Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and
from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Text: (Matthew
17:1-9)
When the
disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.
Prayer: May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your
sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
It is common for people to think that everything can be
explained scientifically. There’s nothing wrong with science, by the way, or
with scientists. Science is a wonderful field of discovery, where people test
things and try things out, and make theories about things from their
experiments and research.
But science and theology work in completely different
ways. Scientists examine small details: bacteria, a fossil, a constellation of
stars, a rock, the movement of an object, and then they make a theory out of it
based on their experiments and research. Sometimes someone will come along
later and disprove a certain theory through new research and a new experiment.
But theology works differently. Theology doesn’t start
with examining a small detail: it starts with the big picture. It starts with
the Scriptures as a whole, God’s revealed word altogether. And then pastors of
the church dissect the Scripture down into small pieces for the church in each
generation and each time.
In our times, people are incredibly suspicious of
Christianity. People think that they know everything, and the bible has nothing
new to teach them.
It is also common today for people to say that people all
throughout the world need religion, and that religion is just simply made up by
different people and is a figment of people’s imaginations.
Many Christians will listen to that criticism and say that
it’s not true. They know very well deep down that Christianity is much more
than a crutch or a bunch of fantasies or a completely made-up. Nevertheless,
often people will look at different parts of the gospels or throughout the
bible and will have doubts about whether these things happened or not. The
passages where the transfiguration of Jesus is described is one of those
passages. It was such an amazing thing that happened, and yet we can stand up
to hear the gospel when this passage is read and be completely unimpressed,
completely switched off, distracted by a bug crawling across the floor, or a
noisy bird outside.
But why? Sometimes we think we know everything, we explain
everything in our heads in such a way as to separate ourselves from the dangers
of reality and the wonders of reality. And so everything is boring and
uninteresting: the bible is boring, life is boring, marriage is boring,
children are boring, work is boring, church is boring—and yet, if only we could
awake and see that the most amazing things that are happening under our noses
every day.
+++
There are two things I would like to point out before we think
about this text in more detail. Firstly, the last verse of our text: As [Jesus, Peter, James and John] were coming down the mountain, Jesus
commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from
the dead.”
Jesus calls what the disciples saw a “vision”. In Greek,
the word is ὄρομα [óroma], which means “a sight”.
Today, if say someone “saw a vision”, we might think this is a bit like someone
“hearing voices”. We either think a person is mad—we think it means that they
were hallucinating, they were having funny dreams while they were under
anaesthetic.
But this isn’t what the text means. A “vision” here means
something that Peter, James and John saw. It is outside of them, not a figment
of their imagination. It is front of them, not in their head. It is a reality,
not a fantasy.
Many people today think that the world is a closed book.
They think that heaven is closed and the earth is closed. But Martin Luther
once said that heaven is full of doors and windows. He means, heaven and earth
are always overlapping, and the transfiguration is an event just like that.
But the second thing I also want to point out is the
verse: When the disciples heard this,
they fell on their faces and were terrified.
This is the sort of verse that can completely pass us by.
We read the passage about the transfiguration, and yet, our reaction to it is
so far below what it should be. We are so far removed from the world of the
disciples, and we don’t share their fear. But this should reveal to us our sin—our
apathy, our boredom, our lack of wonder and awe. And yet, in complete contrast
to us, the three apostles fall on their faces and are terrified.
This sort of thing doesn’t happen when the heavens are
closed and the world is closed. The things that are happening before their eyes
are realities, real things. As St John says at the beginning of his first
letter: That which was from the
beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we
looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life…that
which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you. This is the same St
John who was there at the transfiguration. Or as St Peter—who was also
there—also says in his second letter: We
did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
And so, in our text, Jesus says: Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead. And
so, since the Peter, James and John believed with all their heart, mind, soul
and strength that the Son of Man was in fact risen from the dead, they told the
vision to many people, in such a way that even we—2000 years later—can also
learn it and be amazed by it, just as they did.
+++
So our text begins:
After six days Jesus took
with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain
by themselves.
Matthew, Mark and Luke all mention that this event
happened a certain a number of days after what Jesus was saying just before.
Luke says it happened eight days later, and Matthew and Mark say six. But there
were different ways of counting. Matthew and Mark only count the days in
between, whereas Luke counts the day when Jesus was talking before and the day
itself when Jesus was transfigured. Luke tells us that Jesus was going up the
mountain to pray.
So six days earlier, Jesus was talking about his death and
his resurrection, and also instructs his disciples that they also should deny
themselves, take up their cross and follow me.
Jesus tells them about his own suffering, and then about
their suffering. Jesus will deny himself, humble himself, become obedient unto
death. His disciples will also find themselves pilgrims and strangers on this
earth, looking for the city that is to come, being transformed in the renewing
of their minds, and putting of their old self, their flesh, their corrupt mind
and thinking inherited from Adam, and putting on a new way of thinking.
