Luke 9:28-36 - Jesus Is Transfigured - February 27, 2022

I’m pretty confident that everyone here – even our Sunday school children – would be able to explain the significance of important Christian days like Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter. Jesus was born. Jesus died. Jesus rose again. But what about this day: Transfiguration. What is this day all about? Sadly, many Christian churches don’t celebrate or even recognize the Transfiguration of our Lord anymore for reasons we will touch on briefly. But that doesn’t change the fact that Jesus was transfigured. Why? That’s the question. For our benefit now and eternally Luke’s Gospel will provide the answer.

As we have noted throughout the Epiphany season, all of Jesus’ miracles serve one main purpose: to prove that he is the Son of God, one with and equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit. And that’s not merely Lutheran tradition or opinion but the clear declaration of Scripture. John writes: Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, did many other miraculous signs that are not written 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 (John 20:30-31). All of the miracles Jesus did during his earthly ministry reveal him as the Son of God, and these miracles reach their climax in the Transfiguration, the one and only time Jesus fully revealed his glory on earth.

Unfortunately, it has become disturbingly common today to downplay, distort, dismiss and even deny these miracles. We are told that enlightened and educated 21st century people no longer believe in miracles, so if the Christian Church wants to maintain its influence and relevance it needs to stop insisting that Jesus actually turned water into wine (John 2:1-11), calmed a stormy sea with a word (Luke 8:22-25), fed over 5000 with a boy’s lunch (Luke 9:10-17), and instantly healed sick people with a touch or a word (Luke 6:17-19). We need to stop saying that these miracles actually happened because according to modern science, they couldn’t have. But if you buy in to that – and still insist on labelling yourself a Christian – then you’ve put yourself in something of a bind. If these miracles didn’t actually happen, then what do you do with them? You can’t pretend they’re not there – they’ve been attested to on the pages of Scripture for 2000 years. You can’t just cut them out – all you’d be left with is the sad story of a poor, illegitimate Jewish boy who spoke eloquently and seemed to have some potential but wound up ticking off the wrong people and getting himself killed. No good news there. Since false teachers can’t get rid of the miracles, what do they do with them? They do what the media today does – they pick an angle that matches their preferred narrative and repackage and repurpose the story to fit it. False teachers will often repackage Jesus’ miracles as parables which teach us how we can make this world a better place. Ironically, they end up doing exactly what Peter was trying to do when he tried to stake down three tents on that mountain: establish heaven on earth. This narrative is called the social gospel. Thus the feeding of the 5000 is repackaged as a call for the church to establish food pantries and feed the hungry. The healing of the sick is repurposed to validate faith-healings today. Jesus may not have actually calmed a storm on the Sea of Galilee, but he is saying that we should watch our carbon emissions and do everything in our power to stop climate change. This narrative supposedly makes the church relevant and Jesus’ miracles meaningful (and acceptable) to 21st century Americans. Did you notice what is left out of this narrative? Sin and grace; there’s lots of law but no gospel; heaven and hell.

While it is true that most of Jesus’ miracles did relieve the real pain and suffering of real people in real ways – this social gospel theory hits a roadblock when it reaches the miracle before us today: Jesus’ transfiguration. There’s no doubt that the transfiguration was a miraculous event: Jesus’ face was transformed; and his clothing became dazzling white, Moses and Elijah were there – alive and talking, God spoke from heaven. The transfiguration was a miracle. But this miracle didn’t solve any physical, financial or environmental problems. This miracle apparently did nothing more than scare Peter, James and John to death. So what did it accomplish? It confirmed to their eyes the Word proclaimed by the voice from heaven: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” It’s hard to twist this miracle into some sort of social gospel narrative – which is why it’s become acceptable in large segments of Christianity to classify “problem” miracles like this one, the six-day creation, the virgin birth, the resurrection, as myths. Things that never really happened, but were instead invented by the early church to boost Jesus’ reputation so that people would listen to his social and moral message.

Such people think that twisting the Word of God like this is brilliant and innovative, but it’s pretty clear that this was happening already in the days of the apostles. Peter wrote: to be sure, we were not following cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the powerful majesty of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when the voice came to him from within the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We heard this voice, which came out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain (2 Peter 1:16). Peter is unequivocal in stating that he, James and John saw these things with their own eyes and heard them with their own ears. Peter testifies that Jesus is the Son of God – and that his miracles – especially his transfiguration – prove it. And so, as we stand with those disciples and see Jesus’ transfiguration – we too should walk away with the firm conviction that this Jesus is indeed the Son of God. Because if we leave this mountain today with that conviction, then we will be well prepared for Lent.

