Transfiguration Sunday 2/22/00 Text: Mark 9:2-9 Title: Shine Jesus, Shine Through Our Lives.

Transfiguration Sunday
February 22, 2009
Text: Mark 9:2-9
Title: Shine Jesus, Shine Through Our Lives.
Today is Transfiguration Sunday. Next Sunday is the First Sunday in Lent. It is appropriate that we end the Epiphany season, the season of light, with the transfiguration; that time when Jesus showed to his beloved disciples his true nature, that is God. In the moment of transfiguration Jesus changed. His earthly body, in a sense fell away, exposing his Godhood. And in doing so he gave them all in one swoop a glance back in time and look into the future. They saw in that time, and we see today through their writing, God in all his glory.
Why did Jesus show his glory to his disciples? To get the answer we have to go back 6 days before they climbed the mountain, which by the way, is 9000 ft above sea level. In Mark chapter 8 verse 29 Peter declared, rightly so, that Jesus is the Christ, Greek for Messiah. Very quickly after that we see in verses 32 and 33 that Peter got crossways with Jesus when Jesus said that he had to suffer, die, and then rise again. Peter said no way that was going to happen, for Peter and the others thought Jesus was going to be the earthly king that was going to set up his kingdom on earth to free the Jewish people from the Romans, a belief that is still shared by many Christians today, as they too look forward to an earthly king that will put the enemies of Christianity down, letting Christ rule in power.
It appears after what Peter said that Jesus decided he needed to show them who he actually was, for his mighty deeds were not breaking through the mindset they had. They were just too tied up in the Law and Prophets to see who he actually was. They were thinking earthly and not heavenly.
They start toward the mountain, climbing it during the day. This was an important mountain, for this is where God had spoken in the past to his prophets and people. It was probably late afternoon, toward evening, when they got to the top.
Then it happened, the transfiguration, the Greek says literally “metamorphosed.” For a brief moment the veil of his humanity was lifted, and his true essence was allowed to shine through. The glory which was always in the depths of his being rose to the surface for that one time in his earthly life. It was a glance back and a look forward into his future glory!
Peter and the others knew who the other two were, for tradition by this time taught that Moses, the great Law giver, and Elijah the most important prophet that had ever lived were going to be present when the Messiah arrived. That is why Peter wanted to build shelters. As far as he was concerned the end was here. It was getting dark, if it was not yet and they needed shelters for these important men. Tomorrow they would discuss how it was going to happen; the overthrow of the Romans.
So why did God have them present when he knew that they had this false understanding of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus? It could only be that, as we read, he wanted them to see Moses and Elijah disappear. Maybe then when he said, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” they would actually listen to what he had to say.
There is another reason that Jesus wanted to show them who he is. Jesus at this point forward was setting his face toward the cross. He wanted his disciples to have a better idea of who he is, so that they could better weather the coming months. We know, from the Gospel writings that they still struggled with his intent to die. They just did not get it, for they were so set on him being an earthly king, that their mind could not accept the cross, for as the Old Testament scripture told them only the worst of the worst would hang on a tree.
Today, many Christians still have the same problem. They accept Jesus as their Savior, but just cannot belief that he came to be a suffering, dying, and resurrected Savior. Jesus needs to be more. He needs to be powerful as we think of power. He needs to heal. He needs to give wealth. He needs to restore relationships. That is a powerful Savior, a Savior I can worship they say. Jesus cannot be just a suffering dying Savior even though he in what we see as weakness, achieved the greatest victory possible. He defeated death, our death. In his resurrection we see our resurrection, for just as we are united to him in his death, we are united to him in his resurrection. What we see as death, is only a sleep, as he called death so many times. Our bodies will be brought back to life again, permanently alive; this time free of sin and all its problems and restored back to what God desired of his human creation, perfect love and trust
All of Jesus actions on earth were for one purpose; to free us from the righteous wrath of God. His acts of healing, his miracles, his driving out of demons are to show all people that he is God on earth. They wanted to make him King then. Today the same thing goes on. Instead of just letting God be God, we want to seize him and make him into our own image.
