The Transfiguration of Our Lord
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series III, Cycle A
The church year theological clue
Most Lutheran, Episcopal, and some other churches celebrate the Transfiguration on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, rather than on the traditional date of August 6. This tends to give theological definition to the end of the Epiphany season and the entire Christmas cycle, as well. The incarnation/manifestation note is sounded again in the Gospel for the Day, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him." The word God spoke at Jesus' baptism is repeated here and is meant to provide transition into the Easter cycle and, particularly, to the season of Lent; when the Luke account is used, Series C, the transition is patently clear. The other churches, which simply use the propers for the Sunday which chronologically occurs on this date, do not seem to enjoy the same degree of closure to the season, nor transition to Lent and Easter, either. The theological/liturgical/ homiletical clue is not so apparent in their propers.
The Prayer of the Day - The LBW provides two prayers for the Transfiguration of Our Lord; both of them mention the Transfiguration specifically. The first emphasizes the glory of God that was shown - manifested - "in the transfiguration of your Son." The petition is eschatological, asking God to "give us the vision to see beyond the turmoil of our world and to behold the king in all his glory." The second prayer is related to the confirmation of the faith "by the witness of Moses and Elijah," and that "in the voice from the bright cloud you foreshadowed our adoption as your children." The petition sentence asks God to "make us with the king heirs of your glory, and bring us to enjoy its fullness." Both bring Epiphany to a fitting conclusion and, rather subtly, point the church toward Calvary.
The collect for the last Sunday after the Epiphany in the Protestant Episcopal Church prepares the people for Lent even more specifically; "O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain...." The intention of this collect cannot be missed; it also functions in a two-fold manner, bringing Epiphany to its conclusion and bridging the gap between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday. "Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance," the prayer continues, "may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory."
The Psalm of the Day (LBW) - Psalm 2:6-13 - Verse 7 makes it absolutely clear why this psalm was chosen for the Transfiguration, "Let me announce the decree of the Lord: He said to me, 'You are my son; this day have I begotten you.' " (Of course, the psalm could also be used for the Baptism of Our Lord). In the early verses of the psalm, the passion is foreshadowed - "Why do the kings of the earth rise up in revolt, and the princes plot together, against the Lord and against his anointed?" The psalmist understands that God will give this son "the nations for (his) possession." Finally, he calls upon the rulers of the world to "be warned," and to "submit to the Lord with fear, and with trembling bow before him," which functions almost like the word in the gospel, "Listen to him." Those who do so will be happy in the Lord; those who do not will perish.
The Psalm Prayer
Lord God, you gave the peoples of the world to be the inheritance of your Son; you crowned him as king of Zion, your holy city, and gave him your Church as his bride. As he proclaims the way of your eternal kingdom, may we serve him faithfully, and so know the royal power of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The readings:
Exodus 24:12, 15-18
The experience of Moses, when God commanded him to go up Mt. Sinai to receive the tablets of the law, is a type of the transfiguration experience of Jesus on another mountain centuries later. The glory of God took Moses up into a cloud that must have seemed like a volcano to the people who watched and waited below. They must have thought that he had been devoured by the mountain; he stayed there forty days and forty nights (a pattern for Jesus' retreat to the wilderness after his baptism?) before he went down from the mountain to rejoin the people. (If the pastor intends to preach from this text, it would be well to read the entire context of this pericope and approach it from its narrative perspective. It is a story worth telling, especially alongside the Transfiguration of Jesus, over and over again.)
