Sunday, March 2, 2025

Transfiguration Sunday
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Psalm 99
Hebrews 3:1-6
Luke 9:28-36 [37-43]

For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is God.

The Transfiguration is celebrated at different times during the year. The universal date for the Feast of the Transfiguration is August 6th, though there is no certain explanation for choosing this date. Though we do not have the date of the Transfiguration, some suggest that it happened toward the end of Jesus’ ministry, perhaps August the year before Jesus was crucified. It has been celebrated in various forms beginning in the 9th century but was made a universal feast in 1456 in conjunction with the commemoration of the end of the siege of Belgrade.

Many churches that use the Revised Common Lectionary remember the Transfiguration on the last Sunday of Epiphany. It makes sense to finish the season of light (Epiphany) with a story about the Light shining on the mountain top. As we draw near to the season of Lent, the Transfiguration offers us a glimpse of that glory of Christ so that we will have hope through the time of wilderness and repentance. Jesus’ transfiguration shows us that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus is the Messiah. That shining moment gives us a foretaste of the forgiveness that we’ll experience fully through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

This Sunday goes by another name in many Christian traditions. It is Quinquagesima because this Sunday is fifty days from Easter Sunday. It is the first day of Carnival or Shrovetide, a period of time when people consume foods that are banned during Lent, particularly meat. During Shrovetide we are to make a special point to examine ourselves, considering what we have done wrong and what we should do to amend our lives both temporally and spiritually. It is a time of prayer to ask for God’s help with repentance. Many people will consider what they will fast during Lent. It is also a time to confess and hear absolution so that we will enter Lent with an unburdened heart.

The timing of Transfiguration Sunday also helps us see the change of Jesus’ ministry in the church year. From this moment, Jesus sets His feet toward the cross. We do so, too, as we enter the season of Lent.

In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the top of the mountain where He was transfigured before their eyes. Shortly before this event, about eight days according to Luke’s account, Jesus told the disciples for the first time that He would have to suffer and die at the hands of all who would reject Him. Such words must have been disturbing and disheartening for the disciples. Yet on this day the three went up the mountain with Jesus and witnessed His glorification. Surely if God would do something so miraculous, then Jesus must be more than even He thought He would be! God would not allow His Chosen One to die, right?

The lectionary offers a second story that doesn’t seem to belong in this message about Jesus’ glory. Why tell us that Jesus came down off that mountain? Isn’t Peter right to want to embrace the Light? In this story, however, we see something far more real than the glory on the mountain. God’s power is not found in transfigured images or miraculous moments. It is found in the everyday opportunities we have to share God’s love and mercy with others. I am sure that the demon possessed boy must have been dirty and ugly with wounds. It must have been horrific to witness a body out of control, hurting and throwing itself on the ground. Yet real glory is seen when God’s grace touches the needy and brings healing and peace to a life of suffering. Jesus was most glorious when He was sharing the kingdom of God with those in need.

Peter, James, and John saw a glimpse of heaven that day on the top of a mountain. They witnessed a miraculous event as Jesus was transfigured into a divinely shining being, the Light shined with glorious light. He was standing among the great men of their faith. Moses was the father of the Law and Elijah was the father of the prophets. They stood for everything on which the faith of Israel was built. Peter wanted to capture the moment, to build a temple on the spot to honor Jesus and hold on to the glory. While Peter was speaking, a cloud came over the scene and a voice commanded the disciples to listen to Jesus. Peter’s sense of assurance was overpowered by a sense of fear. All three fell on their faces when they heard the voice.

It is no wonder that Peter would want to build permanent structures in which Jesus, Moses, and Elijah could dwell. There on the mountaintop, in the presence of the Holy, no one could harm Jesus. However, this was not the way it was to be. Jesus had this moment of glory, but the real glory would come in a much different way. The world needed God’s mercy and grace. They had to go back so that Jesus could complete the work of forgiveness. They needed to go back to the crowds, to the dis-ease, to the oppression. They needed to go back to the messiness of the valley. Jesus had to go back to the hatred and rejection that would send Him to the cross.

