Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29
And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30
And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31
who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32
Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33
And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. 34
As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35
And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” 36
And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
Have you ever been told to, “stop talking”? Or more harshly, to “shut-up”? While at times that can be rude, sometimes we just babble on without knowing what we are
saying or why we are saying it. Perhaps there is an awkward silence and so you think to fill the air with the sound of your voice to overcome the “awkwardness”. (Not that I would know anything about that!)
One of the aspects of the Transfiguration that I have always loved is Peter’s impulsiveness when he woke up and saw what he saw: Moses, Elijah and Jesus standing before
him in glory. What would you do? Peter started talking. We are even told that he didn’t know what he was talking about…just talking! (33) and “as he was talking” a voice came and a cloud enveloped them and God spoke: “This is my Son, my chosen One, listen
to Him!” Peter, how about you stop talking and start listening! I wonder how many times that could be told to us! Stop thinking you know anything and just listen to the Savior…He is the One who has the full pleasure of the Father!
Another interesting note is that The word translated “departure” in the ESV is the word
exodus, which is an unusual word for someone’s death and obviously is used with the intention of making us think of the link between the Passover lamb and the work that Jesus was about to do. Jesus was about to deliver his people from a far greater bondage
than slavery in Egypt! Jesus would fulfill the existence of Israel, perfectly, even having His own exodus, delivering us from sin, death and hell!
The Bible testifies clearly that Jesus was both God and man…two natures, one person…this is a great mystery! What has happened to this Biblical teaching is interesting.
While Christianity has always and continues to confess this doctrine as absolutely true and indispensable to our faith, it seems that people have thought of Jesus’ life in this world as that of some kind of a “superman”; As if His divinity comes to the rescue
of his humanity when He gets in a bind. I have heard people say, “Well, of course Jesus did this and that…He was God.” While that is true, He was and is God, the life illustrated for us in the Bible is that of Jesus as a man. Jesus was a man living a man’s
life with all the limitations of that life. There were many things he did not know, just as there are many things that we don’t know. He has to ‘learn’ things. He was truly and authentically human suffering as we suffer, yet without sin. How he lived the life
of a man without his Divinity coming in to save the day, we cannot say. That is a mystery to be sure!
Some will argue, but He did miracles, He saw things before they happened, He even raised the dead. All true! But there were other men in the Bible that did all those
things. Moses, Elijah had done miracles as well. It is Jesus’ authentic manhood that is the secret of our salvation. It is what made it possible for Jesus to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It is his manhood that makes his achievement
for us so eternally valuable. His was the achievement of a man, not a superman, not a man who at the point of any crisis was lifted above the normal limitations of his humanity by his deity. In the Gospel history, there is no divine nature coming to the rescue
of his human nature. It was as a man he conquered his temptations; as a man he obeyed and served; and as a man he suffered and died. His life was the life of a human being, even as he was the eternal Son of God, the maker of heaven and earth. God the Son,
strange to say, could not save us from our sins; only God the Son as now a man could do that!
All of that to say the Transfiguration as an event in the life of Jesus, was for Jesus. That is, this was not for the disciples who saw it, they were not even allowed
to talk about it, Jesus forbid them. It would be over a year before they would begin discussing what had happened on that day. This was an intimate experience between the Father and the Son that in God’s compassion for us, He invites us into.
This moment is pivotal in the life of the Savior. Jesus had announced to the 12 that his ministry would come to an end by being rejected and executed. The cross was
now set before Him with nothing blocking its view…this is where He is going. Jesus had been a sensation up to this point, folks flocking to see Him. He had been doing miracles and showing compassion to these great crowds. But the peak of His popularity was
coming to an end…and He knew it. He knew that things were going to become increasingly difficult and that all of this was building to an excruciating death where He would find Himself…all alone.
And on the Mt. of Transfiguration, the Father comes to His Son to assure Him, to comfort Him, to let Jesus know, everything was exactly as it should be. The glory
of God shone upon Jesus as well as Moses and Elijah. This would remind Jesus of the glory that was, is and would be His again at the completion of His work. The glory of God was Jesus by nature, but He laid it aside to rescue fallen man. Hebrews reminds us
that Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him. (12:2) Jesus is here reminded of that…tastes of that again! Jesus lived everyday with the dreadful reality of what He was to endure, even asking the Father if there was another way to accomplish
our redemption. What an immense encouragement it must have been for Him, for the Father to appear and glorify Jesus with heavenly glory!
The Lord also would have been encouraged that heaven was watching and with sympathy, while Jesus finished what He had come to do. His disciples were very confused
about what Jesus was doing and talking about. They failed to really understand until after His resurrection. Why would Peter start talking about building booths? Why would he not ask Jesus what He meant about His coming Exodus, His departure or His death?
But surely it was a great encouragement for Him to have a conversation with Moses and Elijah while bathed in the glory of heaven! They understood! Here were people who really got it!
But most of all, this was for Jesus a great encouragement, because His Father communicated again, the love and approval of His Son. “This is
my Son, my chosen one, listen to him.” And what do you suppose “listen to him” refers to in the context. Surely it means first and foremost, “listen to what he tells you about the cross, about what he has come to do, about the way of salvation” It was
precisely concerning this that they were not listening. And God himself was correcting that error. In the moment it was as if his Father were saying to Jesus, “Go on your way to Jerusalem and to the cross. Do not shrink from it, terrible as it is. Do
not let the soft minds and hard hearts of these disciples distract or discourage you.
I am pleased with you. This is my will for you. I am pleased with you my Son precisely because you are living not for yourself but for Me and for the people I have given to You. I am delighted with You because it is Your unalterable purpose to save others
and not Yourself! Can you not imagine how time and time again the recollection of the sound of those words came back to encourage and lift up the Son of Man?
When he woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night he would go back to that scene, that moment on the mountain, and recall what he had seen and heard.
That is what the transfiguration did for Jesus Christ: it helped him get to the end and
that is what made it such a gift to our Savior.
Perhaps you have read quickly this morning as this sounds more like a theology lesson than a devotional. What does all of this mean for us? It is good and necessary
for us to think deep thoughts about Jesus Christ and what our salvation cost Him and how much it took from Him and how it was achieved. He in his greatness as our Savior is all the encouragement we will ever need, no matter our troubles or trials. But, then,
it is worth noticing that the encouragement the heavenly Father provided his Son that night is the very encouragement he gives us time and time again. We too face difficulties in life, sorrows and events that fill us with dread. And of course, there is a great
deal of death along the way: the sights and smells of it, physical death and spiritual death and the sin that has brought these thousand forms of death upon us. But remember these events on the mountain top, just as our Lord Jesus remembered them every day
after that night on the mountain top.
Jesus traveled this road before you, and a darker and more difficult road by far. And along the way he was encouraged by these facts: First, there is an end that awaits
us that is filled with glory…not just for Jesus, but for all who are loved by Him! Second, there is a great cloud of witnesses cheering you on (Heb 12:1). And Third, your heavenly Father’s love will accompany you through every difficulty until you are safely
home and you too will hear Him say, “This is my child, I am pleased with you, welcome Home.”
Prayer: Father, may the encouragement that gave courage to the heart of my Savior, be for me a great boon to stay the course and finish the race. Fill me with Your
Spirit and help me to listen to Him, to adore the Savior and to walk humbly with my God. Through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Hymn: Who are These Like Stars Appearing
