Listen to Him – February 15, 2026, the Transfiguration!

Exodus 19:16-25, Luke 9:18-36
February 15, 2026

Today we have the story of the Transfiguration.  Jesus took his closest disciples to the mountaintop, and there he showed them heavenly visions.  And let me remind you, right here at the beginning, that this is not the first time we’ve heard the voice of God during Jesus’ lifetime.  In fact, it’s not the first time God has uttered these same words – “This is my beloved Son.”

The first time we heard that was at Jesus’ baptism.  We talked about that in January.  If you remember, the heavens were opened, the Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove, and God spoke, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”  We said that was God confirming who Jesus was.  (It’s hard to imagine that anybody who was there that day could believe anything else about him!)

Well, this time it was different.  The confirmation was the same!  God said those same words, “This is my beloved Son.”  Only this time the last part was different.  He said, “Listen to Him.”  In other words, “He is who I said he was before.”  “Listen to what he’s telling you now!”

That’s an important thing for God to have said that day.  Because this was a more difficult time for these disciples.  Jesus was becoming more and more a controversial figure!  And yet, he was becoming more and more popular, too, which put him at odds with the religious leadership.  And the controversy – the confusion surrounding him, was coming to a head – especially for his disciples!

Think about them.  Think about all they’d been through up to this point.  Well, I think Jesus was recognizing their confusion – the perplexity they were feeling.  And in our passage for today, he addresses that.  He starts by taking them aside and asking, “Who do people say that I am?”  And that’s interesting, because it was about to be God who would tell them – again! – who he was!  They told him the various things people were saying.  “Some say you’re John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and some say one of the other prophets of old who has come back to life.”

Then Jesus makes it more personal, which sets up the ultimate “teaching moment.”  He asks, “But who do you say that I am.”  And that’s where we hear what has been called over the years “The Great Confession!”  That’s where Peter answers him, “You are the Christ – the Messiah – the Son of the living God.”  (And of course, that’s what God was about to say, too!)

So we’re thinking, “Very good, Peter!”  “You get it!”  “Or do you?”  Jesus first “charges them all to tell no one about this,” which seems a little strange to us.  But he always had his “timing” about that.  But then he goes on to say, “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 on the third day, rise.”

I hope you can appreciate how difficult that was for those disciples to hear!  It was difficult to hear at all – let alone at this important time of God confirming who Jesus was!  And it’s interesting what we don’t have here in Luke.  We don’t have Peter’s response, like we do in Matthew and Mark.  In Matthew, Jesus tells them these things, and Peter says, “God forbid it!  Surely this will never happen to you!”  In Mark, it says, “He took Jesus aside and rebuked him!”  Peter had just “confessed” that Jesus was the Messiah!  But for him then to talk about his suffering and death like this, made no sense!  (Whether we have Peter’s response or not!)

Well, if that wasn’t hard enough to hear, Jesus then launches into this whole paragraph about anyone who would follow him.  “Any who follow,” he said, “must take up their cross!”  And who did that mean?  It meant them, of course!  The disciples!  And remember, at this point, the cross had no religious symbolism or meaning.  It was simply a Roman “device” of torture and death!  So we can only imagine how that statement “landed on them!”  Or maybe we can’t!  But he makes it worse, saying, “Whoever saves his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

Now, that’s a tough scene.  But that’s what leads up to the Transfiguration.  So, this wasn’t just a nice story about a heavenly vision!  This opening scene tells us about Jesus’ sacrifice, in light of the expectations the people had – expectations for a political deliverer – like Moses.  You see, what Peter said about Jesus was true!  He was and is “the Messiah, the Son of the living God!”  And God was about to confirm That!  But, what that ultimately meant was not what anybody could understand that day – or want!

So, in a time when the disciples needed it most, Jesus took them to the mountaintop!  And this is where God himself confirms again, who Jesus is.  And then, to add to that confirmation, Jesus is transformed into what many have believed to be his heavenly form.  And then, to add to that, there appeared with him, two men – two of the greats of the Jewish history!  Moses and Elijah.  And Jesus is speaking with them.  And I love that Luke tells us what they were speaking about!  Because they were speaking with Jesus about “his departure in Jerusalem.”  Think about that!  Jesus was talking with Moses and Elijah about the same thing he just told the disciples – his suffering and death!  So even that was confirmed here in a big way!

I’ve always thought that these disciples needed the Transfiguration.  In their confusion and concern, they needed this vision of Jesus.  They needed be told what he was all about.  They needed for him to dispel their expectations of what the Messiah would be and do.  And so did everybody else!

So, the voice of God is heard from heaven.  And his words confirm – again – that Jesus is his beloved Son – Just like God said at his baptism.  But then he adds a different ending – which I’m using as my sermon title today.  He said, “Listen to him!”  In other words, “What he said about his suffering and death is true!”  “That is my plan for the world!”  The disciples were being called that day to set aside their expectations – their understanding of things.  And they were being called to accept Jesus’ understanding.

We need to be sure we’re doing that, too.  Don’t we?  As we move into Lent, we need to know that, yes, Jesus is who God said he is.  But, he’s not always who we think he is, or who we might prefer him to be!  I think this story tells us how hard that was for his disciples to learn.  And remember, they didn’t have two thousand years of theological thought and understanding like we do.  But even so, it’s still not easy for us.  We need to recognize that.

Sometimes I think, doing God’s will is hard enough.  But it’s often quite another thing, to believe what God wants us to believe, and to understand things as he wants us to understand things.  That can be even harder!  Can’t it?  We often think we’ve got a “good bead on things.”  We think we’ve got a “good head on our shoulders” and we understand things pretty well.  And then there are those times that God tells us otherwise.  Or at least he tries to tell us otherwise!

Sometimes we wish faith worked like a formula.  Don’t we?  We think, “If we do this, God will do that.”  Such formulas can feel comforting.  We feel like we’re “in control” when God is predictable.  So we feel safe!  But God doesn’t always work according to our wishes and our formulas.  In fact, I’ve come to believe, over many years, that when we think we have God all figured out, that may be when we are farthest from understanding him at all!

As we go into this time of Lent, I believe we need to be sure we’re engaged in the ongoing “struggle of faith.”  And that is the struggle to see this life from God’s perspective, not ours.  And God’s perspective is often different.  We need to be sure we are striving, as Paul said, “To have the mind which is in Christ Jesus.”  And that’s not easy, either!  We need to know that it’s not enough just to say that Jesus is “God’s beloved Son.”  Even Peter said that – in his limited understanding at the moment.  We can say that – and I hope we do.  But the question is, will we “Listen to him!”

Prayer

Eternal God, help us in our weakness to see things as you see them.  Help us truly to strive to have “the mind that was in Christ Jesus.”  Help us, day by day, to seek to be more like him.  And help us to have the power we need to do so.  For we pray in his name, Amen.