Peter reacted to the transfiguration as we all might have done. He was trying to seat Jesus as king over an earthly kingdom. God interrupted, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.” God commanded them to listen to Jesus, the Word incarnate. He is the Word made flesh sent to dwell among God’s people. Jesus is the place where heaven and earth meet. Jesus is faithful as a Son over His house, and as the writer of Hebrews tells us, we are His house.

Today’s scriptures are interesting because we see the difference between Moses and Jesus.

The psalmist wrote, “You are a God who forgave them, although you took vengeance for their doings.” The story from the Old Testament lesson is one of those moments. Moses was the chosen one of God. He led God’s people out of Egypt and through the wilderness for forty years. He stood in the presence of God. He received the Law and gave it to the people. He sought God’s help for the people over and over again. Every time they complained about the lack of food or water, every time they grumbled, Moses asked God to help. He was an incredible man of God, faithful and obedient. And yet, he was just a man, and he failed.

The consequence of Moses’ unfaithfulness was that he would never enter into the Promised Land. We hear in Deuteronomy 32 “Die on the mountain where you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor, and was gathered to his people; because you trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you didn’t uphold my holiness among the children of Israel. For you shall see the land from a distance; but you shall not go there into the land which I give the children of Israel.”

Moses was faithful and obedient, but not perfectly. In the desert, the people complained about the lack of water. Instead of acting according to God’s Word, he struck the rock in anger. Instead of approaching the rock trusting in God’s word, he went with the determination to prove to the people that they will get what they do not deserve. Instead of speaking forth the water, he struck the rock. Twice.

It is absolutely necessary for us to trust God’s word above all else, this is why God told the disciples to listen to Jesus. God is gracious, and He is merciful, but faith is by hearing, not by sight. And so, at this important juncture in the story of Israel, God commanded Moses to speak to the rock. Moses, following his base instincts and his anger, struck the rock instead.

In Numbers 20, God told Moses, “Because you didn’t believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” Imagine the scene. Moses stood by the rock and hit it twice with his staff. What would you believe? Would you believe that it is the word that made the water flow? Or would you believe that Moses caused it to come? Who would you thank for that water? God commanded Moses to speak the word, and in doing so he would have shown God to be holy and powerful. Instead, Moses showed himself to be holy and powerful. This is why Moses could not enter into the Promised Land.

But God is gracious. Even though Moses was faithless at that moment God still honored Moses, “Since then, there has not arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face,” is written in Deuteronomy. The Israelites held Moses in high regard, almost to the point of putting him above God. Even to the days of Jesus, Moses was seen as more than just the man who led them out of Egypt. He was the deliverer. He was the lawgiver. They knew God was behind it, but they gave the credit to Moses. If God had allowed him to go into the Promised Land, they might have made him like a god, but Moses was just a man. He was a man chosen and gifted by God to do great and wonderful things, but he was just a man.

For his faithlessness, Moses was buried on the other side of the Jordan. He was not allowed to enter into the Promised Land. However, God is gracious and merciful: He gave Moses the chance to see the fulfillment of His promises. Moses died with God’s faithfulness in his sight. God did what He told Abraham He would do. His people were finally home after four hundred years in Egypt, after slavery, and after forty years of wandering in the wilderness.

Even death for Moses was merciful. Can you imagine going through life with the burden of being the one on whom everyone relies, especially when they have extraordinary expectations? How could a man like Moses be like a god? It didn’t matter how humble he was, or how much he repeatedly told the people that they should trust in God: they preferred the tangible presence of Moses. How do you trust something, or someone, that you can’t see? Moses was there. They could go to him, talk to him, and see him work. Trusting God requires faith in the unseen, unheard, and unproven.

Despite his faithlessness, there was something extraordinary about Moses. Though he died and was buried, his tomb has never been found. As someone once said, “God buried him and then buried his grave.” We don’t know where Moses’ grave is located because it would have become a place of pilgrimage, a sacred space where they could honor Moses forever. The Jews looked to Moses as their salvation and hope, for he had delivered them from Egypt and given them the Law. Yet, as they looked to Moses, they missed the One who was greater; they missed the One who had created Moses and was worthy of the worship they wanted to give to a mere man.

