Transfiguration
Luke 9:28-36 (ESV)
(28) 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.
Prayer.
Have you ever said something without thinking, and then felt stupid or been embarrassed? Usually we are the only ones who remember such incidents – everyone else forgot what we said long ago. Peter, however, didn’t have such luxury: his foolish words have been recorded in Scripture for all the world to read all down through the centuries.
What did he say?
“Let us make three tents, one for
you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” The Message version says, ‘ "Master,
this is a great moment! Let's build three memorials: one for you, one for Moses,
and one for Elijah." He blurted this out without thinking.’
It was a special moment.
If you met two people from your personal history or two amazing celebrities, what would you do? What would you say? “Hey, can we get a photo?” ‘Let’s put this on video… get in on the computer, and upload it to youtube (youtube is a popular video clip sharing site on the internet).
If we have special experiences, if we meet celebrities, we want to record the event, celebrate it, even boast about it!
But they didn’t. Verse 36 says Peter, James and John “kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.”
Later, after Jesus was crucified, died and had risen
again and ascended back to heaven, they did tell others about it. They recorded
the experience in the gospels and Peter wrote about it in his second letter: 2
Peter 1:16-18
“…With our own eyes we saw his greatness. We were there when he
was given honor and glory by God the Father, when the voice came to him from the
Supreme Glory, saying, "This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased!"
We ourselves heard this voice coming from heaven, when we were with him on the
holy mountain.”
On the mountain Jesus was given honor and glory by God
the Father. At the time, however, Peter was awestruck by Moses and Elijah
being there with Jesus. Their presence was significant, but the most important
thing about this event was what they were talking about.
Verse 31: they
“spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.”
Literally his ‘exodus’.
God had used Moses to lead his people out of slavery in
Egypt (the first exodus) and into the promised land. But Jesus’ death means
freedom for all people from slavery to sin, freedom from the grip of death,
freedom from the oppression and harassment and tortures of the devil!
Jesus’
crucifixion and rising again to life means we – that is, anyone who believes in
him – has the sure hope of entering the ultimate promised land of God’s home,
where we will enjoy God’s love and joy and peace forever.
Verse 34: As Peter was talking about setting up his
tents or memorials, it says “a cloud came and enveloped them. They were afraid
as they entered the cloud.”
Why? Because it was no ordinary cloud. It was the cloud of glory from which the LORD, the great ‘I AM’ of Israel had spoken to Moses. Now the LORD spoke to them from the cloud.
What did God say to them?
"This is my Son, my Chosen
One; listen to him!"
Moses and Elijah were people God used mightily, for his purposes. We are right to honour them as servants of God. But may we never focus on the servants of God to such an extent that we forget about God Himself!
Peter’s idea of setting up three memorials, was wrong, because it put Jesus on the same level as Moses and Elijah. A lot of people make the same error: they see Jesus as a prophet, a good man, a teacher, and put him alongside various historic leaders and inspirational figures such as Ghandi, Buddha, Mohammed, Confucious, etcetera.
The LORD set Peter right by enveloping him, along with James and John, so that he could not see Moses or Elijah any more, or anyone else for that matter. With all distractions taken away, the three men could hear God clearly:
"This is my Son, my Chosen One;
listen to him!"
“And when the voice had spoken, they saw only Jesus.”
As we gather here to worship, we too are pointed to Jesus alone. We are commanded to listen to Jesus alone.
How will we hear him? God has given us his words, recorded in Scripture. In fact, we are told that all Scripture is inspired by God. We are to receive the Word of God gladly, study it carefully, and get to know God through it.
As John writes in John 20: 31
“…these [things] are
written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that by believing you may have life in his name.”
One effect of receiving life in Jesus’ name is that all the stupid things we’ve said, all our dumb ideas, all our pathetic mistakes and our vile sins as well, are taken away and destroyed forever through Jesus’ death on the cross.
This Wednesday we begin the season of Lent, 40 days (not including Sundays) in which we are invited to focus on ‘Jesus alone.’
May God bless you in your relationship with him during
the coming Lenten season, and help you grow spiritually as you keep your eyes
fixed on Jesus. Amen.
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