Transfiguration
Dear friends in Christ. Because of the early date of Easter this year, we have a very short Epiphany season—only last week and this week. In the Epiphany season we find out who that Baby was that was born on Christmas. In Epiphany we have the confirmation of the word of the angel to St. Mary [Lk. 1.31 ff.]: And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest….Therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
Last week we met our Lord Jesus at His baptism by St. John the Baptizer at the very beginning of His public ministry. Luther points out about Jesus’ baptism: Here He really begins to be the Christ. Although from the very first moment of life, from the moment of conception, Jesus was already in the womb carrying out His saving work and living a holy and perfectly sinless life for us, cleansing our sinful conception and birth and throughout every stage of life living it free from sin, then at His baptism He began His public ministry.
1. Today we come to the other end as Jesus’ public three year ministry is winding down. In fact shortly after St. Luke records the account of Jesus’ transfiguration, he writes [Lk. 9.51]: Now it came to pass, when the time had come for [Jesus] to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. Here again, towards the end of Jesus’ public ministry, as He firmly resolves to go the Jerusalem where He would suffer and die and bring about the salvation of the world, we again are blessed to hear the Father’s pronouncement on Jesus This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him. Here again the Father gives His stamp of approval on Jesus and His saving work—and that ultimate stamp of approval would come with Jesus’ resurrection on Easter. Together with Peter, James and John, the Holy Spirit has considered us worthy to catch, in Holy Scripture, this glorious scene as Jesus lets His full divinity shine forth—a divinity that He normally kept hidden under His humanity. This scene of Jesus in His true divine glory was to strengthen these 3 apostles who would soon see Jesus in His deepest agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and finally, with the rest, see Him crucified.
For us, too, we need to be strengthened as we next week begin the Pre-Lent season, followed by the 40 days of Lent. We need to be strengthened for the holy and penitential season of Lent as we examine our hearts and lives and see our sin, lest we despair and think there is no hope for us, or that our sins are too great to be forgiven.
Today’s account of the Transfiguration reminds us that it was not just a mere man who died on the cross but the very God Himself. That’s what gives His sacrifice such value and worth for all people of all times. And the Transfiguration gives us the confirmation that Jesus and His work is pleasing and acceptable to His Father: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him. And it also means that we can trust Jesus when He tells us in the absolution, I forgive you your sins, and in the Holy Sacrament, This is My Body…This is My Blood… given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins: Listen to him. What a glorious season Epiphany is as we are once again taught that the Baby born on Christmas is also the true God and that He grew up to be our Savior from sin, death and hell.
Our text is from the OT prophet Habakkuk, a portion of which serves as the first verse of today’s Introit: [The Lord’s] brightness is as light; rays flashed from his hand; and there he veiled His power. How can we not see a connection with the Transfiguration account in our Gospel? And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. Here Jesus is in all of His divine glory and in this prayer of St. Habakkuk, part of which serves as our text, he describes the Lord in all of His glory. Who can miss the point that St. John 1.14 would record in his Gospel about Jesus: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. That’s what Epiphany is all about—Jesus revealing His glory so that we know exactly who He is: the true God and Savior of the world. All of Jesus’ teaching and miracles point to Him being the true God and the Transfiguration makes it clear what His teaching and miracles were doing all along: confirming to one and all that Jesus is true God. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. That light that Jesus shone with showed/ made visible His divinity, just like in the OT when the holy Triune God made an appearance as St. Habakkuk says in our text: God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. His brightness is as light; rays flashed from his hand. With Jesus’ Transfiguration, there is no doubting it: He is the Holy One. As the Holy One, Jesus is the true God, the Lord and Ruler of the universe. His is the absolute reign; He is separate, exalted over all creatures; He is the sinless God who hates sin. Should we fear God? Jesus? Absolutely! Jesus is God; He is the Holy One; He is just and righteous and must punish sin. That’s why our sin is a big deal! It’s not that now that we’re Christians it doesn’t matter how we live or what we do since we’re forgiven. The Holy Ten Commandments still apply to us. We dare not take our Lord’s grace to us lightly and say, “Well, Jesus is a friend of mine so He’ll give me a pass. I can still serve sin and try to fulfill my own sinful desires. I don’t have to repent over sin.” Hardly! The Transfiguration shows us Jesus’ divinity! And if we take it seriously, that is a frightening scene for us—we sinners being in the presence of the Holy God. What do we read in today’s Gospel: a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. Sinners in the presence of the Holy God—that’s today’s call for us to recognize and sorrow over our sin.
