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Transfiguration - 2002
Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today is the Transfiguration of our Lord, with focus on Jesus’ words, "Arise, and do not be afraid."
This is perhaps the shortest Epiphany season on record. It seems like just yesterday that we celebrated the coming of the Wise-men to worship the infant Jesus, and now we have zoomed ahead to the Transfiguration of our Lord, where He sets His face to Jerusalem and death on the cross. So as we are on this fast journey with our Lord, what does He teach us in His transfiguration on the mountain with Peter, James, and John, and by the appearance of Moses and Elijah? There are several things our Lord would have us know and remember this day:
Jesus goes up on a high mountain with His inner circle, Peter, James and John. While on the mountain, He is transfigured. That is to say, He changed before them, so that they had a glimpse of His glory and majesty as the only-begotten Son of God. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. For an instant, the saw Him not as the carpenter from Nazareth, but as God Himself, full of might and power. Moses and Elijah, two of the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, appear with Jesus, and they talk about His exodus to Jerusalem and death on the cross.
Peter, of course, thinks that Jesus has now come into His own and is going to setup an earthly kingdom. He wants to make three tents for these three prophets to dwell in. Peter wants the answer now. But then the voice comes from God, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him! Peter and the others fall on the their faces in fear.
Why were they afraid? They were afraid because they had a revelation that they did not control God. They could not make and manipulate God into their own fashion and whim. God is the one who is all-powerful, not them. And they recognized in an instant that they were sinners who were standing in the very presence of God Himself. It was no joke. They were afraid because they realized that they could not stand in the presence of God on their own merits. All of their thoughts about God and dreams about how things would be fell to dust in the presence of the Holy One of Israel. It is like Peter’s response when he first met Jesus, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.
The amazing thing about this for us today is that we don’t fear God. We just don’t believe God’s Word when He says that he who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned (Mark 16:16). We work under this myth that somehow that doesn’t apply to us.
In our mixed up and sinful generation, we have come to believe in a God who does not condemn, who does not judge, and who does not cast people into hell for their unbelief and rebellion against His gift of life and salvation. Whether I go to church or not doesn’t matter. Whether I hear the Gospel or not doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I am nice, and that I don’t openly sin. As long as I keep my sinfulness and rebellion under wraps, then I know I’m going to heaven.
My dear friends, this is the lie of Satan. Christ our Lord calls on you and I to repent of our sin, and to fall down before the God who says be perfect. For you are not perfect anymore than I. You are weak and sinful and have made up things about God, who He is and how He works just as much as Peter and the others did so many years ago. Being in God’s presence apart from Christ is not a good thing. It’s a bad thing for us sinners, for apart from Christ’s person and work, I am nothing before God.
Peter and the others were right to be afraid, but Jesus will not leave them in despair and fear. Our text says, but Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid." When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. Jesus does not leave us to our own devices before God. He comes down from the mountain, touches you with His forgiving hand, and says, Arise and do not be afraid.
How can this be? How can I stand before God’s presence and not be afraid? I can stand before God without fear because Jesus says so. Hear Him, listen to Him says God the father. And Christ our Lord says to you, don’t be afraid. Like the angel Gabriel to Mary, Christ seeks to calm our fears and doubt by entering into our lives with His very body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.
God does not reveal Himself to us in the Law, for we cannot keep it. God reveals Himself to us in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. If you want to find God, go to Jesus in His Holy Word. For it is in the Word of God that Jesus comes to you to forgive your sins and make you holy and righteous in God’s presence.
This morning we receive our new members into the family of Messiah Lutheran Church. There are many things, from a human perspective, which drew these people to our midst: Marriage, proximity to home or family, knowing someone at church, and the like. But at the end of the day it is only Jesus working through His Word draws them to hear the Gospel, and it is only this forgiveness of sins for Jesus’ sake that will keep them and us coming back to this holy place.
So what do we learn from Chirst’s Transfiguration? We learn that Jesus is true God and the Son of the heavenly Father. We learn that He is perfect and righteous before God, He is the beloved Son. We learn that we cannot stand in God’s presence on our own because of our sinfulness. But most importantly, we learn that Jesus comes down from the mountain, touches us with His Word and Sacrament, and says to you, stand up and don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid, because this Righteous One of God is here for you. Jesus comes down from that holy mountain, but He will go up to the mountain called Calvary and die so that you might live in God’s presence forever.
Now that is a message worth keeping. That is a faith that will sustain you through good times and bad. This God, this Jesus in the flesh, is the one who will hold you in the palm of His hand all the days of your life. In His Holy Name. Amen.
This page was created on 01/15/2007 and last edited on: 01/15/2007