From the Baptism of our Lord in the Jordan River to the Transfiguration of our Lord this morning, the Season of Epiphany begins and ends with the Voice of God the Father from heaven, declaring Christ Jesus to be His beloved and well-pleasing Son. In both cases, His coming Sacrifice for the sins of the world is in view, as He enters upon the Way of the Cross in the waters of His Baptism, and as He now descends from the high and holy Mountain on the final leg of that journey.
It is precisely as the beloved Son of God — out of love for His Father, and out of His great love for you and all His neighbors — that the Lord Jesus makes His way from and through the waters of the Jordan to His innocent suffering and death in your stead as the Lamb of God who takes upon Himself and takes away your sins. To love you in this way, to lay down His Body and Life and to shed His holy and precious Blood for you, is the way in which He lives as the Son of God.
Now, then, it is by virtue of your own Baptism into Christ Jesus that God the Father speaks from heaven concerning you, as well, declaring that you are His beloved and well-pleasing son, because you share the sonship and inheritance of Jesus the Christ, the incarnate Son of God, who lived and suffered, died, was buried, and rose again for you in His own Body of flesh and blood like yours.
It is for that reason, also, that the Glory manifested in the Body of Christ Jesus — and reflected, as well, in Moses and Elijah on the Mountain of Transfiguration — is the Glory that you are given to share as a member of His Church, as a baptized disciple given to bear and carry His Cross.
St. Mark begins his account of the Transfiguration, “After six days.” So, what happened the week before this event? It was then, first of all, by revelation of God the Father, that St. Peter gave his great confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. But then also, when Jesus went on to explain what it must mean for Him to be the Christ, that He must suffer and die and be raised again, Simon Peter made the mistake of presuming to rebuke the Lord Jesus and deny His coming Cross and Passion. So the Lord must continue to catechize the disciples, including you, to understand the Glory of His Cross. For it is precisely by His Cross that He saves you and gives you life; and it is by way of His Cross that you enter with Him into the Kingdom of God.
In spite of all that, and no matter how much you “know,” it is difficult for you to comprehend — indeed, it is impossible for your fallen flesh and sinful reason to comprehend — that the Glory of the Transfiguration is the Glory to be accomplished by way of the Cross, manifest in advance for the benefit of the Holy Apostles, that they might proclaim that Glory of the Cross in the light of the Resurrection of our Lord. For you that Glory is perceived by faith and not by sight — not by what your eyes see, but by the preaching of the apostolic Word of Christ into your ears. So it is to His Word and the preaching of it that you cling, in which you hope, come hell or high water against you, no matter what your eyes and feelings and earthly experiences might be telling you.
The Transfiguration of our Lord is another revelation from God the Father in heaven — to Peter, James, and John — that Jesus, though a true Man of human flesh and blood, is nevertheless the Christ, the Son of the Living God. So, then, though they will soon behold their dear Lord Jesus being led away and crucified like a sheep to the slaughter — and though they will not understand it at the time it is happening — they will know in retrospect that no one takes His life from Him, but He lays it down willingly, and He will take it up again, all in keeping with the Word and Will of His Father. So must they also recognize that all His Words to them are Spirit, Truth, and Life.
It is by way of His Cross and Passion that the Word of the Prophets shall be clarified, fulfilled, and made more sure in His own Body of flesh and blood. For that same Body, which is transfigured with divine Glory on that high and holy Mountain, shall be transfigured once-for-all upon the Cross in His atoning Self-Sacrifice for the sins of the world. And that same Body, crucified and risen from the dead, is given to you — into your body — here at the Lord’s Altar, in order that your body might be transfigured into the likeness of His own glorious Body.
That Word-made-Flesh — His Body given and His Blood poured out for you to eat and to drink — confirms the preaching of His Word to you; and it confirms the Word and promises of God in your Holy Baptism; and it confirms the Word of forgiveness that is spoken to you in His Name. It is, in fact, the confirmation, surety, and pledge of your own Resurrection from the dead, even now in this poor life of labor as you live and work by faith (and not by sight) under the Cross.