2 Peter 1:16-19, (20-21)
The Christians must have been accused of telling tall tales about Jesus and, apparently, one of the tallest of these was the story of Jesus' Transfiguration on the mountain; it was too much to believe! Had the story merely mentioned what happened to Jesus, and even the voice speaking, "This is my beloved Son," it might not have been too hard to believe. But to talk about the appearance of Moses and Elijah, and to insist that they were actually talking with Jesus, was too much to accept; sheer reason dictated that this was indeed a tall tale. The author of 1 Peter, however, sticks to the story; he insists that human beings did not concoct this event, but that it actually happened. It was orchestrated by God himself, not by the imagination and ingenuity of human minds. He declares,
We were eyewitnesses of his majesty ... when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice (said)..., "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
Not only did they see Jesus transfigured, talking to Moses and Elijah, but they also heard the voice that identified Jesus Christ as the Son of God. So theirs was the evidence of sight and of sound and, in the light of their post-resurrection experiences with the Lord, they call upon all people "to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." This reading, therefore, is especially appropriate for the last Sunday of Epiphany, as well as for the Transfiguration of Our Lord.
Matthew 17:1-9
The Transfiguration of Our Lord is celebrated on three different days in the church year. August 6 is the actual date set aside for this feast/festival, when it receives attention as a separate event in the life, history, and experience of the church. The Episcopal Church observes the Transfiguration as a Holy Day and reads this Gospel on August 6, as well as on the last Sunday of Epiphany. The Roman Catholic Church, which retains the August 6 date in its calendar, really celebrates the Transfiguration on the Second Sunday in Lent. A strong argument can be made for this, especially in the year of Luke, who is the only one of the evangelists to divulge that Moses and Elijah were talking to Jesus about his "exodus" that was soon to occur in Jerusalem. The Common Lectionary also coincides with the Lutheran and Episcopal lectionaries in the appointment of the Transfiguration of Our Lord on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany. All of the liturgical churches tend to celebrate the Transfiguration only once, even if their calendars list the propers on two different liturgical dates.
The argument presented by 1 Peter supports, according to some scholars, the actuality of the Transfiguration, insisting that this event really did occur. Others believe that it is central to Matthew's christological argument, closely paralleling the happenings at Jesus' baptism, while drawing on Exodus 24 for much of its detail. This much is absolutely clear to the preacher: it is the intention of the (Lutheran) Church, at least, that the minister of the Word should grapple with the central truth of this pericope - that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who came into the world, at the Father's bidding, to turn things around in human affairs, and to bring about reconciliation of God and his people - no matter if it cost him his life. The connection between Jesus' Transfiguration and his crucifixion, which Luke links up on top of the mountain, is made by Matthew as Jesus and the three disciples descend from the mountain and he says, "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead." Therefore, when the Transfiguration of Our Lord is celebrated on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, the gap from Epiphany into Lent is closed by the declaration, "This (Jesus) is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." "Listen to him" moves the church into the season of Lent as part of the Easter cycle. Is it too much to suggest that, since the baptismal pronouncement, "This is my beloved Son," is made in this gospel, that the baptismal content of Lent is thereby rather subtly suggested? This could be another argument for setting the Transfiguration at the end of Epiphany, just three days before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.
A sermon on the Gospel, Matthew 17:1-9 - "The Spectacle on the Mountain."
St. Paul Outside the Walls is one of the seven pilgrimage churches left in Rome; at one time, there were at least 55 such edifices. Pilgrims, as well as interested tourists, continue to visit this and the other six churches when they go to Rome, mostly to give honor to St. Paul, who is buried there. But the glory belongs to Jesus Christ, as the mosaic in the apse of the church announces. In it, Jesus is "seated in glory, offering his blessings from above the altar." Almost unobserved, a tiny, vested figure kneels by Jesus' foot; he is bent over in a posture which depicts his kissing Jesus' foot. He is a pope, according to his vestments, but which one? Is he the pope who planned the rebuilding of St. Paul's? Has the 13th century (mosaic) simply been altered by a later playful father? Could this be a representation of St. Paul, put there to remind the popes and all Christians of the full glory of Christ. Or could this be a representation of all the popes and people (caught up in this one little figure) to show the brightness of his glory in the world which must fall down and worship him....?" (from The Renewal of Liturgical Preaching). The Transfiguration pictures the glorification of Jesus Christ in such godly proportions - "This is my beloved Son" - that those who really hear the story and "see" the transfigured Christ can do no other than fall down and worship him.
