. I looked under things, behind things and in things. I looked on the floor, but it was nowhere. And then I found it. I was holding it in my mouth the whole time.
That is the way that life often is. We miss things that have been there the whole time. It is like when I was in college and my wife was on campus the whole year, but I never really saw her. Then one day, I SAW her. She had been there the whole time, but one day I actually saw her in my world. And she has been in my world ever since.
That is the story of the Transfiguration. Jesus showed his disciples a part of the world that had been there all along, but it had not really been a part of their world. They were bewildered, astonished and trembling with fear when they saw and understood that heaven was already here in their world and that Jesus was the King of heaven.
As I began to think about the story of the transfiguration, I realized that there is a connection between this event and Moses going up to receive the law on Mt. Sinai. The transfiguration was about a new covenant God was making with the human family.
Moses went up Mt. Sinai to speak with God and receive the laws of God. The Bible says, “When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.” Exodus 24:15-16
So Matthew is tying the transfiguration to what happened with Moses on Mt. Sinai. Jesus is the new Moses. Moses came down the mountain with a covenant written on stone. Jesus comes down the mountain with a new covenant to be written on flesh — human hearts.
Both Moses and Jesus are surrounded by a cloud which represented the presence of God. It was the Shekina — a cloud of glory that made both of them shine like the sun.
Again Matthew makes a connection to the Old Testament as he reports that Moses appeared to Jesus. And along with Moses, Elijah the prophet appears. Moses represents the Old Testament Law, and Elijah represents the Old Testament Prophets. Jesus is not divorced from the Old Testament, but inextricably linked to it. He does not discard the Old Covenant, but transforms it and builds upon it.
But one of the interesting things is that at the transfiguration, although God affirms Jesus as his Son whom he loves, and with whom he is very pleased, and says that we are to listen to him; he says nothing to or about Moses or Elijah.
Peter, James and John are overcome with fear. They did not know what to do or say, but Peter blurts out: “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.” Matthew 17:4 But he is interrupted by the voice from the cloud of glory saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” Matthew 17:5
Peter is impetuous and doesn’t realize what he is saying. Jesus is not among equals (as important as Moses and Elijah are). Three tents would not have been appropriate, because Jesus is not on par with Moses as another law-giver, and neither is he one of the prophets like Elijah. He is different — completely different. He is the Son of God. He is without equal.
The story of the Transfiguration actually starts in the previous chapter. It says, “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Matthew 16:13-18
Jesus is not another John the Baptist, he is not Elijah, Jeremiah or another one of the prophets, he is unique — without equal. And especially, in our generation, we need to understand that Jesus is not just another religious leader, he is unique. He stands alone. There is no one with whom he can be compared.
Singer Sheryl Crow said in a New York Post interview: “I believe in God. I believe in Jesus and Buddha and Mohammed and all those that were enlightened. I wouldn’t say necessarily that I’m a strict Christian. I’m not sure I believe in heaven.” Sheryl Crow is where many people are today; they believe in everything and nothing. They are not sure they believe in the Kingdom of God. They believe in this and that. But at some point you are going to have to land on both feet and have them go in the same direction. In order to be aware of the kingdom of God around you, you have to believe in the kingdom of God, and the One who is the King of that kingdom.
What is interesting is that Matthew says that when the disciples looked up after falling to the ground and cowering in fear, “they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.” Moses was gone, and Elijah was gone, and Jesus stood alone. No one is like him. No one can compare with him. He is one of a kind. He alone is the unique and universal Savior of the world. The transfiguration answers the question: “Who is Jesus?”. The law and the prophets had served their purpose, and Jesus came to fulfill all that they had said.
Jesus thought that the kingdom of God was so important that it should be our highest priority. He said, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
The point of the transfiguration is to not only point to Jesus, but to point to the reality of the Kingdom of God. It helps us to see that the Kingdom of God is not out there somewhere, but right next to us. It is what people often miss, even though they may have been looking for it, like I was looking for my pen. But it is something that has been there all along. Peter wanted to mark the spot and make it sacred. He wanted to set up three shelters — actually the original language says “tents” or “tabernacles” – places of worship. He wanted to mark the spot as sacred, not realizing that there are not just a few spots which are sacred. The whole world is sacred. It belongs to God. He has created it all and inhabits it all.
When you go home today, look at the ground your house is sitting on. It is holy ground. Take off your shoes. It is holy ground because God is there. Some of you know that because you met him in your home before you came here today.
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21
We are so used to thinking about heaven being a place to go when we die. We think of it as being way out there somewhere. But Jesus was showing that heaven is all around us and within us. It is not something for when we die, it is something for when we live . The Kingdom of God is not for the future, God invites us to live in the Kingdom now — in the present. The Kingdom of God is not out there in a distant place and in the distant future, it is right here right now. The Kingdom of God is not just for church, it is for your home and your place of work. It is for you and in you wherever you go.
Dallas Willard says, “The Gospel is not about getting into heaven when we die, it is getting into heaven before we die.” We get to participate in the life of God and take on his image and character before we die.
The ancients used to talk about the “thin places”. The thin places are when the Kingdom of God rubs up against the kingdom of the world and breaks into our world — or should I say breaks into our consciousness. It has been here all along — we just did not have eyes to see it. In the Bible the thin places would be things like God talking to Adam and Eve in the garden, God speaking to Moses in the burning bush, Steven seeing the heavens open as he was being stoned, Jesus healing people and rising from the dead. These were the times when the veil separating the kingdom of this world and the Kingdom of God were so thin that they merged, and the Kingdom of God became visible. That is what happened at the transfiguration. Peter, James and John had their eyes opened to see that the Kingdom was not a future event, but a present reality. When you walk from this place today, you will be surrounded by the Kingdom of God. Whether you see it or feel it is irrelevant – it is there. Our part is to be aware of it. Our part is to live in that reality and actively participate in the life of God as it surrounds us and is within us.
A friend of mine wrote me recently and said, “The Christian faith is not just about looking forward to an eternity in heaven, it is about living a Jesus-led life that brings a bit of heaven on earth.” -- Jamie Gump
David Yarborough tells the story from one of Max Lucado’s books of a lady who had a small house on the seashore of Ireland at the turn of the century was quite wealthy but also quite frugal. The people were surprised, then, when she decided to be among the first to have electricity in her home. Several weeks after the installation, a meter reader appeared at her door. He asked if her electricity was working well, and she assured him it was. “I’m wondering if you can explain something to me,” he said. “Your meter shows scarcely any usage. Are you using your power?” “Certainly,” she answered. “ Each evening when the sun sets, I turn on my lights just long enough to light my candles; then I turn them off.” Yarborough goes on to say, “She tapped into the power but did not use it. Her house is connected, but not altered. Don’t we make the same mistake? We, too — with our souls saved but our hearts unchanged — are connected but not altered. Trusting Christ for salvation but resisting transformation. We occasionally flip the switch, but most of the time we settle for shadows.”
We don’t want to be like those who were unaware and missed the kingdom of God; we want to be those who not only see it and recognize it, but those who plug into its power — the transforming and renewing power as it lives in us and is turned on every day.
Rodney J. Buchanan
Amity United Methodist Church
March 6, 2011
rodbuchanan2000@yahoo.com
