Jesu Juva
“You Ain’t
Seen Nothing Yet!”
Text: Mark 9:2-9; 2
Corinthians 3:12 - 4:6
Grace, mercy, and peace
to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Hang on! Buckle up. It’s going to be a wild ride
today as we consider the Transfiguration of our Lord. We’re going to go from
Genesis to Revelation, from the tabernacle to the transfiguration, from sin to
glory, all in about 15 minutes or so. So here we go. Hang on.
In six days, God created the heavens and the
earth. And it was all good. In fact, it couldn’t be any better. It is
good to be here, Adam and Eve would have said.
And then sin. And the good was changed, and not
for the better, as they had been promised. They had the best and they gave it
up. Adam and Eve - could we say? - were transfigured. Innocence lost, the
perfect image of God lost, paradise lost. And they knew they were naked and
were ashamed.
Then their Father came to them, in mercy. Yes,
there were consequences for their sin, but also mercy. And one of the merciful
things He did was clothe them. Cover their shame. Yet at the same time, these
clothes would be a constant reminder to them of their fall, their sin. How
uncomfortable they must have been, at first. It was like this, in the
beginning.
Fast forward, now, to that mountain where Jesus
takes Peter, James, and John. That too - did you notice? - was after six
days. And on that mountain the clothes that Jesus is wearing - clothes
only necessary because of sin - are now quite different. In fact, Mark uses a
word for them that is used only here in the
entire New Testament, saying that Jesus’ clothes became radiant,
intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. They were
otherworldly, we could say . . . because of the one wearing them. The clothes that were a reminder of sin and uncomfortable on Adam
are clothes brilliant and radiant on the second Adam, the Son of God.
So what were they supposed to think, Peter,
James, and John? Jesus hadn’t prepared them for this! It just happened, without
warning. Their world, it seems, invaded - not only with this vision of
radiance, but then also with visitors from heaven: Moses and Elijah. The Law and the prophets. The hymn we just sang spoke of
them, and the second verse, which spoke of them, intrigued me. It said: Trembling
at His feet we saw Moses and Elijah speaking. All the prophets and the law Shout through them their joyous greeting (LSB #415 v. 2). Joyous
greeting. I had never imagined it that way before. Moses and Elijah
happy and joyful with Jesus - not all serious and theological!
But that would help make sense of Peter’s
response. They’re terrified, Mark tells us. He doesn’t know what to say . . . so
why say anything? But Moses and Elijah are rejoicing, so this is good.
Good, yes. So we’ll make three tents. Maybe, Peter thought, so he can go down
and get the others and they can see it too. And maybe then bring all the world to see this sight. The Law
and the prophets rejoicing in this One about whom they had been talking and
pointing to and awaiting. All could see Jesus as they knew Him and knew
He was - the Son of God, radiant, brilliant. It would be almost like a theme
park. A spectacle. Because that’s
what we like in this world. Like rattling shiny keys
in front of a baby.
But that idea doesn’t last long, for then comes the
cloud. Uh oh. When clouds move in you know the
storm is on the way. But these are not storm clouds - this is the God cloud.
The cloud of Mount Sinai, the cloud that led the people through the wilderness,
the cloud that filled the tabernacle and the temple - the cloud that signals God
is here, hiding, so He can be with you. Because if He
didn’t hide, then the terrified Peter, James, and John felt before? You ain’t see
nothin’ yet! We cannot stand in God’s direct and glorious presence and live. So
God hides Himself, cloaks Himself, to be with us, for us; for our good. That
cloud is for our protection.
And it overshadows them. That’s a
significant word, too - not used many time in the Bible. In fact, it is used in
only two other places when not talking of this event. And one of those was when
the angel Gabriel came to Mary and told her she was going to be a mother and
have a son; that there’s going to be a Jesus. And now His Father says: this
is My beloved Son, Jesus - listen to Him.
Stop blathering on about holy theme parks and open your ears.
And then it was over. . . . Or was
it?
Fast forward now to St. Paul and his letter to
the Corinthians. One thing Paul can always do is pack a whole lot of theology
into just a few verses, and these are no exeption.
But there are two significant things he says here that I want to point out
today. First, he talks about Moses. He says Moses would put a veil over his
face so the Israelites could not see what was coming to an end. What was
happening was that everytime Moses would go into the tabernacle, or the tent of meeting, to meet with God and
speak to Him face-to-face, he would come out with his face glowing. But it
wouldn’t last. The glory of God glowing on him would fade. So he would put the
veil over his face when he came out. Moses was the messenger, bringing the Word
of God and its glory to the people.
