Pastor Michael Neumann

February 14, 2010 

Luke 9:28-36

Jesus’ Transfiguration Prepares Us for His Passion

1) It reminds us that he is God’s Son.

2) It grants us a glimpse of heavenly glory.

3) It directs us to his revealing Word.

 At times we need to receive some reassurance. A money back guarantee can reassurance me that a major purchase isn’t going to be money wasted. A person about to undergo surgery might be reassured to know that the surgeon is among the best and has successfully performed this surgery many times. As a family prepares to move or even go on some trip, a parent might reassure their young child that mom and dad will be there with them. As we face a difficult situation – big or small – it can be a comfort to receive some reassurance that things will be OK, that what we anticipate or hope for will happen.

 A reassurance is what we are given in our text this morning. This Wednesday, we will begin another season of Lent. Once again we will view our Savior’s passion as he is arrested, beaten, put on trial for his life and convicted and crucified. But the picture we have in our text stands in sharp contrast to the picture we will see throughout the Lenten season. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus appears in glory. What a wonderful reassurance that Jesus is the almighty Son of God and our Savior. That man, bleeding and dying on the cross, is none other than God’s own Son. Jesus transfiguration prepares us for his passion. It does that by reminding us that he is God’s Son. It does that by granting us a glimpse of heavenly glory and it does that by directing us to his revealing Word.

 As we view the transfiguration – isn’t this how we would choose to have Jesus appear at all times? In glory, not humility. We want glory – outward glory, not a glory hidden under the cross. But consider how the Lord works. Our Savior’s greatest glory was there on Calvary when by his death he defeated sin, death and the devil and won eternal life for a world of sinners. His glory hidden deeply on the cross in his suffering. Or consider the fact that God doesn’t bring people to faith through great acts of glory such as miracles or powerful displays in nature, but faith is worked through the foolishness of the gospel. God’s glory is hidden in the proclamation of that simple word.

 That is a difficult thing for us to learn. We want glory – outward glory, not a glory hidden under the cross. So we think that as a Christian, things should go well in my life. As his dear child, God should shower me with blessings. We don’t like to hear Jesus say that we must take up our cross and follow him. And so when suffering comes into our life – what is our reaction? We complain. We question God. We certainly don’t rejoice that the Lord loves us and is disciplining us for our good. As sinful human beings, our focus is so often on ourselves and our comfort. So we want an outward glory, not the cross.

 But as we consider Jesus’ transfiguration, as we study Jesus’ word – we see the fact that Jesus’ glory for the most part remains hidden – hidden under the cross, hidden in weakness. Even here at his transfiguration. If we were writing the account of the transfiguration, we wouldn’t have it happen on some isolated mountain witnessed by only three of his disciples. We would have Jesus transfigured before some large crowd, probably in Jerusalem, at the temple.

From time to time, Jesus displayed little glimpses of that glory with his miracles; but there was nothing in his physical appearance that would set him apart as someone special. He looked like a typical Jewish man of his time. But here on the mountain of Transfiguration, Peter, James and John were given a special glimpse of Jesus’ glory.

The transfiguration presents us with another proof that Jesus is God. All of Jesus’ miracles were done to convince people that he is the Son of God, that he is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The apostle John, near the end of his gospel writes, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

 Unfortunately, it has become common today, even within some Christian churches to downgrade the miracles of Jesus. “Modern, scientifically trained people can’t accept the miracles as factual accounts,” is the argument. Often then, Jesus miracles as treated simply as parables with a moral or social lesson to teach. For example, Jesus feeding the 5000 teaches concern about the poor and shows that church should work to see that the hungry are fed. The modern, scientific community would try to tell us this is relevant teaching that makes the miracles meaningful for modern people. Ultimately, they end up with a social gospel – the chief concern of the church for them is to care for people’s physical needs – social work. They put aside the greater spiritual and eternal matters. 

It is true that most of Jesus’ miracles were done to help people in need – but all of them served a much greater purpose. The miracles give evidence that he is God. The account of the transfiguration helps us to realize that this is the purpose for all Jesus’ miracles. The transfiguration is a great miracle. Yet with this miracle, no hungry people were fed, no sick person cured. It did nothing for the disciples except to give them a glimpse of the Savior’s glory. It helped to impress on them the truth which was proclaimed from the God when God the Father declared, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen.” Jesus miracles and his transfiguration show him to be the almighty God.

So when we, on this transfiguration Sunday, once again see our Savior with his face shining as brightly as the sun and with his clothes whiter than all the bleach on earth could possibly make them – we should come away with an even firmer conviction that this is our Lord and our God and our Savior. Then we will be prepared to understand the message of Lent which shows our Savior in the depths of his humiliation in his suffering and death.

