Transfiguration at Epiphany on February 22, 2009

Mark 9:2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. ³ His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. ⁴ And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. ⁵ Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters-- one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." ⁶ (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) ⁷ Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" ⁸ Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. ⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Making a Grand … Exit

Because first impressions matter so much, people want to make grand entrances. Many tune in early to the Academy Awards just to watch celebrities walk down the red carpet and make a grand entrance into the auditorium. Cleveland Cavalier’s star, LeBron James makes quite an entrance when he tosses resin powder into the air over his head. High school football players enjoy making an entrance with loud music, cheerleaders and bursting through a big screen of decorated paper. President Obama entered his presidency with an astronomical crowd gathered for this inauguration. The truth is, we are greatly influenced by first impressions and grand entrances.

It’s interesting that Jesus the Son of God was not about grand entrances when He entered our world. He came through a little hamlet called Bethlehem, not a cosmopolitan or metropolitan city. He was born in a stable, not a palace. He was placed in a straw-filled manger, not a silk and satin, lace-laden cradle. Jesus’ first visitors were farm animals and shepherd boys, not the “high-faluting,” fancy and famous of His day. Nope, Jesus was not about making a grand entrance.

Here’s what Jesus was about: He wanted to make a grand exit. Jesus was more concerned about being noticed in how He left this world than how He entered it. Of course, the incarnation (God taking on human flesh) and the birth of Jesus is important to be believed and confessed – this is foundational for our faith in Jesus as the God-Man. But for Jesus, He chose not to enter our world with trumpet blare and fanfare – He is saving all this until He comes again. His first Advent into our world was subtle, soft, and nearly silent. Jesus does want to be known for His birth, but even more He wants to be known for His death – for here is where He takes away the sins of the world. Jesus made a wonderful entrance. We love celebrating Christmas. But today, Transfiguration Sunday, we shift focus. We begin to look toward Jesus’ grand exit!

Jesus’ grand exit – His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave – are the most important events in the world. These events would not be done without preparation. The Transfiguration is part of that preparation. On the mountain Jesus turns dazzling white in the brilliance of God, He is announced by the heavenly Father as the One to be listened to, and He is joined by two of the greatest Old Testament heroes – Moses and Elijah. St. Luke, in his Transfiguration account, tells us why Moses and Elijah are with Jesus. He says the two Old Testament prophets spoke to Jesus about His departure. They came to encourage. They came to support. They came to prepare. 

Who better to help Jesus prepare for his departure? Who better to talk about Jesus’ grand exit? The Greek word Luke uses for departure is the word “exodus.” Who better to talk about Jesus’ exodus than the two prophets who had incredible “exoduses” themselves?

God took Moses to the top of Mt. Nebo and showed him the Promised Land. Then Moses departed this world quietly alone with God on the mountaintop. God Himself buried Moses’ body in a valley in Moab but to this day no one knows where the grave is.

Moses’ exodus from this world was quiet, but his exodus from Egypt was spectacular – plagues, pillar of fire by night and pillar of fire by day, walls of water, escape on the dry seabed, and drowning of the Egyptian enemies. It is the Old Testament story of God’s salvation of His people.

Elijah’s impressive exodus happened when he departed this world. He was one of only two people recorded in Scripture who did not die but were taken straight into heaven. Elijah made a grand exit before the eyes of his successor, Elisha. A fiery chariot drawn by fiery horses of heaven collects Elijah and launches him heavenward in a whirlwind. It is the story of God’s grace to His faithful servant

Moses and Elijah, aflame with eternal robes, stand beside their King. When Jesus was preparing himself in the desert for the work of life, angels came to encourage him. Now, on the mountain, preparing Himself for the work of death, Moses and Elijah draw near: Moses, the Lawgiver whose grave no man knew; Elijah, the prophet who sidestepped death in a fiery chariot. Plus, God the Father was about to make arrangements for one more earthly farewell – His only Son's.

Elijah and Moses stand on the Mount of Transfiguration speaking about Jesus’ departure because they must have understood how God the Father is faithful in using departures for His glory and accomplishing His will. They speak with Jesus knowing that His exodus will be the greatest of all. By His death and departure from this life, our sins will be taken away and our punishment will be paid. Jesus will deliver us from slavery of sin and Satan and will launch us heavenward. He rose from the tomb, ascended into heaven, and is preparing a place for us in His Father’s mansion.

Transfiguration is about Jesus being readied to make a history changing, life-giving exodus. This was Jesus preparing to make a grand exit.

Jesus was also preparing the disciples for His grand exit. Shortly after they came down from the mountain Jesus entered Jerusalem to face ridicule, betrayal, denial, trumped-up charges, a fake trial, a gutless governor, beating, scourging, excruciating pain and humiliating death. The disciples were going to need the glory they witnessed on the mountain to give them hope and assurance through the difficult days ahead. Even with the glory of Christ burned into their eyes and seared into their souls they still ran, hid and cowered.

