In the Presence of Jesus’ Glory
Matthew 17:1-9
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 17:1-3 [1] Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, brought them up on a high mountain by themselves, [2] and was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. [3] And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… Today is Transfiguration Sunday, a day in the Church year which focuses on the event in our Lord’s life which ultimately points us forward to heaven and gives us a glimpse of what it is and will be like to be in the presence of Jesus’ glory. We will see ourselves in this text, but most importantly, we will see Jesus.
St. Matthew does not mention it in his account, but St. Luke notes that the three disciples Peter, James, and John were drowsy with sleep as the transfiguration of Jesus was unfolding. They were in the presence of Jesus – they were with the God-made-flesh – and yet their senses were dulled and they were inattentive to what was going on before them.
That seems a bit strange, doesn’t it? These men had been with our Lord for nearly three years. They had heard Him interpret the Old Testament, they had heard Him show how the prophetic word was being fulfilled in the things He was doing and saying. On numerous occasions, He spoke to them of the purpose of His journey to Jerusalem, how He was going there to be handed over to suffer and die and on the third day to be raised to life again. It was, in short, the same old thing that they had heard so many times before.
There was really nothing new in our Lord’s transfiguration. As the Scriptures tell us, His was the glory of the only begotten Son of the Father from all eternity. The glory that shines forth from the flesh of Jesus on the mountain of transfiguration was the glory that was rightfully His. When the Son of God came into our flesh, He did not leave the glory of His Godhead behind; He did not become less than God. He simply and profoundly wrapped that heavenly glory up in human flesh.
As we gaze upon the babe in the manger at Bethlehem, we do not see the bright and shining light of heaven’s glory as Christ lies there in weakness and humility. As a boy growing up and as a man walking the streets of Nazareth, Jesus looked no different from other Jewish males. And as Jesus was hanging in pain and agony on the cross, dying the death of a common criminal, He looked like any other common criminal. Where is the glory of God in all of that? Well, it is hidden; it is hidden in the flesh of Jesus. Therefore, to see Jesus is to behold the very glory of God. That is why the Apostle John writes, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth.” (Jn 1:14)
Granted, for a brief moment here on the mount of Transfiguration, the glory that was hidden in Jesus’ flesh and visible only to the eye of faith is made fully and completely apparent. Jesus’ flesh no longer veils the glory of His deity but instead becomes transparent to the very light of God. Matthew reports that Jesus’ “face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.” And if that were not amazing enough, while that is happening, Moses and Elijah – representative of the law and the prophets, that is, the Old Testament – stand before Jesus and speak with Him.
What a sight it must have been! Jesus shines with glorious and unborrowed light while Moses and Elijah carry on a conversation with Him. And what are they talking about? Matthew does not say, but St. Luke tells us: “They spoke about His departure, which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). Isn’t that amazing! In the midst of all this glory, the #1 topic of discussion among Jesus and Moses and Elijah was His inglorious crucifixion. For it was only through the cross that the Old Testament promises of life and forgiveness for all who believe would ultimately be brought to reality. It was only through the cross that the kingdom of God would fully come and the true glory of Christ would be eternally revealed. Thus, the transfiguration of Jesus points His followers to His death and resurrection, to the ultimate purpose for which He came.
This didn’t sit too well with Peter. Just a week earlier, when Jesus said He would have to suffer and die, Peter rebuked Him and said, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You” (Mt 16:22). Clearly, Peter did not understand what Jesus had come to do. Peter wanted glory, not suffering or hardship. Like the devil, he wanted Jesus to avoid the cross. And so here, too, on the mountain, Peter constructs a roadblock to the cross by suggesting that three shelters be built so that they could all stay there and bask in the glory: “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Peter did not want to leave. He wanted glory but without the cross; he wanted glory but without the affliction that must necessarily precede it.
Is that not also what our sinful nature wants? The Old Adam in us wants Christianity to be all about happiness and togetherness and prosperity and success all the time – all glory and no difficulty or suffering. Faithful Christians, however, know that the times of glory are rare, because Jesus said, “Whoever will be my disciple must deny Himself and take up His cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save His life will lose it, but whoever loses His life for my sake will find it” (Mt 16:24-25).