Despite being gone, we see Moses again in today’s Gospel lesson. Moses was dead, yet he lived. Despite his faithlessness, God honored the work Moses did in obedience to His call. Moses may have failed, but he was also faithful. Isn’t that true of all of us? We all respond faithfully to the call of God, but we also fail. Sometimes we even do things that seem to put us ahead of God. Like Moses in the desert, we strike the rock as if we are the ones who are bringing forth the water. Twice. We can find comfort that despite his faithlessness, God honored Moses’ obedience. Moses stood with Jesus at the pinnacle of Jesus’ ministry, basking in His glory. He was dead, but still alive thanks to God’s grace.

Moses died, but first he laid his hand upon Joshua and gave him the authority to continue leading God’s people into the Promised Land. Moses only went so far and then had to turn the responsibility over to another. This was a foreshadowing of what was to come. Even the name Joshua parallels the story of Jesus; both names are different forms with a similar meaning, “the Lord is my salvation.” While Joshua is not Jesus, Joshua was the one who finished the Exodus; he led God’s people home, just as Jesus does for us. Moses was the mouthpiece of God’s Word, but Jesus is greater than Moses because He is God’s Word in flesh.

The psalmist reminds us that God spoke to the Israelites through the pillar of cloud and through His priests. He spoke to them through His Law. “They kept his testimonies, the statute that he gave them.” In later times, God spoke through His prophets. Moses and Elijah represent the people God chose to speak His words to the people until He sent His Son. Now, we hear God’s words through the stories of Jesus, through the scriptures, through the people who are called to preach and teach today. God speaks through our priests, pastors, preachers, missionaries, prophets and teachers. He speaks through other Christians. He speaks through us. God said to Peter, James, and John, “Listen to Him.” He says the same thing to us and invites us to share His Word of grace to the world.

It is important for us to remember that it is not the work we do, but that we remain true and faithful to God’s Word. Unfortunately, we often act in response to our circumstances without really listening to God. That’s when we show our own faithlessness. Moses hit the rock because he was frustrated by the continued faithlessness of the people, and in doing so showed his own faithlessness. Peter offered to build tabernacles for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah because he didn’t want the moment to end, and in doing so ignored the true ministry to which he was called. The offer seems faithful because Peter simply wanted to honor Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, but it is faithless because Peter was trying to keep Jesus on the mountain top rather than following Him into the valley and toward the cross.

As we spend time considering our own faithlessness during this Shrovetide, we are reminded how much like Moses and Peter we really are. We want to make a big show of our faith or dwell in the mountaintop experiences; we want to avoid getting down and dirty with the work of God’s kingdom. In the fifty days from Quinquagesima to Easter, we are invited to ponder our faithlessness, to repent, to be transformed by God’s grace. We know the end of the story. We know that Jesus died and rose again for our sake. We know that the faithfulness of God will bring us into our own Promised Land. It is in that hope that we can do God’s work in the world, but it is important for us to remember that His work is not always what we might hope or expect it to be.

Jesus could not live up to the expectations of the world; He had to be obedient to the Word of God, to do what God intended. The disciples and so many others wanted Jesus to lead an army that would destroy their oppressors and then sit on an earthly throne. Jesus knew that His story would have a much different ending.

Jesus had this moment of glory, but the real glory would come in a much different way. He led Peter, James, and John down the mountain because they needed to return to the real world, to the world which needed God’s mercy and grace. They needed to go back to the crowds, to the dis-ease, to the oppression. Jesus had to go back to the hatred and rejection that would send Him to the cross. The disciples quickly learned that the brilliance and magnificence of that mountain top experience was fleeting. He felt he needed to do something when God wanted him to listen and obey.

How often do we act when we should simply listen and obey? Unfortunately, we often become confused between what is real and our own response to the circumstances in which we live. Like Moses and Peter, our actions show our faithlessness.

