Sunday
02/15/15 Freeville/Homer Ave UMC’s
Sermon Title: “Jesus the
Transfigured One”
[The “Natures of Christ”
series: Part 3 of 3]
Old Testament Lesson:
Psalm 50:1-6
New Testament
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Gospel Lesson:
Mark 9:2-9
My friends, my
brothers and sisters, welcome again on this “Transfiguration Sunday.” This
Sunday that we celebrate the story of when Jesus Christ took Peter, James, and
John and went up a very high mountain. When they all arrived on top of this
mountain, the gospel says, that Jesus was changed or “Transfigured” right in
front of these three disciples.
We are also this Sunday, still in the season after the
Epiphany, of when the wise men or magi saw that Bethlehem star in the sky, and
went to adore and pay homage to the Christ Child, with gifts of Gold,
Frankincense, and Myrrh.
In
three days, this Wednesday February 18th, we will end the season
after the Epiphany, and move into the season of Lent. Lent beings on Ash
Wednesday every year, and we will begin our Ash Wednesday this year, with a
pot-luck dinner this Wednesday at 6:00 pm, followed by an Ash Wednesday Service
at 7:00 pm. Today though, as I said, is “Transfiguration Sunday.”
Now I remember as a young child a few “Transfiguration
Sundays,” but all I remembered was that Jesus took three of his disciples up a
high mountain, that he was suddenly adorned in shining white, and that he was
with the prophet Elijah and Moses. Yet, I still didn’t know what the word
“Transfiguration” meant. I mean, when I was a child I understood this story
well enough, but why call it the “Transfiguration,” or “Transfiguration Sunday,”
I thought? As a result, I looked up a definition of “Transfiguration” for us all
this morning.
In looking at the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, I
found these three definitions for “Transfiguration.” Here is what I found, 1. “Transfiguration”
is “A change in form or appearance: metamorphosis,”
2. “Transfiguration” is an “An exalting, glorifying, or spiritual change,” 3. “Transfiguration”
is “A Christian feast that commemorates the transfiguration of Christ on a
mountaintop in the presence of three disciples and that is observed on August 6
in the Roman Catholic and some Eastern churches and on the Sunday before Lent
in most Protestant churches.” So this is a few of the definitions of the word “Transfiguration.”
In continuing
and in concluding my sermon series on the natures of Christ this morning then,
I want to talk about the nature of “Jesus the Transfigured One.”
You might
remember that in the first week of this sermon series, I talked about “Jesus
the Teacher,” as Jesus taught us so much about how to live and love one
another. During Jesus’s three years of his public ministry on earth, he was
often referred to as teacher, or “Rabbi,” which means teacher in Hebrew. While
Jesus was and is the Messiah, the savior, he was also a great teacher. A
teacher who taught us a radical new way to live and love each other.
Last week, we
heard just some of the great and miraculous healings that “Jesus the Healer”
performed, as he cured Simon-Peter’s sick mother in law, as he gave sight to
blind, as he healed lepers, as he made the lame walk, as he brought the dead
back to life, as he drove out demons, and etc. and etc. While Jesus was and is the
Messiah, the savior, he was also a great healer. Jesus healed many, with all
sorts of problems, diseases, and afflictions, and he calls us all in own ways
to be healers to.
Yet today,
the nature, or characteristic, or quality of Jesus that I am talking about, is
“Jesus the Transfigured One.” It is important to realize that a pastor could do
a Nature’s of Christ sermon series for an entire year or more, and still not cover
all of the natures of Christ. The fact that Christ is “the Lamb of God,”
“Mighty Counselor,” “Prince of Peace,” “Emmanuel,” “Son of God,” “Hope of the nations,”
and etc. and etc., means that while Christ’s primary role was “Jesus the
Messiah,” that Christ wore and wears still, many hats, as it were. While Jesus was
and is the Messiah, he is also countless other things as well.
Jesus for
example, was also a son, the son of Mary and Joseph in fact, and he was also a
decedent of the great King David. You might remember that God promised King
David that his family line would rule forever, and that one day a Messiah of
his lineage would come forth, and would save his people.
So clearly
then, there are endless natures, characteristics, or qualities of Jesus Christ,
as we all ourselves, also have many different sides or parts of who we are.
What is unique about this morning though, is that we have a story in the gospel
narrative that in many ways stands on its own. A story that is set apart in
many ways, from all other miracles recorded in the gospels. Now I don’t mean
set apart as in better than, but that this is the only story where Jesus is
physically changed and altered, in this case, in front of Peter, James, and
John. There are no other stories where Jesus is changed or “Transfigured” like
this, unless we count his appearances of Jesus at the empty tomb, and the other
appearances after his resurrection.
You see in
the “Transfiguration” story from this morning, Jesus didn’t heal a sick person
or persons, he didn’t calm a storm, and he didn’t feed the 5,000, as most of
what Jesus did was for others. In this case, Jesus himself was altered and
changed.
The story of
the “Transfiguration” itself is found in all three of the synoptic gospels, in Matthew
17:1–9, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36, and it is mentioned 2 Peter
1:16–18. These are the places then, where you can read the story of
the “Transfiguration,” or the mentioning of the “Transfiguration.”
The actual
location of this miraculous story has been speculated to be Mount Tabor, Mount
Hermon, or it is sometimes just called “the Mount of Transfiguration.”
It is
interesting to know that in both the Old and the New Testaments of the Bible,
that sometimes miraculous things occurred on mountains. For example, Moses went
up Mount Sinai to receive the 10-commandments, and some of the Old law from
God. Mountains being high in elevation, were often seen in the times of the Old
and New Testaments, as places close to the heavens, close to God.
