Transfiguration Sunday Feb 11 2024

Grace to you and peace from God our father and from the Lord Jesus Christ the son. Amen.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday. How fitting that Super Bowl Sunday is also transfiguration Sunday.

Confused?

Transfiguration Sunday is essentially halftime in the gospels or at least in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

Through the first half of the first three Gospels, Jesus is teaching in the area to the north of and around the sea of Galilee. His ministry has been focused on teaching, with the sermon on the mount and the sermon on the plain.

They have been healings and a few other miracles but with the transfiguration everything changes.

Six days before the events in our Gospel, Jesus finally shares with his teammates, the disciples,  the final play in his playbook.

Mark 8:27-31

⁷Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” ²⁸And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” ³⁰And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
³¹Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 

The crucifixion followed by the resurrection form the winning play.

But as I said, the Transfiguration mark halftime.

Jesus is in the locker room, discussing with his coaches how the final half is going to go.

From the transfiguration comes the journey to the cross.

• The religious authorities become critical of Jesus, testing him and challenging him.
• Palm Sunday and the waving of the palms.
• The betrayal of one of the twelve
• His arrest
• His trial
• His friends denying him and abandoning him.
• And finally, his death and resurrection.

 

This is why the Sunday before Ash Wednesday is always transfiguration.

Like Jesus, we are now looking toward the cross.

During Lent, we remember the suffering of Jesus on the cross and the resurrection, in which Jesus delivers a final blow to the powers of sin, death and the devil.

(pause)

Sin, death and the devil… that was a phrase Luther liked to use.

Victory over sin.

In the cross and resurrection, Jesus declares once and for all that no sin is so great, no sin that is such an abomination that can separate us from the mercy and love of God.

Victory over death.

Humanity killed one of the three persons of the divine trinity in the cruelest way known to the world at that time. And yet the divine trinity does not retaliate and destroy humanity.

Instead, the divine trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit destroy death.

Death will no longer have the last word…

Victory over the devil.

In the resurrection, God proves to the world that God alone is all-powerful, that there is no force, no evil so great that can overpower the one God, creator, redeemer, sanctifier.

As we sing in A Mighty Fortress  Evil “will not win the day, he holds the field victorious.”.

Resurrection is a decisive victory, one for all times… a victory that cannot be challenged.

And the transfiguration of Jesus,

this moment on the mountain with Moses and Elijah,

with the face of Jesus glowing with the holiness of God is a sign to us.

Jesus is the Holy One.

Jesus is the Messiah, as Peter declared six days earlier-  who is the fulfillment of the Law, represented by Moses and the fulfillment of the Prophets, represented by Elijah.

Even if Peter, James and John don’t yet understand, this holy moment is foreshadowing the end of the story.

Even as we enter the darkness, the foreboding days of Lent,- we know that God will always have the last word.

(PAUSE.. 1.2.3.4.5.6)

I’ll be honest with you, this Lent feels dark…

The world around is even more unstable than it was a year ago.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is about to enter it’s third year. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian soldiers are facing shortages of ammunition.

The war between Israel versus Hamas is now four months old. Notice I said Hamas and not the Palestinians, who have borne the brunt of the casualties.

Meanwhile, in Washington, our nation is held hostage by extremists in Congress, preventing any meaningful legislation from moving forward and then blaming it on the other side during elections.

Hearing these stories on the news recalls the signs Jesus spoke of in Mark 13:7-8

 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁸ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

Some TV evangelists claim this is the end of the world…

Is it now?

Is Jesus coming now?

Is this the end of the world?

(PAUSE 1.2.3.4.5)

Even if the answer to these questions are “yes;” the Transfiguration is a reminder to us that  even when things look dysfunctional, chaotic and even frightening, God will have the final word.

God’s will for his creation cannot be thwarted, God wins…

We may not see the final victory, but we can be certain of the final score.

And that is a sure bet..

May the promise of God’s victory over the darkness of this world bring you peace and hope. Amen.