“No one and No Situation is Untransfigurable.”
Matthew 17:1-9
This morning’s passage is about Jesus. He is transfigured. The word means “ a complete change of form into a more beautiful spiritual state. (From Bing Co-Pilot Dictionary) In Greek, the word is metamorphoó- (μεταμορφόω), with the basic meaning of transforming or changing form. (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
So as Jesus and three disciples headed up the mountain, he was one thing. Upon returning from the mountain, his form changed, transformed into a more spiritual being. Now he was something else. This morning, we’ll explore what his transfiguration means for us today. But first, an illustration.
The Transformers franchise began in 1984 with a toy line and has since evolved into a multi-media phenomenon, encompassing animated series, comic books, and blockbuster films. I remember seeing the first movie in the 80s and being somewhat interested in the cartoon when it came out. I also thought it was cool that transformer robots could transform from one form to another.
So, I have for you one of the most famous transformers. This is Optimus Prime. Optimus Prime, also known in Japan as Convoy, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Transformers franchise. Generally depicted as a brave and noble leader, Optimus Prime is the supreme commander of the Autobots in their fight against the bad guys, known as the Decepticons. Optimus Prime may appear to be a robot. But he is much more!
(Optimus Prime is turned into a truck)
So, we have witnessed Optimus Prime being completely transformed into a different being. In some ways, the same thing happened to Jesus, but in a more spiritual way.
Today’s gospel lesson comes just after Peter proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus then told the disciples that he must suffer and die, for which Peter rebuked him. Now, a rebuke means that he sharply criticized Jesus. This didn’t go over too well with Jesus, who told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!” It was after this news of Jesus's suffering and death, and after a time of strained relations, that he invited Peter, James, and John on a long hike up a mountain.
They probably left early in the morning, maybe at dawn, and began their climb. This mountain, likely Mt Herman, is 9,230 feet above sea level. This was a challenging trip and required significant effort. After what must have taken several hours, they reached the top.
I can imagine Peter, James, and John huffing and puffing, holding their sides in pain, and wondering what Jesus had in mind, why they came all this way. Why did Jesus choose to take them up this high mountain? Because the mountain symbolizes the border between heaven and earth, between the material and the spiritual. Throughout the Bible, when someone went up to a high place, it was to be with God, to break through the temporal realm to the spiritual realm.
While the three disciples were trying to catch their breath and rest, they looked around at the beauty high above the earth- something quite amazing happened. Some unexpected guests arrived: Moses and Elijah.
We can find echoes of Exodus 24 in this morning’s passage, as the events of the Transfiguration unfold, enabling us to perceive Jesus as the “new Moses” who leads and empowers the people of God. Moses’ story parallels this one: he took Joshua with him up Mt. Horeb, where, after six days, the glory of the Lord burned on the mountain top, and God spoke to Moses in that place, giving him the words of the covenant with God’s people (Exodus 24:13-18).
There are Similar echoes of Moses’ experience found in the account of Elijah’s mountaintop encounter with God (1 Kings 19:8ff). Elijah fled into the wilderness to escape Jezebel and also climbed Mt. Horeb. He found shelter in a cave and then had a holy encounter with God, who told him the next part of his ministry as a prophet.
There are even more connections to the story of Moses. In particular, the description of Moses’ face shining after he came down from the mountain (Exodus 34:29–35) adds another parallel to Jesus' transfiguration. Exodus 34:29 makes it clear that Moses’ shining face is because he was speaking with God, meaning the glory in Moses’ face is not his own but God’s glory temporarily reflected on Moses’ body. Jesus’ shiny face and his dazzling white clothes also reflect God’s glory. Yet they do more than that. God’s glory is transferred to the person of Jesus, and he is transformed as a result.
Why did Moses and Elijah make this appearance? These two were legends- they were the ones who had helped the people of God. Moses was a hero of the people, the one who had led them from slavery into God’s promised land of freedom. Elijah was the first prophet of God to take on unfaithful kings for not following God’s ways. Moses appeared as a representative of God’s first covenant with humanity. Elijah represented the one who would come to restore all things according to the prophet Malachi. Moses and Elijah represented the entire history of salvation until Christ. Jewish tradition ascribes that Moses was carried off to heaven before he suffered a mortal death. According to 2 Kings 2:11, Elijah was also carried up to heaven before his death. Since these two heroes of faith ascended, Jesus foreshadows his own ascension to heaven by being with them.
