“This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

Luke 9:35

Here is a thought experiment for you: If you had to choose just three stories from the gospels to tell someone about Jesus, and you couldn’t use the stories of his death and resurrection, what would they be? And why? 

I asked myself that question this week. It was hard for me to decide. There are so many to choose from, and they all have their merits! 

I decided that I would include one miracle story, but which one? The Feeding of the Five Thousand? The calming of the storm at sea? One of the many healing stories? But the one I decided on is the Raising of Lazarus, because it teaches us so much about Jesus’ love and compassion for us, but also about his power over death. 

Okay, two more stories. There are some wonderful stories that take place in the Upper Room, like Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, or his appearance to Thomas and the others after he has been raised from the dead. But that is also where he instituted the Lord’s Supper, which would be the story I would have to choose. It offers us a central element of our worship life, and one of our two sacraments, but it also teaches us about one of the great gifts that Jesus has given to us and continues to give to us: The very gift of himself. 

Okay. The Raising of Lazarus and the Institution of the Lord’s Supper. What would be my third? There are still so many to choose from! What about his baptism by John? His temptation in the wilderness? His triumphal entry into Jerusalem? The cleansing of the Temple? Again, so many possibilities. But how about today’s story of his transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36)? 

Would this make my top three? To be honest, I am not sure. But it might, and this is how I want to approach the story today: As a story that is incredibly important because it teaches us so much about Jesus. 

The transfiguration is not just a miraculous moment for Jesus, and not just a mountaintop experience for his three closest disciples. It is also a story that teaches us a great deal about who Jesus is. 

And what does it teach us about Jesus, you might ask? Well, let me tell you. And since this is a sermon, let me narrow it down to three critical things. Here they are. 

The Transfiguration Connects Jesus to the Old Testament

First, this story connects Jesus to the Old Testament, to Moses and Elijah and to Mount Sinai, and to the Exodus. This is a critical story for that reason, because it shows us so clearly that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise. 

Jesus goes up this mountain not just to be transfigured, but also to meet with Moses and Elijah. Why? Well, let me read to you the last three verses in the Old Testament, from the prophet Malachi:

Remember the teaching of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse. (Malachi 4:4-6)

The entire Old Testament ends by reminding us of Moses and Elijah. First, we are reminded to obey the teaching of Moses, the teaching that he received on a mountain – The Ten Commandments. And then, we are told that the Lord will send the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord. 

Elijah, remember, is a great prophet and miracle-worker who never died. He was famously taken directly to heaven on a chariot of fire. And so there was always the belief that he would return before the long-awaited Messiah. Oh, and here’s an interesting fact: Elijah is the only person in the Old Testament to return to Mount Horeb, after Moses and his generation had left that same mountain several centuries before. 

Moses and Elijah are back on a mountain, this time meeting with Jesus, and speaking to him about his departure. But the Greek word used here for “departure” is a familiar one – it is “exodus.” Moses and Elijah are literally speaking to Jesus about his exodus, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. It is a new exodus. And just like Moses led God’s people out of slavery to the promised land, Jesus will lead God’s people out of slavery to sin and to the promised land of heaven. That is what he will accomplish at Jerusalem, on the cross and in the resurrection. 

So, you see? The story of the Transfiguration connects all sorts of dots between the Old and New Testaments, and becomes a key story to teach us about Jesus. This is the first reason why it would be a good one to use to teach about Jesus. 

The Transfiguration Shows us that There Is Life After Death

The second reason this is such an important story about Jesus that I want to highlight today is that this story shows us, even before Jesus’ death and resurrection, that there is life after death. 

Moses and Elijah appearing to Jesus is not an accident. Their appearance teaches us something about the afterlife. 

Moses and Elijah have both been gone for centuries, but the way they left this earth was significant. 

Elijah, as I mentioned, had a very interesting death. He didn’t actually die, but was taken in a chariot of fire straight to heaven. 

As Elijah and his disciple, Elisha, were walking along, “a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, ‘Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’” (2 Kings 2:2)

But what about Moses? Well, Deuteronomy tells us that Moses did die, unlike Elijah. Moses died after speaking with God on the top of a mountain, and after being shown the Promised Land. He would not be able to lead them there, because of the sin he committed in the wilderness, but the Lord shows it to him. And then, when he dies, the Lord himself buries this great man, but no one knows where. But he clearly dies, with the Lord at his side. 

So Elijah’s story tells us of heaven. But if only Elijah appeared to Jesus, we could say it was because he never died. Since Moses also appeared to Jesus, we can see that there is life even after we die. 

So Heaven, in other words, is real. And death does not end our relationship with God, even before Jesus. Life-after-death is for real, and Moses and Elijah appearing in this story is proof of it. 

Of course, our exodus to heaven still needs a new Moses: someone to lead us there. And that someone is Jesus, the new Moses. He will lead us through death to eternal life by dying himself, and then being raised. But before he does that, he himself is reminded of where all of this suffering is headed – to eternal glory. His transfiguration teaches us that. 

The Transfiguration Reveals Jesus to Be the Son of God

So the Transfiguration teaches us that life after death is very real. And this story connects Jesus to the Old Testament and to the promises made there. And then, there is one more thing that this story teaches us about Jesus: 

This story shows us that Jesus is no ordinary person. He is more than a great prophet. He is more than the promised Messiah. As great as Moses and Elijah are, Jesus is greater. Because Jesus is God’s Son, the Chosen One. And the Transfiguration gives Peter, James, and John – and all of us – a glimpse of what that means. They see Jesus, even if for just a moment, with his glory unveiled. And they share this experience with us.

Jesus is God, in other words. They are one and the same. He became flesh and dwelled among us, it is true. He was arrested and tortured and crucified, to be sure. He emptied himself of his divinity, as scripture reminds us, and became obedient, obedient to death, even death on a cross. And all for our sake. But we must never forget his divinity, that he is the Son of God, or the whole story crumbles. 

Plenty of people have died for what they believe in. Plenty have even died for others. They are called heroes, and rightly so. But their deaths did not take away the sting of death for us. They did not have that in their power. Only the Son of God has that power. The ability to take away the sting of death forever. If Jesus is not God, then there is no good news that still matters. There is no gospel. No one else could do what needed to be done, except for the very Son of God. 

The Transfiguration takes place at an important time in the gospels. It is right after Jesus has taught his disciples that he must suffer and die, before being raised from the dead. Eight days after that, our gospel teaches us, Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up the mountain to pray. And to be transfigured. And to speak with Moses and Elijah about his exodus. And to have a voice from heaven say: “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” Jesus is God’s Son. The story of Jesus hangs on his divinity, and the story of the Transfiguration shows us that divinity. 

Closing 

So those are some reasons why I might choose this story to tell someone about Jesus, if I could only choose three stories. And if I couldn’t choose the story of his death and resurrection. 

Thankfully, of course, I don’t have to do that. I don’t have to choose just three stories of Jesus. And I certainly don’t have to exclude his death and his resurrection from the potential stories to teach us about him!

And neither do you. We can choose them all – we can read them all, and think about them all, and learn from them all. We can do what our heavenly father commands, in this very reading. We can listen to Jesus. Listen to his story, and listen to his teachings. 

And who is more important to listen to in all this world than the very Son of God? 

So let us stay close to Jesus, in thought, word, and deed. And let us follow him through the mountains and valleys of our lives. Until that blessed day when we, too, will see the Son of God in his resurrected, transfigured glory. When every knee will bend and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of the Father. Amen.