Transfiguration/St. Matthew 17:1-9

And 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.”

Recently, Jesus had asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter had replied in words that he believed: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” That was the gold star answer. Only the Holy Spirit could have revealed it to Him. In fact, Jesus had told him that He was going to build His church on that particular answer. 

And He started from that point to tell to the disciples that Him being the Christ was going to mean Him suffering and dying (and rising from death). This hadn’t gone over real well with them. And on top of it, whoever wanted to be His followers would be putting their lives in this world on the line, too, Jesus had said. 

What a crazy thought (especially that first part) must have been: the one whose coming they’d been anticipating—not powerfully overcoming, not overwhelming the enemies of God’s people—but, dying in the cause! 

How could that be the story?  

We know from Matthew’s account that it was troubling for the disciples. Peter had rebuked Jesus. He had said, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” And it wasn’t that he was refusing to believe Jesus so much as just not being able to comprehend it. 

Jesus had reacted sternly to him in that moment. This kind of thinking was only going to lead in a bad direction. Jesus knew His mission, and had made it clear to them.

When He’d first begun His ministry, Jesus had told John’s disciples (after listing the things He had been doing in fulfillment of prophecies, demonstrating Himself to be the Messiah), “…blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” 

He was talking about just the sort of reaction that Peter and the other disciples had had when learning about the Christ’s real mission. We tend to want there to be a glorious turn of events in the story—not the hero shamefully, helplessly dying at the hands of his enemies. 

Many in Jerusalem couldn’t handle that as the Messiah’s story, and shouted for the crucifixion of the one who was trying to tell it (ironic).

With Jesus’ recent prediction of his death as the backdrop, then, we look at the events in our text for today. The star of the text is Jesus, of course. See that it’s the case by looking into the face of Peter as he ascends the mountain in the small band accompanying Him. As he climbs, he considers Jesus’ rebuke of him and the implications of what Jesus has revealed to them. 

Is it so hard to imagine him even dealing with doubts about the plausibility of it all? He’d put down his fishing nets and begun following this teacher around. It had already gone a different way that he was expecting. What from here?

And then it happens. We’ve just sung about it in our hymn: 

Wrapped in blissful ecstasy, 

they saw the vision splendid

Their Lord arrayed in living light,

And on His left and on His right,

By glorious saints attended.

Now, see the bright light reflected off Peter’s face. See him contorting his body and raising his arm to cover his eyes like we do when we’re looking into the sun. There’s this surreal moment: Jesus shining and glowing. Old covenant representatives Moses and Elijah there, with it being clear who they are, no less (though they haven’t been in this world for hundreds of years before this). Luke says in his account, that they were talking with Jesus about His death that was going to happen at Jerusalem (the mediating of a new covenant—it has all been prepared in eternity).

Peter had said the words, “you are the Christ, the son of the living God.“ Now he was looking at it. He was seeing that in Jesus (as St. Paul writes), the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9). God is in this man—that means! 

When Peter had said the words of his confession he’d believed them. He’d believed without seeing (remember, Jesus would scold Thomas for believing only after seeing). How powerfully, now, Peter could write in his second epistle about having been a witness to Christ’s majesty. What an impact it would have on those to whom he was first writing, but also, by God’s grace, to everyone who would read the letter in the Holy Scriptures afterward—including you this morning! Peter and his fellow disciples had seen this Transfiguration, and had heard the Father’s voice saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” 

This is the point at which Peter and the others were terrified. In fact, St. Matthew writes that they fell on their faces in this terror. It wasn’t the first time sinners had trembled in the presence of God’s glory. 

It had also been the case at Mt. Sinai. God’s people, recently embarking on an exodus from bondage in Egypt, having just received the Ten Commands as handed down by Moses, heard heavenly thunder and trumpets as they stood at Sinai’s base. They saw smoke. Humbly, they cried to Moses from a distance (contorting their bodies, no doubt, and shielding themselves from the majesty), “You speak to us, [they said], and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 

There are certain moments like this in Scripture, in which sinners really have a strong sense of being in the presence of God; and often it isn’t a comforting feeling. It’s because their sins are jumping up before them, and making them aware that according to their corrupted nature, they have only angered God and earned His condemnation and punishment. 

Were you to be next to the disciples in our text hearing God’s voice, what of your sins would jump up before you? Would they be things you did long ago that still bother you today (there are things from long ago that I think about). Or, maybe more recent things come to mind (maybe even ongoing ones that you struggle with). 

I asked the students in chapel the other day whether or not it’s reasonable for a sinner to be terrified in God’s presence like this. It’s one of those questions that could be answered in a couple of different ways depending on the perspective. One of the ways it can be answered is to say, yes, it is reasonable. One of the students got to the answer by talking about the Ten Commandments we mentioned earlier. God has required us to be flawless according to those commandments. But we can’t be. None of us has been. So, from that perspective it is reasonable for sinners to be terrified in the presence of the perfect God. It’s according to that perspective that Jesus told His disciples to be afraid of the One Who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Matthew 10:28). We might think also of the writer to the Hebrew’s words: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (10:31).

What can calm that fear? What can cause the three disciples face down in the dirt in our text (and every other sinner) to be at peace in God’s presence? The answer is the next thing that happens in our text. Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.”

Do you agonize over your sins that make you ashamed? You should, as we’ve said earlier. Do you want to be free of the burden that makes you cower in terror before God’s presence? The answer is the One Whose majesty is on display in our text. The answer is the one Whose coming death being discussed with Him by prophets makes satisfaction for your sins. His righteousness is made your own righteousness. Whatever God has had against you has been made His burden and His penalty. There isn’t anything more on the account. He has purchased your forgiveness with His blood. You are forgiven of your sins in Jesus. There isn’t question of His ability to do so; it has been shown in the Transfiguration. He is God Himself—God’s Son, with Whom the Father is well pleased, we’ve heard in this text. Jesus said it Himself one time: If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36).

At His Table this morning, He reaches out His hand to you. Through the meal that unites this world with His kingdom, He gives you the food of ordinary bread and wine that has been mysteriously joined with His true body and blood for the remission of your sins. His own words say it. Hear Him saying to you like to Peter and the others, “Rise, and have no fear.” The Son has set you free; so you are free indeed. Amen.

Other Lessons for Today:

Isaiah 61:10–11

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.

2 Peter 1:16–21

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.