The Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9)

In Sermons, The Whole Story, Year 2024 by harvest.admin

Resource by Miles Macleod

A few Decembers back, my family traveled to Sapa, Vietnam. We went there because we saw beautiful pictures like this…

But when we arrived, we couldn’t see any of the beauty because a blanket of fog had settled over the area. So all of our family photos looked like this. And even though I knew that there was beauty all around me, I was disappointed because I couldn’t experience it. 

On our third day in Sapa, we decided to go to the highest mountain in all of Indochina, right outside of Sapa. We packed ourselves into a cable car with 20 other tourists and began to go up, three kilometers into the sky. 

I knew that below me was a beautiful scene, but still I couldn’t see it. The fog would not leave. And so the higher we went, the more my disappointment grew. Until… in an instant, the cable car rose above the fog and a blinding light – the sun – reflected through the windows and lit up the once dark car. The people in the cable car, all of us strangers, did the strangest thing — we all began to clap. If you asked why we were clapping at that moment, I’m certain that no one would have a good answer. But the more I’ve been thinking about it, I think I know why — because deep within every human heart there exists a desire not just to know about beauty but to experience it. 

And then it struck me: I had been so focused on the absence of beauty on earth, that I never considered the beauty that I might experience above the clouds. Beauty like this.

In a similar way, high on a mountain long ago, three of Jesus’ disciples rose above the fog of uncertainty to experience a glimpse of divine beauty and heavenly glory. Today we’ll explore what happened on that mountain. 

I’ll be reading primarily from the Book of Matthew, chapter 17. I’ll start by reading through our passage, stopping at the beginning to provide a bit of context. From there, we’ll jump into our lesson. 

Let’s Pray. (from head knowledge to heart experience)

We start in v1 with one of the clearest time transitions in the Gospels. The Gospels, generally speaking, are not written in strict chronological order. Instead, they are arranged more thematically. And so, the first four words of our passage stand out…

Having such a clear time transition begs the question: what happened six days prior? And asking this question, I think, helps provide a bit of context to our story today. If you have your Bibles, you can quickly flip back to Chapter 16 and see for yourself. 

  1. First, you’ll see the scene — starting in verse 13 — where Peter confesses that Jesus is “The Messiah” and “the Son of the Living God.” After many months and many miracles with Jesus, at least one of His disciples is finally starting to put the pieces together. But even with this confession, it’s clear that the disciples don’t have the whole picture. 
  2. We know this because in the very next passage —starting in verse 21 — where Jesus predicts his death — Peter is rebuked. This is where Jesus refers to him as “Satan” for suggesting that Jesus should not die. Clearly, Peter is still struggling with the whole Jesus-is-God thing and what it means for humanity. 
  3. So, if I could summarize what was happening six days before our passage, I would summarize it like this: despite knowing some things, there is still a lack of clarity concerning Jesus’ identity and purpose. There is, you might say, a good bit of fog. 

Verse 1 continues. Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 

A quick note on mountains: Throughout the OT, mountains were often places of divine revelation where God made his ways or his character known to His people. This was true for Noah, Abraham, Moses on Mount Sinai and Elijah on Mount Carmel (to name just a few). So, it would make sense that during a time of uncertainty, the disciples would be brought up a mountain. Their journey up the mountain offers hope that clarity is coming soon. 

Verse 2: There he (Jesus) was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.

And here it is — the transfiguration. The word “transfigure” means to “change” or “transform” into something more beautiful. In this case, Jesus is transfigured from his human form to reveal his Godly nature, or His divine glory. So, in the tradition of the Old Testament, the mountain is once again a place where God reveals himself. 

But this is totally different. This is one of the most significant moments in the history of the world — the moment when three ordinary humans, a trio of fishermen — experience, up close, the manifest glory of the living God. In some ways, this is the start of the New Covenant when the veil between man and God will be torn forever, and mankind will once again be able to stand in the glory of God and not perish. The fog has lifted, the light shines as “bright as the sun,” and what beauty there is to see. Emmanuel — God with us — has come to earth to rescue His people. In this moment, Jesus’ purpose is made infinitely more clear. And just as quickly as we are introduced to the glorified Christ, we are then ushered away to the rest of the passage.

