Matthew 17:1-9

The story that you just heard from Matthew’s gospel is one of those stories that leaves you scratching your head. It is just a little too out there, like something from a weird fantasy novel, to easily make sense of. This makes the story of Jesus’ transfiguration, very, very easy for our hurried eyes to leap right over. But, in Matthew’s gospel this story of Jesus’ transfiguration before three of the twelve disciple’s eyes comes at a very critical time in Jesus’ ministry. 

The story begins with Jesus leading Peter, James, and John on a hike up a high mountain. It ends with them climbing back down that same mountain with a stern warning ringing in their ears: “tell no one what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead”. In between their going up the mountain and coming back down again, there are a variety of strange happenings: Jesus is transfigured before the three disciples very eyes; the Greek of word is metamorphisized, as in metamorphosis – like the process a caterpillar undergoes as it turns into a butterfly. Put simply, Jesus is changed. He is still Jesus. He is still the Lord. But something unique happens. The details of this metamorphosis are spare: Matthew tells us Jesus’ face shines like the sun and his clothes become white as light. Then suddenly Moses and Elijah appear, standing there, conversing with him as if they were old friends! 

Something like this experience of Jesus’ transfiguration has happened before in the Scriptures. It was in our Old Testament reading from Exodus this morning where Moses and the elders of Israel go up the mountain to see God. The story is particularly powerful for Moses. Moses climbs higher on the mountain where a cloud again is covering it. This cloud is special because it is the very glory of the Lord settling over the land. The Lord’s glory is described “like a devouring fire”. Moses enters the glory of the Lord and spends 40 days and 40 nights with God learning the law to teach to the people. This experience with God in all of his glory gives Moses the spiritual fortitude and depth he needs to lead the Hebrew people in their life as a community, and their worship of God.

You might recognize the connection with the gospel story. The voice from the cloud, the glory of the Lord, and Moses (along with another important Old Testament prophet, Elijah) make an appearance during Jesus’ transfiguration. 

The story also has a bit of humor to it. Peter, the only other speaker besides a voice from the cloud, Peter does a sort of word vomit when he sees Jesus’ transformation reflecting his divine glory. “Lord,” he says, “it is good for us to be here” – a response that sounds noble and innocent enough, but the Greek is more subtle. It gives the hint that what Peter is really saying is far more self-serving, “Lord, I’m really glad that we’re here because it’s obvious I can do something. Why don’t I put my carpentry skills to use and build you three tents – one for you, of course, and one for each of these two gentleman.” But before Peter can even begin explaining his blueprints, a bright cloud, dazzling with terrifying brilliance, descends on them and a voice thunders, “This is my Son, the beloved; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

If this is all a little too much for you to handle, you are in good company. We are left scratching our heads, but the three disciples are far more dramatic. They fall face first to ground in terror. Perhaps they are laying there on the ground in a sort of reverent dignity, as if they were in a posture of prayer and awe like some Muslim man you would see praying at a Mosque. Or perhaps they are far more terrified than we imagine, curled up in a ball like a frightened child? But, can you really blame them? They are, after all, in the midst of cloud bursting with divine glory in all of its awesome and terrible fullness. 

There are a couple of ways we can understand this passage. Jesus’ transfiguration, the cloud full of the glory of the Lord, and the disciple’s terror high on that mountainside as a sort of metaphor for incredible spiritual experiences that some of us, though not all of us, have. If you have experienced a time and a place when you had a real and profound sense of the presence of God that was both glorious and terrifying at the same time and defies all logic and words – this story speaks to that kind of experience. I’m not going to give examples because they are so personal and unique to the people who’ve had them. But, if you’ve had a really real and deep encounter with God or you’ve heard first hand about someone who has, you know what I am talking about. 

A second way to understand this passage is to go the more scholarly route. Jesus’ transfiguration comes in the days and weeks before he will go to Jerusalem riding on a donkey on Palm Sunday, be betrayed, arrested, put through a sham trial, and ultimately executed on a cross. We can read this passage as the Lord confirming that Jesus is God’s anointed Son, full of all of the glory and majesty of God Almighty. It gets to the heart of Christian faith. Here it is: the man we claim as Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, is at one and the same time, the One whose glory shines forth on the mountain, the One who is Lord even over and above Moses, the lawgiver and Elijah and his company of prophets, he is that; and at the same time this exalted Son of God is also the Son of Man who is crucified on the cross as a common criminal. The weirdness of Christianity is that our faith centers on an ancient Jewish man who is both the King of Kings and the Suffering Servant for us. 

Those are the spiritual and theological ways to understand this passage. There is also a moral dimension to it. It comes with the disciples’ response to Jesus’ transfiguration and his face shining with the glory of God. Matthew tells us that when Peter and James saw this, they fell face first to the ground because they were filled with fear. The word in Greek is phobos, as in phobia, like arachnophobia, the fear of spiders. Reading the text closely, you get the sense that it wasn’t a graceful, dignified fall but a duck and take cover as fast as you can kind of crash landing. And really, can anyone blame them? It’s not everyday that a dark and dazzling cloud with a thundering voice overtakes you.

