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AWAKEN TO HIS GLORY (LUKE 9:28-36)

Introduction

My brothers and sisters in the Lord, all praise and thanks to God our Maker for the opportunity to be alive and to prove our worth of the calling we have received in Christ Jesus.

For us as Christians, everyday is another opportunity to make the necessary changes to our lives through humility and the power of the Holy Spirit, so that our lives will eventually align with the will of God. So the grace for today should not be taken for granted at all.

This morning, we encounter another popular passage from scripture, a passage that has developed into a concept we call the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ, where Jesus’ divinity was revealed to 3 of his disciples: Peter, James, and John.

Contextual Overview

Beloved in the Lord, it should be noted that the Transfiguration occurred about eight days after Peter had confessed that Jesus was the Messiah (Luke 9:20) and when Jesus first predicted His death (9:22).

The significance of these two events (and I mean Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah and Jesus’ prediction of his own) in light of the Transfiguration is that the Transfiguration serves as a divine affirmation of Jesus’ identity and mission. So, while the disciples were still struggling to understand why the Messiah should suffer and die, God decided to grant them a glimpse of His eternal glory.

Narrative Breakdown and Theological Significance:

Beloved in the Lord, let us understand that the radiant appearance of Jesus, where His clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning revealed His divine nature, or his divine identity. This glowing appearance appears to be associated only with the sons/children of God.

When we read Daniel 7:9 the Ancient of Days was described as one whose clothing was as white as snow and the hair of his head was white like wool. Then when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace of the fire by king Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar confirmed that there was a fourth person in the fire whose appearance looked like the son of God.

All this is to show that the metamorphosis or the change or transformation that Jesus underwent on the Mount of Transfiguration was to reveal to his disciples that Jesus was truly divine and that after the resurrection and his glorification, that glowing appearance was going to be his actual nature. So, the event signifies a temporary unveiling of His heavenly identity, thereby “awakening” the disciples to His true majesty beyond human comprehension.

Then we also find that Moses and Elijah appeared during the Transfiguration. It is important for us to understand that in the context of the Transfiguration, Moses was representing the Law (the Pentateuch) and Elijah was representing the Prophets. Their presence at the Transfiguration confirms Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament promises (Luke 24:27). This is why we say that as Christians we’re not strictly under the Old Testament and its practices. We are now guided by the Law of the Spirit which is written in our hearts.

But why did Moses and Elijah appear to Jesus? Well, the Bible categorically stated that they were there to discuss Jesus’s death and resurrection; and what this meant was that Jesus’s glorification was tied to His redemptive suffering. What this means is that even before Jesus Christ Himself could take hold of the glory promised Him by the Father, He ought to endure suffering and death. And of course, this is a pointer to the fact that nothing of value comes on a platter of Gold.

Now, let’s talk about Peter. Peter’s reaction to the scene on the Mount of Transfiguration was that of amazement and confusion. When all the disciples awoke to the scene, they were wowed because they saw what they had never ever seen before. So, Peter thought that it was okay for them to perpetually stay there.

Peter’s desire to build shelters on the Mountain reflects our human desire to institutionalize spiritual encounters. I am sure that if it had happened in our day, some people would have marked the place “the holiest of all lands”. Some people would have made the place a holy site for pilgrimages. Some would have made it a ritual to often pray there as though that’s where God has designed to hear and answer prayers.

But as you may have noted, this tendency by Peter to personalise and institutionalize the incident was interrupted by the cloud and the voice of the Father in heaven. Yet the divine interruption (and I mean the cloud and the voice) was to redirect the focus of the disciples from preserving the moment to rather obeying the Son, who is Jesus Christ our Lord.

The voice of the Father says, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him”. We must place emphasis on this statement because it confirmed that Jesus Christ is indeed the son of God, and that he has indeed been chosen by the Father to save humanity, and that it is only by listening to him that we can please the Father.

The Father’s command, “Listen to Him,” should teach us that God had elevated Jesus as the ultimate revelation of Himself.