It had been over 600 years since any of the people of God had seen his glory, even longer since Moses face shined from his experience with God. Moses had to cover his face after speaking with the people because the glory of God seen in his face would start to fade and he did not want the people to see what was happening. This is not our Lord Jesus. He is the permanent light of the world. His light continues to shine through the Word of God and the Sacraments.
Years later Peter would write for us in 2 Peter1:16-18: “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. “Listen to him!” was the command! The Law and Prophets were only partial expressions, but here is the final statement. “Listen to him!” and I might add that when God said that he did not say, “listen to him and others.”
The writer of Hebrews begins his letter by saying in Hebrews 1:1, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son”
Jesus is the ultimate expression of truth! Peter, James, and John were to listen to what Jesus said about the necessity of his death and of their embracing the paradox of the Cross. “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” Human wisdom would say that can’t be, but human wisdom does not save us from God’s wrath.
We need to listen to Jesus’ words about all of life. In John 6:68, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” In John 7:37 we read that we are not to listen to others, “If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him”
Listen when he says in Matthew 11: 28-30 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” and in Mark 8:34, If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me”.
Jewish tradition says that when Jesus was walking the earth the custom of the priests was to light 4 huge candelabras in the temple. It is recorded that the fires in the candelabras was so large that they not only illuminated the temple, but the entire city. Jesus standing in the temple the week of his death, after the fires had burned out said, “I am the light of the world.” The world hates that.
There could scarcely be a more absolute way to announce one of the supreme truths of his existence. He was telling to the people then and to us today, “The pillar of fire that came between you and the Egyptians, the cloud that guided you by day in the wilderness and illumined the night and enveloped the Tabernacle, the glorious cloud that filled Solomon’s Temple, was me!” And in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” Jesus is the only glory. We are to let him draw us close, for in him we have the only light of life. Let us embrace the Light. Let us trust in the Light, for when we do we find ourselves showing mercy to others, forgiving people; all from the joy of the being in the Light. Amen

Transfiguration Sunday 2/22/00 Text: Mark 9:2-9 Title: Shine Jesus, Shine Through Our Lives.

Transfiguration Sunday
February 22, 2009
Text: Mark 9:2-9
Title: Shine Jesus, Shine Through Our Lives.
Today is Transfiguration Sunday. Next Sunday is the First Sunday in Lent. It is appropriate that we end the Epiphany season, the season of light, with the transfiguration; that time when Jesus showed to his beloved disciples his true nature, that is God. In the moment of transfiguration Jesus changed. His earthly body, in a sense fell away, exposing his Godhood. And in doing so he gave them all in one swoop a glance back in time and look into the future. They saw in that time, and we see today through their writing, God in all his glory.
Why did Jesus show his glory to his disciples? To get the answer we have to go back 6 days before they climbed the mountain, which by the way, is 9000 ft above sea level. In Mark chapter 8 verse 29 Peter declared, rightly so, that Jesus is the Christ, Greek for Messiah. Very quickly after that we see in verses 32 and 33 that Peter got crossways with Jesus when Jesus said that he had to suffer, die, and then rise again. Peter said no way that was going to happen, for Peter and the others thought Jesus was going to be the earthly king that was going to set up his kingdom on earth to free the Jewish people from the Romans, a belief that is still shared by many Christians today, as they too look forward to an earthly king that will put the enemies of Christianity down, letting Christ rule in power.
It appears after what Peter said that Jesus decided he needed to show them who he actually was, for his mighty deeds were not breaking through the mindset they had. They were just too tied up in the Law and Prophets to see who he actually was. They were thinking earthly and not heavenly.
They start toward the mountain, climbing it during the day. This was an important mountain, for this is where God had spoken in the past to his prophets and people. It was probably late afternoon, toward evening, when they got to the top.
Then it happened, the transfiguration, the Greek says literally “metamorphosed.” For a brief moment the veil of his humanity was lifted, and his true essence was allowed to shine through. The glory which was always in the depths of his being rose to the surface for that one time in his earthly life. It was a glance back and a look forward into his future glory!
