Tag: Transfiguration

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The Transfiguration – Matthew 17:1-9

What comes up must come down. The Transfiguration is the ultimate mountaintop moment – whatever it is that brings us to the height of emotion, whether spiritual highs or Super Bowl championships, eventually fades away. The Transfiguration was a moment like that, but also calls forward to a mountaintop moment that will never fade.

Jesus brought Peter, James and John with him, fulfilling the instructions in Deuteronomy around bringing witnesses. That explains the disciples, but why Moses and Elijah?

Both had their own literal mountaintop experiences – Moses receiving the Law, Elijah defeating the priests of Baal. Both of those lofty experiences were followed immediately by times of trial and despair. Moses descended to find his people worshipping an idol, while Elijah ended up on the run from Jezabel and falls into a deep depression. This happens in all our lives, as the memories of the high points fade, and sometimes we turn to harmful things in an attempt to recapture those feelings.

Similarly, the disciples were heading for their own disappointment and despair in Jerusalem when Jesus is crucified. Peter, who is gung how on the mountaintop, ready to build shelters for each glowing person there, seeking to capture and control the experience – soon he will deny even knowing Jesus.

But the temporary nature of these experiences here on Earth is not a reason to avoid them. Jesus brought Peter, James and John for a reason, and their experience of awe and worship was valid and valuable.

So, too, were the words of God, spoken from the cloud – “Listen to Him.” The words and instructions of Jesus are pearls of great price. God wants us to listen to them – and to do so in the context of the Law and the Prophets, as represented by Moses and Elijah. It’s a reminder not to become fixated on individual verses or statements in the Bible, but to understand the call of God in the broader context of the live story told all throughout scripture.

Then Jesus demonstrates that love directly – he places his hand on the terrified disciples and consoles them – “Get up – do not be afraid.”

And that’s what he’s telling each of us in our own lives. If we will just follow the three instructions given on the mountain here, we will be in good shape. Listen to Jesus – Don’t be afraid – Get up.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, February 15, 2026

Image: “Iesu transfigurato (Mark 9:4f)” by Salvador Dali

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In Awe – Mark 9:2-9

Mark’s story of Jesus is now on the downhill side – it reached its center with Peter’s acknowledgment of Jesus as Messiah, but also with Jesus’ rebuke of Peter as he drives towards the moral and spiritual goals of his mission, not the secular, material goals that are expected by Peter and others. Then in the part right before this, Jesus tells them that the cross is not just his destiny but the very nature of following Him.

This section puts more context around this, giving the disciples a glimpse of Christ’s glory, as a counterpoint or even result of that suffering.

All of scripture is coming to a point here – Moses representing the Law, Elijah the prophets, and Jesus as the culmination and fulfillment of them both.

In the midst of this incredible, supernatural, symbolic awe-inspiring event, Peter’s immediate, natural reaction is to get very material (even if not particularly practical). Let’s build some tents! The idea may have had its roots in the Tabernacle carried by the people of Israel through the desert – but ultimately, this is not the point. Jesus’ goal is not pointing back to the time of Moses, but rather Moses and Elijah point to and lead to the new thing that Jesus is doing.

Like us, Peter wants to do something active in order to capture this moment of awe, to stake it down in our reality and make something material out of it. But that is not what Jesus wants – the goal here is almost entirely just awe. Sometimes that is all we are called to.

So what was the purpose of the transfiguration? First, to help the disciples (and us) understand who Jesus is. This is the question he asked at the centerpoint of the gospel of Mark. He is the Son of God, the divine Christ, the second person of the Trinity, even if not all of that was clear yet.

Second, it helps us understand what Jesus is about. He is the culmination of the Law and Prophets. He is there like Moses to lead His people to the promised land, and like Elijah to proclaim the truth of God.

And third, helped along by the voice of God the Father, it helps us understand that we are called to listen and follow Jesus. Just as the Jewish people of the day looked to the words and instruction of Moses and Elijah, we now look to the instructions of Jesus, we now follow Him and His example.

But as Moses and Elijah return to heaven, Jesus remains with His disciples and walks alongside them, just as He walks alongside us. The glory of God as revealed on that mountaintop is right by our side every day.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, February 11, 2024