1. The retreat to a mountain top was an "invitation only" affair; only Peter, James, and John were allowed to ascend the mountain with Jesus. When Moses went up Mt. Sinai at the command of God, he took Joshua with him; he might have told Joshua that they were going up the mountain to get the stone tablets of the law and the commandments that God had prepared for the Israelites. Matthew doesn't suggest that Jesus went up the mountain in response to a message from his Father; the only clue comes in Chapter 16, where Jesus tells the disciples what is going to happen - including his death and resurrection - at Jerusalem. The import of those words must have taken a spiritual toll upon the Lord, which took him up the mountain, needing not only time with God but the support of his closest disciples, Peter, James, and John. What person can face impending and certain death lightly, without need of comfort and assurance? Death is too much for the best of us, and even Jesus needed company when he faced up to what was to happen to him in the near future.
2. When Jesus was transfigured, Peter wanted to hedge his bets; he wanted to make certain that something good and lasting would come out of this experience - some kind of a memorial or marker - so he blurted out, "Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." Before Jesus could reply, God intervened once more - he "overshadowed all four of them - and thundered, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.' " Who wouldn't do what they did in that situation - fall down on their knees in fear and trembling? And when Jesus reassured them and they "lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only." This is what the season of Epiphany has been building-up to, the glorification of Jesus Christ the Lord; the word reveals that Jesus is the Son of God and is destined to be the Savior of the world.
3. In the spectacle on the mountain, the glory of the Lord was revealed, not only to Peter, James, and John, but to the whole world. When God spoke at Jesus' baptism, it was largely a matter of identification; on the mountain, God accomplished the glorification of the Lord as the one who, when he was lifted up on the cross, would draw all people to himself; it was Jesus' confirmation day. Something like that happened to Moses the second time he went up to the top of Mt. Sinai; God took him up in the cloud, and when he went down from the mountain, there was a radiance about his countenance that told the Israelites that something dramatic had occurred between Moses and the Lord God. The disciples actually saw the transfigured Jesus, witnessed his glory, but completely misunderstood what was taking place, as the evangelist tells us the story.
4. Peter, James, and John probably couldn't wait to get down the mountain to tell the others what they had experienced with Jesus. But Jesus knew what they wanted to do and stopped them in their tracks: "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead." How could this come about, that the Son of God, the Jesus they had just seen glorified by the Father, could possibly be put to death in Jerusalem? This much we know; the story of the Transfiguration was not told until after Jesus' death and resurrection. When it is told today, we are made ready to enter into the season of death, Lent, in the hope of receiving some answers on the way to the cross and the empty tomb.
A sermon sketch on the First Lesson - Exodus 24:12, 15-18 - "A Man on a Mountain."
1. Central to the Exodus, as the Israelites moved from Egypt to the Promised Land, is the experience of one man, Moses, with God at Mt. Sinai. (Retell this story, briefly, as a kind of a "Readers' Digest" shortened version of the biblical account of God's giving the Ten Commandments to Moses and Israel. Most "man on the mountain" stories today are about mountain climbers, who battle great odds, display tremendous courage, and superb strength, as they attempt to reach the top of the highest mountains on earth. In this story, God is center stage, the protagonist, in the drama of what happened to the man on the mountain. The story has to be told from this perspective.)
2. God put on a "sound and light" show of his own for six days on top of Mt. Sinai as "the glory of the Lord settled" on the mountain. Apparently, the Israelites couldn't miss the demonstration of God's glory; it must have seemed like a volcano to them; they had never seen anything like it, and had to wonder what was going on up there.
