Transfiguration Sunday February 15th Exodus 24:12-18 and Matthew 17:1-9
This is the Sunday before Ash Wednesday,
the Sunday before Lent begins.
It is Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday.
Transfiguration Sunday celebrates the glorious revelation
of God in Jesus Christ and Christ’s manifestation as
the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. [1]
In last week’s sermon, I mentioned the relationship
between the teaching of Jesus and that of the law
and the prophets.[2]
Jesus’ teachings is not opposed to the law and
the prophets: Jesus is the fulfillment of the law
and enacts it.
From today’s scripture…
On that mountain with Jesus was Moses and Elijah.
Moses and Elijah were part of Israel’s past,
Moses representing the law.
Elijah representing the prophets.
Jesus was the hope of the future for Israel and
all the nations of the earth.
In other words, borrowed from the PCUSA’s website:
In Jesus’ transfiguration, we are assured that Jesus is
the hope of the ages.
Jesus is the One who fulfilled the Law given through
Moses,
the one dreamed of by the prophets, of whom
Elijah is the greatest.[3]
Before we get to that moment on the mountain with Jesus,
Elijah, and Moses, let us see what our Exodus
scripture has for us today.
The Lord invites Moses to “Come up to the Mountain”.
This is when the God gives the commandments and
the law to Moses.
Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain with
God and he went through a transformation as well.
In Exodus 34,
we are told of a change that occurred to Moses…
Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down
from the mountain with the two tablets of the
covenant in his hand,
Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone
because he had been talking with God.
When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin
of his face was shining, and they were afraid to
come near him.
Moses actually put a veil over his face to hide the glow.
Back to the New Testament…
On that mountain, at the transfiguration God spoke:
“This is my Son, my Beloved,
with whom I am well pleased.”
We are used to hearing these words in the gospels.
God speaking about Jesus whether it is at his baptism
or at the transfiguration, the gospel writers give their
account of God speaking.
The prophets of old spoke God’s truth,
the New Testament message of God is voiced by
Jesus.
Just as the Old Testament prophets spoke truth,
Jesus fulfills those prophecies.
As we heard in Matthew 17:
Jesus took with him Peter and James and his
brother John and led them up a high mountain,
by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them…
Peter, in his usual enthusiastic way,
was the one who wanted to build 3 tents and
have Jesus, Moses, and Elijah dwell there.
Peter did not want the moment to end.
Then the voice from heaven came and Peter heard it!
Peter, James, and John were told:
“Tell no one about the vision until after the Son
of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Peter was always curious and seemed excited,
maybe ‘in awe’ is a better phrasing,
to be a disciple of Jesus.
Peter represents us in the gospels.
He asks the questions you and I probably would
want to ask but would be afraid to ask.
Peter, the fisherman who was called to follow,
the faithful one
jumping into the water to walk to Jesus,
Peter, the one answering the question of
‘who do you say I am?’ and the one
a few moments later who rebuked Jesus
because Peter set his
mind not on divine things but on human things,
Peter, who asked about forgiveness,
who did not want his feet washed by Jesus,
who with other apostles
fell asleep while Jesus prayed,
Peter, the denier who claimed he did not know Jesus, and
the one who ran to the empty tomb.
And going back to our scripture from today, Peter,
James, and John were present at the transfiguration.
Peter’s testimony of that event that he recounts in 2 Peter,
reassures the readers with confidence of the truth,
what happened, what Peter witnessed, and what faith
they must embrace because of his testimony.
You and I reading the scriptures today,
2000 years after the fact,
reveals the endurance of truth.
We were not there.
Yet, because others were,
because they told their story,
because they taught what they learned from Jesus,
because they wrote about those events,
because they spoke truth,
you and I are Christians.
As Jesus was transfigured on the mountaintop,
Peter, James, and John went through a change
as well.
How could they not be changed?
I think their strong faith deepened
after witnessing the transfiguration.
The scriptures are the word of God.
Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit,
God’s word was given to teach us about God and
for us to learn of our obligations to God and
to each other.
As you and I engage in the scriptures,
we go beyond reading words.
We learn, we discern,
we consider what that time and place was like,
we wonder about the people, their lives,
their struggles and joys.
Yes, on occasion it is good for us to put ourselves
in the story.
How might we feel if we were with Moses
wandering in the wilderness?
How might you and I react to hearing Jesus
preach the Sermon on the Mount?
What would life be like if we had been in exile in
Babylon?
What would have changed inside us if we had witnessed
Jesus’ birth, baptism, transfiguration, crucifixion,
or resurrection?
All of us are the part of the story that continues
the story of faith for the next generation and the next.
What can you and I take with us from today as we
remember Jesus’ transfiguration?
From PCUSA.org:
In celebrating this event, we rejoice in the divine
majesty of Christ, whose glory shone even when
confronted with the cross.
It is given us for our journey through Lent toward the
agony of the cross and the victory of the empty tomb.
We celebrate this mystery in order that our faith may
be renewed.
We are transformed into the new being in Christ as
we join Christ in his death and resurrection in Lent
and Easter.[4]
[1] PCUSA.org
[2] Connection Year A volume 1 page 238
[3] PCUSA,org
[4] PCUSA.org
Joy of Ministry 
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