Why is this so important? Because only when we believe who Jesus is, will we appreciate what he came to do. Luke introduced our text by saying about eight days after he said these words… What had Jesus said eight days earlier? The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law. He must be killed and be raise on the third day (Luke 9:22). And when Moses and Elijah appeared what they were talking with Jesus about? His departure (literally – his exodus), which he was going to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem. In any other circumstance, this conversation would be shocking and disturbing. If you or I were to casually mention that we were preparing for imminent death, it would sound like we were planning to commit suicide, it would be viewed as a cry for help. But in the company of Moses and Elijah it was only proper that Jesus would discuss his impending death. Everything God had inspired Moses and Elijah to preach and write pointed ahead to this man and this moment: the promised Messiah who would take away the sins of the world by paying for them with his death (John 5:39); which assures us that the ugly, unjust, brutal events of Jesus’ passion weren’t simply the result of tragic circumstances or the culmination of the plans of some evil men – but that God’s plan from eternity called for Jesus to willingly suffer and die for the sins of the world.

In that sense, this preparation was not so much for Jesus as much as it was for those three disciples and for us. Just like staring at a bright light burns an image onto your cornea, so Jesus wanted his glory to be etched on his disciples’ memories. He wanted this view of glory to strengthen their faith for the testing it would undergo when they would later see him fall on his face in the Garden of Gethsemane and agonize over the suffering that was to come (Luke 22:39-46); when they would deny and abandon him in his moment of greatest need (Luke 22:54-62); when they would see him arrested and hauled off like some violent criminal (Luke 22:47-53); when they would see him mocked and beaten (Luke 22:63-65), nailed to a cross and buried in a tomb (Luke 23:50-56). When Peter, James, and John finally put all the pieces together after the resurrection, he wanted them to recall this day on the mountain and understand that it had to be this way; that according to God’s plan Jesus had to be betrayed and convicted, whipped and beaten and crucified – because only his blood, the priceless blood of the Son of God, could atone for the sins of the world.

As we prepare to step out of the bright, revealing light of Epiphany onto the dark road of Jesus’ Passion in Lent; from witnessing the heights of Jesus’ glory to the depths of his humiliation, keeping this image of him in glory on the Mount of Transfiguration in our minds will also help us to understand and believe. To understand that this was God’s plan all along. Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, had to die – not because he was forced to by the treacherous actions of Judas or the murderous intentions of the civil and religious authorities – but because he wanted to die for us; and then, second, to firmly believe that because this man is the Son of God, his bleeding and dying is enough to wipe away all of our sins and give us the hope of eternal life.

But before we leave this mountain to follow Jesus through the literal shadow of death, we receive a preview of the glory of eternal life. This, in the end, is why we must never doubt, but firmly believe and confess that Jesus’ miracles – from the virgin birth to his resurrection and ascension – are true, historical events and not merely myths or parables that can be “repackaged” to fit a narrative that’s supposedly more acceptable in the 21st century. We must stand firm on this because there is no real hope to be found otherwise. People today have real needs, real weaknesses, real problems – and they really need help – that much the liberal, Bible-twisting, social gospel preaching churches have right. But their solutions are dead wrong. Real hope for the poor in this world can’t be found in churches who fill bellies but starve faith. Real hope for the sick in this world won’t be found in churches that seek to heal bodies but poison their souls. Real hope for the future doesn’t lie in curbing carbon emissions or controlling the climate. (Remember: Peter tried to stake down heaven on earth – and, according to all three Gospel accounts – Jesus didn’t even dignify his foolishness with a response.) The only real hope that anyone in this world can have is that this Jesus is God’s Son whose death on a cross satisfied God’s wrath and opened the door to eternal life.

That’s what Moses and Elijah do – they give us a preview of the glory to come. Do you realize how remarkable it was that Moses and Elijah were there? Moses had been dead for 1400 years (Deuteronomy 34:1-12), and the Lord had swept Elijah out of this world in a whirlwind around 700 years earlier (2 Kings 2) – and yet here they stand before the disciples’ eyes, talking with Jesus about his suffering and death. The lessons they teach can’t be overstated: 1) Heaven is real and all those who have died in faith are living with the Lord there in glory. 2) It teaches us to keep this life in its proper perspective: to remember that this life is preparation for the next; that our 70 or 80 years here – whether those years are filled with pain or pleasure – are only a drop in a bucket compared to the ocean of glory of the eternal life Jesus has in store for us. So on those hard days – those days of pain and sorrow, those days when you are walking through your own personal valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4) – remember this preview of glory on the Mount of Transfiguration; remember and believe that even though there will never be a heaven on earth – Jesus came to earth in order to bring us to heaven!

But you can only have that comfort, conviction and assurance – and that future – if you believe that the Transfiguration of Jesus was a real, historical event now. That’s why we can’t twist God’s Word to fit the social gospel narrative we’re told we need to be preaching in the 21st century – no matter how popular or relevant or acceptable it seems. Because the only real hope for every single person in this world is not the social gospel – it’s not in attempting to create heaven on earth. The only hope this world has is Jesus. Jesus, whose transfiguration on that mountain proves his deity, prepares us for his death, and gives us a preview of his (and our) future glory. May the Holy Spirit grant us the faith to believe that Jesus is our one and only hope now so that one day, when we are standing with him in his glory with Moses and Elijah; Peter, James and John we too will say: master, it is good for us to be here. Amen.