But here’s the important point - what Paul then
goes on to say: And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of
the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to
another.
Okay, unveiled faces - that’s Moses going into
the tent. WE now, Paul says, not just Moses - WE now have access
to the tent, to God, in Jesus. For remember when Jesus was crucified? The what in the Temple was torn in two from top to
bottom? The veil. Because of Jesus’
atonement, His blood, we have access to God. We don’t have to have a Moses go
in there for us and come out - we have access to God and His glory in Jesus.
Just as Peter, James, and John witnessed on the mountain that day.
But what’s the result of that? And here’s what all this
has been leading up to: WE all, Paul says, are being
transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.
And that word transformed - it’s the same word used of what happened to
Jesus. He was transformed, and now we are being transformed,
transfigured.
Adam was transformed, too, remember? From glory into sin, from life to death, from paradise to toil,
from fellowship to separation. Now we are being transfigured,
transformed, back. In Jesus.
And transformed into what? The
same image. The image of God Adam was created in but then fell from, we are being transformed back into - the image of
Christ, who is the image of God. Jesus restoring to us what we lost in sin. Through His death and resurrection. Through
the forgiveness of our sin.
That’s why God doesn’t want a holy theme park set
up on the top of that mountain. It’s not good enough for Jesus to be
transfigured! He wants us to be transfigured too. He wants you to have that
glory too. He wants us with Him like Moses and Elijah. And for that He came. To go to the cross. To take the fall with Adam and with us,
that we get the glory with Him.
Mark said that Jesus led them up
the mountain that day. That could also be translated that Jesus bore them
up the mountain that day. Carried them. I like
that. Because it’s a picture of what Jesus did at that other mountain, called
Calvary, where He bore, He carried, our sins on the cross, and will bear
us to heaven with Him also.
So then, Paul goes on to say, having this
ministry - this service of transformation for you - by the
mercy of God, we do not lose heart. In fact, quite the opposite! For
this is not a ministry to the worthy and perfect who need no transfiguration.
The purpose of this ministry, of the Church, of the Word and Sacraments, is the
transfiguration of you and I from death to life, from
falling to rising, from sin to glory. And that’s what’s happening here. In Baptism, new life, resurrection. In Absolution,
forgiveness, cleansing, washing. In the Supper, Christ
in us, His life in us, Body and Blood. In the Word, listening
to Him. Transforming us into the image
of Christ, from one degree of glory to another.
Even if we don’t always
live like it.
‘Cause we don’t. ‘Cause we too often conform to this world instead of being transformed
by Christ (Romans
12:2 - same word!).
‘Cause like Eve, we fall for satan’s lies and deception. Like Adam, we remain
silent when we should speak and listen - not to Christ - but to those who lure
us into sin. We grab for what is forbidden ‘cause we
think we know better than God. Like Peter, we blather on instead of listening.
We like the shiny and spectacular, the feel good more than the work, and grow
dissatisfied and covet when our lives aren’t turning out as we want. We doubt
and we grumble, we judge but don’t like to be judged, and about a million other
ways we’ve invented to sin.
So take God’s advice: listen to Jesus.
Listen. And you know what you’ll hear? I
forgive you all your sins. This is My Body, This is My Blood. The Lord bless you and keep you. Depart in peace. And you do. For
in Jesus you are at peace with God.
And so today we’ve come to the end of the
Epiphany season. In Christmas we’ve seen God come in the flesh. During Epiphany
we’ve seen this man, this flesh, is God. And on Wednesday we’ll enter the
season of Lent and see this God-man on the cross, taking our place, that we may
be transfigured, changed, transformed. That we be sons of God
with Him and in Him.
So today at the end of the service, we’ll sing
our good-bye to Alleluia (LSB
#417). We’ll
mourn our sins - that’s part of our transformation: dying to sin. And then
we’ll rejoice on Easter, when we break out in our Alleluias again, and look
forward to the Day when it will be Easter for us all and once and for
all. When we will rise and as Paul said in his first
epistle to the Corinthians, we will be changed (1 Cor 15:52). The transfiguration complete. And Moses and Elijah will not
come here - we’ll go there. To that great multitude of Revelation, which no one
can number, and clad in what? White robes, of course (Rev 7:9, 13)! And we’ll never leave.
For as St. Paul concludes: For God, who
said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” - in the beginning, in
creation - has shone in our hearts - now! - to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God - not on the mount of
Transfiguration, but here, now, - in the face of Jesus Christ.
In the Name of the
Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.