The Transfiguration - 9 Aug 1953 / 5 Aug 1962

Introduction - Tomorrow is an important festival of the church, the Feast of the Transfiguration, which is always on the 6 th of August. In some churches greater prominence is given to this festival, and given the prominence as that given to Christmas, Ascension, Whitsunday etc. The Transfiguration is the day on which we think of the glory of Jesus as the Son of God. This evening let us consider first what happened on the mountain top and then how we should understand what happened. What happened at the Transfiguration? The public ministry of Jesus was now practically over. He has been rejected by the people. Now there is only one road to travel – the road Jerusalem and the cross. In less than six months’ time he will be crucified. So before the journey he retired to pray. He took Peter, John and James with him when he went to pray. On more than one occasion he had selected them out of the disciples to accompany him. When he went to see Jairus’ daughter he took them. Then, when he went to the Garden of Gethsemane, he took them. Now he takes them to the mountain to pray. When they were all at prayer, Jesus’ face was found to shine as the sun. His garment became shining, exceeding white as snow. As the disciples watched in silent awe, there appeared two radiant figures: There was Moses who died 1500 years before Christ. Then there was Elijah who had been dead for a thousand years. He had been a prophet who had worked hard to keep the country from turning heathen. As the people listened they were able to overhear what these illustrious visitors were talking about. They spoke of Jesus’ death which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. The conversation was interrupted by Peter. He was always a restless and impetuous man. He must always be doing and saying something.

He said, ‘It is good for us to be here. If thou wilt, I will make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He was so pleased to meet them. He thought he could keep them longer if he built separate huts to house them. But the effect of the interruption was to break the spell. Moses and Elijah disappeared and were seen no more. Then something even more awe-inspiring happened. A bright golden cloud drew near and overshadowed them. The Jews believed that God always drew near in a cloud. eg. When God gave the Law on Mount Sinai the cloud covered it six days and Moses entered into the midst of the cloud. Again when the tabernacle was finished the cloud covered the Tent of meeting and the Glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. At the dedication of Solomon’s temple cloud filled the House of the Lord. The Jews had a special name for the cloud. They called it Shekinah. The apostles felt that this was nothing less than the Shekinah that was overshadowing them. In a moment they knew they were right. For a voice out of the cloud said: ‘This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him.’ It was the voice of God himself who was proclaiming who Jesus really was. Others might despise and reject him, but the Father was well satisfied with all that He had done. Among all the leaders of the world He was the one to be listened to and obeyed. For a moment the three apostles were filled with terror. But they heard another voice. It was the voice of Jesus. He came and touched them and said, ‘Arise, be not afraid.’ And lifting up their eyes they saw no one save Jesus only. That is briefly the story of the Transfiguration. Now, what are we to understand by the story. The story of the Transfiguration is likely to affect us differently according to our different habits of thought. Some would be disposed to accept it simply as one of the many wonderful things we are told about the Lord, and leave it at that – pay no more attention. Some with a modern scientific outlook would find it impossible to believe that the events related could have happened. They would wish this event was not inserted in the Gospel. Can the Evangelist who gave such an account be trusted in other parts of the narrative? Such critics would say that this story hinders rather than helps their faith in Jesus. Others may be content to take the episode as purely symbolic – not an account of something that ever happened, but a story told to convey vividly a spiritual truth.

Whatever view we may take about the story, we must admit that the story is strange and puzzling, and for that reason we may be inclined to put it aside as one of the difficult parts of the New Testament which we are never likely to understand. Therefore we are content to neglect it. The story has an important place in the Gospel narrative and the Evangelist considered it to be important. Therefore it is our duty to understand it however difficult it may be. We may not be able to understand it fully and clear up all mysteries, but we can come to some understanding about it.

What are we to understand by this story? Some people have experiences in which the veil between the eternal and the temporal, the heavenly and the earthly disappear. The dividing line between things earthly and things heavenly disappears. They are on the borderland of the spiritual world. They see visions and hear voices which we cannot fully understand, but nevertheless they are real experiences for those people. Such experiences cannot be described in words. When such experiences are described it is no wonder they are not intelligible to us. The Transfiguration was such an experience to the three disciples – an experience that cannot be described in words. That is our difficulty. Our Lord went to the mountain to pray. He must have been communing with God about His divine mission on earth. As he waited upon God He became more conscious about his own divinity and, of what He was going to accomplish by his death at Jerusalem. The privilege of the three disciples was that they were given the grace to apprehend in some measure what was going on in the quietness of the Lord’s Spirit? Whatever they perceived, they perceived in the form of vision and audition – seeing and hearing. As they themselves were at prayer, there must have been something like a telepathic communication between the mind of Jesus and the minds of the disciples. The conviction in the mind of Jesus about his divine mission was communicated to the disciples. They saw the glory of His divinity in the brightness of His face and his garments. The appearance of Moses and Elijah was to convince the apostles that the Old Testament was entirely on the side of Jesus, even though the priests and the leaders of the nations had rejected Him. The experience of the disciples at the Transfiguration brought home to the disciples the truth that Jesus was the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets. And they heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, hear ye Him.’ The Transfiguration served a two-fold purpose:

First it gave the assurance to Jesus of His divine mission and of his son-ship. It gave the assurance to the disciples, and through them to the Church, that Jesus was the Son of God. The story of the Transfiguration has a meaning for us today. It has a message for us today. The most famous picture of the Transfiguration is that by the celebrated Italian painter Raphael. He died when he was 37 years old, and during his last illness he sent for his picture to hang beside his bed. He had other beautiful paintings – the crucifixion for example. But he said his last thoughts should be about the glories of Jesus and so he had the picture of the Transfiguration by his side. May our contemplation of the story of the Transfiguration fill our minds with thoughts of the same kind – the glories of Jesus.