12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.”
15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
Today is Transfiguration Sunday. One of those things we hear about every year but might not really understand. So let’s look up that word. Transfiguration means “a complete change of form or appearance into a more beautiful or spiritual state.” As I was trying to think of an example Cooper thought of Jesus changing water into wine, which I thought was pretty good for a double PK. Wine is a more beautiful state than water. Three gospels tell of Jesus’ transfiguration; Mark frames it as a Messianic secret, Luke as a testament to prayer, and Matthew weaves the story back to its parallels with Moses in Exodus. Digging into that connection I realized there really have been two transfiguration’s in Scripture, Moses and Jesus. I want to explore how those two are connected. Listen now for God’s word to you, listening for parallels.
17 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” 8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
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Matthew was written for Jewish Christians and is a telling of Jesus life’ as a fulfillment of the law and the prophets. Last week we read, Jesus came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. We will be reading from the Gospel of Matthew all year and it is important to know the focus of telling Jesus’ story as a continuation of the Old Testament. It validates the Jewish experience and invites people to see Jesus as the Messiah. Matthew constantly quotes the Old Testament interpreting everything Jesus does through that lens. The assumption is that the hearers intimately know the Jewish story,
with Moses as the giver of the Torah,
the deliverer from Egyptian bondage,
the leader through the wilderness,
the Miracle Maker of the Old Covenant. They know of Moses ascending Mount Sinai, being in the presence of God and his face shining for having spoken to God to record the 10 words, 10 commandments (Ex. 34:27-35). Moses was transfigured, his face shone; it was a more beautiful state for having been in God’s presence. You will remember, he had to cover his face with a veil when he spoke to the people because his transfigured and shining skin scared them.
There were two transfigurations: Moses was transfigured at Mount Sinai and Jesus was transfigured on a mountain. Mountains were thought to be places closer to God, so it makes sense that these encounters with God’s presence happened on a mountain. Maybe that is why we still use the term ‘Mountain top experience” to describe those spiritual encounters we have with God, even when we have a spiritual moment on a beach. Not only were there two transfigurations, Moses and Jesus shared many other commonalities.
Both were born into a Hebrew world under Gentile domination (Egyptian and Roman).
Both had unusual cots at birth (basket and manger).
Both were saved from death at the King’s order (Pharaoh, Herod)
Both were raised in the home of one who was not their father (Pharaoh, Joseph)
Both experienced 40 day fasts (Exodus 34:38, Matthew 4:1-2)
Both fed multitudes through miraculous means (manna and quails, bread and fish)
Both were touched by God so that their faces shone (Exodus 34:29-30, Matthew 17:1-2)
Both appeared after death (transfiguration, resurrection)
I share this not to elevate Moses but to get a glimpse into what the transfiguration of Jesus might have meant to those who experienced seeing Moses and Elijah with Jesus. How many sermons have we heard about Peter wanting to build a dwelling trying to capture the moment, but missing the point? But did you know Moses built an alter (24:4). Moses also took three companions with him up the mountain paralleling Jesus taking Peter, James and John (24:1). But even as Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud descended upon the mountain. Now that point is just interesting to you and me, but for those who are saturated in the story of Moses, the cloud descending upon the mountain is God’s presence. Exodus tells us that the cloud covered the mountain for 6 days and the glory of the Lord settled there. Moses was in the presence of God, in the cloud for 6 days. Just imagine that, being in God’s very presence.
The air you breath saturated in God;
your sight clouded by God’s dwelling with you.
But then we hear the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire which has to take us back to the fire that did not devour the bush when God told Moses the holy name- I am who I am (3:2, 3:14). Then Moses fasted for 40 days on the mountain and God is telling him to build the ark, the tabernacle. It was during those 40 days while Moses was up the mountain that the people created their golden calf. Feeling abandoned by God, they turned to other gods, highlighting the human response as compared to the 40 days Jesus faithfully endured temptation.
As you know Lent starts this week and we will be journeying our own forty days before the blessed day of resurrection. May we each remember that Jesus and Moses fasted for 40 days, that for Moses this was the beginning of 40 years in the wilderness, and that some of our greatest connections to God happen during trying wilderness times. We have devotionals for each family to take home and read so that you can have a deeper experience of God as we journey through Lent. My hope is that we each take 5-10 minutes each day to read and then reflect on your journey with Jesus.
In closing, let’s look at two things from these two transfigurations. First, in each one God’s presence is located. When Moses went up Mount Sinai, God gave directions to build the ark, the tabernacle, the dwelling place of God. The Ten Commandments were kept there and that was God’s dwelling place, location. So when God conversed with Moses it was to communicate God’s hopes for the people through the laws and to give a place for God to be. Then when Jesus was transfigured, the disciples could see God’s location was no longer in the law, or even the Temple, but in Jesus. Jesus is the incarnation of God’s love and he is the place God dwells while on earth, sharing God’s love, healing and justice. If we missed this, God speaks from a bright cloud saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him.” Right before this, Jesus had told his disciples of his imminent suffering and death and to take up their cross and follow him. What comfort it would be to have this moment with God locating God’s power and love within the person of Jesus, the person the disciples were following. Of course, Jesus takes it a step further and comforts them physically by touching the disciples and calming their fear.
Secondly, let’s look at the way people responded to these moments of divine relation through transfiguration. How did people respond to seeing the change in appearance into a more beautiful or spiritual state?
With Moses, people responded with fear when they saw his face shining.
When Moses didn’t return for 40 days while in God’s presence, they responded by making themselves a new god, a golden calf.
When Peter saw Jesus’ face shining and the appearance of Moses and Elijah he wanted to get to work, to do something, to build an alter. All three of them were afraid and fell to the ground. So the question for us is how will we respond to the transfiguration? Having gone up the mountain, having seen Jesus transfigured and in a more beautiful state, will we be afraid, or make idols or will we allow our faith to be transformed.
Will we see that God is with us and loves us in the midst of our unchanging lives? Will we know that we are believers of the one true Son of God and not simply tagging along with Jesus. Transfiguration means that we are transformed. Jesus changed during the transfiguration as God showed God’s presence located within the person Jesus.
For us the question is are we transformed when God’s presence abides in our hearts so that our lives shine; so that God’s love shines through us and through our faith? Amen.