3. On the seventh day, Moses was "captured" by the cloud on top of Mt. Sinai. It apparently took a considerable period of time before God got through to Moses and Moses was ready to receive the law and the commandments for Israel. Moses must have been something of a tough nut to crack, but God got to him at last. That tells me that there is hope for us; God will be patient, taking his time "to get to us" so that we "see" his full glory in Jesus Christ, his Son, and our Lord.
4. Moses, the man of God on the mountain was so overcome by what happened to him that he stayed there for forty days and forty nights. That really is how - and where - Lent began. The man on the mountain was the first penitent; he waits - with Jesus - for us to join him in Lent.
A sermon on the Second Lesson, 2 Peter 1:16-19 (20-21) - "We Were There."
1. Some years ago, Edmund Steimle preached an Easter sermon that he titled, "No Idle Tale." He asserted, by his references to the Easter story and the accounts that substantiate it, that "it is all true." The resurrection of Jesus, he declared, really took place as the evangelists reported it; it is "no idle tale." That's what "Peter" says of the Transfiguration of the Lord; we didn't make it up because "we were eyewitnesses of his majesty ... when he received honor and glory from the Father and the voice (said) ... 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.' " The story of Jesus, including this part, is true; no one made it up.
2. The Transfiguration of Jesus is the fulfillment of scripture, as Peter, James, and John perceive it. They know very well what had happened to Moses at Mt. Sinai and, when something like that happened to them when they were with the Lord, they came to understand that this was God's way of fulfilling the words of the prophets about the Messiah. The man who was transfigured in their presence on the mountain could be none other than the Messiah himself. Peter wants us to believe this, too.
3. When one has doubts about this part of the story, or anything else in the gospel, one should ponder the Word and give God time, through the Holy Spirit, to "break through the darkness" within us "until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." It is in facing up to the mystery of Jesus that God helps us to accept Jesus as the crucified and risen Son of God. We cannot go back to the mountain and be eyewitnesses of the glorification of Jesus, as did Peter, James, and John. But God is with us in this quest for assurance and faith, and he enables us to believe this story and know, as we enter Lent, that Jesus is the Lord, the blessed Son of God.
Most Lutheran, Episcopal, and some other churches celebrate the Transfiguration on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, rather than on the traditional date of August 6. This tends to give theological definition to the end of the Epiphany season and the entire Christmas cycle, as well. The incarnation/manifestation note is sounded again in the Gospel for the Day, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him." The word God spoke at Jesus' baptism is repeated here and is meant to provide transition into the Easter cycle and, particularly, to the season of Lent; when the Luke account is used, Series C, the transition is patently clear. The other churches, which simply use the propers for the Sunday which chronologically occurs on this date, do not seem to enjoy the same degree of closure to the season, nor transition to Lent and Easter, either. The theological/liturgical/ homiletical clue is not so apparent in their propers.
The Prayer of the Day - The LBW provides two prayers for the Transfiguration of Our Lord; both of them mention the Transfiguration specifically. The first emphasizes the glory of God that was shown - manifested - "in the transfiguration of your Son." The petition is eschatological, asking God to "give us the vision to see beyond the turmoil of our world and to behold the king in all his glory." The second prayer is related to the confirmation of the faith "by the witness of Moses and Elijah," and that "in the voice from the bright cloud you foreshadowed our adoption as your children." The petition sentence asks God to "make us with the king heirs of your glory, and bring us to enjoy its fullness." Both bring Epiphany to a fitting conclusion and, rather subtly, point the church toward Calvary.
The collect for the last Sunday after the Epiphany in the Protestant Episcopal Church prepares the people for Lent even more specifically; "O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain...." The intention of this collect cannot be missed; it also functions in a two-fold manner, bringing Epiphany to its conclusion and bridging the gap between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday. "Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance," the prayer continues, "may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory."
