February 18, 2007
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The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church An Incident for Encouragement Today it is all about the God who does not only
live in a high and holy place, but
also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit (Isaiah 57:15). Jesus voluntarily gave up his glory, his heavenly life,
which he shared with his Father and The holy Spirit from eternity. He came and
shared our circumstances. The gospels depict the man from Nazareth with dust on
his feet and sweat on his forehead. What we hear about here, is one of the
exceptions, a ”stellar event”. Now about eight days after Peter having delivered the bold testimony/confession: you are the Messiah of God (Luke 9:20), - so a week after this, Jesus takes the initiative to quite a
strenuous mountain hike. We don’t know for sure if it was Mount Tabor in the
middle of Gallilee. Or perhaps it was Hermon they climbed, a mountain at the
border of Lebanon and Syria. Hermon is so high that it is covered with snow
during the winter months. Only 3 disciples were selected to be part of
this special event. Most of us have to believe in Jesus with no visions or revelations. At least I
have never ”had an angel landing on my head.” In my entire life I have met
only 2 persons that have seen Jesus in a vision. The one is Edin Løvås,
the grand old man of the Norwegian retreat movement. The other person I know who has seen the figure of
Jesus, was my mother’s mother. She was a down-to-earth woman, and her faith
was a “tested” one. But in a special situation in her life, she once saw
Jesus’ peaceful figure. She was completely awake as it happened. And it was an
encouragement that she needed exactly at that time. Once in a while we read testimonies from former Moslems
who have had visions of Christ, having convinced them that He is more than one
of the prophets in Islam. Even if this is all about individual persons, I still
have the impression that quite a few now living Moslems have come to faith in
Christ after having met him in a vision. Blessed are those who have not seen and
yet have believed (John 20:29), the Risen One says to the
Apostle Thomas. That is a word for us today. Our status as complete Christians is underlined in this
statement. We are to “see the Invisible one” through the “eyes” of our
faith. Because of that, the story that we today share from the gospel of Luke is
an encouragement. And it teaches us something important about our Master:
Jesus doesn’t only reflect
God’s glory. That was the case with Moses, as we heard in the first text. He
came down from the mountain, from the meeting with God, and without his
knowledge about this, there was a radiance from the meeting he had had. Just
like the moon borrows its light from the sun. With Jesus it is different. He shares the glory of God. He is a radiance of
the heavenly light. What Peter, James and John are seeing this day, is how the
Chosen Son of the Father is in reality!
As in daily life, Jesus looked quite “usual”. Luke states that the appearance of Jesus’ face changed.
Matthew uses the word metamorphosis about what happened to Jesus
here. The voice from heaven declares: This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!
What the three disciples hear is the same as the heavenly voice had stated once
before. That happened at the lowest point on
this earth, about 1000 feet below sea level. That was the day that Jesus was
baptized in the Jordan river. Then the same statement was heard from on high: you are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased
(Luke 3:22). We can see a line from Jesus’ baptism down by the
Dead Sea, and to his glory high up on the Mount of Transfiguration. On his way
to pain and mockery, death and grave in Jerusalem. In both places a voice from heaven declares that Jesus
is God’s beloved, chosen Son. Also in our lives
there is a line from baptism to death and grave, but also to hope of
resurrection and eternal life. At the baptismal font, the triune God declares
that we are his beloved sons and daughters.
From time to time on our wandering through life, we may come to places where we
can feel the presence of God more clearly. Our perspective is widened. The angle
of view increases. Here, also the perspective backwards is present. As together with Jesus and
his disciples on the mountain, we also meet Moses and
Elijah. Why them, exactly? And not Noah, Abraham, Joseph, David
or Isaiah? Well, those two are representatives.
Moses stands for the Law, and Elijah represents the prophets. Both were among
the few who were chosen to see the glory of God. And both were central in hope for the future “hanging
in the air” at the time of Jesus. The expectation of a prophet like Moses, a
new Man of God. And before his appearance, Elijah was expected to return. So it
is very meaningful that those two now
stand as witnesses to Jesus’ glory, and the proclamation that he is God’s
chosen Son. He is the fulfillment of the Law and the prophetic promises. We notice that God himself is the one who speaks and acts here. He reveals in a glimpse that Jesus, as
a man of pain on the earth also is the heavenly Son of Man. This face that shone like the sun (Matt 17:2), the same face
that later would be spit at. The clothes that
became dazzling white, dirty soldiers’ fingers
later were to throw dice for. It also occurs to me that it is an anticipating glimpse that Peter, James and John
get to see on the mountain. A vision points to the future, forshadowing the
power of Easter morning, and the glory we all will see at Jesus’ second
coming. A mighty testimony is being depicted for us today: He is the Son that
the Father has his delight in. He is the Fulfiller. The transfiguration of our Lord. On his way to
suffering. Experiencing persecution and tough conditions, the disciples here get
a comforting vision. Christ does not, at the end, mean earthly disaster, but the
power of heavenly kingdom. When the strong experience was over, Jesus was found alone.
If Peter were to count the ”stellar
moments” of his life, the experience at the mountain would probably rise among
the highest. Even so, he missteps this time, too. As he often does. with his
strange suggestion about building dwellings. He is too busy! Probably he wanted
to ”freeze” this time of joy. Enjoy the moment, and let it last for a long
time. But soon they had to turn down from the mountain, and later up to Calvary. As Christians
today, we have no promise that we will experience something that
resembles what the three apostles got to see. We have this report in the Bible,
to strengthen and encourage our life in faith. So it is very practical and down-to-earth
that the heavenly voice ends by asking us to heed
the words of Jesus. Do not look for visions, but simply, listen to him! So we are to hold onto his word, and keep his
commandments, and let his words remain in
us (John 15:7). Glory be to the Father and the Son and The holy Spirit,
now and forever.
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The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church · 924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 · (612)874-0716 |