Supper is still about an hour and a half away. Lunch seems like an eternity ago. Your stomach is calling, “Feed me!” What do you do? If you’re like me, you grab a snack. Something that will help hold you over until the next of the three major meals of the day. Maybe it’s a cookie or some chips, maybe some fruits or vegetables. It’s not a full meal. It’s what we might call, “hold-me-over snack”, just enough hold you over to the next meal.
On a mountain top in Israel Jesus gave three of his disciples what we might call a spiritual “snack.” It was something that would help hold them over until that glorious Sunday morning when Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus knew that they were going to need this because what they were about to see Jesus go through would appear rather inglorious at times. What Jesus showed them on that mountain would feed their souls and strengthen their faith in who Jesus was and the truly glorious things that Jesus had come to do for them and for us all people.
The account that you heard of in our gospel lesson from Luke 9 takes us towards the end Jesus’ ministry and Jesus life. Jesus had spent the previous three years travelling throughout Israel, preaching and teaching the people, and performing miracles. The events of Luke 9 take place about a week after Jesus had asked his disciples who they believe that the he was. It was Peter who spoke up on behalf of the disciples and said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). What a beautiful confession of Christian faith Peter made! But then Jesus dropped this bombshell on his disciples about himself, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Luke 9:22). That was the last thing that Jesus’ disciples wanted to hear! Again, it was the disciple Peter who pulled Jesus to the side and reprimanded him for making such comments, almost trying to talk Jesus out of it.
A week had passed since that incident and Jesus now took three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John, away from the crowds of people to the top of a nearby mountain to pray. By the time the four men reached the top of the mountain it was likely evening. They all went to the Lord in prayer, and before they knew it, the disciples had fallen asleep.
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night, and been a little confused? For whatever reason it takes you a little while to figure out where you are. Now imagine those disciples waking up to see what they saw on the top of that mountain! There must have been a little bit of confusion at first. They immediately recognized Jesus, but “The appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning” (Luke 9:29). Jesus had partially pulled back the vail of his human nature to reveal his divine glory. But that’s not all. There are two men talking with Jesus who had not walked up the mountain with them. Jesus paused in his conversation with the two men and introduced them to the three disciples. First you have Moses, the man we heard of in our first lesson. He is one of the greatest leaders of God’s Old Testament people – the leader of the Exodus – who brought God’s people out of the slavery of Egypt and eventually to the Promised Land. He was the one who received God’s written law on Mount Sanai and regularly spoke with the Lord in what was called the Tent of Meeting. And when Moses returned from those conversations with the Lord, his face glowed from being in the presence of God. The second person is Elijah, what many consider the greatest of the prophets of the Old Testament. Elijah was one of the many men who God sent as his spokesmen, calling God’s people to repent of their sin, and pointing them to the forgiveness of sin that God would bring through the promised Messiah. Both of these men had been dead for nearly a thousand years, but there they stood, alive speaking with Jesus.
What could be so important that heaven and earth would meet on this mountaintop for a few moments? Did you hear what these three men were talking about? Listen again, “They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). That word for “departure” is kind of an interesting one. Yes, they were talking about Jesus’ physical departure from this life, they were talking about his death. But it’s more than that. The word for “departure” is literally the word “exodus.” Remember what the exodus of the Old Testament was. It was one of the greatest events in Israelite history as God delivered his people from the slavery of Egypt. Jesus was going to Jerusalem to lead his own exodus on an infinitely greater scale. These three men were not only talking about that Jesus was going to face death, but they were talking about WHY Jesus was going to die, what his death would accomplish. They were talking about the glorious deliverance that Jesus was going to accomplish in Jerusalem by his death.
The exodus that Jesus was going to lead, would mean the world’s deliverance from the captivity of Satan. Jesus once said, “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). The fact is that we daily and repeatedly do, say and think things that God does not want us to do, say or think. And because of those sins, we deserve to spend eternity with master of sinners, the Devil. On our own there is no escape from this slavery. But that is exactly why Jesus was going to Jerusalem. Jesus would break the shackles of sin that once bound us to Satan for eternity. Jesus was going there to pay the price of our freedom, to redeem us. What was the cost of that freedom? Listen to what the Bible says, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:181,19). The price of our freedom required the perfect Son of God sacrificing his perfect life at the cross. The price of our freedom required the Son of God take upon himself the punishment of the world’s sins. That is a price that only Jesus, true God and true man in one person, COULD pay, that Jesus DID pay as he went to Jerusalem. Jesus would do this so that we could be his own, live today with the peace of sins fully forgiven, and live forever with him in heaven’s home.
Maybe on an occasion or two you’ve found yourself with your foot in your mouth. You said something without thinking, and now you wish you had just not said anything at all. Peter seems to have a chronic problem with sticking his foot in his mouth and saying things before thinking them through. On this specific occasion, Peter says, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah” (Luke 9:33). Peter didn’t want this glorious experience to end! To some degree you have to cut Peter some slack. I mean, what was he supposed to say? Maybe that was the point. He wasn’t supposed to say anything. He was just supposed to stop and listen. Did you notice what the God the Father said, as he graciously intervenes before Peter can say anything else. We’re told, “While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him” (Luke 9:34,35). Did you hear what God said?
Maybe you listen to this account and think, “I sure could use one of those glorious mountain top experiences.” You’re looking at what you’re experiencing in your life or anticipating going through – loss of a job or independence, difficulty in a relationship with a child, with a spouse, with coworkers – just the hard things of life. You think to yourself, “If Jesus would just show me a little bit of his glory it sure would help me through this because right now things just don’t seem so glorious.” Like Peter, maybe we need to be reminded that if we really want to see God’s glory we just need to stop and listen to Jesus. Watch the glorious thing that Jesus does every time through the waters of baptism as he delivers a child from sin and calls them one of his dearly loved, blood bought children. Listen to the person sitting next to you confess their faith in Christ Jesus, and marvel at the glorious thing God the Holy Spirit has done, having brought someone, who just like you, was once a enslaved by sin, to the freedom that we now share as God’s forgiven people. Consider the glorious miracle you are witnessing in the Lord’s Supper as Jesus gives to you the body and blood that he sacrificed at the cross for the forgiveness of all your sins. Marvel at the glorious departure that Jesus gives to a fellow Christian as he carries them through death and delivers them into the eternal glory of heaven.
In some ways, what you and I have seen is even more glorious than what any of those men on that mountain got to see in their lives. Just think, Moses and Elijah never saw Jesus while they were alive. Peter, James and John, stood on that mountain, having not see the crucifixion or resurrection of Jesus. Dear friends, think of what you have seen! You have seen the entire glorious story of salvation unfold before your very eyes – the birth of Christ, the life of Christ, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ and the ascension of Christ to heaven. You have seen it all – all of it so that Jesus could share his glory with you for eternity. Dear friends, that’s not just some spiritual snack to get you through – that is the spiritual meal that Jesus has prepared for you – the glorious feast of the gospel which fills our souls and strengthens our faith. Dear friends, eat up! Amen.
