Matthew 17:1–9 (EHV)
17 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James; and he led them up onto a high mountain by themselves. 2There he was transfigured in front of them. His face was shining like the sun. His clothing became as white as the light. 3Just then, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus. 4Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make three
shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them. Just then, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.” 6When the disciples heard this, they fell face down and were terrified. 7Jesus approached and as he touched them, he said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” 8When they opened their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus alone. 9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Do not tell anyone what you have seen until the Son
of Man has been raised from the dead.” Dear friends in Christ Jesus, who look upon the transfigured Christ through the eyes of faith: The Sunday celebrating the transfiguration comes between the season of Epiphany and the season leading into Lent. It is the pinnacle of the epiphany, the manifestation of Christ, for here we see that the man who went to the cross is God. It is by the gospel that we learn the lesson that the transfiguration teaches by sight, but the apostles were permitted to know the Christ as He is through their own experience,
WE KNOW CHRIST AS HE IS THROUGH THE GOSPEL
I. The Transfiguration Shows the Eyes What Is Known by Faith
Peter recognized the difference between faith and sight, and he wants us to know that 2 Peter 1:16–18 (CSB) 16 For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased!” 18 We ourselves heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain.
Peter could see that this Man who went to the cross was NOT the helpless victim of his enemies, but he endured all of this by his own free choice. In love for us and all men he is carrying out the Father’s will, and by His will would also rise victorious over sin and death. Peter and the others saw it – finally, hundreds saw the risen Christ. They saw it, and we believe it because God Himself comes to us through His word to impart faith in our hearts. This is a common situation for us to be in as human beings — placing our faith in a word and promise which reveal what we cannot see by our eyes.
– In a marriage, we confess by words something that we cannot see — namely the love, devotion, and loyalty that cannot otherwise be seen. – History is based upon the witnesses and recorders who lived in the past. – Evidence in court consists of people’s testimony. – Even the restaurant reviews– we get insight into the menu from someone who has been there and testifies as to his or her experience.
We don’t see these things ourselves, but we are used to taking them based on the testimony of other.
So, where Christ is concerned, the word of God reveals the truth of who He is — God in the flesh. God’s word reveals on the one hand that He humbled Himself to live in our place under the law, and on the other hand that He is God in the flesh, so that He can redeem us all. What He provides here for His disciples is a confirmation through the senses of what they already know by word and by faith, that Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. Through their eyewitness account, we can also see this Christ as He is.
— True God. He shows himself here as He must appear bodily in heaven, and as our human eyes could register. There must be no doubt that what those in heaven see is no mere mortal, but God Himself.
— The God of the living and the Dead. This is what Jesus said to describe himself. He lives on both sides of death at the same time. What is an impassible barrier to us is nothing to Him, so He converses with Moses and Elijah as well as with His disciples.
HE IS — The perfect, acceptable sacrifice for sin. “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”
HE IS — Our true prophet, the one who perfectly reveals God to Man: “Listen to Him” God says. And listen to Him we must, for it is His word that is brought to us in the words of His apostles, in the new testament, as He says ““I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word.” (John 17:20, CSB)
So the transfiguration confirms for their human senses what they otherwise could see and touch and observe only after the resurrection, and in Heaven. II. God Gives Us Such Occasions Through the Gospel
For us, now, there is no such opportunity as the apostles had to physically encounter the Christ. Yet we may come close to this Christ through this word. Here (in the original languages) are the very words penned by God’s prophets, and the apostles and evangelists who witnessed the risen Christ. We have testimony more dependable than any court we are used to, because the apostles sealed their testimony with their lives. Besides which, we have the internal and external testimony that this is the word of God. (That’s for a Bible class)
Remember also, this word is more than mere information, more than a relic of the past or a historical artifact. It is a living power, as the Bible says, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.” (1 Corinthians 1:18, CSB) and “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16, CSB)
As a result, through this message of the gospel, we are called to faith in this Christ, and truly get to know Him. And we also get to know Him through the Lord’s supper, for in the Lord’s Supper, Jesus
really comes to us, and bids us partake of His real body and His real blood, in a supernatural (not spiritual, but real) way. He really comes to us and takes our sins away – including our sins of failing to listen, of neglecting his word, and of being afraid in spite of His grace and protection. In all of this, let’s not fall into a modern trap, which views the word of God as “True for You.” The word brings us to faith, and “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1, CSB)
It is not as though Christ were “unreal.” It is not as though our inability to see means that our faith is in a mirage.
Our doubts don’t come from the inadequacies of God’s word, but from our sin. The ultimate question of life and death hinges on whether, with our sin, we have fellowship of God, hope of life, a place in heaven.
It is in confronting the reality of our sinfulness that we are prepared for the gospel, the reality of our salvation. Through the gospel there are certainly times in which the Holy Spirit works such certainty
of God’s love as to overwhelm us, even giving us a tangible demonstration of His presence. It may be at the festivals of Christ’s church, when the hymns and the anthems “sing the Gospel into our hearts,” as Luther put it. Or perhaps it may be the clear-voiced song of children singing, “I know that my Redeemer lives,” or “Unto YOU is born a Savior.”
It may be in private meditation upon the word, perhaps when Paul holds out to us the love of God as a sure and certain thing: “What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare his own Son but offered him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything? Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies.” (Romans 8:31–33, CSB)
It may be upon our absolution, when we hear the words of Christ Himself, which count in heaven as well as on earth, “In the Name of Jesus, I forgive you all your sins.” It may be in answered prayers, in demonstrations of His gracious providence, when we are most in need and have turned to Him as both first and last resort. These aren’t “Religious Experiences” in the mystical sense. There may be tears of joy, there may not. We may FEEL exultation, or we may not. What God offers us in His word, including this word which reveals Christ as true and living God in the flesh, is the CERTAINTY that You have been fully and truly redeemed from all your sins, and God has bestowed upon you a righteousness that avails before Him forever. You and I have to wait to witness the risen Christ with our eyes. But through the perfect and powerful and living word, even now, by faith we have been given the perfect joy of knowing Him who is our Savior. AMEN.