St. Luke 9:28-36
Dearly beloved,
What you seek in gathering here, whether you realize it or not, is a
glimpse of the Divine. A person stumbles into church for one reason: to
find answers to things that he or she does not understand. Many of you have
been Christians since children. You went to church with your family, you
went to Sunday School and you learned the Bible stories. Others of you
sought out the Lord as adults. You lived lives that were without God, but
you were drawn to seek out the things that go beyond this world.
The disciples were following Jesus because He was teaching them things
and showing them signs that led them to believe that there was something
going on that was beyond the here and now, but it was taking place right
before their very eyes. The miraculous catch of fish, which we pondered
last week, was Peter's first gaze into the incarnate Son of God. Peter saw
God's hand at work and followed Him. Now, we are told of a different
account, where Peter really saw something inexpressible. Peter got more
than even he had bargained for.
It is on a mountain, up and away from the cares of everyday life.
Perhaps Peter, James, and John thought that Jesus was going to do what He
usually did on a mountain–pray, meditate, and maybe even teach. It was an
intimate occasion with Jesus and three men who would later be regarded by
Paul as the "pillars of the church." They were to see the Transfiguration.
Jesus, God in the flesh, is changed before their very eyes and they behold
what they had desired to see. They saw what you desire to see: God and His
glorious presence. Sinners were not to see God in His glory and live, but
Jesus lets it happen just as we see with Isaiah seeing God's glory in the
Temple.
The Transfiguration of our Lord is rich in symbolism and a working
knowledge of the Old Testament is important. This account hearkens us
backwards into the time of Moses. Moses goes up a mountain. The Israelites
wait at the bottom of the mountain. Moses ascends the mountain and God
descends in a cloud. The Lord spoke from the cloud and Moses bowed on the
ground and worshiped the Lord. The Lord pronounced His blessing and put the
Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone. The cloud rose up and Moses
descended the mountain with the Ten Commandments.
This account of Moses and God on the mountain is informative for our
understanding of the Transfiguration, though it has a twist. The three
disciples see Jesus' glory, as well as Moses and Elijah. They are
discussing Jesus' departure, which is His coming crucifixion. The presence
of Moses and Elijah represents the Old Testament and its agreement with
Jesus and His suffering and death. Then we see the cloud coming down and
the Lord speaks from the cloud. The disciples, like Moses, had fallen down
and bowed to the Lord in reverence and fear. The two accounts set side by
side are strikingly similar, but with a twist.
Moses descends the mountain with two tablets of stone containing the Ten
Commandments. They were God's voice to the people and they were holy
commandments and they signified God's relationship to His people. But there
was a problem: The Ten Commandments slay us. We look at them and they kill
us. Do not steal, do not covet, do not commit adultery, have no other gods,
etc. We look at them and we realize that words that are meant to bring
life, bring death to us.
The Transfiguration account is meant to be set against this picture of
Moses descending the mountain with the Ten Commandments. We all know what
Moses finds at the bottom of the mountain. Moses finds the people of Israel
worshiping a golden calf. Left to their own devices, they sought things
that concerned themselves. If we were to read on just past the
Transfiguration account, we would find something similar. There was a boy
with an unclean spirit and the disciples who were at the bottom of the
mountain were trying to cast it out but could not.
Jesus descends the mountain only to find chaos at the bottom of the
mountain. What are we to learn from Jesus' descent from the mountain after
His Transfiguration? The first thing we are to learn is that we find our
residence at the bottom of the mountain. We don't get to see glimpses into
the glory of the Lord. We are in the day to day routine of living in this
world. This means that we struggle with employment, family issues,
relationship issues, frustrations and even sins. We are like the disciples
at the bottom of the mountain who are trying to live the way Jesus would
want us to live, but we find our sin getting in the way and preventing us
from living the holy lives to which we have been called.
It is all too familiar to us, that we gaze upon Moses descending the
mountain with the Ten Commandments which show us our sin. Those commands,
as I said, show us what we are unable to live up to. How will you reconcile
yourself, you wonder? How will you ever stand before God in His glory if
Moses and the disciples were not able to look upon the face of God without
fear? There is another aspect to all of this that you must think about.
When Moses descended the mountain, his face glowed with the glory of God.
It was so magnificent and disturbing that the Israelites made Moses put a
veil over his face to hide the glory.
In that picture we have a man descending the mountain with Ten
Commandments and his face glowed with the glory of God. Earlier, I was
asking you how we are to see this set against the Transfiguration account.
How does Jesus' descent down the mountain compare to Moses' account? With
Jesus we see clearly up on the mountain that He is God. He is
transfigured. But it is down the mountain that the truth is revealed for
your life.
Jesus, who is God, descends the mountain not with Ten holy Commandments
which slay us, but He descends the mountain with witnesses who will proclaim
the gospel of what they saw. They will teach, preach, and write about the
Transfiguration. John, one of the disciples on the mountain, writes at the
end of his gospel that "there are so many things that Jesus did. Were every
one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain
the books." These three men who descend the mountain with Jesus will be the
first gospellers. They will preach the good news that redeems us from the
deadly effects of the Law that Moses brought down.
Even more than this, Jesus, who is God, descends the mountain not
glowing in His glory, but He descends the mountain as one of us. He comes
down as a man. It is the flipside of what we see with Moses. The people at
the bottom of the hill are not disturbed by Christ's presence, but they
welcome Him. Jesus enters the life of a boy and his father and heals the
boy. This is your life. Jesus descends from heaven in order to enter your
world. The difficulties you face, the sin and the evils of the world that
come at you are difficult. You don't deal with them alone. Jesus enters
your world. Jesus enters your life. Jesus comes in the midst of chaos and
has a blessing for you.
Jesus died for your sins. Jesus comes to bring refreshment of spirit to
you. Jesus comes to you with words of hope and promise, for you have been
given the gift of salvation in heaven. Therefore, you do come to the Divine
Service seeking to see something glorious and divine. You come to church in
order to have questions answered, but you come in order to get closer to the
things that are Divine and unseen and it is here for you. Jesus comes to
you in the sacrament, giving you forgiveness, hope, and everlasting
salvation. Jesus gives you wisdom as you grow closer to Him and heaven, as
you slowly look up the mountain we call heaven, where the Lord will someday
gather you and you shall feast and gaze upon the glorious presence of our
God. Amen.
--
Rev. Chad Kendall
Trinity Lutheran Church
Lowell, Indiana
www.trinitylowell.org
