What do you do with the Transfiguration narrative?
Luke 9:28-36
Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
Luke 9:28 About eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter, John, and
James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while He was praying, the
appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and
gleaming. 30 And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses
and Elijah, 31 who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure, which
He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions
had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His
glory and the two men who were standing with Him. 33 And as these two men
were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; and
let’s make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—
not realizing what he was saying. 34 But while he was saying this, a cloud 1formed
and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
35 And then a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen
One; listen to Him!” 36 And when the voice 1had spoken, Jesus was found alone.
And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things
which they had seen.
The Transfiguration in the Gospel of Luke is located in chapter nine, verses 28 to
36. You can examine many different theological books on this passage and read
many different things. The transfiguration story is a mystery which is alluring. It
should awaken a curiosity in every listener. Unfortunately, it doesn’t because the true
meaning of the narrative is still confusing to most Christians even after 2000 years.
Most Christian theologians say the transfiguration is a narrative to tell us that Jesus
is divine. Look at what happened to him! Look at whom he was talking to. Is there
any question about Jesus’ divinity?
For us, yes Jesus was divine, but in the story the question still existed for Peter,
James and John. They witnessed the event and still, they did not grasp what was
happening. Was this the glory of God through Christ? Or was it something else.
Peter, James and John failed to see that with Moses and Elijah the conclusion is that
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. But most Christian theologians,
if they go down this path, they do not complete the journey. How do Moses and
Elijah relate to Jesus? Is this a “hand-off” of the responsibility, like in a football
game when the quarterback hands off the ball to a running back?
Taking the easy route, this story is a repeat of what happened at Jesus’ baptism. A
voice came out of Heaven to tell the spectators that Jesus is indeed the Son of God.
Then the question becomes, “what it means to be the ‘Son of God” is answered. So,
the hidden meaning of the story stays hidden.
What a difficult passage to put into practice. How is a congregation to approach this
narrative and do something with it? Faith is a verb, so what are we expected to do.
The Transfiguration narrative bears witness to the identity of Jesus Christ. We can
focus on the words spoken by God the Father from the cloud, in the same way God
the Father spoke to us from Heaven at Jesus’ baptism. We are called to obey the
words and actions of Jesus. This means that the church must be on the mission that
Jesus started.
But what happens when we do not like the mission? How many of the churches of
Jesus Christ are doing the same mission as Jesus did? Sadly, the number is shockingly
low. Our churches spend a great deal of time and energy internally fighting over the
silliest things: control of the kitchen, control of a Sunday Schoolroom, and other
petty things. Jesus and His apostles did not have to be concerned about worldly
matters because they were poor and had next to nothing. What would happen to
our churches today if we took away the buildings and endowment funds and became
churches like the first-century churches were.
If we didn’t have to worry about materialism and politics in the church, we could
focus directly on the mission of Christ. The attempt to change the perspective of
the church from self-indulgence to the mission of Christ comes with wounds which
sometimes are too deep to heal, especially for the Pastor. The modern church has
been idle for so long that it has forgotten about the mission. The concern is
materialistic at Administrative Board meetings and not about reaching out to people
who do not know Christ. We cannot blame the churches of today because our
predecessors set this belief in motion and trying to change it is like stopping a
boulder which has just started rolling off a mountain top.
The best that can be done is to slowly chip away at the church attitude in hopes that
there is something left when the congregation realizes that service to Christ is more
important than service to oneself.
There are some churches out there in the Kingdom that are trying as hard as they
can to be on mission for Jesus Christ. They are few and far between. When you find
one, stay with them and be there to help them continue the mission of Jesus Christ.
The church promotes apathy. Let me tell you how. I was baptized in a church that
had over 500 people in its membership rolls. However, the Sunday worship was
around 100 people. This says that when you join a church and proclaim Christ, it is
not necessary to devote time to the church which is devoting time to Christ.
Another problem is that the church created and hired professional missionaries. The
people of the church used to accomplish the outreaches and missions of the
churches to reach people for Christ. I am not saying the church has completely
turned over that responsibility. I am saying that the church has given a huge amount
of its responsibility to non-church Christian organizations. Let me give you an
example. In the 1950s in a small town there were three churches, a Methodist, a
Lutheran, and a Presbyterian. The three worked together to have a food pantry. The
people of the church stocked it and manned it. Then one day the people decided
that they did not want to work it anymore. Why? The reason was because the people
did not want to associate with the poor people of their community. So, to solve this
problem, they created a professional food bank. The three churches gave money to
the professional organization they created. The people of the three churches
purchased their outreach. This allowed help to the poor to occur, and it prevented
the rich church folks from interacting with them.
Today we have dozens and dozens of such organizations in our communities. The
church folks need to return to a time when they interacted with the people they were
helping. By doing this, the people being introduced to Christ through the generosity
of the church folks can occur. Professional organizations tend not to tell the people
they are assisting where the money came from. If the church ran the food bank in
that small town, I told you about, then evangelism could happen. One last note
about that food bank is that the professional food bank, which the three churches
established and fund, does not tell the people that their help comes from the three
churches of the town. It is sad.
So, how can you help people in your community and show them how Christ is
working in their lives? Also, we need to encourage our church members to return to
church. Our church sanctuaries must become full again so that when the newly
baptized adults join the church they will see excitement and the love for Christ and
not apathy. You can make a difference by helping your church to create hands-on
mission work in your community. Go out and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
just like His disciples did! You can make a difference.
