2026-02-15 Transfiguration

Scripture Readings

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen!

Today we wind up the season of Epiphany. It is the season of light. It is the season of God revealing to the world exactly Who He is in the person of Jesus Christ. It is the season of manifestation. We could say it is a Divine game of “peek-a-boo!” where God lifts up the veil and we see His glory. Epiphany began with the light of a star leading the Magi to the very light of the world in the newborn King baby Jesus. Today it ends with the brilliant light of a transfigured adult Jesus on the mountain. This is the last big dazzling light show before we enter the shadows, the “bright sadness” of the season of Lent. The biggest and the brightest revelation of Epiphany is the transfiguration, as we see the Divine glory of God shining through the humanity of Jesus. It is a glimpse of the glory we all share by faith, believing and trusting that Christ has been raised from the dead and gives all believers a share in His resurrected glory!

The whole transfiguration story is one that is rather strange and mysterious. At this point in the Disciples following Jesus in His earthly ministry, they should have come to expect the unexpected. They’d seen His miracles and healings, they’d witnessed His teachings and sermons - all of which were anything but ordinary and expected. But today on the mount of transiguration, it’s taken up to a whole new level. This event reveals exactly who Jesus is. He is indeed both the promised Messiah and God Himself and that gives a great deal of hope and assurance to us, pilgrim people of faith, ever trekking onward to eternity.

“And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves” (MT 17:1). Being from Saskatchewan, we naturally have an inborn apprehension to mountains. Great big towers of stone that soar up thousands of feet and do nothing but block out the sky! We drive down to Castle Butte in the Big Muddy and say “200 feet up, that’s plenty tall!” But when you read the Scriptures, whenever big monumental “God stuff” happened it seemed to happen on mountains. Perhaps it was just that much closer to heaven so that God didn’t have to commute as far as if He were to come to the prairies! Take notice of who went on up the mountain with Jesus: Peter, James and John. It wasn’t all of the disciples, just a select few. This was the inner circle. They were the chosen few who experienced the spiritual roller-coaster ride on top of the mountain.

“And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light” (17:2). ‘Transfigured’ means completely changed, like caterpillar-into-butterfly kind of a thing. It’s where we get our word “metamorphosis” from. A major transformation. I think here the English language and indeed all human language fails to accurately describe what is actually happening with this event. Baby Jesus came as God in the flesh, one of us, relatable, physical. Everyone can relate to cute and cuddly little rock-a-bye babies. But here we see the complete opposite. We see a glimpse of God in His glory, His transcendence, His holiness, His other worldliness. Here we see that “God is light” to quote St. John. Our Lord’s face and clothing shine like the sun with this light often depicted in Christian artwork and icons as so bright it is beyond white, far brighter than any shade of white on the paint store swatches! It’s a heck of a lot brighter than “Buffalo Pound Mocha” that’s for sure!

“And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.” Now as if this miraculous event wasn’t already over the top, it just got a whole lot stranger. It was probably overwhelming enough seeing Jesus change right before their very eyes, but then to have Moses and Elijah show up out of nowhere!? Totally wild. I’ve often wondered how they knew it was Moses and Elijah. Were they wearing those “Hello My Name Is” stickers?! Again, it’s no accident that they are there. Moses and Elijah were epic Old Testament figures, two pillars really. Moses represents all of the Law. Elijah represents all of the Prophets. These are two major sections of the Old Testament Scriptures. Moses also represents everyone who has died, for we recall that “Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, 6 and He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day” (Deut. 34:5-6). Contrasted to this, Elijah represents everyone who is living. We remember that “as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2Kings 2:11).

So to this end, both Moses and Elijah represent the whole Law and Prophets of Holy Scripture and both the dead and the living. In other words, all of the Scriptures point to Jesus, for He is the Messiah and the Christ who fulfills the whole Old Testament. Also, they illustrate the “communion of saints” that we confess in the creed, for they are alive in Christ and they talk with Him.

“And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” (MT 17:4) This appears to be another odd detail of the transfiguration. Kind of a strange time to be thinking about camping isn’t it? Where are they going to get the materials to make tents on top of a mountain anyways?! I doubt Amazon would have been able to deliver up there, even with a Prime subscription! I think St. Peter is just totally overwhelmed with this whole event. He wants to say something but he’s not sure what to say. It’s like meeting a celebrity or some other VIP - you want to be cool, you don’t want look dumb, so you try to be cool but you end up looking dumb anyways!

There is an Old Testament connection to the tents or the booths mentioned here. The Feast of Tabernacles in Leviticus (23:33–43) involved the Jews building and dwelling in temporary booths or tents to commemorate God’s provision and protection during Israel’s wilderness wanderings after the Exodus. It also carried an eschatological or end-times meaning, anticipating God’s ultimate kingdom and dwelling with His people. Peter, witnessing Jesus’ glory alongside Moses and Elijah, may have instinctively linked this moment to the fulfillment of that feast—seeing a preview of the Messianic kingdom where God ‘tabernacles’ or dwells among humanity. His words reflect the excitement that the promised era of the glory and divine presence of God had arrived.

But St. Peter makes a bit of a boo-boo here, a theological misstep. By suggesting three tents for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, Peter inadvertently makes Jesus to be on the same level as these great prophets. To which there comes an immediate correction to Peter’s theology. The Heavenly Father’s immediate interruption with a voice from the bright cloud corrects him: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him” (MT 17:5) These words emphasize Jesus’ unique supremacy. The tents symbolize a human attempt to institutionalize or “capture” God’s glory in earthly structures, but the event points forward to something greater — Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of God’s dwelling with people. This directly echoes John 1:14, where the Word literally “tabernacled” among us.

This similar event should be ringing bells for you, taking you back to the very beginning of the Epiphany season with the Baptism of Jesus. The words the Father speaks are almost identical: ““This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (MT 3:17). The Divine glory of Christ belonged to Jesus because of His nature or His Divine essence! From eternity, Jesus is God’s Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. He is God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God! To “listen to Him” is to hear Him, to trust Him, to obey His Word.

“When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified” (MT 17:6) There is no other possible reaction to such an amazing event! The inner circle of Disciples experienced the glory of the Living God! They fall down flat on their faces. It wasn’t joy or awe that they were feeling they had witnessed God’s supreme holiness. It was abject terror! I’m not sure if fruit of the loom underwear existed back then but if it did, it’s my guess they would have needed to change it at this point!

“But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear” (17:7). He comes and touches His disciples to calms their fears. Fear not. Do not be afraid. This is the message Jesus assures us with too. The light of Christ has shone into the darkness of our world and the darkness has not overcome it. The Messiah and Saviour of the world who displays His glory will soon display His grace in dying on the cross and rising from the dead. “And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only” (17:8). They see Jesus, veiled in flesh once again. The hidden God who comes to us in the humble ways of water and the word, bread and wine, love for one another - there still the Divine glory of God remains veiled for us. And soon, that veil will be pierced for us and our salvation on the cross. Thanks be to God that He dwells with us and remains with us by His grace. In His Name. Amen!