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And poor Peter was soon reminded of all of this. Before he can finish explaining his foolish plan, a bright cloud overshadowed the scene and out of the cloud the voice of God the Father declared, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” Thus, the transfiguration made apparent who Jesus was, why He had come, and what His followers were to do until that time.
Of course, the vision soon ended and Jesus and His disciples went down from that mountain and made their way toward another mountain, Mount Calvary, where Christ would suffer and die to bear our sin and shame. In this way the transfiguration points us to Calvary and beyond the cross to the glory of Jesus Christ in His heavenly kingdom.
The transfigured Christ is the Christ who was crucified for us and raised in glory as our Brother and our Savior. What Peter, James, and John witnessed in our Lord’s transfiguration, we are given here today in the Divine Service as we stand in the very presence of Jesus Christ according to both His divine and human natures. We have the prophetic word made more sure; that is, we have the words of Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets fulfilled in the sinless life, the atoning death, and victorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Father’s voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him.” Where and how are we to hear Him? Where is He speaking? He is speaking here in the Divine Service through His chosen instrument, the pastor, as His words are read and proclaimed in preaching. He is speaking here in the words of Holy Absolution; He says to you – whoever you are with whatever sins you confess – “I forgive you all your sins.” He is speaking here as He does regularly in this place, “Take eat this is My body, given for you,” and “Take drink, this cup is the new testament in my blood shed for the forgiveness of your sins.” Here on this mountain of the transfiguration heaven intersected with earth as Moses and Elijah spoke and Jesus was revealed as the Son of the Father in the presence of His disciples. That is also exactly what is going on in the Divine Service.
Angels and archangels and all the company of heaven are here in Christ’s presence. But like the disciples, we get drowsy, we get sleepy, we even get bored in the presence of God. We yawn through the liturgy. We let our mind wander away from God’s Word. Our prayer life in general is often lethargic. This drowsiness is our old Adam trying to avoid God and His holy things. The Scripture is true: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mt 26:41).
When people get bored with the liturgy and drowse off in sleepiness like Peter, James, and John, it is not because the liturgy is old or the same week after week. People get bored with the liturgy because they fail to realize what exactly is going on here; they fail to understand and appreciate who it is who is speaking to us and the tremendous gifts that He gives us in His body and blood.
Like Moses who stood on holy ground when He stood barefoot before the burning bush, we stand in the presence of God when God’s Spirit brings us to this place to receive His Words and His Sacramental gifts. Like Peter, James, and John who stood before the transfigured Lord, we stand in the presence of the incarnate Savior, the One who is both true God and true Man. He is really and truly here.
As Jesus touched the disciples and pulled them out of their fear with His Word, so He comes to us today. In the midst of our world of sin and suffering; in the midst of this new presidential administration that is hell-bent on supporting and paying for the murder of the unborn and the newly born through the unspeakable horrors of abortion, not to mention many other agendas which compromise our freedoms – in the midst of all of this Jesus gives us a glimpse of the glory that is yet to come. Jesus gives us a glimpse of the glory that we are destined for in His heavenly kingdom by faith and trust in Him. It is the glory of His presence. It is the glory that we behold today by faith as we hear His Word preached and as we regularly eat His body and drink His blood given and shed for the forgiveness of our sins. It is the glory that one day we will behold with our very own eyes as we will stand before Him.
In the meantime, the Lord gives you to ascend the mountain with Him each week in this place to behold His hidden glory. Peter said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” So also in the Introit for today we sang with the psalmist, “My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”
The disciples did not remain forever on the mountain. Neither does the Christian remain forever in the house of the Lord. We must go into the world; we must go out from here and into the places where the Lord has called us – as citizens, as family members, as worker, as students, as whatever it is God has given us to do. And as we do, Christ goes with us’ He goes with us down the mountain and into our everyday lives. He dwells within us by His words and body and blood, and He lives through us in our callings, to perform works of love toward our neighbor.
In three, Lent begins; it is a reminder that we live not on the mountain but in the valley, on the plain. But, dear friends, the Lord is with us there. His transfiguration proclaims that He will carry us through all of our troubles and crosses, all the way to that bright Easter light.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