Peter and the others knew who the other two were, for tradition by this time taught that Moses, the great Law giver, and Elijah the most important prophet that had ever lived were going to be present when the Messiah arrived. That is why Peter wanted to build shelters. As far as he was concerned the end was here. It was getting dark, if it was not yet and they needed shelters for these important men. Tomorrow they would discuss how it was going to happen; the overthrow of the Romans.
So why did God have them present when he knew that they had this false understanding of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus? It could only be that, as we read, he wanted them to see Moses and Elijah disappear. Maybe then when he said, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” they would actually listen to what he had to say.
There is another reason that Jesus wanted to show them who he is. Jesus at this point forward was setting his face toward the cross. He wanted his disciples to have a better idea of who he is, so that they could better weather the coming months. We know, from the Gospel writings that they still struggled with his intent to die. They just did not get it, for they were so set on him being an earthly king, that their mind could not accept the cross, for as the Old Testament scripture told them only the worst of the worst would hang on a tree.
Today, many Christians still have the same problem. They accept Jesus as their Savior, but just cannot belief that he came to be a suffering, dying, and resurrected Savior. Jesus needs to be more. He needs to be powerful as we think of power. He needs to heal. He needs to give wealth. He needs to restore relationships. That is a powerful Savior, a Savior I can worship they say. Jesus cannot be just a suffering dying Savior even though he in what we see as weakness, achieved the greatest victory possible. He defeated death, our death. In his resurrection we see our resurrection, for just as we are united to him in his death, we are united to him in his resurrection. What we see as death, is only a sleep, as he called death so many times. Our bodies will be brought back to life again, permanently alive; this time free of sin and all its problems and restored back to what God desired of his human creation, perfect love and trust
All of Jesus actions on earth were for one purpose; to free us from the righteous wrath of God. His acts of healing, his miracles, his driving out of demons are to show all people that he is God on earth. They wanted to make him King then. Today the same thing goes on. Instead of just letting God be God, we want to seize him and make him into our own image.
It had been over 600 years since any of the people of God had seen his glory, even longer since Moses face shined from his experience with God. Moses had to cover his face after speaking with the people because the glory of God seen in his face would start to fade and he did not want the people to see what was happening. This is not our Lord Jesus. He is the permanent light of the world. His light continues to shine through the Word of God and the Sacraments.
Years later Peter would write for us in 2 Peter1:16-18: “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. “Listen to him!” was the command! The Law and Prophets were only partial expressions, but here is the final statement. “Listen to him!” and I might add that when God said that he did not say, “listen to him and others.”
The writer of Hebrews begins his letter by saying in Hebrews 1:1, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son”
Jesus is the ultimate expression of truth! Peter, James, and John were to listen to what Jesus said about the necessity of his death and of their embracing the paradox of the Cross. “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” Human wisdom would say that can’t be, but human wisdom does not save us from God’s wrath.
We need to listen to Jesus’ words about all of life. In John 6:68, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” In John 7:37 we read that we are not to listen to others, “If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him”
Listen when he says in Matthew 11: 28-30 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” and in Mark 8:34, If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me”.
Jewish tradition says that when Jesus was walking the earth the custom of the priests was to light 4 huge candelabras in the temple. It is recorded that the fires in the candelabras was so large that they not only illuminated the temple, but the entire city. Jesus standing in the temple the week of his death, after the fires had burned out said, “I am the light of the world.” The world hates that.
There could scarcely be a more absolute way to announce one of the supreme truths of his existence. He was telling to the people then and to us today, “The pillar of fire that came between you and the Egyptians, the cloud that guided you by day in the wilderness and illumined the night and enveloped the Tabernacle, the glorious cloud that filled Solomon’s Temple, was me!” And in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” Jesus is the only glory. We are to let him draw us close, for in him we have the only light of life. Let us embrace the Light. Let us trust in the Light, for when we do we find ourselves showing mercy to others, forgiving people; all from the joy of the being in the Light. Amen