Pastor Sherry’s message for March 2, 2025

Scriptures: Ex 34:29-35; Ps 99; 2 Cor 3:12-4:2; Lk 9:28-43

Today the Church celebrates Transfiguration Sunday. What does it mean that Jesus was “transfigured”? The story is told of a Sunday School teacher trying to explain our Gospel story to a group of young children:

She noticed one little boy seemed confused.  When she was finished [reading] she asked him, “Johnny, why don’t you tell us where Jesus was in this story” He replied, “Oh, he was on a mountain.”

“Yes, that’s right; said the teacher, “Do you remember why he was up there?”

Johnny answered with a confused look, “I guess that’s where his arithmetic class was held .”

The teacher looked at him and wondered what he meant. “What do you mean, arithmetic class?”

“Well” Johnny replied, “The Bible said, ’Jesus went up on the mountain and there he BEGAN to FIGURE.”

(Tim Zingale, “Transformed,” 2/11/02, www.sermons.com)

Don’t you love the unique and literal way that little kids think?  The child obviously didn’t get it—the teacher needed to explain further.

There is a story told about Napoleon that comes closer to describing it.  It took place during his disastrous invasion of Russia (1812).The Emperor“

“… somehow got separated from his men and was spotted by his enemies, the Russian Cossacks. They chased him through the winding streets. Running for his life Napoleon eventually ducked into a furrier’s shop. Gasping for air and talking at the same time he begged the shopkeeper to save him. The furrier said, “Quick hide under this big pile of furs in the corner.” Then the furrier made the pile even large by throwing more furs atop of Napoleon.

“No sooner had he finished when the Russian Cossacks burst into the shop. “Where is he?” they demanded to know. The furrier denied knowing what they were talking about. Despite his protests the Russian Cossacks tore the shop apart trying to find Napoleon. They poked into the pile of furs with their swords but did not find him. The eventually gave up and left the shop.

“After some time had past, Napoleon crept out from under the furs, unharmed. Shortly after Napoleon’s personal guards came into the store. Before Napoleon left, the furrier asked, “Excuse me for asking this question of such a great man, but what was it like to be under the furs, knowing that the next moment could surely be your last?”  Napoleon became indignant. “How dare you ask such a question of the Emperor Napoleon?” Immediately he ordered his guards to blindfold the furrier and execute him.  The furrier was dragged out of the shop, blindfolded and placed against the wall of the shop. The furrier could see nothing but he could hear the guards shuffling into a line and preparing their rifles. Then he heard Napoleon call out, “Ready!” In that moment a feeling the shopkeeper could not describe welled up with him. Tears poured down his cheeks. “Aim!”  Suddenly the blindfold was stripped from his eyes. Napoleon stood before him. They were face to face and Napoleon said, “Now you know the answer to your question.”

“The lesson here is obvious: How can you describe a near death experience? You can’t. It has to be experienced. Jesus’ transfiguration falls in the same category of events which cannot be described. I think that is why Luke says that they kept it to themselves and told no one what they had seen. How do you describe it? It had to be experienced.”

(Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com, 2/27/2025.  Adapted from a story from Wayne Heyer.)

It’s interesting, isn’t it?  People can talk around it, but apparently the experience was difficult to describe.   Jesus’ transfiguration means that, for a brief time, He appeared to His closest friends in all His heavenly glory.  He had metamorphosized before their eyes.  Blinding light emanated from Him— His whole body radiated light   So Jesus shines bright as the brightest sunlight; He blazes brighter than a raging bonfire.  This gives new meaning to the praise song, “Shine, Jesus Shine,” doesn’t it?  Also, consider the Aaronic Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26, NIV):  The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.  Remember, the book of Revelation (21:22-24) tells us that Jesus and God the Father will be our light sources in the New Jerusalem, following Jesus’ 2nd Coming, as there will be no more sun, moon, or stars.  Paul tells us that we too will undergo this kind of transformation when we enter heaven.  We too will shine in the reflection of the Lord’s presence…but more about this in a minute.  (By the way, the three friends did not talk about what they saw because Jesus told them not to.  If you had seen Him in His heavenly state, wouldn’t you have kept quiet if He required it of you?)

II. Body—>Did you notice that all of our readings today focus on Jesus’ Transfiguration?

A. In our Gospel passage (Luke 9:28-43) Peter, James, and John are eye-witnesses to Jesus’ transfiguration.  By this third year of their “seminary experience” with Him (seminary normally takes 3 years), they probably thought they knew Him pretty well.  They have only seen Jesus as the itinerant rabbi from a humble, back-water town.  Yes, they have witnessed Him perform miracles.  They have been astonished by His wise but counter-cultural teaching.  But they have not, prior to this, been exposed to Him in all His heavenly glory.

