And We Have Beheld His Glory – March 2, 2025, Transfiguration!
Exodus 19:16-25, Luke 9:18-36
March 2, 2025
If the title of this sermon sounds familiar – and I hope it does, that’s because it comes from the Prologue of John’s Gospel. That’s what the first chapter of John has been called. It’s a great chapter! In it, he tells about Jesus in the grand scheme of all creation. He starts out, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God.” Do you remember? And then it ends with these wonderful words. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of Grace and truth. And we have beheld his glory, glory of the only Son from the Father.”
I think that phrase speaks of this story. Because on that day, on that mountain, John, along with Peter and James, beheld his glory – the true glory of Jesus! Here in this story, Jesus took them to the mountaintop, and he was transfigured – he was changed before them – changed into the glorious, spiritual Jesus.
In Luke’s Gospel, this comes just after the story of the Feeding of the 5,000 – one of Jesus’ greatest miracles! And Luke doesn’t give us all the dialogue we read and talked about last week. Do you remember Jesus’ shocking words in John? “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have eternal life.” Luke doesn’t give us those difficult words. But the words he does give us are equally difficult in their own way.
After that great miracle, Jesus asks his disciples what the people are saying about him. They answer him, “Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah or one of the prophets.” And then he asks, “But who do you say that I am?” And keep in mind that Jesus had that sense of timing about how he would reveal himself to the world. But Peter answers him plainly. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!”
Well, even then, Jesus charges them to tell no one! There’s that timing thing again. But he does tell them that the Christ must suffer! He must be rejected, and killed, and be raised! And according to Luke, this is the first time Jesus has told them this! Imagine what they must have been thinking! “Does our rabbi have a death wish?” They’d already heard him talking about his eating and drinking his flesh and blood!
Well, if that weren’t enough, what did he say next? And he said this “to all.” “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” And again, those are words we say all the time. And they’re not shocking to us because we know what they mean. But I daresay they’ve lost their power over the years.
These people didn’t know about the cross as the symbol of Christianity. They didn’t know of it as being associated with the atonement and God’s plan of salvation. But they did know what the cross was. It was an instrument of a torturous and painful death, one of the worst means of execution ever devised!
There have been some articles written about how death occurs in a crucifixion, and maybe we should revisit the details of that from time to time, so this whole thing does not lose its power. (I was thinking this week that maybe our Catholic brothers and sisters have a better handle on this, because they have the crucifix. That’s the cross with Jesus hanging on it.)
Well, these people knew it! They had seen many of their countrymen hung and dying on crosses. It was a horrific image in their minds! And here was Jesus relating that image to any who would follow him! And if that wasn’t enough, add to it his call to self-sacrifice in these closing words, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, will save it.”
What did the people think when they heard that? What did his disciples think? Remember, they were more heavily invested in all of this. The other “disciples” could simply walk away. And we know many of them did! But what about the twelve? What did they think? Was their master suggesting some kind of suicide cult? Take up the cross and follow? What had they gotten themselves into?
I believe that story “sets the stage” for the Transfiguration. With all those questions I believe they were struggling with in their minds, Jesus takes them to the mountain. And there he stood with Moses and Elijah. And notice, he didn’t have to introduce them. They knew it was Moses and Elijah! That’s part of the supernatural nature of this event.
The more I’ve thought about this event, the more I’ve come to believe that this was something his disciples needed. I think they did wonder if they had thrown in their lot with the right person. Or could he be leading them astray? We’re told that many so called leaders who led people astray in those days. The religious leaders had quite a job on their hands! As I said, they were the “keepers of the faith!”
I believe these disciples needed some assurance. They needed to be certain they were following the right guy, that they were “backing the right horse.” And don’t we need that too sometimes? Yes, we are on this side of the empty tomb, we have the greater understanding, or at least the more complete history of Jesus. But still, we need that assurance. We can only imagine how much they needed it. But we too need “Glimpses of Glory.” I almost used that as my sermon title.
This was a glorious scene! I’m sure all of our mental images fall far short of reality! Here, heaven literally came down and touched the earth, at that moment, on that mountain! Just before this, Jesus told them about the Son of Man “coming in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.” Then he took them to the mountain and he showed them that Glory!
They certainly needed that. Again, they had been hearing some difficult things. And yes, Peter said those faithful sounding words. “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” That sounds great. That sounds faithful! But maybe it wasn’t such a rhetorical question. Maybe they were wondering to whom they should go! These guys were still human. They were hearing some disturbing things. Again, they were things we say without their shock value. Because we’ve said them for so long. But not them! They needed to know that Jesus was the one they should be following.
Maybe we do, too. There have been a lot of people down through the years – and many in our world today – who have doubted the legitimacy of Jesus. They’ve tried to downplay and to deny his deity. They’ve tried to relegate him to the things we said the last couple of weeks, that he was “Just a great teacher” – things like that. They’ve doubted the whole sin, and judgment, and salvation thing. They’ve denied the need for a savior.
Maybe those thoughts creep into your mind, too. Maybe they cause doubt. Or, maybe you got a renewed sense of the shock value of Jesus’ words from last week. (That’s what I was hoping for!) But maybe you’re wondering if you should take too seriously that whole “eat my flesh and drink my blood,” thing. And I would tell you that probably should doubt those things – IF Jesus was not who he said he was!
But he was, and he is! And the next time we or anybody will see him, he will be in his glorious, transfigured form that the disciples got a glimpse of that day on that mountain.
In the meantime, look for those glimpses in the world around you. See God’s hand in creation. It is amazing! And Spring is a good time to do that! Look for the glory in our whole world. I know the world can be a depressing place. People can be so cruel to each other! But look for the good! And make sure people see the good in you.
But above all, know that Jesus is who he said he is. And when you’re not sure, remember these words from an actual eyewitness. “And we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.” Because they did!
Prayer
Eternal God, you have given us Jesus, the amazing example of your infinite love for us. Help us to follow him, as you have called us to do. It’s not always easy, but with the strength of your Holy Spirit we know we can, and we can be assured that he will point us to your glorious kingdom. We pray these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.