Sunday next Before Lent (6 March 2011)

Theme: The Significance of the Transfiguration of Jesus

Texts: 2 Peter 1: 16-end; Matthew 17: 1-9

Our lesson for today tells us about one of the greatest experiences ever recorded in the Bible - the transfiguration of Jesus Christ!   It came about when Jesus was preparing himself to face the cross.  Jesus knew that he would die.  Jesus also knew that it would not be just death, but a painful death on the cross.  He knew how the Roman soldiers treated their prisoners as they were condemned to die. Those thoughts must be really agonising.  We know that Jesus tried to share his predicament with the disciples. But when he mentioned it to them (e.g. Mark 8: 28-32), Peter rebuked him for saying such a thing. They could not understand.  So the only thing to do was to seek comfort from his Father.  Could that be the reason why Jesus decided to go up the mountain? Or is there other reason?

So on this particular day he took his three disciples with him up the mountain.  Matthew said it was a high mountain. Some people suggest that it could be Mount Hermon, but quite unlikely – because at more than 9000 feet high, it would be too cold at top.  Some say it was Mount Tabor, but there was a large Roman garrison at the top.  It would not be a good place to meet God. Another interesting suggestion was Mount Meron, which at 3,900 feet is the tallest mountain in Israel.

As I said earlier, Jesus could have decided to go up the high mountain with the 3 disciples in order to seek peace and comfort as he faced the cross.  But it could be more than that.  If you study Matthew 16, you read that people had been asking the question: Who is Jesus?   In Matthew 16: 13, Jesus asked his disciples: “13Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  The disciples replied, "Some say John the Baptist; some say Elijah; and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets."   But it wasn’t just the crowds who were talking about Jesus. His own disciples were asking the same question. So he asked them: "Who do you say I am?"  It was Simon Peter who answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God."  The question “Who is this Jesus” was on everyone’s lips. Matthew 16 tells us about the human responses. Now in Chapter 17 we see a divine response.  So Jesus took the 3 disciples so that God the Father can give them the answer to the question of Jesus’ identity.

There may be another reason – to fulfil his promise to the disciples in Matthew 16:28.  He said, “Some of you standing here now will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”  Jesus was, of course talking about his second coming in glory and might.  But as far as seeing the Son of man in glory, that verse was fulfilled when Jesus transfigured at the top of the high mountain.

The transformation was such a sight. One minute, Jesus looked like any other Jew. The next minute, His face was shining like the sun and His clothes were as white as the light! This is what Jesus is going to look like when he comes again and that is what he looks like when He is in heaven. In Revelation 1:16, when John sees the heavenly Christ walking among the seven golden lamp-stands, he says that Jesus’ face was “like the sun in all its brilliance.”

Then Moses and Elijah appeared before them and talked with Jesus. Matthew does not tell us what the two men said to Jesus, but Luke 9: 31 tells us that they were speaking to Jesus about his “departure, which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.”  I am sure that you have been told about the significance of the two men. Moses was the one who brought the Israelites out of Egypt and wrote down the Old Testament laws. Elijah is the first and greatest of all the Old Testament prophets.

Peter, confronted with the extraordinary sight, did not quite know what to say and do. In the process he made two subtle mistakes.  First, he did not want the experience to end.  Peter wanted to prolong the mountaintop experience and enjoy that glorious fellowship as long as possible.  We do not want to criticize Peter too much because I think he was overexcited more than anything else. But think about the implications of what he was saying! There was an element of selfishness in it. He was saying “Forget about the nine other apostles down for a while.  Let them have their hands full trying to drive out demons and healing the sick. Forget about our mission for a while. Let us just stay up here and just keep Jesus to ourselves for a while!”

Could we be feeling the same way when we are in Church?  Are we content with our worship and fellowship, that we need not care what is happening to the world outside?  Are we content to have our little mountaintop experience with Jesus right here?

There is nothing wrong with having a mountain top experience with Jesus Christ. In fact we need it once in a while. But we cannot keep the mountain top experience to ourselves! We have a responsibility to share our mountain high Jesus experience with the people down below and the people outside.

