February 26, 2006 Mark 9:2-9
After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
Some interesting things have happened on top of mountains in the Bible. Moses and the 70 elders of Israel ate and drank in the sight of God at the foot of Mt. Sinai. On a mountain in Moriah the Lord told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. On Mt. Carmel Elijah had his famous showdown with the prophets of Baal. God has had awesome things happen on top of mountains. Heaven itself is sometimes referred to as Mt. Zion. Therefore, it shouldn’t surprise us when Jesus decided to reveal Himself to Peter, James and John on top of a mountain. As we journey up this mountain with these three disciples, through the eyes of faith we’ll see how -
God Lets His True Light Shine in the Transfiguration
I. In a transfiguration
Mark starts today’s text by writing, “Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them.” Peter, James and John are sometimes referred to as the “inner three” of Jesus’ disciples - as they were also especially chosen to witness the raising of Jairus’ daughter in Luke 8. Again, here Jesus especially chose these three to go up what is now known as the Mount of Transfiguration. We all know stories of Peter - the outspoken one - especially in the Garden - and perhaps Jesus chose him here - knowing what would happen later on in his three denials. James and John - otherwise known as the “sons of thunder” - were caught sending their mom to ask Jesus who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. All three men seem to have been rather bold disciples. If nothing else, this would be a humbling experience.
You would have to think that these three knew something special was up as Jesus took them up on top of a mountain. The funny thing too is that according to Luke 9 they were nearly asleep as Jesus was praying. Maybe the trip from the mountain wore them out, or perhaps they got tired from praying with Jesus. Either way - they didn’t seem to be expecting any heavenly experience of the sort. Yet in the midst of this seemingly mundane task they were given a truly godly experience they would never forget. Mark says that Jesus was “transfigured” before them. The literal Greek word is “metamorph” which means to “change into another form.” The immediate picture that comes to my mind is the picture of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. The same being morphs into a completely different being - yet it is the same creature in it’s essence. Mark’s explanation of Jesus’ metamorphosis isn’t quite as dramatic as having a different body. He writes, “His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.” Luke mentions that the appearance of his face also “changed.” It also became bright.
What was the meaning of this? Why did Jesus appear as a bright light? Jesus was in fact revealing His inner self - what He really consisted of - light! John wrote,
John 1:9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Whiteness and light is what God uses to show His glory and holiness. Up to this point in His ministry Jesus had hidden His glory behind miracles and words - showing glimpses of magnificence. With this transfiguration Jesus was taking off His mask, and letting His true glory shine at it’s very core. In John 1:14 John wrote, “We have seen his glory.” They had no doubt as to WHO Jesus was. He was not just a pretender to the throne - He was in His core the real deal. The transfiguration proved it.
Notice how God gave the godly experience here. Instead of pointing the disciples inside of themselves - He pointed them to Christ and said to them, “look at Christ.” Godly experiences are not found in feelings or looking for transfigurations within - by trying to manufacture God through up-beat music or hyped up emotions - but by looking at the transfiguration outside of yourself - at Christ. When you are constantly told to look at yourself for the transfiguration, you might notice a better control of your tongue or a greater willingness to learn. You might have moments where you really might feel “saved.” Yet even as a converted Christian you will still only be disappointed at the dull luster of your words and actions in comparison with what God would like to see. Like the disciples, as you climb up the mountain to go and pray or try to experience something with Christ, you end up tired from the journey - sleeping through the sermon - daydreaming through the Bible class - not speaking up or saying the right thing - not being as life and light-like as you should. But when we glare at Christ - and He takes off His mask to show us the inner core of who He is - it fills us with wonder and awe as we see His glory and majesty shine through. He is the real deal. There is not disappointment in His light. Here is true glory and holiness. He testifies for Himself. He is the Christ.
II. In a heavenly conversation
That one vision of Christ in His glory - wouldn’t that have been enough? Yet God wasn’t done letting the light of Christ shine. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Just think about the message that God was sending just by having Elijah and Moses standing there with Jesus. The fact that these two Old Testament heroes of the faith were STANDING there and TALKING - what is the message? There is LIFE after DEATH! These heroes of the faith really did exist - and they still exist yet today! Moses - who saw God on top of Mt. Sinai - is now on top of the Mount of Transfiguration. Elijah, who conquered the prophets of Baal and Asherah on top of Mt. Carmel - was also here. They didn’t look all wrinkled and shriveled. They were in their full glory. God’s promise of eternal life and a resurrection were true!
What were they talking about? Mark writes, “They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.” Here these men - in their glory - knew exactly what Jesus was about to do - to depart from Jerusalem. This is of course a reference to Jesus’ death and resurrection - and Moses and Elijah were talking to Jesus about it. How did Peter respond? Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) While Jesus and Moses and Elijah were talking about His future DEATH, all Peter could talk about was putting up a temporary shelter to live in. His fear made him sound foolish. When God showed them His true light, they really weren’t able to comprehend the majesty of the moment. Instead of using his ears and listening to what they were talking about, Peter was caught up with his eyes in the beauty of the moment. He wanted it to last forever - instead of looking forward to the cross.