Starting again in verse 3, let’s read ‘till the end: Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. 9 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

The Transfiguration is one of the most extraordinary events in the Bible. By revealing His true identity, Jesus’ disciples are forced to reconsider how they will worship for the rest of their lives. It is the same with us. Today, I invite you to look upon Jesus, to see His glory, and to consider your own life of worship. The Transfiguration gives us at least three things to consider…

  1. A Worthy Object to Worship,
  2. A Future Hope to Look Towards,
  3. And, finally, A Clear Path to Take. 

These will be the main ideas of our lesson today. Let’s get started with point # 1…

A Worthy Object to Worship

  1. Tim Keller once said that “every person, religious or not, is worshiping something.” These objects of our worship are often referred to as idols. Here’s how Keller defines an idol:
    1. “An idol is anything more important to you than God. But how do we know if we value anything more than God? Keller continues, Anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God. So what are the things that you are constantly thinking about? Your children? Your beauty? Anything you seek to give you what only God can give. In other words, where do you get your identity and purpose from? Your work? Anything that is so central and essential to your life, that should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living.”
    2. As we start today’s lesson, I would like you to consider what idols you might have besides God. What things consume your thoughts? What things could you not stand to lose? 
    3. Now the problem with these idols is that no matter how wonderful they are, they will ultimately disappoint. 
  2. But why? Why won’t these things do? Simply put, they are earthly things, and all earthly things lack the proper glory deserving of worship. In other words, they lack the supreme goodness and the eternal promise and the divine beauty that true, heavenly glory provides.
    1. In fact, if you were to ask me what the main problem with this world is — why is it so broken — I would have a pretty good answer. The number one problem is that not everyone has figured out that God is the only thing worthy of worship. It’s like eating spiritual junk food. And just like when you consume nothing but junk food, you get sick. Our world is sick from misplaced worship. So…if you want to fix the world, help people worship the right thing. 
  3. For Christ-followers, we can rest easy knowing that we worship the right thing. This must have been the main takeaway for the disciples on that mountain top — that Jesus is worthy of their worship. He is the right thing.
    1. By the time we get to verse 2, I imagine that any uncertainty surrounding Jesus’ identity has been pushed away by the blinding light, as bright as the sun, emanating from Jesus. Important to note – Jesus is not simply reflecting God’s glory like we see in Exodus 34; God has covered himself in a cloud. The source of light is Jesus.
      1. Light, as we know from scripture, is a symbol of divinity. The Bible declares that God is light (1 Jn. 1:5), dwells in the light (1 Tim. 6:16), and covers Himself with light (Ps. 104:2). If Jesus is light, then Jesus is God. 
      2. And if it’s still not clear that Jesus is worthy of worship, the presence of Moses and Elijah — in verse 3 — confirms this truth. Their presence is significant by the fact that it’s not really significant. In contrast to Jesus — whose shining like the sun — Moses and Elijah are just…there. Their presence ultimately suggests that only one of them is worthy of divine glory and human worship. Jesus should not be compared to anyone or anything in this world. He alone is worthy of worship.
  4. But maybe you’re still unsure. Maybe you struggle to accept these Bible stories with shining lights, talking clouds, and once-dead prophets; you’re skeptical, and I get it. Stories like this stretch the boundaries of our imagination and challenge our faith. So, here’s a simple test. Take whatever it is that you live for — your job, your possessions, family, comfort, power, pleasure — whatever that thing is, and ask yourself — can your idol do what Jesus can do? To help with this exercise, I asked some people in church what worshiping Jesus has done for them. These are their actual responses:
    1. Leah used to put her trust in herself and her own abilities. This made her exhausted and sad when things didn’t work out. Then, she began to worship Jesus, and now she is “free from all burdens.” She knows that Christ is in control. 
    2. Dorsa used to put her trust in the world, and she was lost, confused. Then, she put her trust in Jesus, and she was found. Christ gave her security and purpose. 
    3. Joseph used to worship himself and pleasure. This led to “a downward spiral of addiction and depravity.” Now, Joseph worships only Jesus. In return, he has been given grace, forgiveness, and salvation. 
  5. Now ask yourself — can your idols do this? Has your family rescued billions of people from death? Has your job freed millions of people from the bondage of sin and addiction? Has your comfort led you to everlasting peace? If not, why do you continue to worship these things? 
  6. Why not put your trust in the one who shines as bright as the sun, the king who is exalted over every Biblical hero. Jesus is the answer to all of your problems. He alone is worthy of glory and honor and worship.

