The Transfiguration of Our Lord
February 3, 2008
Text: Matthew 17:1-9
The dialogue in Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration of Our Lord uses very few words and involves just three persons. Peter is the first to speak, and he addresses Jesus, saying, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.”
The next voice we hear comes from a cloud that is overshadowing the mountain. This is the voice of God, and God makes this pronouncement of the transfigured Jesus, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him.”
Jesus is the third person speaking. He is speaking to Simon, James and John who have fallen on the ground in fear. “Get up and do not be afraid.”
The voice of Jesus concludes the story by saying, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Here we have three persons talking with one another – God, whom we do not see, Jesus whose appearance and garments become dazzling white, and Peter, whom we can identify as being one of us. However, is this conversation just for the three who are participating? Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” Do we have any way of knowing if this conversation will be good for us? Besides, what is so good about a dazzling white person? It may be good entertainment, but what difference does it make in our lives?
A way is given to us to enter this conversation, if we so choose. Our invitation comes from God, whom we heard say, “This is my Son; listen to Him.”
The command “to listen,” is a command to participate in a conversation. Parents will say to their children, “Listen to me, when I am talking with you.” When spouses listen to each other and their marriages are better. The boss at work commands us to listen. We understand the need for this kind of listening.
However, we also want the kind of listening that makes us feel accepted, wanted and supported. We want people to hear our story without pre-judging us or condemning us. Truly listening to us, we want people to understand who we are, where we are in our lives and what we need from them. We want listeners to accept us in spite of our sins, failures and weaknesses. We want someone to listen to us.
In the Transfiguration story, Jesus has gone up a mountain. Ascending a mountain, one leaves behind the distractions of life and comes into a place where the focus is on God’s closeness. In other words, Jesus has gone to the place where God can listen to Jesus and Jesus can listen to God.
It was during this time of listening that “Jesus’ face shone like the sun and his clothes became dazzling white.” The Transfiguration displays what happened when Jesus talks with His Father. The very light of God fills Jesus’ own being, making Him to be one with the Father. Jesus becomes as we confess in the Creed, “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.” Through their listening to each other, Jesus and the Father have become one with each other.
Here is where we enter the conversation of the Transfiguration. When Jesus’ garments became dazzling white, the disciples saw whom Jesus truly was, the Son of God. His dazzling white garments point us to our Baptism and our future of being one with Jesus.
In apocalyptic literature, that is the writings about the end of time, white garments are an expression of heavenly beings. They are the garments of angels and of God’s elect. The book of Revelation speaks of the white garments that are worn by those who have been saved. In chapter seven, we have this reference of those wearing such garments, “Who are these robed in white and from where have they come?” The answer given is, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Jesus’ dazzling white robes are the robes given us to wear at our baptism. Through our Baptism, we have been united with Jesus’ Passion, and His Passion is the purification that restores to us the original garment lost through our sin. Through Baptism, we are clothed with Jesus in light and we ourselves become light.
Listening to Jesus, that is centering our lives on His suffering and death, we join the conversation in which God is listening to us. We come to know that God listens. By His listening, he knows who we truly are. He knows our failures, weaknesses and sin. He has listened to our cries for help, our pleas for hope, and our prayers for compassion. He knows the valleys and shadows through which we walk. He knows our fears and doubts.
Today, this festival of the Transfiguration of Our Lord invites us to a place where God is listening and where we are listening to God. Here is where we will see who Jesus truly is. Here is where we will see who we truly are. Here is where we will see God transfiguring us with the dazzling light of Jesus. In His light, we become light and one with the Father and the Son.
Jesus, the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. Let us get up and be not afraid to tell the world to listen to Jesus, for through Him God is listening to us and making us shine with the light of His forgiveness and salvation.