The Transfiguration of Our Lord

The recording of the sermon did not work today, and as you know, I don’t preach from a manuscript. Here’s my recollection of what I said.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Dearly beloved in the Lord,

The prophet wrote, The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it. And here, in the Transfiguration of our Lord, the glory of the Lord was revealed, but only Peter, James, and John saw it; and it was only a glimpse. But what a glimpse it was: is face shown like the sun and his garments were white as the light. A magnificent vision, a spectacular scene, that surely left them breathless. And here they saw unmistakably that this Man is the eternal God himself. This is unborrowed light, greater even than when Moses’ skin shown. For the glowing of Moses was from the Lord, but the shining of Christ was from himself; it was his own light. In him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily, and here we see it in no uncertain terms.

Who wouldn’t want to stay there, as they did: Lord, let us make three tabernacles here. This is the kind of scene we love, and to see Jesus receiving little children, and healing the sick, and raising the dead; attending weddings, speaking kindly to the lowly. We love the angels in Bethlehem, and the star, and the scene at Jesus’ Baptism, and here: his glorious transfiguration. We love this, but we can’t stay. We must go back down from the mountain into the depths. There is no other way. Jesus must go down into this valley, for this is the darkness of a fallen world that needs a Redeemer. He must go to the cross: there is no other way for him than the way of his agony.

And it is not only Jesus who went into agony: his disciples were with him. These three were also the same three that would be with him in Gethsemane and whom sorrow would descend upon causing sleep. And they would all flee; and they would have to see their Lord’s crucifixion. And their world would be turned upside down. Sometimes the worst kind of pain is not physical. But it must be.

Wishing it away does not make it go away. You cannot pretend that the transfiguration is his final destination, though there are many who live with this supposition. There are even churches built in such a way: with empty crosses and white-washed walls, and no images. They don’t want to face these things. But we must. Through much tribulation we enter the kingdom of heaven.
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Yet the tribulation, the cross, is not the end of the story. As you know, he rose from the dead, and there was abiding joy. And so the transfiguration was a preview of that for these three disciples who would have to witness Gethsemane as well. And for us there is something we can carry into the valley as well; for we receive the Christ who was transfigured here, by mouth, in the Supper. We ingest the flesh of the eternal God, and he binds us to himself. So we go forth with confidence, knowing that he goes with us, and will bring us safely to the other side.

‘Tis good, Lord, to be here.
Yet we may not remain.
But since Thou bid’st us leave the mount,
Come with us to the plain.
 
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.