"How the Transfiguration Gives Us the Hope of Glory" (Sermon for the Transfiguration of Our Lord)

Today is the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, the Sunday right before Lent begins, which means it is the Sunday in the church year when the Gospel reading always is an account of the Transfiguration of Our Lord. For just as in the Gospel narrative, where the Transfiguration event serves as a pivot point in Christ’s ministry--from here on out Jesus is heading to the cross--so also the church year mirrors this movement, this pivot point, by placing the Transfiguration at this juncture of Epiphany and Lent: Epiphany, the manifestation of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God; Lent, the journey to Jerusalem for his Passion, his suffering and death. Transfiguration is the bridge that connects the two.

But this is more than just a matter of literary or liturgical interest. No, the Transfiguration of Our Lord has real relevance for the lives of real people today. And so today I want to tell you “How the Transfiguration Gives Us the Hope of Glory.” To do that, I’ll organize our thoughts under three main headings.

First, Moses and Elijah show up. Now that is something, isn’t it? Think of it: Moses died some 1400 years earlier. Elijah did not actually die--he was taken up into heaven in chariots of fire--but that was almost 900 years earlier. And now, here they both are! With Jesus, on the mountain, seen by three witnesses, Peter, James, and John. And Moses and Elijah did not appear as just some sort of hologram or hallucination. No, they were really there, actually present. What does this tell us about life after death, about eternal life? That it’s real! Death was not the end for Moses and Elijah--death was not even there for Elijah in the first place--but instead life, life beyond the grave, life in heavenly glory, is the continuing and never-ending reality for all of God’s people, Old Testament and New. That is God’s promise, and it is attested to by the presence of these two men of God, Moses and Elijah.

Furthermore, the fact that they are standing there with Jesus, and then after a while the disciples look up and see Jesus only, shows that the promise of eternal life is connected to and focused in and fulfilled by none other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Moses and Elijah are there only because of Jesus.

And so will you be, my friends! Death will not be the end for you. Death will not separate you from your Savior. Just as Moses and Elijah were with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, so also you, when you die, you will be with the Lord in Paradise. Life everlasting is in store for you. That is your hope, the hope of glory.

Second, the Transfiguration is a preview of Christ’s resurrection, and thus of our own. Jesus himself was transfigured, his form was changed, his face shone, even his clothes became radiant. Now as the Son of God from eternity, Christ always possessed heavenly divine glory. But when he came in the flesh, during the days of his humiliation, Christ Jesus emptied himself and made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant. The glory was put under wraps, if you will. But now, just for this moment, Christ’s glory shines forth, and the disciples get a glimpse of it.

This is a preview of Christ’s glorification, beginning with his resurrection. For the disciples will see Jesus again in glorified state, when he appears to them after rising from the dead. Our text even says, Jesus “charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” Thus the Transfiguration points us to Easter and Christ’s resurrection.

And by pointing us to Christ’s resurrection, the Transfiguration also points us to our own resurrection. For you and I were joined to Christ in Holy Baptism. There the heavenly Father, who said of Jesus, “This is my beloved Son”--in Holy Baptism, the Father takes us as his own dear children, beloved also, adopting us by grace and making us co-heirs with Christ of his glory, so that now we have an inheritance awaiting us in heaven. Just as at the Transfiguration Christ’s clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no fuller on earth could bleach them, so in Holy Baptism you wore a white christening garment, showing that you were being clothed with the robe of Christ’s righteousness. Your sins, though they were scarlet, became as white as snow. No one on earth can cleanse you that pure and holy, only God can. And so, just as Christ’s Transfiguration points ahead to his resurrection, so your Baptism, where you were joined to Christ--that is your Transfiguration and it points ahead to your own resurrection. This is the hope of glory you have right now, baptized child of God, the sure hope of the resurrection. Christ’s Transfiguration is a preview of that glory that comes when he rises from the dead.

But now, third, that glory must come through the cross. To say, as our text does, “until the Son of Man had risen from the dead,” shows that first he must die. You know, in all of the Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration, we see that this event takes place in the close context of Christ first predicting his Passion, that is, his suffering and death. Here in Mark, in the verses immediately before our text, it says: “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly.” And a little after our text, shortly after the Transfiguration, Jesus tells them again: “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”

Now why is this? Why must the glory come through the cross? Because there is no other way for Jesus to accomplish his mission, which is to redeem fallen mankind--to save you, O sinner, lost forever without forgiveness. That is why Christ came, to do that job which we could not do. And it would require his death to accomplish it. The wages of sin is death; that is what we have earned by our rebellion against God, our mountain of misdeeds, the selfishness and the hatred and the lack of love we all manifest on a daily basis. Now multiply that a few billion times over, and you see all the sin that has to be covered and atoned for, if sin is to be forgiven and the judgment of death satisfied. There was, is, only one way for all that sin and death to be taken care of, dealt with once and for all, and that is through the death of Christ, God’s Son. His holy precious blood is of such worth, such infinite value, that when he pours out that blood on the cross and offers his life as the perfect sacrifice for sin--all of it--that that is how there is now a basis for forgiveness: Christ has objectively atoned for all the sins of the whole world. It’s done, it’s finished, it’s taken care of. Thus, without the cross, there is no hope of glory--there is only the prospect of eternal death and damnation. But with the cross, through the cross, there is forgiveness, and with forgiveness--where sin is taken care of, there death is taken care of also, and life reigns in its place.

That is why, my friends, that is why, the glory must come through the cross. We even portray that in the church’s practice, as now we are about to enter the season of Lent. Today we sing our Alleluias and our Glorias, lots of them, in glorious, exuberant praise of God. But today, being the last Sunday before Lent, at the end of this service we will say farewell to Alleluia, for a little while, until Easter comes. Lent is a time for more subdued reflection and penitence. We’re on that journey with Jesus to Jerusalem, and so we put away the glistening white and put on the penitential purple--Forty Days of Purple, if you will. We exchange our Alleluias and Glorias for a Kyrie and a Hosanna. The glory comes through the cross.

But today we get to blast out with our Alleluias one last time. It’s still Epiphany. It’s Transfiguration, the climax of the Epiphany season. From the Wise Men and the shining star; to the Baptism of our Lord, where the heavenly voice first declared, “You are my beloved Son”; through his preaching, teaching, and healing ministry--during this Epiphany season Jesus has been manifesting his glory as the Christ, the Son of God. Now today, on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus lets it all shine forth. Yes, ’tis good, Lord, to be here.

Why? Because in the Transfiguration, we are given the hope of glory. And this hope, our sure hope, the hope of glory, will give you the strength you need to carry on through all the tough times of life, when we come down from the mountain and are going through the plain and perplexing places.

How does the Transfiguration give us this hope of glory? Today we have seen three ways. First, the presence of Moses and Elijah bears testimony to life beyond the grave, a hope focused in and fulfilled by Jesus only. Secondly, Christ’s transfiguration points ahead to his resurrection at Easter, and thus to our own resurrection, for we are joined to Jesus in Baptism. And third, this glory comes through the cross, where Christ made atonement for all of our sins and suffered death for us, thereby winning the forgiveness and eternal life that is our hope of glory. So it’s time to sing some Alleluias.

Therefore in our hymns we pray Thee, Grant us, blessed Trinity, At the last to keep Thine Easter With Thy faithful saints on high; There to Thee forever singing Alleluia joyfully.

Mark 9:2-9 (ESV)

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

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