What Do You Do With The Transfiguration Narrative?

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