A Future Hope to Look Towards

  1. For our second point today, let’s consider the future promise that is attached to our current worship. I think it’s always wise to consider the future implications of any major life decision. And what could be more important than choosing an object of worship?
    1. This is certainly a good idea for the pleasure seeker thinking about doing drugs for the first time. By devoting himself to this drug, he will undoubtedly feel amazing pleasure in the present, but stop and consider the future — eventually, the thing he worships will destroy him. 
    2. And, look, it’s not just drugs that have a depressing future outcome…
      1. Your beauty will fade; your job will end; your spouse — spoiler alert — will never be good enough. And don’t even get me started on your children. I’ve been teaching for 20 years and I’m still looking for the “little angels” that parents speak of. 
      2. All of us have a story of when we realized our idols weren’t as good as we thought they were. I’ve had a few. Whether it’s catching my mom smoking a cigarette when I was young, admitting to my wife that Tom Brady — the greatest American football player — has had plastic surgery, or reading about the awful actions of Ravi Zacharias, all of these moments, as sad as they were, simply remind me that only Jesus won’t disappoint in the future. 
      3. What does a future with Christ look like? Well…
  2. In 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul says, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
    1. In other words, as we worship Jesus (“contemplate the Lord’s glory”), the Holy Spirit actually starts to transform us to become more like Him. Interestingly, the word transformed used in this passage is the same verb from Matthew 17:2 when it mentions Jesus’ transfiguration.
      1. Metamorphoō (metamorphow) is the Greek verb, and it literally means “to change into another form.” So as we worship Jesus, we are transforming (transfiguring) into the thing we love. We are being brought closer to glory.
  3. In his book, The Weight of Glory, CS Lewis considers this idea of future glory from two perspectives: a worldly perspective and a heavenly perspective.
    1. He begins by acknowledging the worldly definition most associated with glory – that fleeting idea of fame and achievement.
      1. And because we are so far removed from heavenly glory, we come to think that this cheap imitation of glory is the glory we want. Like children who choose chicken nuggets instead of filet mignon — we simply don’t know better. 
      2. So we attach our joy to the number of social media followers we get; we speak fondly of the glory days – the moments in our life when we were well known and well liked.  
    2. Lewis then contrasts this cheap, worldly view of glory with a deeper, spiritual type of glory — heavenly glory.
    3. This is the glory we see in the Transfiguration. This is the glory that our soul desires whether we know it or not. 
    4. This is the glory that is promised to Christ-followers in the future.
    5. You see, like the three disciples on the mountain, you too will one day be brought to a high place to stand in front of your creator. And when you do, two things will happen that, together, are terrifying. One you will come face-to-face with perfect righteousness. It’s like standing next to the handsome kid on class photo day. You become very aware of your flaws. I was always the shortest kid in class, and so I hated to stand next to the tall kids. I was made short by their tallness. Similarly, when you stand before God, you will never be more aware of your sin, your spiritual flaws — all of it will become painfully obvious to you, and you will never feel so dirty. Two, you realize that God — in his omniscience — sees it all too. And it’s worse than you ever imagined. There is so much sin that you never even knew about, so much longing for comfort, so much putting your hope in the things of this world, and all of it is laid before you and God, like a buffet of garbage. This is what it means to be fully known. It is a terrifying notion. In verse 6 the disciples fall to their knees. “Terrified,” it says.
      1. And as you stand there terrified, I believe that something else will happen, and this is the good news. I believe you will hear similar words to the ones spoken in verse 5
      2. . But this time, the words will not be for Jesus. They are for you! And what words could be more glorious: This is my beloved son, my beloved daughter. Whom I am well pleased! Do you see what happened? Jesus died on the cross, so that you could hear those words? It is the great exchange. Our sin for His glory. And in this moment, you will realize something remarkable, you will realize that the little light that you carried with you on earth — that small reflection of Jesus — now shines bright like the sun, so bright that it blocks out the buffet of garbage that was laid before you, and then, you will know, perhaps for the first time without any doubt, that your Heavenly Father absolutely delights in you despite all those flaws.
      3. Lewis puts it this way: “To please God… to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness… to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son – it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is.”
      4. And this is what heavenly glory looks like. This is the glory that your heart has been searching for and it is your future inheritance. It’s not cheap worldly fame and achievement. It’s not Facebook likes or Tik Tok followers. It’s not admiration from your peers for a job well done. It’s not to be partially known and accepted with conditions. It’s to be fully known and fully loved by the only voice that ever mattered. This is the future for those who worship Christ. 
    6. Harvest, do not lose hope. I know life on this earth is hard. But seek the eternal glory of Christ and wait in humble expectation for your own day before God when you too will shine like the sun. This is your inheritance, promised by the blood of Christ. This is your future. 
  4. Transition: So where do we go from here? That feels like it should be the end of the sermon, but it’s not. Let’s go back to our passage to get our final point.

