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Mark 9:2-9

² And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, ³ and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. ⁴ And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵ And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁶ For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷ And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” ⁸ And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

⁹ And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today, it is important for us to go to the top of the mountain. Today, it is important for us to see this event in Christ’s life, to see Jesus transfigured, metamorphosized. Today, it is important for us to see His clothes turn radiantly white – brighter than the sun glaring off of freshly fallen snow. Today, it is important for us to see Jesus’ face shining more brightly than if He had swallowed the sun. As Peter said, “It is good that we are here.”

The Transfiguration is full of the imagery of the Resurrection. In fact, one liberal theologian, who denies that Mark is divinely inspired, has said that this text is a misplaced Resurrection scene. He says that Mark made a mistake when he wrote the Gospel and put a scene of the resurrected Jesus right smack in the middle of the Gospel. Oops. Well, he is wrong, but this text is a preview of the resurrection glory of Jesus.

It is good for us to see this vision of Jesus today, the last Sunday before Lent because the next six weeks will be focused on the cross. The glory of Jesus will fade, and we will follow Jesus down the mountain and into the valley of the shadow of death. Over the next six weeks, the glory radiating from Jesus on the mountain will disappear from our sight as we watch Him be beaten, whipped, stripped, crucified, dead, and laid in the grave. The glory revealed here will be hidden behind suffering. But the glory of the Transfiguration will once again be visible on Easter after Jesus is raised, and that glory will never fade.

But we cannot put the cart before the horse. There is no resurrection unless death comes first.

The Transfiguration occurs six days after Jesus told the disciples that He must suffer, be rejected, killed, and rise again (Mk. 8:31). Peter didn’t want to hear this. He didn’t want this to happen to Jesus – understandably so. Peter rebuked Jesus for saying that this would happen to Him, and Jesus rebuked Peter for setting his mind on the things of man and not on the things of God.

The glory that is revealed here in the Transfiguration is the glory that Christ receives because He is God’s Suffering Servant. Christ is glorious because He bears your sins. The Transfiguration serves as a preview of what is coming. The glory that shines forth on this mountain before Peter, James, and John is a glimpse of what will come. It is how Jesus will appear after He has risen from the dead. But Jesus can’t stay on the mountain. Jesus can’t dwell in Peter’s tent because He hasn’t yet done His glorious work. Jesus has not yet died for the sins of the world (Php. 2:6-9). Defeat must come before victory. Death must come before resurrection. Suffering must come before glory. This is God’s way, and it is not completely foreign to us.

Take the story of Cinderella for example: You can tell the story in a way that makes it completely forgettable. “Once upon a time, there was a girl who married a prince, and they lived happily ever after.” Boring.

Only when you hear the whole story does the happily ever after mean something. “Once upon a time, there was a girl named Cinderella. After her mother died, her dad married a wicked woman who had two nasty, ugly daughters. Then Cinderella’s dad died too. Her step-mother and step-sisters made Cinderella their slave. But then Cinderella gets a taste of the good life – she is given beautiful coach with magnificent horses. She gets beautiful shoes, mascara, and a stunning evening gown. She dances all night with the prince. But then – bong, bong, bong, bong. Back down she goes. But the prince eventually finds her, marries her, and she lives happily ever after.

Your story follows the same pattern. You are born dead in sin. You are brought to the waters of baptism where God puts His name upon you. You are forgiven and declared innocent before God. You have been raised up with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:5-6). But you now live in the time of suffering. You live in the time after the clock has struck twelve, and you wait for Jesus to bring you to the palace and live happily ever after.

But suffering currently hides that glory. We need to be ok with that because it is reality. We do ourselves no favors if we deny this fact. Do you want to follow after Christ? Listen to what He says right before the Transfiguration, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mk. 8:34).

In this world, as a sinner saved by Jesus, you have tribulation (Jn. 16:33). Your husband, father, or friend will have a stroke and not be able to talk. You will have back issues that cause you pain and discomfort for months. Your loved ones will die. Your kids will make bad choices and cause you all sorts of heartache. And you can shake your fist at God and be angry with Him. Or you can endure the suffering. And you can even rejoice in your suffering. Rejoice in suffering? Yes. Rejoice in suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into your hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to you (Ro. 5:3-5).

This Lenten season, you will watch your Savior go to the cross. You will behold Him as He suffers, bleeds, and dies. But you will watch all of that pain and suffering knowing what lies at the end – the resurrection.

The resurrection also awaits you. But for now, you suffer. You suffer until your own transfiguration is complete. “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed (transfigured, metamorphosized just as Christ was on the mountain) into the same image” (2 Cor. 3:18).

O wondrous type! O vision fair
of glory that the Church may share,
which Christ upon the mountain shows,
where brighter than the sun He glows!

With Moses and Elijah nigh
th’incarnate Lord holds converse high;
and from the cloud the Holy One
bears record to the only Son.

With shining face and bright array
Christ deigns to manifest today
what glory shall be theirs above
who joy in God with perfect love.

O Father, with the’eternal Son
and Holy Spirit ever one,
We pray Thee, bring us by Thy grace
to see Thy glory face to face.[1] Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] “O Wondrous Type! O Vision Fair” LSB #413