Now, He metamorphosizes before them into the God He really is. Seeing Him this way should have convinced them that He truly is the Son of God.  Furthermore, they recognize Him talking with Moses, the deliverer and Law-Giver, and Elijah, the great prophet!  Finally, in the coup de grace, they hear God the Father say (v.35)—>This is My Son, whom I have chosen.  Listen to Him.  Surely these special friends realize in this experience that they have massively underestimated Jesus!  This very special event should have helped move them to the awareness that they were friends and comrades of the long-awaited Messiah.  The two figures with Him were both divinely favored heroes of Israel:  Moses, like Jesus, had lead God’s people out of bondage—>he foreshadowed Jesus as savior and redeemer.  Elijah was a great prophet who, like Jesus, held power over nature, performed wonderful miracles, and defeated 850 priests of Satan.  God the Father, in His proclamation, makes it clear that He sees Jesus as similar to but superior to them both.

You might be wondering how they knew it was Moses and Elijah who conversed with Jesus.  The Holy Spirit probably just revealed their identities to them, because they just seemed to know.

B.  Speaking of Moses (Exodus 34:29-35), he too briefly reflected God’s glory whenever He visited with the Lord.  Let’s consider first the backstory to this event: Just 3 months after crossing the Red Sea and escaping the pursuing Egyptian army—as well as having been fed, watered, and protected by God in the meantime–the Israelites are  encamped at the base of Mt. Sinai.  They have violated their covenant with God by worshipping a golden calf.  They have thus already broken the 1st (No gods before Me) and 2nd (No graven images/no idols) commandments which Moses is bringing to them.  Biblical scholars tell us had he brought the two tablets into the camp, their punishment would have been death to every one of them!  But, in anger and grief—and to protect them from the death penalty–Moses breaks the original tablets containing the 10 Commandments before returning to the camp.  God then commands the Levites faithful to Him to go throughout the camp, killing those guilty of worshipping the golden calf (spiritual adultery).  The guilty parties die (surely God discerned who offended and who did not), but how does the rest of the community get back into God’s good graces?

Moses journeys back up to meet with God a 2nd time.  He goes to beg the Lord to forgive His people. He hopes to try to repair the broken Covenant.  And, of course, he needs to request a new set of stone tablets.

God, in response, identifies Himself as patient, loving, faithful, forgiving, and just; and He demonstrates to Moses and to us that His covenant promises depend more upon His unchanging nature than on Israel’s (or our) unfaithfulness to Him.  Then He writes, a 2nd time, His Laws on new stone tablets.

As a result of this extraordinary encounter, Moses’ face shines!

He has experienced God’s glory and it is reflected on his countenance.

At first, he appeared not to have been aware; but in verse 30, we are told—>When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.  He had to call them to himself to convince them it was still Moses that they saw, and that he was all right.  Interestingly, he then veiled himself as the glow wore off.

He spoke to God and to the people bare-faced, but he “masked up” afterward, to prevent anyone from seeing the glow diminish.  It appears he was trying to manage their perception of him.  He may have wanted their respect.  He may have wanted them to remember he spoke frequently with the Lord.

C. But Paul tells offers us an alternative explanation in 2nd Corinthians 3:12-4:2.  He asserts that Moses veiled himself…not because the people were afraid of him—at least not after the 1st time; but instead because Moses wanted them to focus on the Lord and not on Moses’ face (another form of idolatry).  He wore a veil until the shine dimmed.  He wore a veil because the people’s hearts were hard and not yet ready to draw close to God.  What Paul is saying in our passage today is that because Jesus has come and revealed Himself as our Messiah, we do not veil the Gospel but teach it freely and openly (Vv.16-17, NLT)—>But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  We teach the Gospel without any gimmicks or tricks.  Additionally, neither Paul nor any of us is veiled because the Lord wants all to see His glory reflected in us. He wants others to see the life-giving Holy Spirit at work in our lives, and reflected in the faces of all believers.

D. Finally, Psalm 99 enjoins the people of all nations to worship the Lord, the King of all the Earth, who rules from Mt. Zion (the Temple Mount in Jerusalem).  We are reminded that Moses and Aaron served Him.  They called out to Him for help and He answered them.  He punished idolaters and the rebellious.  And He has always acted justly and righteously.  We will be able to gaze upon Him in heaven.  Again, our faces will be unveiled, and our eyes will be able to behold His brightness.  

So What are we to take away from Jesus’ Transfiguration?  First of all, clearly He is God.  Jesus shone with His heavenly glory and if we had been there, with Peter, James, and John, we would have seen it.  Moses picked up some of God’s reflective glory whenever he visited with the Father either on top of the mountain, or in the Tent of Meeting.  But Paul wants us to reflect Jesus’ glory in the way we look, the way we act, and in the way we speak to others.  Jesus transfigured so that we might be transformed more and more into His image and likeness.  We can do this as we allow the Holy Spirit to continuously mold and shape us more and more into the image and likeness of Christ.

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams