Transfiguration of Our Lord

Luke 9:28-36

March 2, 2025

“’Tis good, Lord, to be here.” I’m just going to come out and say it. This is a very abused text. If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a hundred times, people abusing this text and using it as some sort of evangelism text. And you’ve heard it too. “We can’t stay up on the mountain top; we can’t just sit in church every Sunday. We have to get out there and evangelize and bring Jesus out to the masses.” Heck, I’ve probably preached this text in this way or at least taught it this way in years past.

People really abuse this text. They talk about the mountain top and push this idea that Christianity is about these encounters with Jesus, these over-the-top experiences; that the faith is all about really awesome experiences and emotional bliss. Or, as I already said, they say that we can’t stay on the mountain, that we gotta get down and get dirty for the Lord.

Isn’t it remarkable how we so effortlessly make the Christian faith about us, about what we have to do, what we should do, what we better do, how to get God to do things for us…?

And what’s funny is that this text has nothing to do with evangelism; this text has nothing to do with the pursuit of mountain top experiences. And I don’t care if you read the account from Matthew, from Mark, or from Luke, evangelism or encounters is not at all the point of the Transfiguration. It just isn’t.

The point of the Transfiguration is the cross, it’s Jesus and the shedding of His blood for the forgiveness of the sin of the world. Anything else is eisegesis; it’s reading into the text something that isn’t there, and we need to be careful to learn that eisegesis, reading our own ideas or beliefs into the text, is the most dangerous, least evangelical, and least Jesusy thing we can do. In fact, it is the epitome of evil to read our own thoughts, convictions, opinions, and beliefs into the Scripture – even though most everyone does it, it is evil. We have to be careful not to abuse the whole concept of “interpretation,” because there is only one right interpretation of any passage of the Scripture – God’s interpretation, His intent, why He put that text, that story, that event there, and what He wants us to believe about it.

So, let’s set the stage. We have Jesus and three of His disciples, Peter, James, and John. We have a mountain, we have Moses, and we have Elijah. And of course, we have a cloud, and we have God the Father’s presence and voice.

To help us understand the text, we should know a little something about these people. What do we know about Peter, James, and John? Why, among the 12 disciples, were these three chosen to ascend the mountain? And, by the way, what’s up with the mountain? Why not a valley or a cave or a nice beach…why a mountain?

Well, let’s consider first Peter, James, and John. Why them? Why not Matthew or Mark or Thomas or Judas? We actually find out why our Lord seemed to consider Peter, James, and John as His inner circle of apostles. They were the pillars of the Jerusalem church. In fact, we don’t really hear much about the work of the other apostles after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. We know Judas hanged himself because he refused to repent, and he let grief consume him for betraying His Lord. But beyond that, we know very little of the others. Peter, James, and John were called by the Lord to a special vocation and until St. Paul came along years later, it was Peter, James, and John in Jerusalem preaching and teaching and essentially serving as Christ among those people.

So, it makes sense that Jesus would bring them up the mountain or ask them to stand watch as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. They had the most to learn. Those three also suffered the most for their faith. Peter and James were both martyred in very cruel ways, and John was imprisoned.

But why a mountain? Well, mountains, throughout the Scripture, are places of revelation and direct interaction with the Lord. It really starts with the flood of Noah, but we really see it first with Abraham as he and his son walk up a mountain where Abraham will sacrifice Isaac his son. Moses first speaks to God on a mountain where he removes his sandals at the presence of a burning bush that does not get consumed and hears the voice of the Lord who calls him to go and speak to Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go.

And after the crossing of the Red Sea, the people of Israel set up camp at another mountain, Mount Sinai, and there Moses and Aaron head up the mountain to receive the laws and statutes of the Lord for the people, the new nation the Lord is establishing.

Lo and behold, the Israelites were heading to a new land, and they would ultimately build their city and temple atop a mountain, of sorts, mount Zion to be precise. Elijah, by the way, also had his mountain top time, where the Lord destroyed the priests of Ba’al and His Word prevailed.

Mountains are important places in Scripture, so it makes sense that Jesus would take His three disciples up a mountain for this important Transfiguration event.

Now, why was Moses and Elijah there? I suppose the greater question is, HOW were they there? They had left the scene centuries before. Moses, atop a hill overlooking the promised land, died. The Lord didn’t allow him into the earthly promised land because of his disobedience and because he was the law giver – though he certainly got the heavenly promised land on account of His repentance and faith.

And I think there is an important lesson here. Even though God may forgive us our sins and give us eternal life in Christ, this doesn’t mean there won’t be earthly, temporal consequences for our stupid. If you rob a bank, you can certainly be absolved of your thievery and forgiven in heaven, but you still might have to go to jail. If you commit adultery, you still may have to face earthly consequences and, depending on the circumstances, there may be consequences even in the congregation, the church, though in heaven your sins may be forgiven. Moses could not enter the earthly promised land. But the Lord forgave Moses, and he was still able to enter the eternal promised land and is why he was with Jesus atop that mountain.

Moses was the law giver, he was as Christ to the people of old, only the law of Moses could not save anyone from sin and death. The law of Moses had to be fulfilled by a perfect law-keeper. And so, there atop the mountain of Transfiguration, the old Mosaic law is being fulfilled, the covenant being fulfilled in Jesus; the law giver and the Law Keeper speak of Jesus’ “exodus” at the cross.

And Elijah? Well, he is the prophet’s prophet. Elijah was taken to heaven in a great whirlwind. He didn’t even have to experience death; he took the fast lane to the promised land. And now he appears centuries later, speaking to Jesus, and this shows us that Jesus is the fulfillment of the words of the ancient prophets.

