Gen. 9: 8-17, Mark 9:2-9      Transfiguration Sunday 

Transfiguration Sunday is today.  It is not one of your top five Christian holidays.  Likely it is not on your list at all!  Transfiguration Sunday is always the Sunday just before Lent begins.  Remember that Lent is a journey to Jerusalem, to the cross and the resurrection, just like Advent is a journey to Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus. The transfiguration event on the mountain is a real turning point in the ministry of Jesus.  From this point on, he is directing his steps toward Jerusalem, toward the end, toward the culmination of his ministry on earth.  So today we focus on the transfiguration and on Wednesday we begin the journey to Jerusalem, heading toward the crucifixion.

Transfiguration is not the same as transformation.  Jesus was transfigured.  His outward appearance had noticeably changed.  Right in front of the eyes of the disciples who had hiked up the mountain with him, he was shining like the light from a lighthouse. He no longer looked the same, but he is truly no different on the inside.  He is still Jesus, the Messiah, the beloved Son of God.

Transformation is what happens to the disciples as they witness this amazing sight– Jesus shining like an advertisement for bleach and the mysterious presence of perhaps the two greatest prophets in Israel’s history:  Moses and Elijah.  Their eyes are opened to a whole new understanding of this rabbi they had been following around.  When they see historical figures talking with Jesus, they make a connection between the ministries of Moses and Elijah and the ministry of Jesus.  And then they hear that he is on audible speaking terms with God!  They all saw the same thing.  They all heard the same voice.  No one was dreaming it.  Peter, James and John’s image of Jesus was transformed, changing their relationship with him from this point onward.

It is natural for us to try to understand this event.  Why is Jesus transfigured?  What does it all mean? The truth is, we can’t fully understand it. It is a supernatural one-time occurrence.  It is an epiphany in the sense that Jesus is revealed more directly to the three disciples.  Even though Jesus did not say a word on the mountain, they can see clearly that he is more than a rabbi, more than a healer, more than someone who makes evil spirits obey him.

Think about the bush on fire that Moses saw.  It was not consumed by the fire.  Could he explain it?  Why does God speak to him from a burning bush?  It is through the voice that Moses is called from caring for sheep into leading the people of Israel to freedom from slavery.  Think about the fire that Elijah called down to burn the sacrifice in his public competition with the pagan prophets. The fire came, burned all the wet wood and burned the sacrifice to Elijah’s God, and the pagan prophets had zero success with the same set of materials. God’s power shines through Elijah. These two guys certainly knew a lot about God’s ability to be unmistakably visible, shining into the world with a message that their God required commitment, that their God empowers and emboldens them to stand up to enslavement and oppression (in the case of Moses) and pagan worship (in the case of Elijah).

I would love to have listened in on their conversation as they walked down the mountain that day. Were they popping question after question to Jesus, trying to figure out what they had just seen and heard?  Were they lagging behind Jesus and wondering among themselves so he couldn’t hear them?  Or did they change the subject completely and act as if nothing unusual had happened up there?  What do you think you would do?  You have just seen two dead guys talking with Jesus who has totally changed his appearance.  And you heard God’s voice identify Jesus as his Son.

What will they do differently after this experience?  Will they tell their fellow disciples even though Jesus tells them to keep it quiet?  Will they listen more carefully when he speaks, since the voice from the cloud instructed them to listen? Will they really try to understand when Jesus describes his approaching death yet again? Will they see this experience as a sign that Jesus really is the Son of God, standing on the shoulders of the great prophets? Will they be more confident, more trusting, surer that Jesus is who he says he is?  Maybe all of those things.  The transfiguration was not just a sign, but it was a neon sign that they could not miss.  Witnessing it had to transform these disciples.

Have you ever thought of the rainbow as another neon sign from God?  Rainbows are visible to our eyes when the sun shines onto a droplet of rain at the right angle.  Remember the covenant with Noah after the flood waters had receded? After the earth had basically been destroyed except for the human and animal passengers on the ark?  In the short passage from Genesis we heard this morning, seven times God says to Noah—“I will establish my covenant with you. Never again will I send floods to destroy the earth.”  God is making an everlasting covenant with Noah and all creatures, basically with the earth. God promises that this is the last and only time that God will unleash a flood to destroy all living things.  The sign of the promise will be a bow in the clouds.   God says to Noah, every time you see it, remember.  Don’t forget.  I am making a covenant, a promise, to you all.

I’ll never forget one of the most difficult funerals I ever participated in.  It was held in a large church in our New Jersey town because the family knew the crowd would be large.  It was for a teenage girl who lived around the corner from us who had died in a car accident when her mother was driving the car.  It was so very sad for the entire community as they tried to offer comfort and care to the family. When we walked out of the church after the service, we saw a rainbow in the sky. It was a sign of hope. Like the sign promised to Noah, it reminded us of God’s promises.  It was a sign shining into the darkness of our souls that God was with us all, including the devastated mother.

Maybe that is the whole purpose for this supernatural epiphany on the mountain.  God is sending a sign that can’t be ignored.  God is changing the trajectory of Jesus’ ministry, directing him toward Jerusalem. This Jesus is not a local teacher, not even an earthly miracle worker.  He is God’s Son, and that means he is God. Without this understanding of who he is, what value and meaning would the crucifixion have to the community? If he is not God’s Son, then he is simply a human being who is killed because of trumped up charges from those who feel threatened by him.

Surely this is a sign for Peter, James and John (and, ultimately, the rest of the disciples and anyone else they told their story to).  They are taken aback, amazed, afraid when they see the two long dead prophets. Peter is so freaked out that he can’t think what to say.  And he is one of those people who usually does have something to say!  He stammers out:  how about we make three tents (or booths) for you all?  These would have been places to identify and honor the presence of God like the tent of meeting in the days when Israel was on the move through the wilderness.  They are in the wilderness, at the top of a mountain, and the only thing Peter can think of on the fly is to create a booth or tent out of sticks and maybe a cloak because God is right here!  No one takes him up on the offer, you notice.  Turns out it was totally unnecessary—the voice from the cloud interrupted Peter’s plan and suddenly Moses and Elijah were gone.

Is the transfiguration of Jesus and the transformation of the three disciples a sign for you and for me, some 2000 years later?  Is it a sign that we should not ignore?  This supernatural one-time event is a window into greater understanding of who Jesus really is. It is a sign that God is orchestrating this whole thing—starting with his baptism by John in the River Jordan, when the voice spoke only to Jesus: “You are my son.”  Now the voice speaks to them all: “This is my son.”  This is not something that they will forget.  I hope that it is not something we will forget.  I hope that this is a sign for us to listen up, to pay attention. I hope that Jesus’ appearance in whatever form we might find him will transform us, changing our understanding of our relationship with him. After all, he is effectively a sign from God, a message of life for us all. Amen.