Isn’t this why God keeps the mask over his glory at the present time? Isn’t that why He presents Himself to us hidden under bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper - or the water of baptism - or the simplicity of the Word? If he really let His glory shine to our eyes through these Means of Grace, we would become so enamored with the water or the bread and the wine that we would only want to stare at it and worship it. We would want the moment to last forever. We would forget about the fact that Jesus came to die - and in the midst of that DARK CROSS is where God’s LIGHT SHINES the brightest! We would also forget about the mission of the cross ahead of us - the mission of suffering - where God tells us to go and make disciples of all nations. This mission brings ridicule. This mission brings disgrace. Instead of glory, this mission brings death on this earth. Yet this is where God tells us to find His light. When push comes to shove - God has to keep that mask on. If he didn’t, we would only concentrate on the glory of God and demand more of it. Very quickly we would shove the cross in the corner, forget about the death of Christ - and only want God to establish a kingdom of heaven here on earth. Listen to the testimony of the prophets. That’s not the way it works. Jesus - and Moses and Elijah - as glorious as they were at the moment - were only there for a moment - to encourage Jesus on to a far less glorious moment - and yet the brightest moment in the world - the death for the sins of the world on a different mountain - Calvary.
III. In the envelope
All of this was actually bearable - maybe not comprehendible - but bearable for the disciples. The third stage of this transfiguration just proved to be too much. Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. Mark makes it sound like everything just vanished before their very eyes. Yet other texts tell us that the disciples were actually cowering in fear on the ground at the surrounding of this cloud.
Why was that? Do you remember how God used to show Himself in the Old Testament - it was a pillar of cloud by day. When He decided to make His glory known at the tabernacle - again He would enter it with His presence - so that even Moses couldn’t go in. At the top of Mt. Sinai - the clouds and thunder surrounded it - and God’s message was STAY AWAY. I am HOLY - you are NOT! So when the disciples saw this cloud - God’s presence and glory was descending down upon them. In their sinfulness - it was overbearing - they couldn’t stand to look at it because it was just too glorious for them. So they went on their knees.
When God confronts us with His glory - we have no choice. We are sinful people and He is holy. A part of us thinks - “I wish God would show me some miracles - show me some glory - stop hiding behind the Word and sacraments - stop masking Himself behind creation and nature.” But then, we have to ask ourselves, “is that what we really want?” If God were to do that, we could never get off of the ground. All we could do is cower in fear because of our sin. So God, seeing the disciples cowering in fear - reverted back to His old faithful - the same way that He has chosen to work since day ONE - He SPOKE to the disciples saying, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” God the Father completed the testimony by telling the disciples that this really was His Son whom He loved. He pointed them to HIS WORDS and HIS SON for a true vision of light and salvation.
Isn’t that the most important message for them to hear at this point? They were about to go and see Jesus - their Lord and their God - their Savior - DIE. A natural question that would run through their minds is, “why is God allowing this? If Jesus is THE ONE, why is He dying? What did He do?” The testimony of the Father is clear - He did NOTHING wrong. I LOVE Him. Therefore, they would have to come to the conclusion that Jesus was dying for what HE SAID He was dying for - the sins of the world. They could listen to Jesus’ testimony and know it was true.
Isn’t it kind of ironic that in the midst of these miracles and wonders and visions, God still ends up connecting to His people in the same way He always has - through the Word. There are many people who might which that they were on top of that mountain - witnessing that glory of Christ in the transfiguration. Yet don’t we have the same Word that God spoke to these disciples? Isn’t that same Word what works faith? This is what we can handle. This is what soothes us. It doesn’t scare us to hear God say this of His Son. It makes us look up and smile. It assures us - through the testimony of the Son, the Old Testament witnesses, and the Father Himself - Jesus is the real deal.
You know what I really love about this text - is the commission of it. This is what I would jokingly call the “lazy man’s commission” or the “Mary commission.” At least my flesh really likes it. Why is that? What did Jesus tell the disciples after all was said and done - and what did the Father say? Listen to him!” Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. Instead of telling them to go and tell all nations, they could just soak in this moment and not tell anyone. They had time just to dwell on what Jesus was saying, and talk with each other about what “rising from the dead” meant.”
The reason I love this part of the text - all joking aside - is because there is a time that it’s ok just to soak everything in. We in America are always so worried about doing, doing and doing. What do I need to DO as a Christian? How can I be EFFECTIVE? Sometimes, God just wants us to be still and to listen - to soak things in. The Mount of Transfiguration was one of those times. The disciples were about to go through a whole bunch or problems - seeing Christ get crucified and dying. They needed this high point to get them through -this alone time with Christ to grow in faith. They needed to just be assured that Jesus was the true light of the world. So here they were, hanging out with Jesus - and getting an awesome vision of Christ, Moses and Elijah to boot. There would be time to go and tell others - after Jesus rose from the dead. But for now, God just said to listen. That’s what God wants us to do today. Just look up at the Mount and enjoy the scenery - because things are going to get really ugly really fast - starting this Wednesday.
I’ll never forget on my honeymoon about ten years ago, my wife and I drove up the mountain like area in historic Yellowstone Park. The scenes were breathtaking and simply awesome. Yet looking back on the moment, I realize how much we also missed. Whereas other people were going slowly and enjoying the scenery, I was in a hurry to get to the next spot. Then, while we were driving around some close edges, all my wife did was worry about whether I was going to go over. Instead of enjoying the scenery, she was scared to death.
As we drive around up here on the Mount of Transfiguration today - enjoy the scenery. It’s awesome to see Jesus for who He is. True God! The light of the world! It’s great to hear Him and Moses and Elijah talk about what he came to do - die for the sins of the world. It’s even awesome to hear the Father say that He really does love Jesus. We can’t stay up here forever - but we can enjoy the scenery for a moment - before we go up to another mountain - Golgotha - and watch Jesus put on the dirtiest uniform He could - our sins. Amen.
