Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 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." 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!" When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
Matthew 17:1-9
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| From Bible.com |
So, the transfiguration. We just read that Jesus went up the mountain and he became dazzling bright. He talked with Moses and Elijah. My first question, how did they know who the two were? Both had been dead for hundreds of years.
The Bible doesn't say, but maybe Jesus told them something might happen on the way up, or maybe they introduced themselves. "Hello I am Moses, I brought you the Law." "Greetings, I am Elijah, I walked with God and was no more." I doubt it was the last one, but regardless, they knew who they were.
They knew they were important people there. Jesus shining like the sun and two of the greats of the old testament talking. Peter knew how important this was. He speaks up, and we get our first lesson to look at in this passage. Peter said "I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." It was a great thought. But I don't think it had completely set in exactly who Jesus was to the disciples yet.
Just a week before they had heard him talking about his death. At that time he asked who they say he is and Peter gets it right, that Jesus is the Messiah and the son of God. So they knew he was the one sent from God to save his people. But offering to put up three dwellings shows that he didn't completely understand who the Messiah was. The Jews were looking for a messiah who would fight for them and free them from their earthly oppressors.
And setting up a dwelling for Moses and Elijah would have been a good thing for them to do. Moses was the Law Giver. He brought the Ten Commandments to the chosen people of God. It is by these laws that the Jews of the time hoped for heaven. And next to him stood Jesus. The man who fulfilled the laws. Every Law that was given to Moses by God, Jesus fulfilled. So on one side of the three we have the establishment of the law and the completion of the law.
Elijah was a well known prophet. One of the great major prophets and we have Jesus. Again we have God's fulfillment of the prophets and all of their prophecies. On this side we have Jesus and Elijah, the prophecies and promises given to the Jewish people and the answer and fulfillment of all of them.
It made sense that Peter would want to have three dwellings. But here was a fault, Peter put Jesus on the same level as Moses and Elijah. He recognized the importance of all who were there, but failed to see how much more important Jesus was.
They knew they were important people there. Jesus shining like the sun and two of the greats of the old testament talking. Peter knew how important this was. He speaks up, and we get our first lesson to look at in this passage. Peter said "I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." It was a great thought. But I don't think it had completely set in exactly who Jesus was to the disciples yet.
Just a week before they had heard him talking about his death. At that time he asked who they say he is and Peter gets it right, that Jesus is the Messiah and the son of God. So they knew he was the one sent from God to save his people. But offering to put up three dwellings shows that he didn't completely understand who the Messiah was. The Jews were looking for a messiah who would fight for them and free them from their earthly oppressors.
And setting up a dwelling for Moses and Elijah would have been a good thing for them to do. Moses was the Law Giver. He brought the Ten Commandments to the chosen people of God. It is by these laws that the Jews of the time hoped for heaven. And next to him stood Jesus. The man who fulfilled the laws. Every Law that was given to Moses by God, Jesus fulfilled. So on one side of the three we have the establishment of the law and the completion of the law.
Elijah was a well known prophet. One of the great major prophets and we have Jesus. Again we have God's fulfillment of the prophets and all of their prophecies. On this side we have Jesus and Elijah, the prophecies and promises given to the Jewish people and the answer and fulfillment of all of them.
It made sense that Peter would want to have three dwellings. But here was a fault, Peter put Jesus on the same level as Moses and Elijah. He recognized the importance of all who were there, but failed to see how much more important Jesus was.
Let's stop a moment and look at Jesus. "His face shown like the sun." For a short time, he went from his earthly body to full on Son of God body. This was the body of who he is now. The man sitting at the right and of God, Jesus in his Glorified body. Then God spoke to the disciples there. Out loud in audible words again emphasizing who Jesus was.
I want to take a moment to point something out about God. People so very often think of God as a bearded old man sitting in a puffy cloud filled heaven. But look at what Moses did when God spoke to him, look at what the disciples just did. They were overcome with fear and fell to the ground. If angles caused men to fear and tremble before them, and they are just the messengers, imagine how much more terrifying God must be. Revelation tells us "From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder." But we do not need to cower in fear, though I am sure we will, because Jesus has brought us, under his arm, into the family of the Creator.
But I digress, the story of the transfiguration is a turning point in Jesus' ministry and life. From here on out it was time to prepare everyone for the fulfillment to complete. For us it is the very start of Lent. Next week Lent begins and people all over the world will give something up.
Over the years I have heard people trying to put new spins on lent. I get it though, how many times can you hear the same story over and over without something new. Sometimes it's something like picking up something new for lent, like devoting the next month to praying. We give up things like chocolate, or meat or something like that. There is talk of changing ourselves over the next four weeks into a better person, or a better Christian. And I have a feeling that many of us fail in doing so. I know I do. I have failed so much I don't even bother to do anything for lent. But maybe I should. Maybe I should look at myself and make myself better over the next month. Spend a month surrounded by God and make myself a better Christian. Maybe you have an idea on what God wants you to work on for the next month.
I find it very fitting that we start off with the Transfiguration. Lent is a time of changing. For us in the northern Hemisphere, Winter is ending and we are heading into spring. The days are getting longer and people are getting friendlier after the unfriendliness of the Holiday season. For Jesus, his ministry changed and he prepared for an ending that none of us would want.
