A vision to help you die

Sermon for the Transfiguration of Our Lord

2 Peter 1:16-21  +  Matthew 17:1-9

We spent the month of January studying all kinds of Epiphanies—revelations of Jesus’ hidden divinity. Today we end the season with the greatest of all Epiphanies: with the vision God gave to Peter, James, and John, the Transfiguration of Jesus before their very eyes, a vision which was to be covered up for a while, until after Jesus’ resurrection, and then published broadly in three of the Gospels and referenced in St. Peter’s Second Epistle, so that the Church of all ages might learn a very important lesson from it. Just as each of the other Epiphanies we considered also had a lesson to teach, giving us something to believe or something to do, so also this Great Epiphany of the Transfiguration has a practical purpose for us all. It helps us to do what we all have to do, sooner or later. It’s a vision to help you die.

All three Gospels tie the Transfiguration to what happened about one week earlier. “After six days,” Matthew says. What happened six days earlier? Well, six days earlier Jesus had asked His twelve disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They gave Him all sorts of strange answers: John the Baptist returned from the dead! Elijah! Jeremiah! Or another Old Testament prophet! Jesus put the question to them: “Who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!” And Jesus said, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And then He began to explain to them that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. And Peter said, No! No! That won’t happen to you! And Jesus said, “Get behind Me Satan!” And then He said the words that really help explain the purpose of the Transfiguration: If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. In other words, in order to follow Me, you have to die. Willingly.

After six days, with those words still ringing in their ears, Peter, James, and John accompanied Jesus up the mountain. Those three were often the three disciples whom Jesus took along without the rest. Why those three? We could come up with reasons, but I think the most important thing is that it wasn’t all twelve disciples. It didn’t need to be all twelve. Not everyone needs to see the Transfiguration of Jesus with their eyes in order to be helped by it. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every matter be established.”

And He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. All the other Epiphanies in Jesus’ life up to this point had been wondrous events in the life of Jesus or miraculous deeds done by Jesus, so that, although no one could see His hidden divinity, they could know it was there from the signs pointing to it. This vision on the mountain was the great exception. There, for a moment, they could see with their eyes what they had come to believe with hearts and confess with their mouths: that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. And it was glorious!

Also glorious was the appearance of two Old Testament prophets, Moses and Elijah, Old Testament saints who had lived a hard life of service to God, who had been at times loved, but more often hated, not only by the world, but also by those who were supposed to be God’s people. Each of them had learned ahead of time what it meant to die to himself so that he might live for God and with God. Each of them was an example of those who had “lost” their earthly lives for God’s sake, only to find a life that’s even better. Moses represents the saints who gave up everything and then died in faith, and yet, here he is! Alive and well in the presence of Jesus. Elijah represents the saints who gave up everything and yet didn’t literally have to die, since, you recall, Elijah was taken up to heaven alive in a fiery chariot. And yet, here he is, standing in the presence of Jesus! No better off and no worse off than Moses. Losing your life for Jesus’ sake may mean literally dying in order to be faithful to Him. Or it may not mean literally dying, but instead, being willing to lose everything in order to gain Him.

What were Moses and Elijah doing there with Jesus on the mountain? Mark tells us they were talking with Jesus. Luke tells us what they were talking about. About His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Literally, about His “exodus,” the Greek word for departure, here referring to His own departure from this life. How fitting! Who better to talk with about your impending death than people who had already made an exodus from this life, who had already died and yet lived to tell about it? Now, Jesus knew very well that the deceased are not truly dead. But it would be good for Peter, James, and John to see with their eyes what they believed in their hearts. It would be good for them to hear someone besides Jesus talking about how He would soon suffer and die, because, you remember, Peter didn’t believe it one week earlier when Jesus had told him. It will be good for us to hear about this God-given example of life after death, of life and glory after bearing the cross and losing your life for Jesus’ sake.

The glory and peace and safety of that life were so compelling, so attractive to Peter that he wanted it to last forever. Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Mark tells us, Peter didn’t know what to say; all three disciples were so afraid. But you can relate to Peter, I think. We always want the peace and safety and comfort to last. It always seems good to us, and we’re thankful for the moments of peace and safety and comfort God gives. But you’re not supposed to hold onto it. You’re not supposed to cling to it. You’re supposed to give thanks to God for it while it lasts, and then be ready to let it go, which, sometimes, may even feel like dying.

Before Peter could latch onto the vision too tightly, God the Father interrupted him. While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!

This is the second time we’ve heard God the Father speak these words about Jesus. The first time was at His Baptism. That means nothing Jesus has said or done since His Baptism has been sinful. Nothing has been misguided or wrong. Including all His preaching against sin. Including His predictions of His own imminent suffering for the sins of mankind on the cross. Including the forgiveness of sins which Jesus has pronounced on everyone who believes in Him. Including His insistence that all who follow Him must also deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him, even to death.

Hear Him!, is the Father’s prescription for us. We all have a lot of distractions in our lives. We all have things we’d like to hold onto, to keep at all costs, along with a sinful nature that will not die willingly. And we have a world around us that’s filled with the devil’s lies and the devil’s hatred of all things good. Hear Him!, the Father says. Hear Jesus! Don’t second-guess Him. Hear Him! Don’t deny Him. Hear Him! Don’t live for yourself and for an earthly paradise. Hear Him! He is the beloved Son of God. In Him the Father is well pleased. And if you are found hearing Him now, if you are found in Him by faith at the end of your earthly life, then you, too, have the assurance that God the Father is well pleased in you, too.

After the vision of the Transfiguration was over, Jesus warned His three disciples not to reveal it to anyone until after He was raised from the dead. That means that this vision was meant to be told, meant to be celebrated. It’s a vision meant for the Church to ponder, and to use. We can only imagine how this vision, together with the rest of the Word of Christ, helped the countless Christians who faced torture and imprisonment and death in the coming years, as they were forced to choose between holding onto their earthly lives or holding onto Jesus.

So you, too. Dig in. Bear the cross. Face death bravely. This is what awaits you, if you would follow Christ: Death and then life. Your future is secure. Your glory is guaranteed. So scorn the world. Deny yourself. Speak up for true Christian, catholic doctrine and invite people to your little, not-very-glorious church. Speak up against abortion and against the LGBT madness, with your voice and with your votes! Choose a career that glorifies God and serves your neighbor and work in it with all your might. Form a family and keep your family centered around God and His word. And be ready to suffer for it. Deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow. Follow Jesus first into God’s favor, through faith, and then, through toil, through tribulation, through sacrifice, through self-denial, through persecution, through losing everything on earth, through death itself, follow Him into the real and lasting Paradise. It’ll be there. God has promised. And the resurrection of Christ is the guarantee. He’s given you a brief vision of it today. If you use it, this vision will help you die. But more importantly, it will help you to live as a cross-bearer, following in the steps of THE Cross-Bearer, until you reach the glory He has promised at the end of the road. Amen.