These two figures of faith were there to remind the 3 disciples that just as God broke through the barriers of the earthly temporal world before, through Moses and the prophets,
God was doing so once again with Jesus, the Messiah.
Peter saw this vision and asked to build three booths, one for each hero. Then, suddenly, Jesus ‘ face and garments began to shine. He was transfigured- literally changed right before their eyes.
What is the significance of this event? This story of the transfiguration is God's stamp of approval. Jesus has just told the disciples that he must suffer and die. It is almost as if, by telling the 12 about the cross, God was waiting until that moment to anoint Jesus for the rest of his ministry fully. God’s Spirit changed Jesus in a new way. This was a mystical experience meant to confirm Jesus’s sonship, his continuity with the past, and his glory.
Then God broke in even further to the earthly realm- He spoke in a way that terrified the three disciples- A cloud descended upon them, and they heard the words- “This is my son, my beloved. LISTEN TO HIM!” As God’s voice grew faint and the cloud lifted, when all was said and done, Moses and Elijah were both gone- only Jesus remained. The focus was now solely on the Messiah.
Jesus then ordered the three not to tell anyone what they had seen until after his resurrection. This was an amazing event to keep under wraps. Why did Jesus request this? Jesus had a plan for carrying out his ministry of preaching the reign of God’s love and justice. Only as people were able to examine his entire life, including his sacrifice on the cross and the affirmation of God in the resurrection appearances, could they look back on it and see its true meaning. To begin to proclaim Christ in his glory during his lifetime was pre-emptive of his plan. So, he asked his inner circle to keep quiet about this vision upon the mountaintop until after his resurrection.
The transfiguration marked God's turning point for humanity. As Jesus was changed, he became the first transformed human, the first pioneer and perfecter of those who would become his followers. The transfiguration holds meaning for us in that we, too, can be transformed, transfigured as we follow Christ. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “18 And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.”
This is good news for us. We, too, can be transformed by the teachings of Jesus. We do not stay as we are. Just as Optimus Prime begins as a robot and turns into a truck, as Jesus begins his life as Emmanuel, God with us, and turns into something even more holy, so we too can be changed, from one degree to another. I am not the Christian I was when I let Christ into my heart at the age of 11. I am not yet what I shall become as I continue to follow Christ. I hope to transfigure more and more into Christ’s likeness, right up until my last earthly breath. Our faith in Christ and trying to apply his teachings can literally transform us. And if we can be transformed, then so can the world.
Desmond Tutu recounts a transfiguration experience he will never forget. It occurred when apartheid was still in full swing. Tutu and other church leaders were preparing for a meeting with South Africa's prime minister to discuss the troubles destroying their nation. They met at a theological college that had closed down because of the white government’s racist policies. During a break from the proceedings, Tutu walked into the college’s garden for some quiet time. In the midst of the garden was a huge wooden cross. As Tutu looked at the barren cross, he realized it was winter, a time when the grass was pale and dry, a time when almost no one could imagine that, in a few short weeks, it would be lush, green, and beautiful again. In a few short weeks, the grass and all the surrounding world would be transfigured. As the archbishop sat there and pondered that, he obtained a new insight into the power of the transfiguration, of God’s ability to transform our world. Tutu concluded that transfiguration means that no one and no situation is “untransfigurable.” The time will eventually come when the whole world will be released from its current bondage and brought to share in the glorious liberty that God intends.
We certainly find ourselves living in a time when troubles are destroying the fabric of our nation. In our nation and world, we are held captive in sin, and the time of glorious liberty that God intends, when all people will be treated with love and mercy, when peace will reign, when justice will no longer have to cry out in the streets, seems far off. Do not lose hope. The power, presence, and teachings of Christ can transform our world. That is how we can apply this morning’s passage to our lives today.
Poet Steve Garnaas Holmes wrote the following poem, entitled “Transfiguration.”
Jesus is the lighthouse shining at the mouth of the bay.
where we enter the narrows of death,
shining to show us the way through
to a deeper, wider life.
The light emboldens us to enter the dark—
the neglected, the unseen, the unfamiliar, the unloved—
to find life there, healing and beauty and resurrection.
In this dazzling light, if we trust it, if we follow it,
We ourselves may be transfigured.
Friends, let us follow this light, so that we ourselves may be transfigured, and work to transform the world around us.
Alleluia! Amen.