In Jerusalem the disciples were also bystanders to a grand exit. Three hours of divine darkness, not one but two earthquakes within three days, the conversion of a tough thief and an unsentimental soldier, the tearing of the temple curtain, the resurrection of dead saints, the rolling away of the tombstone by the angel and their Lord once dead now alive. Then forty days later ascended into heaven and covered by a cloud. That’s a grand exit!

These are difficult days. There are breakups and bad grades, layoffs and loneliness, depression and divorce, recession and rejection, addiction, abuse and anxiety. We know that God has redeemed us and is taking care of us, but we’re still not sure how we’re going to get through all this. I like the way a friend of mine put it – that we are “teetering on the cusp of OK.” Not great, not horrific … just OK. We anguish over our current situation and are prayerful and hopeful for a better future.

Our problem? Do we really trust God to get us through all these problems? Are we trusting our government or physicians or own ingenuity to solve our problems? We work very hard but feel overwhelmed by the stresses of our career and the demands of our family. These cause us to teeter from OK to flat out discouraged. We sound like Eeyore the gloomy donkey paraphrasing Ecclesiastes “nothing new is under the sun, so oh bother.” With all this we face the temptation to run, hide and cower.

We, too, need a glimpse of glory. We need the sight of Jesus on the mountaintop and the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ to encourage us. We need the constant reminder from the Father to listen to His Son. Life is difficult. However, when we focus on our grand exit to eternity, it makes the long season of life appear much shorter. When we attend the funeral of our grandmother who has suffered for a long time with cancer, we thank God for accomplishing His will and taking His aged saint out of this veil of tears. When our nephew dies in the hospital shortly after his birth … and his rebirth through Holy Baptism, we are comforted that this child of God has been received into eternal glory. As we face pain and death all day long, we are assured that this life is only temporary but the next life is eternal.

A new business was opening and one of the owner’s friends wanted to send him flowers for the occasion. They arrived at the new business site and the owner read the card, “Rest in Peace.” The owner was angry and called the florist to complain. After he had told the florist of the obvious mistake and how angry he was, the florist replied, “Sir, I’m really sorry for the mistake, but rather than getting angry, you should imagine this: somewhere there is a funeral taking place today, and they have flowers with a note saying, “Congratulations on your new location.’”

We will exit this world of sin and death and arrive in a new location. It is a city whose architect and builder is God. It is a mansion with many rooms. We are strangers here, earth is a desert drear; heaven is our home. Danger and sorrow stand, round us on every hand; heaven is our fatherland. Though the tempest rage, short is our pilgrimage, we are traveling to a better country – a heavenly one. Though our bodies are wracked with deficiencies, disease and death, they will be raised in glory and power, with splendor and sainthood. 

The Transfiguration is good news. We can be prepared for our grand exit from this world because Jesus’ grand exit has freed us from the punishment of hell. He has paid for our entrance into heaven. Jesus humbly entered our world to become our substitute under God’s Law. He gloriously exited this life with His last breath crying out, “It is finished!” Life was not taken from Him. He willingly gave up His spirit. He entered death the Victor. He conquered sin as Savior. He stomped on Satan as the serpent-crusher.

By dying in our place on Calvary’s cross, Jesus atones for our sins and offers us the forgiveness, love, and reconciliation of our gracious God. By rising from the dead, Jesus rolls our sins into His open grave and gives us His righteousness.

In my freshmen year at Northwestern College we had a religion professor who always lectured by standing behind the podium in the front of the classroom. Boring, but not unusual. What made our professor uniquely boring was the fact that once he began lecturing, he never took his eyes off the upper left corner of the classroom. Guys took naps, read magazines and even brought in small portable TVs to watch during class. The only time the professor would look away from the corner was when a student would raise his hand (although it wouldn’t be noticed) and call out, “Professor, could you show that to me on the blackboard?” The professor would gladly turn his back to the class to satisfy his student’s piqued interest … and that’s when it happened. A student or two would jump out the window of our first story classroom. He would then head back to the dorm to sleep. He wouldn’t be missed.

One day a question was asked of the professor so he would turn to the blackboard, then Dean Calhoun made his grand exit. Out the window, landing on the ground … right in front of Dean Lindemann, the Dean of Students. Then Dean Calhoun made his grand entrance back into the classroom crawling back through the window … all to the laughter of the students and the continued oblivion of the professor.

We are more interested in the importance of first impressions and grand entrances. Jesus considers more. His Transfiguration reminds us He was more concerned with leaving a lasting impression by making a grand exit. His grand exit prepared His disciples for the difficulties that lay ahead – prison and persecution, preaching to sinners and proclaiming salvation.

Jesus’ Transfiguration was a step toward Jesus’ grand exit upon the cross and His grand exit from the grave. This glimpse of glory prepares us for the difficulties that lie ahead. Upon our grand exit from this world, with our own eyes we will look upon the glorious face of Jesus. We will hear God’s booming voice echo off the walls of New Jerusalem. We will stand in the presence of sainted Moses, Elijah, Peter, James and John. The disciples had to come down from the Mount of Glory. We will never leave that glorious Mount of Paradise. Jesus’ grand exit prepares us for our glorious entrance into heaven. Amen.