As we look at our text we see that there is a context, a reason that God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. His brightness is as light; rays flashed from his hand. What St. Habbakuk seems to be describing is the time of the Exodus, the time the Lord led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and made them His people, giving them the Law on Mt. Sinai. When the Lord rescued the Israelites from Egypt and gave them the Law, the covenant on Mt. Sinai He showed His majesty and almighty power. His brightness is as light; rays flashed from his hand.
At that time, the Lord—the one true holy God, who is Spirit/ invisible—showed Himself, made Himself known by showing forth His glory. He, if you will, at that critical time, put on the “visible clothing”—brightness, flame, cloud—to show His strength and rescue His people. That’s that interesting phrase: His brightness is as light; rays flashed from his hand; and there he veiled his power. It’s not that God veiled his power to hide it; then He’d be powerless and unable to rescue His people. Instead He veiled his power in the sense putting something over it—glory and majesty—so He/ His power could be seen. In other words, we know God is there as He “puts on” His glory and works deliverance/ rescue.
That’s exactly what we have in today’s Gospel with the Transfiguration. It’s, if you will, a replay of our Lord’s rescue of the Israelites in Egypt, but in much grander fashion—His coming to save and rescue the whole human race from their sin, death and hell. God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Here Jesus came to the mount of Transfiguration, Mt. Tabor. As the Father pronounced “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him,” His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. And as Jesus was transfigured His brightness is as light; rays flashed from his hand. Jesus covers His almighty power by which He will bring about the salvation of the world with His divine splendor and glory so that the disciples then and Christians down through the ages who are blessed to hear this account will know that Jesus is the almighty God who has come to save and rescue us—His almighty power covered with glory so that it can be seen and all can know that the Holy One, the one true God is bringing us rescue.
2. But remember, Jesus’ almighty power is not only veiled in glory but also in weakness. For us that, too, is the greatest comfort. Jesus, the true God, showing forth His divine glory is a comfort because we know that since He is God almighty He will finish what He set out to do—to save us from sin, death and hell. But Jesus showing His strength by covering it with His divine glory is frightening. Remember the disciples: they fell on their faces and were terrified at the sight.
But Jesus doesn’t want to leave us in fright. Instead, He returned to how He was before—true God and true man—yes!—but His divine strength and glory covered over/ veiled with His humanity, with weakness. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. Jesus never stopped being true man. He came as that baby born of Mary to be our Savior; He, the true God became true man to place Himself under God’s holy Law to keep it for us, to be our Substitute. And as our Substitute He was killed on the cross for our sin; He paid the price for the sins of the world. He could only do that and be our Savior if He were true man. Jesus came in weakness to rescue us and precisely in that weakness He delivered us.
Actually, it is in this weakness that Jesus’ power is most fully revealed. That’s what we need to hear as we prepare ourselves for Lent. In the weakness of suffering, Jesus destroyed sin. In His suffering all of God’s wrath over our sin, our sin cannot rise up and accuse it. It has already been paid for; God’s wrath over it has already been poured out and stilled—on Jesus on the cross, for us. Now forgiveness in Jesus reigns! Jesus by the weakness of dying, entered death and destroyed it, rising from the dead on Easter. We, too, dear Christian, because of Jesus covered in weakness, will one day be in heaven, soul and body with all the saints, angels and the Triune God for all eternity—all because Jesus’ almighty power by which He defeat our spiritual enemies was covered with, shown by weakness.
This is still the way Jesus works today as He comes to us in His holy word and sacraments. Through weak word, water, bread and wine Jesus comes to us and brings us from spiritual death to spiritual life; He comes and keeps us alive spiritually, in the faith, through these. His almighty power is veiled by His weakness—and because we see only weak word, water, bread and wine, what great divine power they veil! And by that veiling they show us Jesus is at work! Precisely because Jesus’ almighty power is veiled by weakness and not His divine glory and majesty, like at the giving of the Law on Sinai or on the Mount of Transfiguration, we need not be terrified but can run to our gracious, loving Savior. Hear Him say to us in the word and absolution “Rise, and have no fear” and in the Blessed Sacrament come and touch us with His very body and blood.
[The Lord’s] brightness is as light; rays flashed from his hand. What a wondrous event Jesus’ Transfiguration is! He shows He is here and has come to save us. He—the true God—is here: his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And He, true Man, is here, in all His weakness, to be our Savior: And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only; and He continues to show His presence and almighty power in His “weak” word and Sacrament. INJ