THE GLORY OF THE NEW EXODUS
George Butterfield
February 22, 1998
A. Today is referred to within historic Christianity as "Transfiguration Sunday." On this Sunday the event which is recorded in our Gospel lesson (Luke 9:28-36) is celebrated. This is a day to lift up and adore our Lord Jesus Christ. In my sermon I want us to look at this text to see the glorified Lord. Certainly applications for Christian living will suggest themselves. But this morning I don't want to dwell on those. I want simply to point us today to our glorious Lord on that mountain. If we catch a glimpse of him today, that will be application enough.
B. Matthew and Mark use the term "transfigured" to describe what happened to Jesus and that is why today is called "Transfiguration Sunday." Luke does not use that term. In fact, Luke's account of this event has details and emphases that the other two do not have. And we want to look at those emphases this morning.
C. What exactly is the significance of this event, according to Luke, and why is it celebrated each year?
1. This experience gave heaven's confirmation of who Jesus was.
2. It also confirmed that his passion was according to God's purpose revealed in the law and the prophets.
3. The "exodus" of Jesus, his passion, would launch a new exodus for the people of God.
4. And, for the disciples, the experience permitted them to see who the Jesus on the way to death really was, and to know that he, regardless of what suffering, denial, and humiliation was to come, was Lord, taking precedence over the law and the prophets.
D. Please turn to Luke 9:28-36.
I. The Question: Who is Jesus?
A. The introduction to this text begins in Luke 9:18.
1. Notice that the occasion in which the discussion of Jesus occurs is an occasion of prayer. Luke emphasizes the prayer life of Jesus.
a. Jesus receives the Spirit after he is baptized and while he is praying (3:22).
b. The question of his identity and mission comes up after a period of prayer (9:18).
c. The transfiguration itself occurs while Jesus is at prayer (9:29).
d. For Luke, powerful and glorious things happen when Jesus prays.
2. On the occasion mentioned in 9:18, Jesus asks the disciples who the crowds say he is? Many different possibilities are mentioned but Peter confesses Jesus to be "The Messiah of God" (9:20).
3. Jesus' response to this confession is to sternly order and command them not to tell anyone about this. And then Jesus prophesies his suffering, rejection, death and resurrection (9:21-22).
4. Finally, Jesus speaks to his disciples about the meaning of discipleship. "If any want to become my followers," he said, "let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me" (9:23).
5. Luke concludes these pre-transfiguration scenes by referring to Jesus' own words about coming in his glory and the glory of the Father (9:26).
B. These thoughts must have been on the mind and heart of the disciples when Jesus, eight days later, took Peter, John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
1. Who is this Jesus? He speaks of glory and, yet, he speaks of a cross and death.
2. And what does it mean to follow him? Will it mean glory? Or will it mean death?
3. With these thoughts we come to the mountain where, again, Luke says that Jesus is praying.
II. What Happened on the Mountain?
A. V. 29- It should not be lost on us that the experience Jesus had on this unnamed mountain occurred "while he was praying."
1. The Transfiguration is referred to as a theophany - a manifestation of God, a divine revelation. And this occurs "while he was praying."
2. A display of the uncreated, divine energy will occur "while he was praying."
3. In the same way that he received the Spirit after his baptism "while he was praying," now he will reveal the glory of God to his disciples "while he was praying."
4. Jesus is a man of prayer. And, when he prays, powerful, glorious things happen. It is during communion with God that the experience of the mountain happens.
B. So, what exactly happened to Jesus (v. 29)?
1. "The appearance of his face changed." Matthew and Mark use the term for a metamorphosis. Jesus was morphed right before their eyes.
2. "his clothes became dazzling white"-
a. Jesus appears in the garments that are appropriate for a heavenly being. The glory of God appears to be shining so brightly from Jesus that even his clothes appear to share in his transformation.
b. And his appearance is "dazzling white."
(1) The Greek OT uses this phrase to describe some spectacular events.
(2) White garments are symbols of joy and celebration.
(3) As a child I always wondered why, in the pictures, Jesus always wore white and also why he always seemed to have this white glow around him.
(a) The reason for this was not that Jesus was simply being portrayed as one of the "good guys" (who wears white).
(b) This tradition comes from the iconography of the church. The light of God shining through Jesus is portrayed as a brilliant white, actually, beyond white, a blue-white, an ineffable color indicating that through Jesus we see the glory of God. If our childhood pictures of Jesus portrayed this, they captured a little of what Luke says the disciples saw on that mountain.