Personally-speaking my three-year stay at St. Margaret’s Church has been a mountaintop experience in my ministry.  It is a blessing to be given this break to look after a small congregation.  But I am not supposed to enjoy this for long…time may come when I have to go down to the valley, where tough works are waiting to get done.

Peter also made another mistake. He calls Jesus “Lord,” but then he ends up creating his own little trinity.  He said, “If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”  You see: the whole point of the transfiguration is to shine the spotlight on Jesus Christ! It is to show that Christ alone is the central authority figure in our lives! Christ alone is the Lord. But Peter did not know what he was saying, and he ended up blurring the distinctiveness of Christ and putting him on an equal level with Moses and Elijah.

How many of us have ever put other things or people in our lives on an equal level as Jesus? We call Jesus “Lord”, but how many of us are more excited about other things than we are about our relationship with Jesus?

Peter’s comment about putting up tents makes it clear that he doesn’t understand the significance of Jesus’ transfiguration. So God has to act quickly. Verse 5 says that while Peter was still speaking, “a bright cloud enveloped them” and a voice from the cloud proclaimed “This is my Son, whom I love, with whom I am well-pleased.”  Then God added three very important words: “Listen to Him!”  The disciples were in fear. And when the bright cloud cleared Elijah and Moses were seen no more. Only Jesus was left standing with them.

There are three very important lessons that we can learn from the transfiguration of Jesus Christ. First, it teaches us that when we are in the midst of some personal crisis, it is wise to come away to be with the Lord. There are people who blame God for their problems and stay away from God’s Church.  There are people we don’t agree with in church and there may be things we don’t like happening in church.  But it is a mistake to stay away from Church.  What we should do instead, is to come closer to God and spend time more time with him – not less time. In time God will reveal to us greater things which our human eyes fail to see.  And God may even use us as agent of change in that imperfect church. 

Second, Jesus had spent numerous times up on the mountain or a lonely place alone; but not this time. When Jesus went up the high mountain he took Peter, James and John with him to experience something.  And that encounter would be something that they would never forget. Long after Jesus had risen from the dead, this scene was still burned in their minds. In 1 John 1: 5, John wrote, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” And Peter, in our Epistle reading this morning, declares, “…we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain” (2 Peter 1:16-18).

What does that tell us? It tells us that there are times when Jesus invites us into his presence so that he can share his glory with us.  I believe that Jesus wants us to talk with Him and worship Him and focus on Him! He wants us to see that he alone is the glorious Lord of heaven and earth! But why is that not happening or never happens to us?  Perhaps we never desire it.  Perhaps we don’t believe that we can ever see such things.  I think our problem is that we have been so complacent with what we have been doing over the years. We simply don’t expect good and wonderful things to happen…so they never happen!

Third, it teaches us about the importance of listening.  Peter had been focusing on “good” things. Moses and Elijah were important men who represented the greatest revelation that God had ever given to man up that point. Moses and Elijah were important men, but they paled in comparison to Christ.  Moses’ face didn’t shine like the sun.  Elijah’s garments did not turn as white as snow. It was Jesus that shone with light and glory… not them.  That was why the voice from the bright cloud and a voice from the cloud proclaimed, “This is my Son, whom I love, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to Him!” 

The point is this: It’s easy to get distracted by “good things” in this life and neglect the best that God wants for our lives. As a Church we can fall into the trap of paying too much attention to the less important things. We can have our “hobby horse doctrine” and conduct activities and programs that consume almost all of our teaching, energy and money, while leaving Jesus out.  We can spend a lot of time preaching important topics, but failed to show people Jesus.  It has happen to preachers and churches; you know fully well it can also happen to us here.

You need to be aware that it is possible to go to church all of your life… and still not listen to Jesus.  It is possible to have perfect attendance; to be involved in various committees and activities in the congregation; or even preaching or sharing the Word; but to have Jesus missing out of our lives.   We can go through the routine of going to church: say and do all the proper things, but never seem to be listening to Jesus.