In Jesus Holy Name February 19,2023
Matthew 19:1-5 Transfiguration Redeemer
“A Mountain Top Experience”
Almost everyone has a favorite bible story. When you think of all the bible stories you know…. Which is your favorite?
I love this story. The Transfiguration event is one of my favorite bible stories. It is a dramatic story but one that would not immediately be on the top of most people’s list of favorites. Many would note the Christmas story or the raising of Lazarus, or the resurrection event. I like this story because it talks about “friendship and intimacy” with God.
It is convenient to divide the church calendar roughly in two parts. For six months of the year, roughly December through April the bible gospel lessons invite us into the story of Jesus. Advent, Christmas. The birth of Jesus. Epiphany began with the visit of the Magi, then baptism of Jesus, followed by the teachings of Jesus. Epiphany ends, today, with the Sunday of the Transfiguration. Next week the season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, where our Sunday readings move us towards the Passion of Jesus, His death and ultimately His Resurrection on Easter.
In the gospel of Matthew, the transfiguration happened six days after Jesus and his disciples are at Caesarea Philippi. The area of Caesarea Philippi and Mt. Hermon are the sites of hundreds of Roman and Greek temples to false gods. It is also the ancient site of the Canaanite god Baal. The caves there are referred to as the “gates of hell”. (In the bulletin refer to the map of Mt. Hermon)
It is here that the apostle Peter answered the question of Jesus: “Who do people say that I am?” Peter stated: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. It is then that Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” But the disciples did not understand.
Following this prophecy of Jesus, Matthew writes: “Jesus took Peter, James and John up on the mountain to pray.” I would suggest that Jesus took them to Mt. Hermon. During that time of prayer, the appearance of Jesus was changed…. God’s glory appeared. This is the same glory Jesus possessed before the beginning of creation. The disciples heard the voice of God, “This is my beloved Son, Listen to Him.” If this event took place on the top of Mt. Hermon His transfiguration is definitely a statement that Jesus is “above all gods”. John writes; “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil”. ( I John 3:8)
In Book of Exodus we are told that Moses would go into the tabernacle and speak with God. The cloud would come down and rest on the “tent” and the Lord would speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks with his friend.” (Exodus 33:9-11) When he came out of the “tent” the face of Moses was shining with the glory of the Lord, bright like the sun. The glory of the Lord was so brilliant he would have to “mask” his face. We have just come out of a time when we had to mask our faces… it is still happening in some places.
Face time is important to us human beings. We are intrigued by the human face. The smile. The eyes. The lips. What is “Facebook” without our face? What is Marco Polo without one’s face? 18th century German Satirist George Lichtenburg called the human face the most entertaining surface on earth. (Leonard Sweet Len talk #101 Youtube)
We look at faces. It’s part of our DNA. We know that babies look at faces, they understand a smile. A smile means acceptance. Have you ever picked up your grand child and not smiled? What was their reaction? This is critical for emotional development. We all “read” faces.
“As Jesus was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.”
For just a moment, Jesus is transfigured; a roaring radiance pours from Him, not on Him. There is a difference. He becomes as He was before He came to earth as an infant. For one brief, shining moment, the burden of His humanity is lifted. He is elevated above earth’s horizon and escorted into the eternal. He is home again. Familiar sounds surround Him. And the One who sent Him said: “This is my Son, whom I love; Listen to Him”.
The whole point of the story is to show the disciples and us who Jesus really is: the cloud represents divine glory, yes, but Jesus is divine, and that is the point. The whiteness of his clothes is not imposed upon Jesus from an external source – it is the revelation of who Jesus truly is, it is the lifting of the veil to see His glory. (John Stott)
This is an important moment for the disciples. Jesus has been trying to tell them why He came. He came to take up His cross. He would replace the blood of the sacrificial lamb on the door frames of the Jewish homes in Egypt, so that they might escape slavery and the passing over of the Angel of Death. His life is a story of God’s “Agape” love to redeem people who have been alienated from His love by their broken commandments.
The dazed disciples found themselves in the presence of two long-dead giants of history, Moses and Elijah, aflame with eternal robes, standing beside their King. Now, on the mountain, Jesus is preparing Himself for the work of death, Moses, the Lawgiver whose grave no man knew; Elijah, the prophet who sidestepped death in a fiery chariot.
This moment on the mountain was not a moment of “Transformation” but Transfiguration. Transformation is something that happens on the outside. Transfiguration is something that happens on the inside. Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit is in the business of “transfiguration”, changing us from the inside.
When a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, it is transfigured. Something brand new. In Jesus we become “new creatures”. We re transfigured. Paul writes: “It is not I who live but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20)
God spoke only a few words to these three disciples on the Mt. of Transfiguration: “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” It was a moment of intimacy. The disciples experienced the presence of God. No wonder Peter said: “Can we stay.” They wanted to stay. Jesus and they could not…He must return to the valley. The work of ministry. The work of healing awaited their presence. The work of confronting the evil of Satan awaited at the foot of the Mountain.
Did you ever wonder what Moses and Elijah were discussing with Jesus on the mountain? In the Gospel of Luke he writes: “two men, Moses and Elijah appeared in glorious splendor talking with Jesus. They spoke about His departure which He was about to bring to fulfilment at Jerusalem.”
Jesus knew what awaited Him in Jerusalem. He knew He would be arrested. He would be tried and falsely accused. He knew he would experience the pain of crucifixion, the pain of nails being driven into His hands and feet, the struggle for breath, the bleeding form the scourging of the Romans. He knew. He also knew that on the cross He would be abandoned by God… in His death he would carry the weight of all the wrath of God against sinful humanity. That’s why He prayed in the agony of the garden…”Father if possible remove this cup from me…the cup of wrath.”
When Jesus died on the cross, he made it possible for us to experience friendship, acceptance with God. Alienation is replaced by acceptance. Our broken commandments have closed the access door to God’s grace. John Stott notes that “our sins were the obstacle preventing us from receiving the gift God wanted to give us.” (Cross of Christ p. 64) The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was the ransom price for our sin, paid in full. Paul writes in Colossians. “God took the list of broken commandments and nailed them to the cross of Christ and left them there, taking away the power of Satan to accuses us.” “Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures.
His death on the cross when combined with His resurrection from the grave truly defeats to power of Satan to hold people in the fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14) To be in harmony with God, to be at peace with the ultimate Judge of the Universe is the gift of God to all who place their trust in Jesus.
Listen to the beautiful words of Paul in Romans 5:1-2,8
“remember that at one time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship….excluded from the promises of God, without hope, and without God… in the world… but now, because of Jesus you who were once far away, have been brought near through the blood of Jesus…shed on the cross. (Eph. 2:12-14)
The Transfiguration event reminds us that Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb of God who restored me and you who have been alienated by sin, to intimacy, friendship, harmony and peace.