We have to confess, however, that it is difficult to know if it is God’s voice we hear. It is easy to become confused by the noise of the world. Which voice is from God? Who is telling the truth? We wonder if we understand what the scriptures mean, or if we are putting our own spin on God’s Word. Peter had been listening to the expectations of the world and his own hope for Jesus’ ministry; he acted in response to the wrong voices. He didn’t want to believe what Jesus was saying about His suffering and death. God reminded him that the only voice that is true is Jesus’.

The writer of Hebrews says, “For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is God.” God does not negate the ministry of those like Moses or Elijah to speak His Word, but He reminds us that there is one greater. Jesus is our hope and our salvation. He is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving, for He built the house.

Thankfully, God is gracious. Even when we are faithless, He is faithful. We may suffer the consequences of misfocused trust, but God will always let those with faith see the Promised Land. And though Moses did not enter with the people when they finally crossed the Jordan, He was not forgotten by God. He was still honored for his obedience and faith by standing in the glory of the true Savior. We, too, will fail but one day we will stand in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when we do, it will be for eternity because by His grace we have been made a part of His house forever.

Like Peter, we would like to focus on Jesus’ transfiguration and the glory. We even want to cut off the story at verse 36 in the lectionary because we would rather stay on the mountain top. Jesus refused to stay in that glory because He knew something greater was to come. Instead of savoring the moment, Jesus herded His disciples back down the mountain into the path of the real work of the kingdom. Jesus told them that He had to die. The glory would not be found on a mountain, in a castle, or on a throne. The true glory was found on the Cross. For the work of God to be complete He would need to get off the mountain.

I wonder what it would have been like to be with Peter, James, and John that day. I’d like to believe that I would have understood what was happening, that Jesus was giving us a preview of what was to come. The transfiguration was a brief moment in time when God showed the disciples the end of the story, that Christ was the King, His Son the Messiah, the One who would save the world. It was all so overwhelming for those three men, though. There they stood with Elijah and Moses, while Jesus was glorified before their eyes. What did it mean? They could only think in human terms.

We see the cross as a horrible and ugly thing, something to be passed over so that we can celebrate Easter. We are indeed Easter people, shining the light of Jesus Christ for the world to see, but Jesus was glorified when He took upon Himself the sin of the world to set us free from sin and death. The beauty is in the cross. This is the most foolish and hardest concept of Christian faith for us to believe. There could be no resurrection without death, no New Covenant unless the old one passed away.

At the Transfiguration we learn that Jesus is greater than the Law and the Prophets. He is greater than Moses and Elijah. When we listen to Him, we’ll grow in our knowledge of the God who saved us by His grace. The world will be blessed as God’s glory is reflected in our lives and through our work, even though Jesus has led us off the mountain into the messiness of the valley.

Peter, James, and John saw the reality of Jesus on that mountain. They saw Him in His glory; they heard God’s voice declare Him as the beloved One. But they quickly discovered that the brilliance and magnificence of that moment on the mountain was fleeting, so they followed Him to His destiny, the cross where He would truly be glorified. They learned in that moment on the mountaintop that the most important thing we can do is to listen to Jesus because He is God’s Son, the Messiah.

It isn’t in our scriptures for today, but we learn later from Peter’s second letter about what he experienced that day. “For we didn’t follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” (2 Peter 1:16, WEB) Peter was there with Jesus as He ministered to the world, on the mountaintop when Jesus was transfigured, at the cross when Jesus died, and then he saw the risen Lord. He heard Jesus speak. He listened to Him. He learned firsthand that Jesus was who He said He was. Jesus is the Light. Jesus is the Truth. Jesus is the Word incarnate. Jesus is Wisdom. As we celebrate the Transfiguration, we are reminded to listen to Jesus, to hear what He has to say and to believe His words. It is through Jesus that we will receive forgiveness and enter into the Promised Land. We are His house, He is our hope and salvation, worthy of our praise and thanksgiving now and forever.