The Psalm of the Day (LBW) - Psalm 2:6-13 - Verse 7 makes it absolutely clear why this psalm was chosen for the Transfiguration, "Let me announce the decree of the Lord: He said to me, 'You are my son; this day have I begotten you.' " (Of course, the psalm could also be used for the Baptism of Our Lord). In the early verses of the psalm, the passion is foreshadowed - "Why do the kings of the earth rise up in revolt, and the princes plot together, against the Lord and against his anointed?" The psalmist understands that God will give this son "the nations for (his) possession." Finally, he calls upon the rulers of the world to "be warned," and to "submit to the Lord with fear, and with trembling bow before him," which functions almost like the word in the gospel, "Listen to him." Those who do so will be happy in the Lord; those who do not will perish.
The Psalm Prayer
Lord God, you gave the peoples of the world to be the inheritance of your Son; you crowned him as king of Zion, your holy city, and gave him your Church as his bride. As he proclaims the way of your eternal kingdom, may we serve him faithfully, and so know the royal power of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The readings:
Exodus 24:12, 15-18
The experience of Moses, when God commanded him to go up Mt. Sinai to receive the tablets of the law, is a type of the transfiguration experience of Jesus on another mountain centuries later. The glory of God took Moses up into a cloud that must have seemed like a volcano to the people who watched and waited below. They must have thought that he had been devoured by the mountain; he stayed there forty days and forty nights (a pattern for Jesus' retreat to the wilderness after his baptism?) before he went down from the mountain to rejoin the people. (If the pastor intends to preach from this text, it would be well to read the entire context of this pericope and approach it from its narrative perspective. It is a story worth telling, especially alongside the Transfiguration of Jesus, over and over again.)
2 Peter 1:16-19, (20-21)
The Christians must have been accused of telling tall tales about Jesus and, apparently, one of the tallest of these was the story of Jesus' Transfiguration on the mountain; it was too much to believe! Had the story merely mentioned what happened to Jesus, and even the voice speaking, "This is my beloved Son," it might not have been too hard to believe. But to talk about the appearance of Moses and Elijah, and to insist that they were actually talking with Jesus, was too much to accept; sheer reason dictated that this was indeed a tall tale. The author of 1 Peter, however, sticks to the story; he insists that human beings did not concoct this event, but that it actually happened. It was orchestrated by God himself, not by the imagination and ingenuity of human minds. He declares,
We were eyewitnesses of his majesty ... when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice (said)..., "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
Not only did they see Jesus transfigured, talking to Moses and Elijah, but they also heard the voice that identified Jesus Christ as the Son of God. So theirs was the evidence of sight and of sound and, in the light of their post-resurrection experiences with the Lord, they call upon all people "to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." This reading, therefore, is especially appropriate for the last Sunday of Epiphany, as well as for the Transfiguration of Our Lord.
Matthew 17:1-9
The Transfiguration of Our Lord is celebrated on three different days in the church year. August 6 is the actual date set aside for this feast/festival, when it receives attention as a separate event in the life, history, and experience of the church. The Episcopal Church observes the Transfiguration as a Holy Day and reads this Gospel on August 6, as well as on the last Sunday of Epiphany. The Roman Catholic Church, which retains the August 6 date in its calendar, really celebrates the Transfiguration on the Second Sunday in Lent. A strong argument can be made for this, especially in the year of Luke, who is the only one of the evangelists to divulge that Moses and Elijah were talking to Jesus about his "exodus" that was soon to occur in Jerusalem. The Common Lectionary also coincides with the Lutheran and Episcopal lectionaries in the appointment of the Transfiguration of Our Lord on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany. All of the liturgical churches tend to celebrate the Transfiguration only once, even if their calendars list the propers on two different liturgical dates.