And then six days later, Peter, James and John are led by
Jesus up a high mountain by themselves. Later on, these same three men will
also be taken by themselves into the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus shakes,
and shivers, and paces to and fro, praying for his Father to remove his great
suffering from him. “Father, if it be possible, remove this cup from me. But
not my will, but your will be done.” And so Peter, James and John will be later
present at the time of Jesus’ profound suffering. Jesus will say on that
occasion: “My soul is greatly troubled, even unto death.”
But here, they witness this brilliant sight, this glorious
vision, this wonderful revelation!
We read: And Jesus
was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes
became white as light.
This great light doesn’t shine onto him from somewhere
else. But it comes from Jesus himself. This is foretaste of the end of time, as
the book of Revelation says: “The city has no need of sun or moon to shine on
it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”
Here, Jesus, who is the Lamb of God, shines bright light
from his face. But not just his face, but his whole body in such a way that it
shines through his clothes too, so that they become white. Can you picture this
wonderful sight?
Jesus shows the disciples the brilliance of his flesh, the
wonder of his human body. He shows them how he is truly man and truly God in
one person, with Christ’s divinity catching his body alight so that he becomes
the source of all light and all wisdom and all truth and all joy! The disciples
don’t see Christ’s raw divinity, but they see it in unity with his humanity in
one person. It is not simply light that that they see, but his face shining
like the sun, and his clothes like white light. Jesus Christ shines as the perfect
image of God, dispelling his purity and light in all directions, not as a ghost
or a spirit, but as a human being, as a real man. And as a real man, he will
then have his body beaten and bruised and nailed, and his blood will spill. But
here, Jesus encourages us. He shows us just how wonderful his body is when it
is perfectly united with divinity, and just how powerful his blood will be when
it perfectly united with God and all the power of God. And so it is the same
face of Jesus, that now shines like the sun, that will we crowned with a crown
of thorns.
We read: And behold,
there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Were they
present there in spirit or in the body? We know that Elijah was taken into
heaven by a chariot. And in the book of Jude, we read that there was some
strange dispute about the body of Moses, and at the end of Deuteronomy, it says
that no-one knew the place where Moses was buried. Very strange.
What were they talking about? Luke says they were talking
out Jesus departure. They were talking about death on the cross, his journey to
the cross.
There is a great and profound mystery here. We see here
three disciples completely flabbergasted. But we also see here Jesus glorious,
transfigured body and these two great men: Moses, the receiver of the law, and
Elijah, the great prophet. Two groups of three: two men from heaven, three men
on the earth, and Jesus in the middle with both his feet on the earth and in
heaven at the same time.
And this shows us something very special: When we are in
the presence of Jesus, when we come and listen to him talk about his cross, his
departure, his great accomplishment and achievement on the cross, when we take
refuge in his wounds and cling to the power of his blood, then Jesus gives us
such encouragement and also the encouragement for all those who have died in
the faith. In fact, we are made into one group together with those who have
died with Christ, and we look forward to meet them on the other side of the
grave. In the liturgy, as we come to share in Christ’s holy body and blood, we
also sing: “Therefore with angels and archangels and all the company of
heaven.” They are also standing there with Christ.
In some church buildings, they often had an altar rail
with made a circle around the altar, with the altar on the wall. This was
because they believed that the circle continued not on the other side of the
wall, but in heaven, with all the saints and angels joining in kneeling around
the same altar.
Peter says: Lord, it
is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for
you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.
What a glorious thing it is to be here! How wonderful it
would have been for Peter! Words almost cannot describe it! But it is not for
him to make three tents for Jesus and Moses and Elijah. It is Jesus’ job to
make three tents for Peter, James and John—In my Father’s house are many rooms,
and I am going to prepare a place for you. It is Jesus’ job to baptise a holy
people and allow them to have a dwelling at his altars to receive his body and
blood. As it says in Psalm 84: How lovely
are your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! What a great thing it is—not
that we make a dwelling place for Jesus—that Jesus makes a dwelling place for
us!
We read: He was
still speaking when, behold, 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.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were
terrified.
God the Father says almost the same thing as at Jesus’
baptism. But with a difference. At Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit comes upon
Jesus in the form of a dove. But here, a cloud comes upon them in such a way
that the disciples are left in darkness. Here God says: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, just as at the
baptism, but with no Holy Spirit coming down. And then he says, “Listen to him.”
At the baptism, the Holy Spirit comes down in broad daylight. But now, the
daylight is passed, all sight is taken away: it is night, and pitch dark. So
where is the Holy Spirit? Answer: God the Father says: Listen to him. The Holy Spirit is breathed out through every word
that comes from the mouth of Jesus.
And what does Jesus say? We read: Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise and have no fear.” And when
they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
What a wonderful friendly face is the face of Jesus! What
a gentle, loving face it is! He replaces all their fear and all their terror
with himself. He is the Lord their God, and they shall have no other gods.
There is no other name given among men by which we can be saved. No one comes
to the Father except through Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
So, rise and have no
fear.
Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, how good it is to
be here! The Lord my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the
stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? You, O Lord, are a shield
about be, my glory and lifter of my head. Amen.
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