C. But there's more, v. 30, Moses and Elijah appear and begin talking with Jesus. Why Moses and Elijah?
1. Perhaps the emphasis is on the unity between the God and Moses and Elijah and the God of Jesus. There is unity, not discontinuity, between the old and the new.
2. Perhaps the emphasis is on the witness to Jesus that they present. They are the representatives of the law and the prophets. That the law and the prophets testify to Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection is an important theme in Luke, especially the last chapter in the Gospel (chapter 24).
3. It is also true that Moses and Elijah have two of the most fascinating "departures" recorded in the OT. And Jesus' "departure" is what they come to discuss with him.
4. Finally, there is a sense of eschatological finality here. Moses and Elijah will appear again at the end of the age. And here they are talking with Jesus.
D. V. 31-
1. "They appeared in glory"- they were obviously visitors from heaven.
2. "and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem."
a. The word here translated "departure" is the term exodus. Moses, the man who led the people of Israel in the exodus out of Egypt, is talking to Jesus about his upcoming exodus.
b. This is an obvious reference to what Jesus had just told his disciples would happen, namely, his suffering, death and resurrection.
c. Here Luke records a mountaintop experience of Jesus. And wouldn't it be great if he wrote glowingly of sunrises, soft breezes, warm friends, music, and quiet time. No, Luke has to go and mess it all up. On this mountain the subject is suffering and death.
(1) Dr. Luke, What's wrong with you? This is about glory, dazzling white, the uncreated light of God shining through Jesus.
(2) That's right. And that glory, that life of God which is seen on this mountain, will be seen most clearly in Jesus' exodus from this life. The way of suffering and death is the way of glory.
d. And this suffering and death is referred to as something Jesus will "accomplish" in Jerusalem. This word "accomplish" means to "fulfill," and is the same word used of the Scriptures. Jesus comes to fulfill the scriptures but his main fulfillment, his main accomplishment, is done in Jerusalem where he suffers and dies.
E. Vv. 32-34- the response of the disciples.
1. They saw this happen, although they were pretty sleepy when it occurred.
2. Peter appears to have enjoyed this experience and he wants to have the experience continue.
3. So he suggests three tents or dwellings for the three glorified individuals.
a. Some have thought that he's thinking of the feast of Booths or Tabernacles which had become a symbol for the age to come. In other words, the kingdom of God has come and it's time to make some dwelling places where we can live and enjoy that kingdom.
b. More than likely he simply wants to erect a place for these heavenly visitors to stay on earth so that this experience might continue.
c. We don't know what all he was thinking here, but the text makes it clear that he said this "not knowing what he said."
4. Even while he's speaking, v. 34, a cloud overshadows them and they are terrified as they enter into the cloud.
a. Again we have visions of Moses enveloped by the cloud on Mt. Sinai or the people of God following the cloud by day in the wilderness.
b. And the disciples know what it means to be in the presence of a holy God. And they are terrified.
F. V. 35-
1. This is so similar to what God said at Jesus' baptism, except that there the words were spoken to Jesus and here it is spoken to the disciples.
2. God says that Jesus is his Son, his "Chosen."
3. "listen to him"-
a. Although Moses and Elijah are present, the disciples are to listen to Jesus.
b. Although the law and the prophets testify of him, they are to listen to Jesus.
c. Jesus is the prophet like Moses that God would raise up in the latter days so they are to listen to him.
d. But it's not just a prophet who bears the very words of God. This prophet is also God's Son, the Chosen one.
G. V. 36- after the sound of God's voice, Moses and Elijah were gone. "Jesus was found alone." And of these matters the disciples kept silent. It will not be until after Jesus' exodus that they will speak of these things.
Conclusion
A. We who would be followers of Jesus, let us hear the words of Luke for today: the way of glory is the way of the cross. The exodus into the promised land must go through Jerusalem where there is suffering and death. As Jesus said, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." Our most Christ-like experiences, our mountaintop experiences as disciples, when we most clearly see the glory of God shining in our own lives, are when we follow Jesus as he bears the suffering of the world and accomplishes our redemption at the cross. We have been called to live a redemptive life. This is the glory of the new exodus. This is the way of eternal life.
B. And who is this Jesus we follow?
1. He is the very light of God.
2. He is God's Son, the Chosen One.
3. He is the one who reveals the kingdom of God and the glories thereof.
4. He is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets who accomplishes all things through his suffering and death.
5. He is the long-awaited Messiah whose kingdom will know no end.
6. He is the prophet like Moses to whom we are called to listen.
7. He is the one through whom we see the glory of God.
8. His exodus of suffering and death is our exodus into the promised land.
C. O come, let us adore him.