A Clear Path to Take

  1. One of the things that really struck me in this passage as I was preparing for this sermon was the abruptness of the whole thing. One minute, Jesus is being transfigured, raised to his rightful position, over Elija and Moses, shining like the sun, and then, just like that, Jesus and the disciples are marching back down the mountain. No parables? No speeches? Just glorification and go. 
  2. I’ve come to think that this is no accident. I don’t think Matthew forgot the details. I think the abruptness is purposeful. It’s setting the tone for our own walk with Christ. The Christian life is a call to glorification. But then, it’s a call to get moving. 
  3. I’d like to end then, by looking at the three commands given to the disciples in our passage today. You can see them here on the screen. I think these three simple commands offer us a path forward.
    1. In v 5, God gives the first command: “Listen to Him.”
    2. Clearly, God is referring to Jesus, and so this command is really just a call to discipleship, and discipleship is really just a commitment to a lifetime of learning where Jesus is the teacher, and we are the students. And Jesus, like any good teacher, has given us everything we need to understand His lessons. We just have to get better at listening. 
    3. This is why we…
      1. Read scripture — because it’s not just a textbook with rules, but because it is the living word, speaking directly into our lives.
      2. This is why we Pray — because like any good student, we want to have meaningful discussion time with our teacher, so we train our hearts to listen. 
      3. This is why we seek the Holy Spirit — because scripture says that “The Holy Spirit will teach us all things and will remind us of everything that Jesus said to us.” (John 14:26) 
      4. And this is why we surround ourselves with other believers — because Jesus has a long history of using people to make His ways known. So, we desire good classmates to remind us of our teacher’s lessons. 
      5. I pray that this church will be a church that Listens. A church that “knows his voice and follows Him” to the ends of the earth (John 10:27). A church of committed disciples. 
    4. The second command is seen in verse 7: Rise. It should be noted that this is Jesus’ first word after God has commanded the three disciples to listen to him. Now, if God were to come into this room right now and tell me to listen to Pastor Peter, I would probably remember the next thing that came out of Pastor Peter’s mouth for the rest of my life. Similarly, I think this simple one-word command should be remembered by everyone. It is a call to remember our “new identity” through the work of Christ.
      1. For Christ-followers, we are to do this every day as we are called into a life of daily repentance. Each day, we are to humble ourselves before God and lay our sins at the foot of the cross. But we mustn’t stay there. We must look past the cross and focus our attention on the risen glory of Christ. And then, in obedience, we Rise and put on our new identity. Every time we fall short of the glory of God, we Rise. Every time we fall into our sin habit, we Rise. Every time we don’t feel loved, we Rise. For the Christian, this command is a stubborn act of defiance against Satan. It’s a daily reminder that our identity is attached to the risen king and not the father of lies. So everyday we Rise.
      2. For those who are not Christians, maybe it’s your first time in church, this word is for you too. Maybe life has beaten you down. The burden of sin forces you to feel like you don’t deserve grace. But Jesus is there, in all of His glory, waiting, just like he was for the disciples on that mountain. All you have to do is open your eyes and look up. His hand is there, waiting for you to accept your new identity. Will you Rise? 
      3. And if you do Rise, don’t just stand there. It’s natural for us to want to stay and bask in the glory of God’s grace. But we are called to rise for a reason. Fun fact, you can’t follow Jesus if you’re lying on the ground. So get up, put on your new identity, and get ready to move. 
    5. That’s what the disciples do. Notice, in verse 9, they’re making their way back down to where the world waits. They have encountered the blinding glory of Christ, and now they are headed into darkness. 
    6. And as we do the same, let us find comfort in the final command: “Have no fear”
      1. The disciples don’t know it, but their next stop as they head down the mountain will be to heal a demon possessed boy (see verse 14). It’s scary when you battle the forces of darkness, but notice Jesus doesn’t stay on that mountain top. He not only goes down to the darkness, but he leads the way. And when Jesus is with us, we can have no fear. No fear of death. No fear of life. No fear of judgment. No fear of failure. No fear of falling short. No fear of darkness.
  1. We began today’s lesson with a story about my family going up a mountain.
  2. Here’s one of the first pictures I took when we rose above the clouds. It’s a picture of the cable car on the opposite line, heading back into the fog. They had seen the beauty on the mountaintop, but they could not stay. This was true for my family as well. As much as we wanted to stay on that mountain, surrounded by beauty — like Peter in verse 4 — we had to go back down to a world that didn’t know anything about the beauty that exists on the other side. 

This is the Christian story. One day we will stay on that mountain top forever. But for now, we are called back into the fog to tell others about the beauty that exists on the other side. But don’t worry, for the light of the world goes before us. Listen to him. Put on your new identity each day and rise. Let the light of the world be your guide. Follow him forever and have no fear. 

Listen. Rise. Have no fear. What beautiful words. What a beautiful promise. 

Let’s prepare our hearts to worship the only thing deserving of our worship.

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