Transfiguration

Preached at St Alphege Church on Sunday 17th February 2008 at 11am Eucharist
Second Sunday in Lent, Year A

Readings: Genesis 12:1-4a Romans 4:1-5,13-17 Matthew 17:1-9



Perhaps you are familiar with J K Rowling’ series of Harry Potter books? The books are primarily set in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At the school one of the first subjects that a new student is likely to encounter is called Transfiguration. Transfiguration is magic that changes something into something else. Professor McGonagall demonstrates transfiguration by changing her desk into a pig. In their first lesson the students are asked to change a matchstick into a needle.
And so it is that for a whole generation of children, and probably many adults too, the word “Transfiguration” conjures up images of witches and wizards, wands and incantations, which have absolutely nothing to do with the Transfiguration that we heard about in our gospel reading today!
As a child I remember hearing the Transfiguration story from the gospels. I remember thinking that the Transfiguration was just about the strangest story in the whole of the New Testament. Healing miracles I could understand. Bringing people back from the dead was easy to imagine, but the Transfiguration was very hard to picture. It was very hard to imagine what happened, why it happened and why it was necessary.
The story starts as Jesus leads his three most trusted disciples up a high mountain. The scriptures do not tell us which mountain this was, but traditionally it has always been assumed to be Mount Tabor, to the west of the Sea of Galilee, not far from Nazareth. While they are on the mountain, the three disciples witness a most extra ordinary event. It is as though the disciples are briefly allowed to peer into some heavenly realm and see things that are not usually seen from earth. Important things about Jesus are revealed to them.
First of all the disciples see Jesus’ face start to shine like the sun and his clothes turn to a dazzling white. This hints at the divinity of Christ, or at least of his closeness to God. Then the disciples see Moses and Elijah alongside Jesus and talking to Jesus. Moses and Elijah are the two most important prophets in Judaism, so their appearance alongside Jesus emphasises the importance of Jesus, and his relevance to the Jewish tradition. Mark’s account of the transfiguration emphasises that the disciples were overcome by fear. Luke’s account has them overcome with sleep, but in both those accounts Peter hardly knows what he is saying as he offers to build shelters for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.
Then suddenly a bright cloud envelops them and a voice says, “This is my Son, the beloved with whom I am well pleased; listen to him!” This is the voice of God, and a clear affirmation that Jesus is the Son of God.
Then suddenly it is all over. The cloud has gone, Moses and Elijah are gone. It seems that Jesus look like a normal human being once again. He helps the disciples to get up and tells them not to be afraid. He also tells them not to discuss this incident until after the resurrection.
The Transfiguration is very strange, but it clearly tells us some important things about Jesus.
But there are also some aspects of the Transfiguration story that make us think about the very start of Jesus’ public ministry; the moment when Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist in the River Jordon. The most powerful link is the voice from heaven that proclaims “This is my Son, the beloved with whom I am well pleased.” This is almost exactly what is said by the voice from heaven at the Baptism of Christ. But there are other links too. If we had read a few verses further in Matthew’s gospel this morning we would have heard Jesus explaining that John the Baptist has the role of Elijah, the prophet who comes before the Messiah. So Elijah’s presence at the transfiguration can be compared to John the Baptists presence at the Baptism. Moses was present at the Transfiguration. He was not present at the baptism, although passing to new life through the waters of baptism always reminds us of Moses leading the Israelites through the waters of the Red Sea.
There are also things about the Transfiguration that make us think about the very last moments of Jesus’ ministry on earth; the Ascension. The account of the Ascension in the Acts of the Apostles (acts 1) is also set on a mountain; Mount Olivet, near Jerusalem. Jesus is hidden by a cloud and two men in white robes appear to the disciples and talk to them.
So the Transfiguration reminds us of the Baptism of Christ at the start of his ministry and it reminds us of the Ascension at the end of his ministry. It also reminds us of the Most Holy Trinity. God the Father speaks, God the Son, Jesus, is transfigured and God the Holy Spirit is often associated with the bright cloud that envelops them all.
And it seems to me that it is very helpful for us to have this image of Jesus in Glory and to keep this image before us. As Christians we are on a journey towards heaven. We aspire to eternal life, and this life is in Jesus (1John 5:11, 2Timothy1:1). We aspire to share in the holiness of God (Hebrews 12:10), to share in the glory of Jesus (2 Thessalonians 2:15, Romans 8:17) and we don’t necessarily really know what this means or what the experience might be like. And perhaps the Transfiguration starts to give us a glimpse of what it might be like to live in heaven, to dwell permanently close to Jesus with his face shining like the sun and with his clothes dazzlingly white. The disciples seem to have found this experience completely overpowering. Probably there is part of us that wants nothing more than this, that longs for it and waits for it. A yet probably there is also a part of us that finds the idea very exposing, very exhausting, very threatening. We all have our saintly tendencies that rejoice in the presence of Christ, and will all have our sinful tendencies which want to turn from Christ and to hide in the dark. The Transfiguration reminds us that we need to develop and practice and grow in our saintly tendencies that are of Christ, and that rejoice in the presence of Christ and that want to bring us to Christ. Similarly it reminds us that our sinful tendencies have to be left behind. We have to be ready to lose them and to let them die and wither away. We know that it is the pure of heart who will see God. Our impurities might be very hard to live with in the intense light of the glory of Christ.
This is what Lent is about. It is about reminding ourselves anew that we must turn from sin and to follow Christ. This means following in the commandments of Christ and seeking always to grow in love for God and grow in love for our neighbour. Of course we can only do this by the grace of God, but we can pray for that grace and we can make sure that we make the best possible use of the grace that God gives us. Growing in love means living according to our saintly tendencies, it means be generous to others, serving others and wanting their good. It means forsaking our tendencies towards greed and selfishness; our desires to reject, dominate or manipulate others.
So let’s choose to always live in our “saint” so that our saint can grow and develop and come to maturity. Let’s be ready to let our “sinner” wither away, because we know that when we come to encounter Christ in his glory, our “saint” will rejoice to share in the life of heaven, but our “sinner” will find it quite impossible.