- Psalmody: Psalm 2:7b; 1; Psalm 110:3, 1; Wisdom 7:26; Psalm 93:1b–2; Psalm 110:3b
- Lection: Exodus 34:29–35; 2 Peter 1:16–21; Matthew 17:1–9
In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
‘Tis good, Lord, to be here. ‘Tis good to be in His house on the Lord’s Day, this Transfiguration Sunday, for our fathers in the faith have given us great blessing in making today what it is in our annual cycle. The Transfiguration wasn’t always celebrated on the final Sunday of Epiphany. As a matter of fact, there are still some liturgical-year-observing church bodies, like that of Rome, that do not celebrate it in such a way. A large reason they have avoided doing so may be that having Transfiguration here in the Church Year is a distinctly Lutheran innovation, one now centuries old for us. The Reformers shifted it from the sanctoral calendar, where it was tied to August 6, and put it into the temporal calendar, dedicating a Sunday to it, namely as the conclusion to the Epiphany season. Oh, that current-day Lutheran innovations were as well thought out as this! For as we ascend to the mountaintop with Peter, James, and John, we see in the radiant Christ an epiphany as His glory as the Son of God shines forth in overwhelming splendor. By this, we see from whence we have come: from the Babe in the house in Bethlehem receiving three fitting gifts; to the Boy in His Father’s House among the Holy Things; to the eternal Bridegroom in Cana restoring joy to the wedding feast; this divine radiance atop the mount; all manifestations of the Son sublime cloaked in human flesh to gain salvation for us all. By this, we also see to whence we go, for our mountaintop experiences are never meant to be permanent in this life. From up here, we know that valleys await us, though we yet know what is in them. Yea, even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for Christ our Lord, our Shepherd, is with us. His rod, sure and gentle in our correction, and His staff, sure and mighty in our protection, they comfort us. His mercy and goodness shall follow us all the days of our lives and we will dwell in His house forever. We know that we shall, for from this mountain we look ahead to our destination at the other end of the Lenten Spring and what He won upon Mount Calvary.
Yet today is not only about what was and what is to come, but also what is. This morning is a mountaintop experience for you if you will have it; if you will grasp it by faith and not allow yourself to succumb to the drowsiness or weariness of the flesh and the world. Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration begins, “Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves.” In six days, God made the heaven and the earth and then rested, giving to us rhythmic weeks of labor, then rest, labor, then rest. ‘Tis good for you to be here where you find true rest in Christ, for all of us have toiled this week. There cannot yet be endless rest in a fallen world, not for anyone. No matter how good things get, here, it will be but for a time, then the thorns and thistles shall assert themselves upon us until we’re delivered from this vale of tears. Fret not over the hard work that this life takes, for you are not left to endure it alone nor by your limited strength and power. The God of Jacob is your Lord and He shall never leave you nor forsake you. He gives you Sabbath rest here, upon Holy Mount Zion where you taste and see eternal things; blessings that give respite to the soul and strength for the morrow. See to it that you ascend this mount regularly, longingly, expectantly, and joyfully. See that by coming here and persevering through drowsiness, great reward awaits you. St. Luke’s account of the Transfiguration tells us that Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. Here, in the Divine Service, wake, awake, for you behold heaven beaming brightly into earthly time. You behold the glory of Jesus revealed. You commune with saints, angels, and all the company of heaven. These are the things Jesus seeks to give you atop this mountain on this holy morn. He seeks to lead you out of the toil of this life for a moment of needed reprieve. He has brought you to a quiet mountaintop that He may show you a better land that awaits, an eternal land, a promised land, just as he took Moses atop Mount Nebo to show to him the inheritance of God’s people. Come to this place that, though a lowly building set in a nook down off the road, is a place of majestic height to which all other mountains gaze with longing to match. The mountains of Bashan, of the Appalachians, of the Alps and Himalayas, Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in; Yes, the LORD will dwell in it forever. Dear saints of the Lord, rouse yourself to behold what takes place in your midst, for here Jesus’ glory is being revealed to you!
How can this be, for here we have but walls that shall stand but for a time? We have but ink coursed about the page of a book. We have but water, bread, wine. Oh, no, we have but more; infinitely more! Moses had died fifteen hundred years prior and Elijah had ascended in chariots of fire nine hundred years prior to the Transfiguration, yet the disciples of the Lord beheld them in the midst of Jesus’ glory having stirred themselves out of earthly tiredness. Likewise, before you this morning comes One from beyond this life for you to behold. Jesus Christ is present here: in His Word, in the baptismal waters, in bread and wine, His Body and Blood. More wonderful than the visit of prophets from of old is the crucified, risen, and ascended Lord appearing to all who trust in Him by faith. Before you is the Holy One of heaven to Whom the angels sing Holy, Holy, Holy. He is there and yet He is also here, as He has promised, upon this mountain that cannot be moved. For as is seen in the Transfiguration, Christ’s human nature has taken up the divine. His human nature is magnified with the attributes of the divine, so that now, in true Body and Blood, He is upon every mountain this morning where His Word is rightly proclaimed and His Sacraments properly administered.
Behold the mountaintop encounter you have here! The revealed Christ, Who bled and died for you, and ascended on high to the right hand of the Father, reveals Himself atop this holy mountain, that is, the Divine Service in this, His holy Church. You are atop the mountain here, given to return to as often as you’ll come. Given to hear and receive life everlasting. Given to behold the Son in His glory for the forgiveness of your sins. Atop this mountain, Jesus reveals His glory to you in the taste of immortality that He places upon your tongue in the Holy Communion. There is no other place or time at which you are closer to heaven, no other means by which you can ascend higher, than when you receive this Jesus as He reveals Himself to you in bread and wine, Body and Blood. Hear Him and here be rejoiced from whence He has taken you. Hear Him and be strengthened for what lies ahead. Hear Him and be awestruck at what Almighty God is doing to show Himself to you.
In ✠ Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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