Fear is common in the Scriptures just like it’s common in our lives. In the Scriptures, the most common type of fear is what is often called ‘the fear of the Lord.’ This is the kind of fear that causes someone to fall to the ground in worship. Having a healthy fear and respect of God and God’s power is a good thing – he is the Almighty one. This kind of fear is the standard operating response most every time someone encounters God in the Bible. In Exodus, the people tremble with fear as they hear God give the Ten Commandments and see Mount Sinai surrounded with a terrible, smoking darkness that is the presence of the Almighty. All of the gospel writers – Matthew, Mark, and Luke – record at least one person fleeing Jesus’ tomb in fear and terror upon hearing about the resurrection. And even after the resurrection, with the full power of God on display raising the formerly crucified and dead Jesus, the disciples’ first response is to lock themselves in an upper room out of fear. 

There are other sides to fear, though. Fear, according to the ancient historian Thucydides, along with the desire for glory and self interest are the three great motivators of human action. There is healthy fear and there is destructive fear. Fear bores right to those base human instincts, that fight or flight response that takes over anytime a situation is beyond control. There is a positive side to fear. Fear is what gets you out of danger. Fear is what gives you the adrenaline to run from danger when running is not what you normally do. 

But, fear can also be paralyzing. Fear and its cousin anxiety can freeze you in place. It can be that gut-wrenching feeling that deep down inside something is not right but you have no idea what to do about it. Those twin emotions, fear and anxiety, can keep you from making decisions, living out the life God has called you to, and even keep you like a prisoner in your own home. 

Fear can also lie to you and get you to think in ways you normally otherwise wouldn’t. That’s why politicians try get everyone afraid of each other – they want votes. Fear can also make you lash out. Most of us learn in elementary school that what drives bullies to bully is sometimes people are just mean; but more often, they are afraid and scared of their fear and don’t know how to handle it, and so they lash out at others to make themselves feel better. It’s human nature this side of Eden to be afraid of what we don’t know, don’t understand, and can’t control.

But, there is also another sense to fear. Fear’s cousin on the other side of the family is awe. Awe is your response to anything that is bigger than yourself. Awe can be terrifying, but it can also be life-giving. Who isn’t awed standing at the top of a mountain and looking out over the vastness of creation? When you consider how big earth is and how diverse it is and how many people there are, how can you not be awed by the smallness of your own life? Or even holding a newborn baby for the first time – it is an awe inspiring thing to hold a baby because the baby is reflecting God’s image. For new parents, it must be terrifying, “how are we going to be parents? We’re not ready for this”. But, there is also the awe and wonder that they have brought forth this tiny, beautiful new life in the world. Awe is incredibly healthy for the soul. To be in awe is a reminder that God is God and I am not, which is one of the best and most important reminders out there.

I’m sure that the disciples were scared out of their mind up on that mountain. Wouldn’t you be? Maybe Peter’s proposal to build three tents is a sort of fight or flight response? But, you also have to imagine they are filled with awe, a holy reverence that they, of all people, were privileged to take part in this divine revelation of Christ’s glory. 

The Transfiguration is gospel because of what God does in Christ. Jesus, the exalted Messiah and Lord of the universe dazzling with all of heaven’s glory on that mountainside, bends over and touches the three disciples spread face first on the ground. Then, he says the second most important phrase of the gospel. The most important phrase is “you are forgiven”, and the second most important phrase follows closely behind that: “do not be afraid”. 

Jesus and the three disciples then head back down the mountain to rejoin the other nine, each of their lives forever changed. You have to imagine that each time Peter, James and John looked at Jesus after that they heard his words turn over in their minds, “do not be afraid”. 

The word from the Lord for us this morning might be twofold. First, maybe you need to hear the Lord’s words ‘do not be afraid’. Of course, there are a number of legitimate things to be afraid of – war, disease, crime, getting hurt, a bad economy, high inflation. It’s not to ignore any of that. When the Lord says ‘do not be afraid’, I don’t think the command is to put our heads in the sand. There are real problems and real things to be afraid of. Instead, it’s a basic invitation to trust God. In the end, each of us has to decide if there is a God and whether we will trust him. And if there is a God and we can trust him, what do we have to ultimately be afraid of?

The second word from the Lord might be ‘do not be afraid’ and don’t forget to look up, to lift your eyes towards the heavens, and be in awe of God and God’s splendor, glory, and majesty and find yourself in the words of the hymn, “lost in wonder, love, and praise.” 

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. 

*This sermon title was inspired by a sermon from Barbara Brown Taylor.