The transfiguration was a preparation for his death. Shortly before this Jesus had told his disciples in very plain terms that he would die. After the transfiguration he would tell them again. When Moses and Elijah appear, they speak with Jesus about his “departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.” What a wonderful and remarkable statement. We usually don’t speak about someone accomplishing his own death. It sounds like a suicide. But Jesus would travel to Jerusalem where he would willingly meet his death at the hands of his enemies. But when we consider the transfiguration, it is obvious that everything was in Jesus’ control. Those religious leaders of Israel, who wanted Jesus dead and saw to his death, didn’t catch him off guard. They didn’t capture him by force. When we see Jesus with his face shining as bright as the sun, we are reminded that this is the Son of God and there is no authority on earth that can send him to the cross if he does not want to go. There is no power on earth that can take his life from him, if he is not willing to die. But Jesus, out of love for you and me, is about to go to Jerusalem, to give up his life as the sacrifice for our many sins. By his death and resurrection, Jesus is about to fulfill all the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Savior and to accomplish our eternal salvation. That is something that we as sinners could never do – earn heaven. But Jesus would win heaven for us.

When Peter, James and John saw the Savior in his glory on the mount of transfiguration, that sight helped to prepare them for that day when these same three men saw him kneeling in a garden on the Mount of Olives, sweating drops of drops of blood in agony, when they saw him on Mount Calvary hanging on a cross. When they finally learned, after his resurrection, to put these two things together, they knew that it was indeed God himself who had shed those drops of blood. They knew that it was God himself who had died there on the cross and they knew why this suffering and dying could pay for the sins of the world. 

 As we go from Epiphany to Lent, from the mount of transfiguration to Mt. Calvary, we also know that this is the Son of God who died, not because he had to, but because he loved us.  This is the Son of God who’s bleeding and dying is enough to give us the hope of heaven because it redeems us from all our sins.

 It isn’t surprising that Peter didn’t want to leave, but suggested building three shelters – one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. If we had been there, we might have responded in a similar way – “Master, it is good for us to be here.” Who would want to go if he were given a view of the glory of heaven? Who would want to go back to his everyday life with all its troubles – even an everyday life with Jesus as Peter knew? We can hardly blame him. 

 What the disciples were given a glimpse of is what we will see in full when we are set free from all the sorrows of this life. This was a glimpse of the glory of heaven. The real hope of the poor and suffering in this world doesn’t lie in money and food provided by some charity. The real hope for the sick of this world doesn’t lie in medical science. When Moses and Elijah appeared on the mount of transfiguration, their very presence testified to the fact that this present world is not the only home we have. Moses had been dead for 1400 years; Elijah had left this world about 800 years before. That ought to make us realize that the seventy or eighty years we live on this earth are only a drop in the bucket compared to the eternity that we will spend in the next world.

  The only real hope for people in this world, no matter what their circumstance - whether poor or rich, sick or healthy, blind and deaf or have their sight and can hear. The only real hope for all people of all races and classes and nations lies in this - that because Jesus, the very Son of God, suffered and died for them and paid for their sins, they can have the assurance that, when they die, they will see what the disciples saw that day. They will see the glory of the only Savior in heaven. Only through Jesus is that glory possible. Through his humiliation, through his suffering and death – one day will see the glory of heaven.

 And that fact is revealed to us through his word of the Bible. That word is able to do what nothing else can. It is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” The apostle Peter in his letter after giving his eyewitness account of the transfiguration tells us, “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The words recorded in the Bible were not made up stories - but eyewitness accounts of Jesus life. They are God’s word - the exact words that God wanted recorded so that we might have our Savior revealed to us and know him. The Bible is God’s word, completely true and reliable in all it says.

 God the Father points us to Jesus’ teaching and tells us to “Listen to him.” We have Jesus teaching which as Peter says, we “do well to pay attention to.” Jesus’ word, the word of God, is a light to guide us in our lives on this earth. It is a light to guide us through this life to our eternal home in heaven. Therefore, make every opportunity to hear and to study that word. Listen to what it says. Make it the guide and authority in your life.

What a wonderful reassurance we are given with Jesus’ transfiguration. What great comfort we find in Jesus’ transfiguration. Jesus’ transfiguration truly prepares us for his passion. As we watch our Savior make his way to Calvary’s cross during lent, we are reminded of the great truths revealed on the mount of transfiguration. Once again we are given proof that Jesus is true God and our Savior and therefore his passion provides for us the glory of heaven.