The Transfiguration of Jesus C Luke 9:28-36

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”  When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen. (Luke 9:34-36 NKJ)

Prayer: “All glory, Jesus, be to Thee  For this Thy glad Epiphany;  Whom with the Father we adore  And Holy Ghost forevermore.”  Amen.

Dear continued celebrators of the Epiphany,

Despite the snow we received this last week Tuesday and Wednesday, we’re making fairly good progress as far as this winter is concerned.  Sure, the ground hog saw his shadow, but that was already at Candlemas – almost a fortnight ago – which means we only have four weeks, or about a month left of his winter.

One very certain thing I notice on cold frosty mornings is besides the days are getting longer and the dawn is a little earlier – when I park the frosted car and position it so that the sun is able to reach it, the frost disappears rather quickly and the interior even begins to warm up. Spring may be officially more than a month away.  But we’re getting there.

For the church, Jesus’ transfiguration, serves as a bright spot between Christmas and Easter. At Christmas it was easy to be warmed by the glowing words of angel and the brightness of the Christ child in the manger. 

Epiphany showed us that this Child is indeed Christ the Lord.  God in man: made manifest.  And from Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan and His first miracle at Cana, we see Him believed upon.

But with Ash Wednesday in three days –things are going to get very different.  Death’s chill will be felt more and more as we make our way down the mount toward the plain.  Now the Messiah’s face must turn towards Jerusalem where the worst of all His prophecies will come true. He will be handed over, beaten and crucified.

But today we celebrate the Transfiguration, a mountain top experience –in our Lord’s state of humiliation.

I have often said that the Bible has book ends.  God completes everything He starts.  Genesis begins in a garden with trees for the good of the people He creates.  Revelation completes the Bible with a City for His people, which has within it trees for the healing of the nations.

Another favorite is the swaddling clothes that Luke reports Mary wrapped Jesus in at His birth.  They were strips of cloth.  And Luke also reports that thirty-three years later that in the tomb of Jesus were found empty the strips of cloth that Jesus was wrapped in at his burial.

There are many more of these book ends.  And today we have one: the Transfiguration of our Lord which is a mate to our Savior’s Baptism in the Jordan which we celebrated at the beginning of Epiphany.  These two “Epiphany Book Ends” have between them all the wonderful words and miracles of Jesus that show He is the Christ.  But most important are the Words we hear today and that we heard at Jesus’ Baptism, “This is my beloved Son!”

These words are spoken of each of us, as in Christ in love has redeemed us, not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.

Wrapped in our humanity, during His humiliation Jesus humbled Himself and did not always and fully use His divine powers.  Thus it was possible for the people to grumble at Him and complain about his preaching and not doing a miracle in his hometown of Nazareth.

Yet, Jesus’ active and passive obedience meant that the will of the Father was fulfilled and that all that was required and necessary for our atonement was paid. Why?  Because He loved us.

Of all the greeting card sayings and words that will be shared today on Valentine’s Day, none will compare with the words of Jesus’, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 ESV)  –And, as I always say, the next verse, John 3:17 is just as important and wonderful –“For  God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17 ESV)

 Love is a mysterious thing.  For one thing it is costly.  Love will make a young man spend thousands of dollars on a ring for his beloved, hoping she will say, “yes!”  Parents will spend unlimited resources out of love for a child that is ill. 

Love cost God His only Son.  He willingly sacrificed Him on the cross for  you and for me.  The great hymnist Paul Gerhardt writes,

Love cause Your incarnation; Love brought you down to me. Your thirst for my salvation Procured my liberty. Oh, love beyond all telling, That led you to embrace In love, all love excelling, Our lost and fallen race. (“O Lord, How shall I Meet You? LSB 334)

What the disciples saw so impressed them that later John wrote, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 ESV), and in John 1:16-17 (ESV), “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

The Apostle Peter also later recalled,

We were eyewitnesses of his majesty.  For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This  is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne  from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. (2 Peter 1:16-18)

For each of us this event becomes real for us in God’s holy and precious Word.  We too, have the Old  Testament and the prophetic words of the prophets –Moses and Elijah; and we have more: the new revelation in Jesus Christ, God’s Son in the New Testament.

Like book ends these are the complete revelation of God.  Here on the mount the disciples saw the Incarnate Word of God manifested in glory.

We also hear this Word and with faith’s eye, we see Him as well.  Given and shed for us for the forgiveness of our sins in the Lord’s Supper, we “taste and see that the Lord is good”;  speaking words of love and forgiveness in Holy Absolution; washing us clean by His blood in the waters of regeneration in Holy Baptism.

All the while the people of God respond with thankfulness and praise, saying, “Tis good Lord to be here.”

And our Lord accompanies us to the plain of our lives.  To the temptations and suffering we must have in this world.  All the while with us, and supporting us, and forgiving us, and keeping us. Until that glorious day when we shall see Him as He is, because we will be as He is. Amen.