Sermon

A sermon preached at New Hope Lutheran Church,

West Melbourne, FL on March 6, 2011 by Pastor Dale Raether

Jesus’ Transfiguration Teaches Us to Listen

Matthew 17:1-9

Several weeks ago I moved one of our daughters to the Minneapolis. Parts of the trip were very enjoyable – the open road, talking about all kinds of stuff with your daughter – priceless. However, parts of the trip were not fun. Making lane changes with an underpowered truck, pulling a car trailer, while chugging through hills of Atlanta, is well interesting. With God’s help we made safely to Minnesota, and the Lord even gave us 40 degree temps for unloading the truck.

Life is like that. It’s a journey. Parts are very enjoyable; other parts, not as much. And then there are the parts we dread and can’t wait till we’re through them. In our text this morning Jesus and His disciples were heading into a part they dreaded. Just before this, Jesus began explaining that He was going to Jerusalem where He would suffer many things, be killed and on the third day be raised to life. The disciples did NOT want to hear about this, and so Jesus told them, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. – Matthew 16:24”

Are any of you bearing a heavy cross? If not, is there a cross you’re dreading? And now think about what could make you more sure God loves you and that everything will be alright. This picture is an artist’s rendition of the glory of the Lord at Mt Sinai. Being there and hearing God’s voice would certainly reaffirm to us that He’s real. And so also the Children of Israel, as they journeyed toward the Promised Land and faced various temptations, remembering this sight had to help them.

The next picture is an artist’s rendition of Jesus’ Transfiguration. With Jesus are Moses, whom God had already raised from the dead, and Elijah, who was taken up into heaven without ever dying. If you had been there too, how would seeing this make you feel about those crosses your bearing? Perhaps even in the worst of times your attitude could be, “This too shall pass.”

This third picture is not an artist’s rendition. It’s the real deal. It’s a picture a Forward in Christ, a Meditations, and a Bible. These are all things we can hold in our hands and see with our own eyes. Now, of these three, seeing the glory of the Lord at Mt Sinai, seeing Jesus’ Transfiguration, or God’s written Word, which can give the greatest comfort and strength? Peter, who WAS there at Transfiguration, says it’s God’s Word. In fact Jesus’ Transfiguration Teaches Us to Listen. 1. By listening to the Word, Jesus was strengthened to go to the cross. 2. By listening to the Word we are strengthened to follow Him.

We read, “After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. – Matthew 17:1-3” From Luke’s account of this we learn that while all this was going on, Peter, James and John were sleeping. In other words, Jesus’ Transfiguration and the appearing of Moses and Elijah, and their talking about what would soon happen in Jerusalem, wasn’t just for the disciples’ sake. It was for Jesus’ sake too.

You see, as true man, Jesus had set aside all of His divine power and majesty and lived here as an ordinary man with ordinary feeling, except without sin. As an ordinary man, how do you think he felt about His upcoming appointment to be tortured and have nailed driven into His hands and feet? Actually He had mixed feelings. He dreaded it, but at the same time He was determined, because that’s how much He loves us, and this was the only way He could save you and me; but He still dreaded it, and so He prayed.

His being transfigured was an answer to His prayers, because it reminded Him the glory that would be His when His suffering was over. The Father sending Moses and Elijah was also an answer to Jesus’ prayer. They repeated to Him from the Old Testament WHY He had to go to the cross. For example, we don’t know the exact verses Moses and Elijah used, but here are some possibilities. Isaiah 53 – But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Jesus was dreading this next part of His journey, and as it got closer, He would dread it even more, especially in the Garden of Gethsemane. But the Word reaffirmed to Him that there was no other way so that all sinners could have the right to join Moses and Elijah in seeing Him face to face and living with Him body and soul on the new earth He would create.

Or here’s another passage Moses and Elijah may have used, Jesus’ own words in prophesy in Psalm 16. I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. It sometimes bothers us to think about what age or sickness is doing our body or the bodies of our loved ones. This bothered Jesus too. But here was a special promise for Him that His body would not stay in the grave, in fact it wouldn’t even begin to decay. Anyway by listening to God’s Word and promises, Jesus was strengthened to keep going to Jerusalem.

Can God’s Word and promises do the same for us? We read in our text, “Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters-- one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. – Matthew 17:4" According to Luke’s account, the disciples woke up just as Moses, Elijah and Jesus were finishing their conversation, and Moses and Elijah were about to return to heaven. Peter wanted them to stick around. In fact Peter wanted to stay in this moment forever. This could not be. We read on in our text, “While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid." When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. – Matthew 17:5-8” Our comfort and strength is not in what we can see. Our comfort and strength is to be in Jesus, Jesus, only Jesus. Unfortunately sometimes we don’t agree with that.

Now, the disciples were living through a very difficult time in history. In fact a rabbi from the Sanhedrin at that time said that drunkenness and immorality were increasing, youths weren’t respecting their parents, the pious or the elderly, family ties were loosed and poverty was the portion of many. Sound familiar? And so, like the disciples, when we see things falling apart in our health, our finances or in our nation, we may want more than just keeping our focus on Jesus and His Word. We may want Jesus to fix everything NOW! However, just as Jesus first had to go to the cross and then the glory, so the Father tells us: keep listening to Jesus, keep your sights focused on Him, and wait! But how can we have the strength to do that?

Peter answered in our epistle lesson. He said, “And we have the words of the prophet made more certain (that is more certain or faith building than what Peter had seen at Jesus’ transfiguration), and you do well to pay attention to it as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts.” The dark place is our heart. There are still shadowy corners in our heart, so that we can’t see all the sin that’s hiding there. On the other hand, as we keep listening to the Word, we do see into those corners a little better, and if we’re really seeing, it will terrify us, just the like the disciples were terrified when that bright cloud of the Father came over them. However, Jesus doesn’t want us to stay terrified. But He touches us with His Word, and He touches us with His true body and blood in the Lord’s Supper, and says, “Don’t be afraid, you are forgiven!” Now continue in this until there is only peace and joy in your heart, which won’t fully happen, till Judgment Day dawns and we see the Morning Star or Jesus face to face. In other words, keep listening to the Word for as long as you are on this journey called life.

Our text reads, “As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” Jesus did not want Peter, James, and John telling what they had seen, because it would have fed some wrong ideas people had. Most wanted a heaven on earth, now, and did not see the need for any crosses – Jesus or theirs. However, after Jesus had completed His mission, then these three witnesses could make Jesus’ Transfiguration a part of the Word and an encouragement for all people to keep listening to it.

So, then, will you listen? This Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. is the start of our special midweek Lenten services. On Sunday morning, a big part of our service is proclaiming back to God what He has done for us. You do that through our hymns and liturgy. You also do that through me as I speak in your behalf the readings and the sermon. Lent services are different. Their purpose is not proclamation. Their purpose is meditation as we reflect on Jesus’ passion and what’s going on with our own heart. I can’t emphasize this enough. If our destination is heaven, Lent is an important part of our journey. Therefore as Jesus went up to the mountain to pray and to listen before going to Jerusalem, for the next six Wednesday nights, let’s take time out from our busy schedules and come to this mountain to pray and to listen! And then just as the disciples would have great joy on Easter, so that they had to tell everyone, “Jesus lives!”, may God make us ready for Easter joy and Easter strength to go wherever life takes us, even if it’s to Minnesota! Amen.

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