Even our church is changing. The church with a lowercase C is facing new change that could be a scary thing. I don't care what some might say, but no one really likes change. Sure some embrace it when it comes and others shrink away, but like Jesus being changed on that mountain, we can grow stronger and become better for it. Change allows us to look forward to a future with the knowledge that we can make it as long as God is the one leading us through the flames.
Through the sermon I have mentioned change and transfiguration. I am going to add one more word here and that is transform. Like bumblebee did in the video at the start, we are facing a time of transformation as well. Transfiguration and transformation are in a way, two different things but also linked together.
Both words are verbs, they do something. Transform means to "make a thorough or dramatic change in the form, appearance, or character of." This is what bumblebee does when he changes from a robot into a car. He transforms in form and appearance. This is also what the Methodist mission statement means when it says making disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world. By following Christ we work to change the appearance and the character of the world to be like Jesus. But before we can do that we need to be transformed by Jesus in our hearts to be more and more like him. This means loving insanely, caring more deeply and giving all we have for the people who do not yet have Jesus. Maybe Jesus is calling you to do one or more of these things this Lent?
Transfiguration though means to transform into something more beautiful or elevated. You see how those two are different yet related. To quote a blog I read: "While transformation simply signifies a drastic change, a transfiguration gives it direction - towards greatness, grandeur, majesty."
I think our goal this Lenten season should be to look at ourselves and each other, and to find ways we can transform our lives and those around us to bring an ever increasing number of people to Jesus. We need to step out of our doors and face the world. We can't transform anything by staying inside ourselves. We need to change who we are and be the people who God wants us to be. And with a transformation of our hearts by bring them closer to Jesus, through prayer, reading the bible and loving supernaturally, we can begin to see ourselves become transfigured by Jesus as he acts in our hearts for his people. Let's not just be transformed this Lenten season, but also transfigured in Jesus Christ.
I want to take a moment to point something out about God. People so very often think of God as a bearded old man sitting in a puffy cloud filled heaven. But look at what Moses did when God spoke to him, look at what the disciples just did. They were overcome with fear and fell to the ground. If angles caused men to fear and tremble before them, and they are just the messengers, imagine how much more terrifying God must be. Revelation tells us "From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder." But we do not need to cower in fear, though I am sure we will, because Jesus has brought us, under his arm, into the family of the Creator.
But I digress, the story of the transfiguration is a turning point in Jesus' ministry and life. From here on out it was time to prepare everyone for the fulfillment to complete. For us it is the very start of Lent. Next week Lent begins and people all over the world will give something up.
Over the years I have heard people trying to put new spins on lent. I get it though, how many times can you hear the same story over and over without something new. Sometimes it's something like picking up something new for lent, like devoting the next month to praying. We give up things like chocolate, or meat or something like that. There is talk of changing ourselves over the next four weeks into a better person, or a better Christian. And I have a feeling that many of us fail in doing so. I know I do. I have failed so much I don't even bother to do anything for lent. But maybe I should. Maybe I should look at myself and make myself better over the next month. Spend a month surrounded by God and make myself a better Christian. Maybe you have an idea on what God wants you to work on for the next month.
I find it very fitting that we start off with the Transfiguration. Lent is a time of changing. For us in the northern Hemisphere, Winter is ending and we are heading into spring. The days are getting longer and people are getting friendlier after the unfriendliness of the Holiday season. For Jesus, his ministry changed and he prepared for an ending that none of us would want.
Even our church is changing. The church with a lowercase C is facing new change that could be a scary thing. I don't care what some might say, but no one really likes change. Sure some embrace it when it comes and others shrink away, but like Jesus being changed on that mountain, we can grow stronger and become better for it. Change allows us to look forward to a future with the knowledge that we can make it as long as God is the one leading us through the flames.
Through the sermon I have mentioned change and transfiguration. I am going to add one more word here and that is transform. Like bumblebee did in the video at the start, we are facing a time of transformation as well. Transfiguration and transformation are in a way, two different things but also linked together.
Both words are verbs, they do something. Transform means to "make a thorough or dramatic change in the form, appearance, or character of." This is what bumblebee does when he changes from a robot into a car. He transforms in form and appearance. This is also what the Methodist mission statement means when it says making disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world. By following Christ we work to change the appearance and the character of the world to be like Jesus. But before we can do that we need to be transformed by Jesus in our hearts to be more and more like him. This means loving insanely, caring more deeply and giving all we have for the people who do not yet have Jesus. Maybe Jesus is calling you to do one or more of these things this Lent?
Transfiguration though means to transform into something more beautiful or elevated. You see how those two are different yet related. To quote a blog I read: "While transformation simply signifies a drastic change, a transfiguration gives it direction - towards greatness, grandeur, majesty."
I think our goal this Lenten season should be to look at ourselves and each other, and to find ways we can transform our lives and those around us to bring an ever increasing number of people to Jesus. We need to step out of our doors and face the world. We can't transform anything by staying inside ourselves. We need to change who we are and be the people who God wants us to be. And with a transformation of our hearts by bring them closer to Jesus, through prayer, reading the bible and loving supernaturally, we can begin to see ourselves become transfigured by Jesus as he acts in our hearts for his people. Let's not just be transformed this Lenten season, but also transfigured in Jesus Christ.
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