The argument presented by 1 Peter supports, according to some scholars, the actuality of the Transfiguration, insisting that this event really did occur. Others believe that it is central to Matthew's christological argument, closely paralleling the happenings at Jesus' baptism, while drawing on Exodus 24 for much of its detail. This much is absolutely clear to the preacher: it is the intention of the (Lutheran) Church, at least, that the minister of the Word should grapple with the central truth of this pericope - that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who came into the world, at the Father's bidding, to turn things around in human affairs, and to bring about reconciliation of God and his people - no matter if it cost him his life. The connection between Jesus' Transfiguration and his crucifixion, which Luke links up on top of the mountain, is made by Matthew as Jesus and the three disciples descend from the mountain and he says, "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead." Therefore, when the Transfiguration of Our Lord is celebrated on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, the gap from Epiphany into Lent is closed by the declaration, "This (Jesus) is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." "Listen to him" moves the church into the season of Lent as part of the Easter cycle. Is it too much to suggest that, since the baptismal pronouncement, "This is my beloved Son," is made in this gospel, that the baptismal content of Lent is thereby rather subtly suggested? This could be another argument for setting the Transfiguration at the end of Epiphany, just three days before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.
A sermon on the Gospel, Matthew 17:1-9 - "The Spectacle on the Mountain."
St. Paul Outside the Walls is one of the seven pilgrimage churches left in Rome; at one time, there were at least 55 such edifices. Pilgrims, as well as interested tourists, continue to visit this and the other six churches when they go to Rome, mostly to give honor to St. Paul, who is buried there. But the glory belongs to Jesus Christ, as the mosaic in the apse of the church announces. In it, Jesus is "seated in glory, offering his blessings from above the altar." Almost unobserved, a tiny, vested figure kneels by Jesus' foot; he is bent over in a posture which depicts his kissing Jesus' foot. He is a pope, according to his vestments, but which one? Is he the pope who planned the rebuilding of St. Paul's? Has the 13th century (mosaic) simply been altered by a later playful father? Could this be a representation of St. Paul, put there to remind the popes and all Christians of the full glory of Christ. Or could this be a representation of all the popes and people (caught up in this one little figure) to show the brightness of his glory in the world which must fall down and worship him....?" (from The Renewal of Liturgical Preaching). The Transfiguration pictures the glorification of Jesus Christ in such godly proportions - "This is my beloved Son" - that those who really hear the story and "see" the transfigured Christ can do no other than fall down and worship him.
1. The retreat to a mountain top was an "invitation only" affair; only Peter, James, and John were allowed to ascend the mountain with Jesus. When Moses went up Mt. Sinai at the command of God, he took Joshua with him; he might have told Joshua that they were going up the mountain to get the stone tablets of the law and the commandments that God had prepared for the Israelites. Matthew doesn't suggest that Jesus went up the mountain in response to a message from his Father; the only clue comes in Chapter 16, where Jesus tells the disciples what is going to happen - including his death and resurrection - at Jerusalem. The import of those words must have taken a spiritual toll upon the Lord, which took him up the mountain, needing not only time with God but the support of his closest disciples, Peter, James, and John. What person can face impending and certain death lightly, without need of comfort and assurance? Death is too much for the best of us, and even Jesus needed company when he faced up to what was to happen to him in the near future.
2. When Jesus was transfigured, Peter wanted to hedge his bets; he wanted to make certain that something good and lasting would come out of this experience - some kind of a memorial or marker - so he blurted out, "Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." Before Jesus could reply, God intervened once more - he "overshadowed all four of them - and thundered, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.' " Who wouldn't do what they did in that situation - fall down on their knees in fear and trembling? And when Jesus reassured them and they "lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only." This is what the season of Epiphany has been building-up to, the glorification of Jesus Christ the Lord; the word reveals that Jesus is the Son of God and is destined to be the Savior of the world.
3. In the spectacle on the mountain, the glory of the Lord was revealed, not only to Peter, James, and John, but to the whole world. When God spoke at Jesus' baptism, it was largely a matter of identification; on the mountain, God accomplished the glorification of the Lord as the one who, when he was lifted up on the cross, would draw all people to himself; it was Jesus' confirmation day. Something like that happened to Moses the second time he went up to the top of Mt. Sinai; God took him up in the cloud, and when he went down from the mountain, there was a radiance about his countenance that told the Israelites that something dramatic had occurred between Moses and the Lord God. The disciples actually saw the transfigured Jesus, witnessed his glory, but completely misunderstood what was taking place, as the evangelist tells us the story.