Jesus even says that all the law and the prophets speak to or point to Him. So, it makes sense that the pillars of the Law and the Prophets are there, and the pillars of the church to come, Peter, James and John, are also there. In a sense, this is a passing of the torch. The Law is fulfilled, the prophecies are fulfilled, and now the apostles take the mantle and run.

Only Peter doesn’t want to run; he wants to stay and live in a tent. And here’s what’s interesting. The word Peter uses in the text for “tent” is “??????,” and guess what “??????” means? Tabernacle. “Let us pitch our tabernacles, here,” says Peter. In other words, “Let’s establish our eternal home here, the place where we meet with the Lord.”

Now, think about what he’s asking. There is Jesus, there is Moses, and there is Elijah. And Peter wants to eternally stay there. Do you see the theological problem? Jesus has come to fulfill Moses and Elijah, to fulfill the Law and the words of the Prophets. You can’t stay there, Peter! There is nothing atop that mountain worth staying for. It is finished, the law is done, and the prophecies are fulfilled, and now, Peter, James and John, you must follow Jesus as He makes His way to the cross.

And as soon as Peter makes the request to stay, what happens? The presence of the heavenly Father descends in the cloud, and the Father speaks.

The cloud and the voice, this goes right back to Sinai, right back to the time when the Law of God was given as God hovered atop the mountain in a cloud. And get this…that cloud of presence, or the “glory cloud,” as it was known, continued to rest with the people of Israel in the ancient tabernacle, the ancient ??????, and in the temple of Jerusalem. Wherever the Ark of the Covenant went, so too the cloud went. Wherever the most holy place was set, so too would the glory cloud rest upon it and within it.

The most holy place, the Ark of the Covenant, the tabernacle, do you see what’s really going on here?

Jesus is the tabernacle, Jesus is the most holy place, Jesus is the Ark of the Covenant. He is the holder of the Law, He is the manna that came from heaven, He is the budding staff which parts the sea and brings both blessing and curse, blessing to His people who believe in Him and follow Him, and curses to those who reject Him.

Peter, James, and John, they were still thinking Moses and Elijah, but as the cloud disappears, so too do Moses and Elijah leave them, and only Jesus remains.

And Jesus remains with Peter, James, and John and He takes them to another mountain named Golgotha, the mount of the skull, and there, high atop that mountain, the tabernacle is assembled, the Ark of the Covenant is put into the holy of holies, and the God of heaven and earth forgives the sins of the people as the Atoning Sacrifice is offered up in our place.

Only this sacrifice is the last sacrifice because He is the perfect sacrifice, He is the Law keeper and the prophecy fulfiller. You see? Everything in the Old Testament, from the Garden of Eden, from Abraham and Isaac on the mount, from Moses and Sinai, from Elijah and Mount Carmel, from Ezekiel and the valley of bones, from Isaiah and the little child who leads them, everything is fulfilled in Jesus.

The whole point of ancient Israel was to show people Jesus.

We no longer pitch our tents at Sinai. Sinai is gone; it is fulfilled. The Law of Moses brings no salvation, no peace, no hope, no glory. The Law of Moses condemns because we are not capable of keeping it for salvation.

We no longer look for and await a coming Messiah as prophesied by the prophets of old. We no longer have to look for a coming Messiah because Messiah has come, and He has done exactly what the law and the prophets said. He was lifted up, He was bruised, He was broken, and we have been redeemed.

And now our Lord has come, and He is with us always, just as He says. His true body and true blood are given and shed for us in bread and wine, given for our faith, for healing, for community and common confession with one another, and as a foretaste of the feast to come.

This meal is a meal of blessing for the blessed, or as we used to say years ago before the age of entitlement and getting offended at everything took over, “The holy things of God for the holy people of God.” This meal is not for those outside the church, not for the unbaptized, not for the impenitent, not for the unlearned, but for all who come confessing the faith together as one body, who come confessing their sins, and who come believing that Jesus’ true body and blood are given and shed for them.

This mountain top meal is not an evangelical tool to get more people in church, and it is not an experience of bliss where our emotions are entertained. It is real food and real drink, a poison to the cursed, but a blessing to the blessed.

Peter, James, and John, they started the church in Jerusalem. 3,000 people baptized in the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and 3,000 people made heirs and citizens of heaven. And through their work and efforts, the church continued to grow. People heard the good news, they repented and believed, and yet the Gentiles were still not part of the conversation…that is until the Lord sent Paul the Apostle, a murder and blasphemer who converted and believed, and he delivered the Gospel to places like Corinth and Ephesus and Galatia, to the pagan gentiles. And that’s history.

We were just talking last week at “coffee -w- pastor” day – a day I so wish more of you would take advantage of by the way – and we remembered a time when churches would build their steeples so high that they could be seen throughout the city. Why did they do that? Because the church was the place of sanctuary, of rest, of escape from the world, and because God’s people wanted to show, very clearly, that God was still in charge over the city.

Today the church is more pragmatic about things. We don’t build steeples quite so high anymore, but instead we make our presence known through technology and performance, through a dynamic sermon series and brand-name signage.

And yet, our Lord still gave His life for us; was lifted high above the earth for us, and blood and water flowed from His side for us. That will never change. Because as it’s been from the beginning, is now, and will be forever, it is all about Jesus.

So, to be sure, the Transfiguration is not about you or me, our encounters or our calls to evangelism. It is about Jesus. It is about He who has come to be a curse for us, so that we might be sons of God. Amen.