Unlike these days where our churches are filled with sensationalism, where people want to feel good in church, and even determine how powerful a church service was by what they describe as “the move of the Spirit”, you should quickly realise that the divine encounter was not to make the disciples feel good. Rather, that divine encounter was to inspire the disciples to be loyal and obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, if we have a divine encounter, know that its purpose is to deepen your faith in Christ which will ultimately lead to obedience.

Again, for those who argue about where Christians got the idea of the Trinity from, the episode on the Mount of Transfiguration is an evidence. Here, we find that all three persons in the Trinity had been revealed:  the Son who is Jesus Christ was affirmed; the Spirit who came in the form of the Cloud overshadowed them; and the Father spoke. So, we find all three at the Mount of Transfiguration.

Now, Let us emphasize some other lessons from the text:

1. Beloved in the Lord, you may have noticed that the Transfiguration occurred during prayer (v. 29). This should remind us that spiritual awakening and divine encounters often emerge in disciplined communion with God. We must therefore spend time in prayer and in the study of God’s word. Sooner than later, you would begin to experience the tangible presence of God in your life. Remember that when we walk closely with God, miracles become an everyday phenomena. 

2. Secondly, we should also note that Christ is the Culmination of all revelation in the Christian faith. There is no other revelation that will ever supersede what Jesus revealed to us about the Father and the world to come.

Note that after the incident, Moses and Elijah departed, leaving Jesus alone. The implication of that is that all prophetic and legal hope are summed up and fulfilled in Christ.

What this means for us today is that we must centre our faith on Jesus’ teachings rather than clinging to partial truth somewhere, or some old testament ritual, or some human traditions elsewhere.

Not even the words and teachings of our Papas, Godfathers, Spiritual fathers, or any guru anywhere can compare with the words and teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the ultimate moral example, the ultimate communicator of the ultimate truth, the ultimate revelation of God,…. in fact, he is the ultimate in everything. Therefore, let us learn to put our absolute faith in him.

3. Thirdly, the passage teaches us that obedience is more powerful than aesthetic religion. Just as Peter wanted to build shelters for Moses, Elija, and Jesus, and insisted that it was good they stayed on the Mountain, so do some of us also want to institutionalize such beautiful scenes in our congregations. The point of the Transfiguration is not about aesthetics or beauty, or the creation of spectacles. It is about the Father’s voice which says, “this is my son, listen to him”.

This is a warning against reducing our faith to mere rituals and spectacle. The Father’s command to “listen” to his son show that submission is more important than superficial zeal. Today, we are more concerned with the wearing of colourful gowns, performances on stages adorned with various kinds of dazzling lights and smoke, and how to make ourselves feel good in worship services than obedience to Christ himself.

Today, I urge you as disciples of Christ to heed Christ’s call to sacrificial love and justice. Obedience to Christ is the most important thing.

4. In addition, beloved, such divine and fearful encounters must translate into the proclamation of the gospel. The disciples’ fear during the encounter shows that we can feel discomfort with such divine disruptions. Yet God often uses such overwhelming moments to recalibrate our priorities. I implore you to let such divine encounters transform us to be passionate witnesses for Christ, as seen in Peter’s boldness in Acts 2. The same encounter has fueled Peter’s subsequent proclamation of the gospel as he described in 2 Peter 1:16-18.

Conclusion

As I conclude, I would like you to understand that today’s passage is inviting you to move from spiritual drowsiness to awakened vigilance in Christ. By being committed to the spiritual disciplines of prayer and dedicated study of the word, endless possibilities exist for us to encounter the divine. By listening to Him, we are also participating in His journey from death to resurrection, and ultimately becoming radiant witnesses in a dim world. As the Father declared, so I also echo to you: “Listen to Him.”

May the Lord bless us, and awaken our will to listen to Christ our Lord. Amen!

Written by Rev. Fl. Lt. Christian Meteku.