The Transfiguration of the Lord, February 2, 2020, W.H.

Matthew 17: 1-9

In the name of the Lord Jesus who manifested His glorious majesty on the mountain,

Dear Fellow Redeemed:

This text reveals an astounding occurrence.  Jesus revealed His glorious majesty.  Jesus was transfigured.  He began to shine as bright as the sun.  The sight frightened the disciples.

Mostly, we know of Jesus from the Gospels.  They reveal Him a baby, a young man and an itinerant preacher.  He was gentle.  He had no form, comeliness that we should desire Him.

We also confess that He is God.  It is beyond our imagin-

ation.  And today, on a mountain, we see Him in another light: 

Jesus manifests His glorious divinity!

This prepared Him for His cross and encourages us under a cross.

       The manifestation prepared Jesus for Good Friday.  We read:

Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead."

His earthly mission was nearly complete.  The horrible path to the cross was before Him.  Much was behind Him.  Much had been established.  Much had been accomplished.

       He had manifested His humanity.  He had been born.  He had matured under the guidance of His parents.  Not too many

weeks back we celebrated His Christian Education.  We read:

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.  Lk2

We saw His baptism.  John didn’t want to do it.  Jesus spoke:

Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.  Mt. 3

Jesus resisted Satan after 40 days in the wilderness.  So we read

He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.  Heb.

Jesus, throughout His life, did all the things God demanded.  These are the things God demanded of us.  As One of us He endured all the things we suffer.  He endured this, as we ought.  Jesus did all this for us.  And we get the credit.

       He also established His divinity.  He performed miracles, something no ordinary man could do.  They weren’t tricks.  He even raised the dead.  When the followers of John the Baptist

doubted Jesus’ divinity, He replied:

Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.  Luke 7:22

Only God could do these things.  He is God and Man in one.

       He also clearly established that He is the promised Messiah.  Prophecy proves who Jesus is.  Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, the Christ.  He did everything the Christ was promised to do.

       He battled the religious establishment; Scribe and

Pharisee.  He rebuked the Sadducees.  They responded:

Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.  Jn. 11:53

       One important thing was left.  He needed to fulfill the words

prophesied about Him in ignorance by an enemy, Caiaphas:

You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."  Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation.  Jn. 11:49-51

       On the mount of Transfiguration Jesus’ eye was on Jerusalem.  He looked to the cross.  He saw His mournful prayer

in Gethsemane when He would say:

"My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.”  Matt. 26:38  And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.  Luke 22:44

He would suffer a pain, an agony so great we could never understand.  He would suffer the punishment every single singer

deserved.  It was so much, He would cry:

"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Matt. 27:46

       The mount of Transfiguration was a respite, an oasis before…

       And our eyes turn to the cross.  Jesus was not alone.

Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.

Lent swiftly approaches.  Next week begins the pre-Lenten season.  We prepare for His suffering and pain on our behalf.

       We celebrate the cross.  During the approaching solemn season we remember our sin. We cannot stand before Him as we are.  We cannot stand in the presence of holiness because we are

not holy.  We fall before God in great fear.  The disciples reacted.

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!"  And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.

We prepare for Good Friday by confessing our sin.  But we are looking to the cross of Jesus.  There is our hope.  On the

mountain, Jesus calmed the disciple’s terror.  We read:

But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid.

St. John spoke to comfort terrified sinner saying:

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.  I Jn 2. 

This is your salvation.  Jesus erases our sins and with them, our

fears.  He brings us God’s love.  He brings us God’s grace.

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the

brethren.  I Jn 3

       Jesus’ majesty is our comfort.  It gave Jesus a boost.  He

experienced a glimpse of His reward for completing His mission.

He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.

For a moment, He stood on the mountain, no longer a humble man.  He enjoyed the full glory of His divinity unveiled.  This is how He would be after the cross, after the grave, after His

resurrection.  On Easter morning, He told Mary:

Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father;  Jn. 20:17

I am no longer the same.  My work is over.  I am glorified.

       He experienced that joy of glorification.  Paul described it:

Which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heav-enly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.  And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church.  Eph. 1:20-22

       On the mountain, Jesus was given assurance that His

mission, as difficult as it was, was in accord with God’s will.

And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.  Lk. 9:30-31

       These two sainted heroes of old assure Jesus and us that He followed the path set for Him by His Father.  They spoke of His decease because His decease would accomplish God’s will.  Jesus’ decease saves the wicked.  It calls the wicked to repentance and faith.  God’s will for all people is life and forgiveness.  Through

the Prophet Isaiah God explained how.  He said:

He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. Is 53

It was for us He did it all.  The Father said to Jesus: 

"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" 

       And we are God’s children.  What we believe is true:

For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.  For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.  I Peter 1:16-18

God’s children live in the joy of God’s promises and hope.  With this glimpse of our glory, we see all the way to the right hand of the Father.  The day will come when we will go home.  Jesus will welcome us and we will be at peace.  We live and we die in His name.  And we rise again in the glory of our transfigured Savior.

Amen.  Soli Deo Gloria.