The Psalm
reading from this morning says is 50:1, “From the rising of the sun to where it
sets, God, the Lord God, speaks, calling out to the earth.” Sometimes in the
scriptures of the Bible, these times of hearing and speaking to God occurred on
mountains. The Psalm reading from this morning ends with Psalm 50:6 that says, “The
skies proclaim his righteousness because God himself is the judge. [Selah]”
Sometimes people speak to and pray to God on mountains, up in the skies.
In the reading from the Apostle Paul’s second
letter to the church in Corinth, or the Corinthians from this morning, he tells
us that if the gospel of Jesus Christ is “veiled,” that “it is veiled to those
who are on the road to destruction.” The Apostle Paul, then tells us that, “The
god of this age has blinded the minds of those who don’t have faith so they
couldn’t see the light of the gospel that reveals Christ’s glory. Christ is the
image of God.”
So to see
Christ then, to see him fully, is to see God, as the Apostle Paul says, that “Christ
is the image of God.” In fact, the Apostle Paul ended this reading from this
morning by saying, “He is the same one who shone in our hearts to give us the
light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.”
This morning,
Jesus Christ is “transfigured” up on the mountain, and as the Apostle Paul
said, “the light of the knowledge of God’s glory,” shown, “in the face of Jesus
Christ.”
In the gospel
reading from this morning, we have as I said, the story of Jesus bringing
Peter, James, and John, “to the top of a very high mountain, where they were
alone.” The gospel then says, “He was transformed in front of them, and his
clothes were amazingly bright, brighter than if they have been bleached white.”
In addition
to this, the gospel says, that suddenly the prophet Elijah and Moses appeared
by Jesus, and Jesus was talking with them. Peter then reacted to all of this by
saying, “Rabbi,” or “teacher,” “it’s good we’re here. Let’s make three shrines—one
for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Peter said this, because the
gospel says, that he didn’t know what else to say, as he, James, and John were
terrified.
At this point,
a great cloud overshadowed the three disciples present, and God spoke, saying, “This
is my Son, whom I dearly love. Listen to him!” Then suddenly, the cloud was
gone, the prophet Elijah was gone, Moses was gone, and the three disciples and
Jesus remained.
As Jesus and
Peter, James, and John were coming down from the mountain, Jesus told the three
disciples to not speak of what had just happened on the mountain, until after
he “had risen from the dead.”
Quite a
powerful story from Mark’s gospel this morning, but what might the story mean
for us today? I mean someone might say, “well, Jesus took a few of his
disciples up a mountain, and was amazingly transformed in front of them, but so,
what?” Well, if Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophets of Old, and if Jesus
is the fulfillment of the Law of Moses, then Jesus talking with Elijah and
Moses, in a position of power and splendor, places him in the position of
Messiah. In the position of fulfilling all of the promises of all of the prophets
like Elijah, and fulfilling the Old Law of Moses.
Also, this
story gives us a glimpse of heaven. Many of us might have experienced own glimpse
of the hereafter, in our own ways. Whether for us it was through prayer, through
a miraculous event in our lives, and etc. and etc., maybe we have had some experiences
that seemed like glimpses of heaven. The experience that Peter, James, and John
had in the gospel reading from this morning was truly then a glimpse of heaven,
that was so powerful, Jesus told them not to tell anyone until he was
resurrected from the dead. I mean after all, if some leaders already wanted to
kill Jesus, certainly the story of the “transfiguration” would propel this to
happen even sooner.
I would like to tell story about
beauty and “Transfiguration,” called “Scarab Beetles.” The source of this story
is taken from “Scientific information from the National Geographic, Feb 2001.”
Here is how it goes:
“Many people find beetles and bugs
somewhat creepy, but if there’s one beetle in the world that could turn you
into a beetle lover – it would be the jewel scarab. Jewel scarab’s live in the
jungles of Honduras and have the shape of your regular Christmas beetle. But
their colours are so dazzling and beautiful that they can sell for up to $500 a
beetle. Beautiful flaming reds, bright golds, silvers that resemble bright, shiny
chrome. Even the beetle hater finds jewel scarabs dazzling and beautiful!”
“But the jewel scarab’s beauty
doesn’t come automatically. Every scarab has modest, even ugly beginnings. The
scarab starts life as a soft, mushy, grey-white grub growing inside a rotting
tree stump. They spend their life like this for around a year, until finally,
when the rainy season arrives, the adult scarabs emerge soft bodied and pale.
Then within hours, their bodies harden and their splendid colours show. They
only live for another three months, but what a glorious existence it is.”
“People are just like scarabs. We
may not feel terribly beautiful and attractive. In fact there may be parts of
you that feel distinctly ugly – and I’m not talking just about your body, but
about your spirit, your mind, your thought life, your character. But it’s the
work of the Spirit of God to make us beautiful. It may seem to take a lifetime,
but as the Spirit works on us, we will emerge as beautiful, dazzling, shining
creatures gloriously bearing the image of our Creator.”
Brothers and sisters, this morning “Jesus
the Transfigured One” comes to us. He shows Peter, James, and John a glimpse of
the fullness of his heavenly glory. He shows these three disciples a glimpse of
God, a glimpse of heaven.
In our own way then, God’s wants us to
be transfigured. God wants us to be spiritually transformed by him, through
Jesus Christ, so that we can be made into something glorious. You see, “Jesus
the Transfigured One,” wishes all of us to become spiritually transfigured, so
that we may all see a glimpse of heaven, so that we all may show a hurting and a
broken world the power, the hope, and the transformation found in Jesus
Christ.
This week and always then, through
prayer, through the reading of scripture, through seeking Jesus Christ in a
variety of ways, may you all be transformed, and may you all through God, work
to transform many others. In this way, the world will be transformed or “transfigured,”
and many will come to know “Jesus Christ the Transfigured One.” Amen.
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