A sermon on Matthew 17:1-9 for the Transfiguration of Our Lord. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz.
Celebrating the transfiguration of our Lord at the end of the Epiphany season is a uniquely Lutheran thing—no one else is going to be doing this today. But it’s incredibly appropriate as we see the fullest, clearest manifestation of Jesus’ glory. Everything else this Epiphany season has been leading up to this. And then Jesus leads His disciples down the mountain and predicts His death. Next week, we begin our descent, our preparations to observe Jesus’ death and resurrection. So He invites His closest disciples for one last mountaintop experience—this account is literally where that phrase comes from—and He invites you to this mountaintop every week. Although we may shy away from this mountaintop, as the disciples did, we see that Jesus brings us here to strengthen and encourage us.
I. We Shirk Away
St. Matthew tells us that this happened “after six days.” Six days earlier, Jesus had predicted His death and had to rebuke Peter for trying to stop Him. So now He encourages them one last time before reminding them again of what must come. And while this mountaintop experience must have been phenomenal, the disciples have some real difficulties with it.
Luke tells us that Jesus took His disciples “up on the mountain to pray … But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep” (9:28, 32). The disciples are half asleep, barely holding on, and then they see this wonderful thing.
The problems don’t stop there, though. They see Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus in all of His glory and instead of soaking it in and basking in awe, Peter feels the need to interject himself into this situation. Some are left speechless, Peter usually has something to say, although most of the time it’s kinda what the rest of the disciples are thinking quietly to themselves. His proposal is ridiculous, Mark says “he did not know what to say,” but he still interrupts this divine manifestation.
Peter gets cut off by a bright cloud and the booming voice of God. If they weren’t afraid before, now they’re really afraid. They fell on their faces. This mountaintop experience was horrifying.
We too are followers of Jesus, His disciples. And every week, He invites you to the mountaintop. After six days in the world, He invites you here on the seventh.
This is a quiet hour of prayer, set apart from the rest of your week. And how often are we tired? How often does this quiet hour lull us to sleep? We become disengaged, bored, mind wandering anywhere but here, in grave danger of missing out on the manifestation of His glory.
Jesus invites you here to listen to Moses and Elijah, to Peter, James, and John, and to Himself. He speaks to you through the Law and the Prophets, through the Apostles and their Epistles, through His words and deeds in the Holy Gospel. And how often instead of paying close attention and absorbing everything do we feel the need to insert ourselves? Instead of being focused on God, we become absorbed in the concerns of man: pondering where we’re going to lunch, planning out the rest of our week, worrying about all the empty seats in the pews. We are not worthy of this mountaintop.
And every once in a while, we catch ourselves. We’re startled awake and see the glory shining. And then our only reaction is fear. We know that we have not appreciated this mountaintop as we should. We have neglected God’s glory. So what else can we do but cower in fear, lest we be consumed? When we see our worship for what it is, when we see Christ transfigured before us on His altar, it shakes us awake and fills us with fear. Because we have been drowsy and self-absorbed. We have run through the motions instead of basking in His presence. We have taken for granted this great mountaintop and only realize it when it’s too late.
II. He Strengthens and Encourages
Jesus comes to His disciples, cowering in fear, faces on the ground, and touches them, and says, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” He leads them down the mountain and tells them, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.” He makes it clear that the purpose of this experience was not to stay on the mountaintop.
The mountaintop was glorious, but terrifying. Wonderful, but filled with difficulties for the disciples. Jesus’ goal was not for the disciples to stay on the mountaintop but to bring them back down, prepared for what would lie ahead.
Soon the disciples would see a very different Jesus. Praying not on a mountain, but in a garden. Sweating blood instead of radiating light. Jesus would go from conversing with heavenly figures to being beaten and flogged by soldiers. Stripped of the garments that once were as white as the light. The voice from the cloud exchanged for the sign above the cross, both testifying to His identity.
The disciples were not to stay on the mountaintop. They could not participate in the fullness of Jesus’ glory. Not yet. First He had to suffer and die. But this experience would impress upon them and remind them who Jesus is through it all. The Man hanging on the cross in shame is God Himself. He endures this suffering willingly so that they may join Him in that glory.
Our sin creates these obstacles between us and God, makes us unworthy to be in His presence, makes us drowsy and self-absorbed and afraid. But Jesus wants you to be with Him in His glory. So He takes your sin upon Himself, suffers and dies on your behalf, so that you can be with Him. Through His blood, we are washed and made as white as the light, clothed in His righteousness. He makes us worthy to stand in His presence by giving us His perfection. By the power of His resurrection, He invites you to arise, raises you up from death to life, and tells you “do not be afraid,” for all your sins are forgiven.
As ridiculous as Peter’s proposal was, he did have one thing right. “[I]t is good for us to be here.” Although we often need to be shaken awake and reminded of what’s going on here, when we enjoy His presence here in the Divine Service, we can only be left thinking the same thing. It is good for us to be here.
But we cannot stay here. This is a mountaintop. And mountaintop experiences have their purpose. But you can’t stay on the mountaintop. So we must recognize why we are here, why Christ wants you here.
Jesus was transfigured before His disciples to strengthen and encourage them for the dark days that lay ahead. And here, Jesus reveals Himself to you. He is made manifest in His Word, transfigured before you under bread and wine. It is good to be here. But we cannot stay here.
Jesus leads you down the mountain into the six days that lie ahead before inviting you back to the mountaintop again on the seventh. He wants you here to reveal Himself to you, to strengthen and encourage you for what lies ahead, to give you a glimpse of the glory that we must leave all too soon but will one day experience in full. May we always long for this mountaintop, crave Christ in His Word and Sacrament, return here again and again, until He bring us to the fullness of His glory.
Our service is structured around twin peaks, two mountaintop experiences. The first is the sermon, which we’re descending from right now, where God’s Word is applied to us and Christ speaks to us and comforts us, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” The second peak is the Lord’s Supper where Christ is transfigured before us, present in all His glory, although veiled by bread and wine. These two mountaintops are what Jesus uses to strengthen and encourage you, to get you through one week to the next, to propel you from Sunday and draw you to Himself again. Although we are tired and weary, easily distracted and easily afraid, it is good for you to be here, to witness Christ in His glory, to be refreshed and strengthened by Him, to enjoy these mountaintops. Amen.
