February 26, 2017
Matthew 17:1-8
Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James and his brother John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with Him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will make three dwellings here —one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the beloved; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying “get up and do not be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus, alone.
Friends, our Lord’s life and ministry follow what we might call a linear pattern — from his birth to his ascension into Heaven. We have regular events, occurring in regular time and that’s what makes this text so difficult. Moses and Elijah emerge to speak with Jesus. The Old Testament seems to intrude upon the New Testament and the usual laws of time and distance no longer apply.
We’re told that the appearance of our Lord was changed – His face shone like the sun; His clothes became dazzling white. He underwent a metamorphosis – that is the word that we translate as ‘transfigured’– a change of form, a transformation of appearance.
Moses and Elijah are there to see fulfilled what God had revealed to them centuries before. God had said to Moses, “I am who I am,” revealing the name of God. And when it comes to Elijah, the name itself means, “my God is Yahweh.” So Moses is the name we connect to the first five books of the Bible– a torrent of creation and salvation and community. And Elijah, is the name we connect with prophesy– the recovery of what Moses said and wrote.
Moses, Elijah and Jesus are deep in conversation when a bright cloud overshadows them and God says, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” And after that, the first words our Lord says are, “Get up and do not be afraid.” I think that we need to listen to our Lord say that phrase to us along with everything else he had to say.
We’re reminded that sight is a faculty but seeing is an art. Hearing is a faculty but listening is an art. And how much seeing and hearing are we doing? Some of us act as though we’ve seen it all. There’s really nothing new to interest us. Or, that we’ve heard it all. We’re experienced, we’re veterans, we’ve been around for a while. So can anything break into our routines?
I believe that’s what this text is forcing us to consider– recovery of sight so that we can see; and recovery of hearing so that we can listen. And this is going to require a transformation, as Paul puts it, “though the renewal of our minds.” No conversion, no breakthrough, happens without it. It’s the same word that is used in our text when it talks about transfiguration and it’s the same word that shows up in Paul’s letter to the Romans when he talks about transformation in our lives.
Isaiah had that when he saw the Lord in the temple early on and he’s visioning the Seraphs flying about and calling out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory.” Then a few chapters later Isaiah writes about, “the people who walked in darkness” seeing a great light. Then a few chapters after that, “the wolf shall live with the lamb and the cow and bear shall graze together.” And John had that in the Revelation when he saw, “a new heaven and a new earth” and, “I saw the Holy City…” Listening, seeing. Even Peter, who in our text, gets it all wrong and wants to build these dwellings for Moses, Elijah and Jesus to capture the moment, even he, reflecting on that day in his second letter writes, “…we had been eye witnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory saying, ‘This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased’. We ourselves heard this voice from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain.” He goes on to say, “You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (II Peter 1:16-19) Who knew that Peter had that kind of poetry in him? So often our Lord told us to be alert and pay attention. Well, seeing and listening are when we are paying attention.
We began by noticing in our text that the laws of time and distance seem not to apply. Moses and Elijah are there with our Lord. The very same thing happens when we look forward rather than backward through the lens of this text. The Gospels make it clear that our Lord’s glory was not on that mountain with three witnesses, and very private. His glory was actually in his crucifixion. That was his Glory.
Here is the way the British, New Testament scholar, M.T. Wright puts it,
The scene at the transfiguration…offers a strange parallel and contrast to the crucifixion… If you’re going to meditate on the one, you might like to hold the other in your mind as well, as a sort of backdrop. Here, on the mountain, is Jesus, revealed in glory; there, on a hill outside Jerusalem, is Jesus, revealed in shame. Here his clothes are shining white; there they have been stripped off and soldiers have gambled for them. Here, he is flanked by Moses and Elijah, two of Israel’s greatest heroes, representing the law and the prophets; there he is flanked by two thieves, representing the level to which Israel had sunk in rebellion against God. Here, a bright cloud overshadows the scene; there, darkness comes upon the land. Here Peter blurts out how wonderful it all is; there, he is hiding in shame after denying he even knows Jesus. Here a voice from God himself declares that this is his wonderful son; there, a pagan soldier declares, in surprise, that this really was God’s Son.
So friends, the scene on the mountain is a kind of pre-figuring, a dress rehearsal, and a ‘prequel’. We got used to the word prequel from all of the Star Wars movies. Our children would try to say to us, ‘that’s episode 4 and that’s a prequel to…’ and part of the response would be, ‘Yeah, I know all about prequels, we’ve had Transformation Sunday for years.’ It’s a prequel of what’s to come on Golgotha, which makes our text a proper one for this Sunday before Lent.
I am reminded of Eudora Welty, a Southern writer from Jackson Mississippi. I’ve always loved her chapter headings from her three addresses at Harvard years ago entitled, “One Writer’s Beginnings.” The chapters were: Listening (talking about her youth and listening to her parents and the sounds around her); Learning to See (you have to be taught how to see); and then, Finding a Voice (which comes afterwards).
So friends, let us listen to Him, as God has instructed, in His ministry and in His Passion, beginning with His words to us, “Get up and don’t be afraid.”
We talk about mystics, we talk about people who seem to be connected to things we aren’t connected to. Frankly, all they are doing is seeing and listening. That’s something that we can all do, so let’s pay attention.
To God be the Glory. Amen.
