Transfiguration
Mt
17:1-9
2/24/21
“You are the Christ, the
Son of the living God.” That’s what Peter had just confessed in the
previous chapter. Jesus had asked the
question: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The answers had
varied – some said John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the
prophets. And then Jesus had asked the really important question: “But who do
you say that I am?”
Peter confessed that Jesus was the
Christ, the Son of the living God. Our
Lord replied, “Blessed
are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this
to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”
Jesus made it clear that only God the Father could make this known.
Now the really important point being
confessed here is that Jesus is the Christ. I say this because in chapter
fourteen, after Jesus had walked on water and stilled a storm, Matthew tells
us, “And those in the
boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” The disciples have confessed that Jesus is the
Son of God. Perhaps Peter’s confession
of Jesus as the Son of God here in chapter sixteen involved some new
understanding or certainty. But the thing that is really new is the confession
that Jesus is the Christ.
God had enabled Peter to confess that Jesus was the
descendant of King David who fulfilled the prophet Isaiah’s words in chapter
eleven: “And his delight shall
be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness
he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the
breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.” Peter was confessing that Jesus was the
Messiah who would bring God’s end time salvation – the time when the wolf
would dwell with the lamb in peace.
This was indeed wonderful news! It was the fulfillment of everything that God
had promised in the Old Testament for Israel. And based on what Scripture said
about the Christ, it meant that victory and glory were just around the
corner. As God had said about the
Messiah in Psalm two: “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of
me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth
your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”
These two verses that talked about
striking the earth with the rod of his mouth, and slaying the wicked with
the breath of his lips; about breaking the nations with a rod of iron, and
dashing them in pieces like a potter’s vessel, were the most quoted statements
used in talking about the Messiah at the time of Jesus. The Messiah was seen as
the mighty and awesome one who would bring nothing except victory for God’s
people, and defeat for their enemies.
Yet immediately after this, Matthew
writes, “From that time 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.” Peter
confesses Jesus as the Christ. Jesus
says that he is exactly correct. And
then Jesus starts to talk about his suffering and death. It made no sense. In fact Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be
it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But Jesus
replied, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For
you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of
man.”
Our Gospel lesson for the Feast of
the Transfiguration of Our Lord begins with the words, “And after six days Jesus took with
him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain
by themselves.” Now Matthew very rarely
provides time references like this. And so it becomes clear that what he is
about to narrate has a relationship to what has just happened – the confession
of Peter that Jesus is the Christ, and our Lord’s declaration that he is going
to suffer and die.
We learn, “And he was transfigured before them, and his face
shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.” During Christmas we celebrated the fact that
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. We rejoiced in the fact that the Son of God
become flesh – became man – without ceasing to be God.
The season of Epiphany has been
about how Jesus began to reveal his glory as the incarnate Son of God who had
come as the Savior. And now on the last
Sunday of this season, we see Jesus’ divine glory revealed in a dramatic and
unmistakable way. Matthew tells us that
he was transfigured and his face shown like the sun. His clothes became white as light. For that moment Jesus the Son of God allowed
the disciples a glimpse of his divinity.
It was an awesome sight! But there was even more. We hear: “And behold, there appeared to them
Moses and Elijah, talking with him.”
There with Jesus were Moses and Elijah, two of the greatest prophets of
the Old Testament, and two individuals that Scripture said had a relationship
to the end times.
Always ready to speak, Peter said to
Jesus, “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.” The problem with Peter’s statement was that
it seemed to put Jesus, Moses and Elijah on the same level. This was not
what Peter had just confessed.
And then God the Father acted in a
way that made everything clear. We learn that while Peter was still speaking a
bright cloud overshadowed them. God
revealed his presence and spoke from the cloud saying: “This is my beloved
Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
The Father spoke the same words at
the Transfiguration that he said at Jesus’ baptism. They were words based on Isaiah chapter forty
two which said: “Behold my
servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put
my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.” And of course, at Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit
descended upon Jesus like a dove.
God had identified Jesus as the Servant of the Lord. Now, Jesus shines forth in divine glory, and
the Father again indicates that Jesus is the Servant. The Servant of the Lord in Isaiah is the one
who is also the suffering Servant.
He is the One of whom the prophet says: “But he was wounded for
our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the
chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are
healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to
his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Jesus
shines in divine glory, and yet at that very moment God again identifies him as
the Servant – the One who would bear our sins and suffer for us.
In the Transfiguration God shows
that Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ, and Jesus’ prediction of his
passion are not contradictions.
It might seem that way. But Jesus is both the Christ who is victorious
and the suffering Servant who takes away our sins. He is the One who suffers
and dies on the cross as the Father judges our sin. But he is also the One who
rises from the dead on the third day in a victory that conquers death
itself. He is the One who wins victory
for us by passing through suffering and death, and then out of the tomb on
Easter.
Matthew tells us that when the
disciples heard the Father’s voice, they fell on their faces and were
terrified. But 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.
In our text, we hear God the Father
say from the bright cloud: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well
pleased; listen to him.” The Father
says “Listen to him.” This is a reference back to Jesus’ first prediction of
his suffering, death and resurrection.
The Father had given Peter the ability to confess, “You are the Christ, the Son
of the living God.” But now, he and all of the disciples also needed to
listen to what Jesus had to say about his mission. They needed to set aside their
own ideas about how the Christ would work, and listen to Jesus who
said that he would bring salvation and glory by means of suffering and death.
The Father’s words, “Listen to him!” speak just as
directly to us. At the end of chapter
sixteen, after rebuking Peter, Jesus went on to say, “If anyone would come
after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow
me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever
loses his life for my sake will find it.”
The way of sacrifice and suffering did not belong to Jesus alone. It will be true for all who wish to follow
him as his disciples.
To follow Jesus will set us on a
path that is opposed to the world. It
will mean confessing that Jesus Christ alone is the truth, when the world says
that is no such thing as truth. It will
mean living God’s will for marriage and sexuality, when the world opposes
everything about it. It will mean
forgiving and loving, when the world knows only the way of power and payback.
Yet the reason that we can do this
is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus showed
his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things
from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed. But he also told
them that on the third day he
would be raised. Or as we hear in the last verse of our text: “And as they were
coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, ‘Tell no one the vision, until
the Son of Man is raised from the dead.’”
Jesus suffered and died to win forgiveness
for us. But on the third day God raised
Jesus from the dead. In our text today
we see Jesus’ face shine like the sun and his clothes become white as
light. In the Transfiguration we see an
anticipation of what awaits Jesus on the other side of the cross. It is resurrection, and exaltation as Christ
ascended and was seated at the right hand of God.
Because you have been baptized into
Christ, the same resurrection victory will be yours. The ascended Lord will return. In fact, at the end of chapter sixteen he has
just said, “For
the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father.”
The risen and ascended Lord will return on the Last Day to raise us from the
dead. We may experience suffering and
sacrifice now, but the Jesus is the Christ.
He suffered and died to take away your sin and make you a child of
God. He rose from the dead in order to
conquer death. He will return to give us a share in his resurrection. And when
he does, we will rejoice as see him in his glory.
No comments:
Post a Comment