So it is that you are comforted, strengthened, and lifted up without fear by the kind and gentle voice of the Lord Jesus, as He reaches out and touches you with His Flesh.
As you bear and carry the Cross in this body and life, surrounded by sin and death on all sides, within and without, it is so easy to despair. But your God and Father in heaven has not rejected you, nor has He left you in the dust and forgotten you. The Cross He lays upon you is the Cross of Christ Jesus, His beloved and well-pleasing Son; and as you are baptized into Him, so do you also share His Resurrection and His Life. Hence, the Voice of the Father from the excellent Glory declares: “You are My beloved, with whom I am well-pleased!” Yes, even you, a forgiven sinner.
None of this makes sense until the Cross and Resurrection are accomplished. The disciples may “know,” but they don’t yet understand. In the moment they are dazzled and confused, even afraid. And when the Cross appears, they will be scattered in fear. Bold, brave, boisterous Peter will deny his Lord with curses, then weep like a baby with bitter remorse. Even now, as he sees the Glory of the Lord Jesus, Peter does not understand that it is the Glory of the coming Cross and Passion.
This makes no sense — no more for you now than it did for St. Peter then. It contradicts all your human wisdom, reason, experience, and strength. Which is why you must listen to Jesus, and why you must cling to His Word for dear life; for His Word alone reveals the divine Glory of His Cross. So, too, the Transfiguration could not be told until after the Cross and Resurrection, because it has no significance and cannot be understood apart from the atoning Sacrifice of Christ Jesus.
The Glory here revealed in His Body on the Mountain is the Glory of His Cross, which can only be recognized, received, and shared in His bodily Resurrection from the dead, whereby He opens the Kingdom of heaven to you and to all who believe and are baptized into Him.
Only after the Son of Man has risen from the dead will St. Peter understand the Transfiguration — only then will he begin to know what he is talking about — that is, the Glory of the Cross and the sure and certain confirmation of the Prophetic Word in the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ.
Now the Hour has come, and by the preaching of the Word-made-Flesh the Sun of Righteousness now dawns upon you, and the Morning Star now rises in your heart. But as for Christ Jesus, so also now for you in this body and life on earth: His Light now shines in you and through your flesh and blood as you take up His Cross and follow after Him by faith in His Gospel. For the Glory that you share with Him as a Christian is still the Glory of His Cross, which you bear and carry in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection as a beloved and well-pleasing son of God in Christ.
To be confronted by the Glory of God apart from His Self-sacrificing Love upon the Cross is to be terrified and crushed by fear and dread. For it is true, as you confess, that you are a poor, miserable sinner; and no sinner can stand in the presence of Almighty God, nor could you see Him and live. His Law utterly condemns you and sentences you to death and eternal damnation; for His Holiness demands perfection, even as He is perfect, whereas you have fallen so far short of His Glory in every respect, as surely as you sin every day and deserve nothing but punishment.
But the last and final Word of God is not the Glory of His Law, but the Glory of Christ Jesus and His Gospel. “Listen to Him,” says the Father — not to Moses or Elijah, but to the incarnate Son. His Glory is the Cross, the voluntary Self-Sacrifice of His Body and Blood; His gentle touch of love and compassion; and His still, small voice of forgiveness, saying, “Arise, and do not fear!” In this Gospel there is no condemnation, death, or damnation. There is only Jesus for you.
In many and various ways, God spoke to His people of old by the Prophets; but now, in these last days, He speaks to you by His Son in the Flesh — in the washing of the water with His Word in your Holy Baptism; in the preaching of the Gospel and the Holy Absolution of all your sins; and in the giving of His Body and the pouring out of His precious Blood for you to eat and to drink.
And this very flesh and blood of Christ Jesus, which were transfigured by the hidden Glory of the Cross, shall transform your own body and soul into the radiant Image and Likeness of God in the same Lord Jesus Christ. For He abides in you by the grace and ministry of His Gospel, and you abide in Him by faith in His Word and promise. By the Fruits of His Cross you are forgiven all your sins, and in His Resurrection from the dead you shall be raised to live with Him forever.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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