Northwood United Church

Confirmed

Matthew 17:1-9
February 3, 2008
Written By Rev. Dr. Doug Lobb
Given by Jim Chisholm

I have always had an affinity for mountains. It isn't because I grew up here in the shadow of Mt Cheam; it's because twice in my life I have experienced epiphanies while on mountain tops, in Southern California above Palm Springs, that were so real that they changed the course of my life.

I cannot adequately explain these experiences to others. There were no voices to be heard and I didn't see any appearances. I simply felt an overwhelming presence that suddenly made decisions, with which I was dealing, crystal clear.

I wonder: is it possible that this event we call "the transfiguration of Jesus" was anything like that. I don't know, of course, but whatever took place was so powerful that the lives of Peter, James and John were changed forever and the role of Jesus clarified. It became the writer's task to explain that.

Whatever happened, the truth is that certain themes are so central to the writers that they appear in all the gospels. The point that the incident is illustrating is deemed to be of such importance that each writer addresses it.

Now I have preached on the transfiguration for many years but only recently did I learn about the derivation of the word. Transfiguration is from the Greek word, metamorphothe, from which we get the word metamorphosis.

Metamorphosis is a passage from one form to another without a change in nature. For example, an insect metamorphosizes from an egg to larvae, then to the pupa stage and finally emerges as an insect. Each stage is a different form yet all are part of the same nature of insect.

Transfiguration is to change the outward form and appearance of a person, thing or idea; to make it glorious. I have a hunch that the Church Fathers choose transfiguration over metamorphosis because of that phrase -- to make glorious.

Seeing we are dealing with words and their usage, this word, transfiguration, is proleptic which means it is used "in anticipation of a future act". An example of a prolepsis would be to say to a person, "you're a dead man" before that person is actually dead; or a speaker might say to an audience, "you might be saying, that is impossible -- here the speaker is anticipating the reaction of his audience.

Whatever else transfiguration may be, it is an epiphany, an Aha moment in the lives of the observers. Or, if you like theological language, John Paul Heil states that the transfiguration of Jesus is an "epiphanic motif describing his external, proleptic and temporary transformation by God into a heavenly being while still on earth." There now, it is all clear in your understanding!

David Buttrick, of Vanderbilt University, properly points out that in this image we are dealing with a vision of glory and not with a 'this is what happened' account." (Fortress Press, Philadelphia, Proclamation 3 "Epiphany" David Buttrick, page 59)

This is an experience that we cannot describe objectively any more than I can explain to you objectively what happened to me on the mountain tops when I experienced the presence of God in a way that changed my entire life. These are epiphanies which is a sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.

In the gospels, the story of the transfiguration of Jesus is strategically placed. Jesus and his disciples have just been in Ceasera Philippi, a small town, now called Banias, where the water from Mt Hebron surfaces and the Jordan River begins. The disciples were very discouraged because they didn't understand why Jesus was leaving Galilee where his ministry was growing, to go to Jerusalem where, they knew, confrontations with the opposed religious authorities would take place.

In that setting, away from their familiar area of service and on the road to the south, Jesus asks his disciples. "Who do men say that I am?" There is confusion. They reply "some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah or one of the prophets." Jesus looks straight at them and asks, "who do you say that I am?" Peter blurts out, "You are the messiah, the son of the living God!"

Jesus commends Peter on his response. He says to Peter "this is a revelation of God in heaven and upon that declaration I will build my Church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." Then, Jesus sternly ordered his disciples,"do not tell anyone that I am the Messiah." Do you see why they might have been confused or perplexed?

Shortly after that experience six days, say Matthew and Mark (although Luke says eight days), Jesus took Peter, James and John up in the mountain. There, right before their eyes, he was transfigured: his face shone like the sun, his clothes became dazzling white and then, as they watched in awe, Moses and Elijah appeared and were talking with Jesus…….What are we to make of that?

There seems to be agreement that here in the presence of three of the early leaders of the soon to be established Christian Church, Jesus credential to be the Messiah were confirmed. Here was Jesus with the two greatest of the Jewish leaders, Moses and Elijah. The disciples saw that their leader was with the great leaders of religious history. That was an epiphany.

There on the mountain, Peter, James and John saw Jesus equated with Moses, the giver of the law and with Elijah, the greatest of the prophets. Peter is so taken that he volunteers to Jesus, "It is good for us to be here, if you wish I will make three dwellings: one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." Yet, while he was speaking, a cloud came over them and a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased, listen to him: the same words that were heard at Jesus' Baptism.

Jesus came and touched them and said, "don't be afraid" and when they looked up, the others were gone and they were there with Jesus alone. It was time to go and, as they were going down the winding mountain path, Jesus said to the three, "Tell no one about the vision until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead" but the disciples though he was taking about John the Baptist.

What an experience! If you ever experience such an epiphany, I suspect, your lives will be changed. You will never be the same again.

In the state of Arkansas, there is a mountain. On that mountain there is a seven story tall statue of Jesus that weighs one million pounds. It is to celebrate, "the greatest event in the history of mankind."

No doubt this statue was built with the greatest of intentions, but unlike the statue, epiphanies don't last. In the story, Christ leads his followers down from the mountain and goes out into the world; a world diseased with selfishness, confused by conflict, troubled by class and racial differences not to mention economic disparity: a world where the Prince of Peace was led to a cross.

What a powerful account to include in the Biblical revelation. God the Father revealed in the ancient time through Moses and Elijah the great Hebrew leaders. Now God the Son talking as a colleague with Moses and Elijah requests that his identity not be made known until later.

Why later? This Christ was to die in one of the ugliest scenes in a history. The crucifixion is an ugly depiction of humans blinded by their selfish interests and allegiances, rejecting and then killing God-love in the flesh that had to occur.

But the story doesn't end. We know there was a resurrection and the resurrection was God's way of shouting, "This is my Son. This one you have rejected cannot die. He is raised so that you will know that all that he taught was God's message; all that he lived was the very life of God."

Three appearances at the epiphany: Moses, who gave the law and died a natural death; Elijah who did wonders but did not taste death and Jesus who was crucified but was resurrected. As the Apostle Paul states, "For it is God who said, let light shine out of darkness, which has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (11 Cur. 4:6)

Hear the message, dear friends. There may be leaders, gurus, mystics and saints but we who are in the Church, who seek to be Disciples of Christ, are to listen to his voice. His is the voice of true victory. His voice speaks of a type of victory that the world cannot see on its own.

The transfiguration is not so much a story as it is a theological portrait of Christ who dies, who is raised, who is Lord. Thanks be to God.

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