Listen here.

Luke 9:28-36

²⁸ Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹ And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. ³⁰ And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³² Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³ And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. ³⁴ As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵ And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; hear him!” ³⁶ And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Climbing a mountain is hard work. With families to feed, fish to catch, nets to mend, and boats to maintain, Peter, James, and John probably didn’t have the leisure to be regular mountain climbers. Their lives as fishermen probably didn’t afford them time for working up the endurance it takes to climb a mountain. They were already physically tired.

On top of that, eight days earlier, Jesus had been talking about some heavy stuff. He said that He must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised (Lk. 9:22). That had to be heavy on the disciples’ minds. So they were mentally fatigued too. Jesus takes these dogged disciples up to the mountain so He can pray. But what is there to do while someone else is praying? Exhaustion sets in, and the three disciples fall into a heavy sleep.

What they saw must have woken them up quickly. Before them, the Son of God shines in open, unmistakable glory. Moses and Elijah are there speaking with Jesus about the departure (lit. ‘exodus’) of His cross and resurrection. This is a tremendous moment that Peter, James, and John want to hold on to. They love this shiny Jesus more than the Jesus who speaks so openly about dying. And Peter has a bright idea (pun intended) of his own. “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

But those very words of love are misplaced. Peter did not know what he was saying. Peter’s love for this glorified Jesus would cut out the cross. In saying this, Peter shows that he wants a beautiful, awesome, dazzling Jesus – not a crucified, dead, and buried Jesus. Peter is saying this because he does not have the sober awareness of his own sin. So God reveals His terrifying glory as the cloud overshadows them. And the disciples are terrified.

We need this same sobering experience. We need to listen to God’s Word of both Law and Gospel. As Christians, too often we fall into the trap of assuming God’s grace. The holy, holy, holy God – whose presence is doom for sinners – He doesn’t stop being God because He is merciful toward you. This is one of Satan’s favorite tricks to steal away our faith. We get lulled into sleep that God isn’t serious about punishing our sin. We start to think that our sin doesn’t really matter all that much and that God, because He is merciful, just gives a wink and a nod at our sinful actions. Repent.

Yes, Jesus is a friend for sinners, but that doesn’t mean He is a friend of your sin. We need to listen to Him. We need to listen to His Law. Through the Law, God constantly tells you that He hates your sin and that you deserve His eternal wrath. We need to listen to Him. We need to listen to His Gospel. Through the Gospel, God constantly tells you that His love and mercy is always for you. In the midst of the terrors of His threats, God draws you in with His voice of mercy.

We cannot understand Jesus’ mercy and love unless we also fear Him. In the explanation to the First Commandment, Luther strikes us with exactly what the Bible teaches, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” This isn’t meant to be chronological. Fear does not come first and then love. Rather fear and love go together. Both are faith, trust. Fear of God believes God when He says He is angry because of our sin. Love of God believes God when He says that He fully and freely forgives our sin and absolves it. Through faith, “our fear is softened by our love of God, and our love for God is sobered by our fear of Him” (Rev. David Petersen).

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). “Since we are fallen beings obsessed with ourselves, that which we do not fear we hold in contempt” (Rev. Petersen). You have probably seen parents who constantly threaten punishment but never follow through. Their child is misbehaving and they know it, so they threaten to take away their tablet or send them to bed. But the child doesn’t stop, and the punishment never comes. That child quickly learns his actions do not have consequences. And the child learns to disrespect his parents. There is no fear of punishment so there is no respect or love for the parent.

We sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that God’s threats against our sin are not serious. We need to look from this mountain of transfiguration toward the next mountain Jesus will ascend to keep our fear and love of our Savior balanced.

Jesus ascended this mountain with Peter, James, and John to pray, and those disciples fell asleep. The disciples are awakened by Jesus’ face shining like the sun. On the next mountain, Jesus will again take Peter, James, and John to pray. They will again fall asleep, but they will be roused by the sounds of swords and shackles as Jesus is arrested.

On this mountain, Jesus’ face bursts forth gloriously white. On the next mountain, Jesus’ face will be covered in His glorious blood.

On this mountain, Jesus is surrounded by Moses and Elijah who speak of that other mountain. On the other mountain, Jesus will be surrounded by two criminals as all three are suspended between heaven and earth hanging on crosses.

On this mountain, Jesus is proclaimed the only Son of the eternal God by the voice of the Father. On the other mountain, Jesus is mockingly labeled as “Jesus of Nazareth – King of the Jews” by an etched placard hanging over His head.

On this mountain of Transfiguration, Jesus’ glory fades as His holiness is veiled once again. On the other mountain, the glory dies when Jesus breathes His last and the tomb is sealed.

To strengthen us on our journey to the mount of His crucifixion, this morning, we are invited to Jesus’ table. You are invited by your Savior to behold another glorious thing. Your Savior comes to you, body and blood, in bread and wine. He comes to you to forgive you of your sins and to be your Savior. He comes to absolve you of your sins and to fix your eyes upon Him.

The Mount of Transfiguration and Mount Golgotha are both mountains of Jesus’ glory. We see the Transfiguration here today so that we are strengthened to travel through the valley of Lent. On the other mountain, we will see Christ’s glory where He is the beaten, bloodied Savior of the world – your Savior. Amen.

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