Scripture Reading: Matthew 17:1-9And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”
Listen to Him: A Sermon for Transfiguration Sunday
By James Huenink
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God, our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Season of Epiphany
Today is the culmination of the season of Epiphany. It begins with Jesus's baptism. We get to see miracles and teaching and healing and the power and amazing might of Jesus through this season — though it's shortened this year because Easter is kind of early.
What Ancient Literature Can Teach Us
One of the things that Christians often miss in ancient literature is the importance of dialog.
For us, when we tell a story — maybe we read a novel, we see a movie, or something happens on TV — most of the time we really pay attention to the action of the story. Writers show, don't tell.
In the ancient world, it was the opposite. The most important feature of literature was always the spoken dialog. These are always the central point of whatever passage you're reading, and it interprets the events that are going on — whereas we think about the plot, the actions, the things that people are doing.
This is why, when you read ancient literature, the speeches go on forever. Have you read the Iliad or the Odyssey? It seems like they talk forever. It's like, come on, let's get to the battle here. But no — speeches.
So when we read ancient literature like the Gospels, we have to remember it's not the plot that matters, but the words.
Two Bookends — One Message
As you go through the season of Epiphany, you can see how the actions might distract us from what is being said.
In the baptism of Jesus, when he goes into the Jordan River, amazing things happen. Heaven opens. The Holy Spirit comes down like a dove, and we might see — wow, this is amazing. But don't forget the main point. The voice from heaven says, "This is my Son, whom I love. With him I am well pleased."
The other side of the season of Epiphany is capped with another moment where we might miss the point if we just pay attention to the plot. But if you listen to the words, you finally understand what all the rest is about. The voice from heaven says, "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him."
That's the center of the story. Even with the face shining white, and Moses and Elijah — the voice tells us what we should draw from this amazing moment. Listen to Jesus.
Jesus Is at the Center of Scripture
It's important for us Christians to take the right lesson as we encounter all the voices that speak to us in various ways. When we listen to Jesus, we need to remember just a few things.
This mountaintop experience helps us to see that when we read the scriptures, Jesus is at the center. To listen to him.
This is one of the reasons why Moses appears on the top of the mountain — just like he went up on the top of the mountain in our Old Testament reading. He comes there after six days, they go to the top of the mountain, and Moses appears speaking to Jesus. So we know that Jesus is the fulfillment of everything that Moses had done. All the covenants, all the law, all the promises — everything in the Old Testament is now coming to the perfect culmination in Jesus, who's going to descend from this mountain and go to the cross and die for you.
Everything that comes from Moses, which is the whole Old Testament, is now pointed towards Jesus — His life, His death, and His resurrection.
What the Disciples Missed
This is exactly what the disciples missed leading up to this story, and it's why God has to say, listen to him.
Because right before this, Jesus comes to the disciples and tells them exactly what's going to happen. He tells them that he is going to die, he is going to be betrayed. And Peter says, "No, Jesus, you don't know what you're talking about."Immediately after he confesses that Jesus is the Christ — "Jesus, you don't know what you're talking about. This will never happen to you."
And Jesus says to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan."
It's so easy to twist the scriptures around something that isn't pointed to Jesus — His life, His death and His resurrection. To turn the Bible into a book of wisdom, or maybe a formula for making God happy, or if you're really excited, turning the Bible into a way to turn God into a vending machine to give you whatever you want.
That's not what it's there for. Everything is about Jesus and his journey to the cross, His death and resurrection — and your journey to follow him on that path, to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him, and receive the resurrection power when he returns, to have eternal life with that same savior.
When We Want to Speak Instead of Listen
We also should listen when we want to speak. So often, when we're hearing and living in life, we want to speak from our own thoughts and our own heart instead of listening to Jesus.
This is exactly what happens on the mountain. Jesus is transfigured, and then Moses and Elijah appear next to him, and Jesus and Moses and Elijah are having a conversation. Now, everybody asks — how did they know it was Moses and Elijah? We don't know. They just knew. Maybe everybody carried a photo of Moses in their wallet, something like that.
But what's amazing is, in the middle of this conversation between Jesus, the Son of God, the great Moses and Elijah — Peter interrupts. Like you would, when Moses and Elijah and Jesus are talking. How crazy is that?
And that's when the cloud comes and the voice says, listen to him. Don't interrupt. Don't overthink it. Don't try to parse it too much and turn it into something else. Listen to him.
Going Back to the Text
As Christians, when we go to Christ in His Word, that's what we're called to do.
One of my favorite professors — which I sadly never got a class from — is Dr. Jeff Gibbs. He had a device that he liked to use to help new preachers learn how to preach the Word of God. It was this awesome thing — a flat board, and you would stick your Greek New Testament right in the middle, and you'd hold on to this thing, and there was a strap. And you look at your New Testament, and the moment you go like this — he would pull on the strap, and your face would go right back. Because when you're a new preacher, that's the most dangerous moment. When you go, "Huh, I wonder what I think." He said, no, no, no — just go back to the text. What does the text say? What does Christ say?
So often, even when we're reading and studying, what we do is we let our hearts speak instead of hearing the words of Christ. And so often that just turns us away from the power of His grace that He wants to give us — turns us away from the center of the scriptures, Jesus Himself and His life and His death and His resurrection. Because that's what it's all about — a God who came and died on a cross for you. A God who gives you eternal life, who wants to deliver that to you and support you and lead you through your whole life until we can be with him again on the last day.
The Competing Voices of the World
It's important to listen to Christ when the voices of the world speak too. There's a lot of competing voices out there.
One of the great threads of Western history is the idea that religion can be brought together and summarized in a couple of single, simple sentences. This comes out of that Enlightenment idea that all the religions of the world basically say one thing — love each other. You've probably heard this before. People are out there saying all these religions, they're all fighting about all this doctrine, when really every single one — it doesn't matter who you are, a Buddhist or Islam or Christian or Shinto or whatever — it's all just love each other.
This isn't just an 1800s idea. We hear it today. I've listened to a number of debates, read a number of articles in the last year where people talk about religion as if it's just this one united thing. Can religion make America better or not? Can religion solve the loneliness crisis? And what they miss is that every religion is different. Buddhists believe what Buddhists believe. Islam believes what Islam believes. And Christianity is different too.
Religion isn't just a tool to use to make society better. And we Christians sometimes buy into that. We sometimes hear that really, what Christianity is about is something that is supposed to give you results — make you feel better, make your business stronger, make your relationships better, give you better health, whatever that is. And sometimes it does. But if we listen to Christ, if we see him at the center of the scriptures, we'll know that that's not really what it's about.
What It's Really About
It's about what happens when Jesus descends from the mountain and goes down that hill and makes his way all the way to Jerusalem — where he will suffer, die for you, rise for you, and then ascend into heaven with the promise that He will return and give you eternal life.
If you listen to Jesus, you will know that our Christianity is not about love and love alone. You will know that it's about our Savior. It's about His death and resurrection for you. It's about your eternal life.
The voice from heaven says, listen to him.
And today, as we see Jesus glowing with Moses and Elijah, let's follow his instructions. Let's hear those words and listen.
In Jesus's name, Amen.
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