4. Peter, James, and John probably couldn't wait to get down the mountain to tell the others what they had experienced with Jesus. But Jesus knew what they wanted to do and stopped them in their tracks: "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead." How could this come about, that the Son of God, the Jesus they had just seen glorified by the Father, could possibly be put to death in Jerusalem? This much we know; the story of the Transfiguration was not told until after Jesus' death and resurrection. When it is told today, we are made ready to enter into the season of death, Lent, in the hope of receiving some answers on the way to the cross and the empty tomb.
A sermon sketch on the First Lesson - Exodus 24:12, 15-18 - "A Man on a Mountain."
1. Central to the Exodus, as the Israelites moved from Egypt to the Promised Land, is the experience of one man, Moses, with God at Mt. Sinai. (Retell this story, briefly, as a kind of a "Readers' Digest" shortened version of the biblical account of God's giving the Ten Commandments to Moses and Israel. Most "man on the mountain" stories today are about mountain climbers, who battle great odds, display tremendous courage, and superb strength, as they attempt to reach the top of the highest mountains on earth. In this story, God is center stage, the protagonist, in the drama of what happened to the man on the mountain. The story has to be told from this perspective.)
2. God put on a "sound and light" show of his own for six days on top of Mt. Sinai as "the glory of the Lord settled" on the mountain. Apparently, the Israelites couldn't miss the demonstration of God's glory; it must have seemed like a volcano to them; they had never seen anything like it, and had to wonder what was going on up there.
3. On the seventh day, Moses was "captured" by the cloud on top of Mt. Sinai. It apparently took a considerable period of time before God got through to Moses and Moses was ready to receive the law and the commandments for Israel. Moses must have been something of a tough nut to crack, but God got to him at last. That tells me that there is hope for us; God will be patient, taking his time "to get to us" so that we "see" his full glory in Jesus Christ, his Son, and our Lord.
4. Moses, the man of God on the mountain was so overcome by what happened to him that he stayed there for forty days and forty nights. That really is how - and where - Lent began. The man on the mountain was the first penitent; he waits - with Jesus - for us to join him in Lent.
A sermon on the Second Lesson, 2 Peter 1:16-19 (20-21) - "We Were There."
1. Some years ago, Edmund Steimle preached an Easter sermon that he titled, "No Idle Tale." He asserted, by his references to the Easter story and the accounts that substantiate it, that "it is all true." The resurrection of Jesus, he declared, really took place as the evangelists reported it; it is "no idle tale." That's what "Peter" says of the Transfiguration of the Lord; we didn't make it up because "we were eyewitnesses of his majesty ... when he received honor and glory from the Father and the voice (said) ... 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.' " The story of Jesus, including this part, is true; no one made it up.
2. The Transfiguration of Jesus is the fulfillment of scripture, as Peter, James, and John perceive it. They know very well what had happened to Moses at Mt. Sinai and, when something like that happened to them when they were with the Lord, they came to understand that this was God's way of fulfilling the words of the prophets about the Messiah. The man who was transfigured in their presence on the mountain could be none other than the Messiah himself. Peter wants us to believe this, too.
3. When one has doubts about this part of the story, or anything else in the gospel, one should ponder the Word and give God time, through the Holy Spirit, to "break through the darkness" within us "until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." It is in facing up to the mystery of Jesus that God helps us to accept Jesus as the crucified and risen Son of God. We cannot go back to the mountain and be eyewitnesses of the glorification of Jesus, as did Peter, James, and John. But God is with us in this quest for assurance and faith, and he enables us to believe this story and know, as we enter Lent, that Jesus is the Lord, the blessed Son of God.
