“Seeing God”
The Transfiguration of Our Lord is one of those prominent occasions in the Gospels, and in the Church Year. Jesus takes the three apostles up the mountain, his appearance is changed – he becomes all bright and shiny. Moses and Elijah appear. There’s a cloud. Then the voice from heaven, “This is my Son. Listen to him.” And as quickly as it began, it’s over. Peter’s nonsensical jabbering aside, it is a glorious event. It is a spectacular sight. It is a peek at the true glory of Christ that had thus far in his life remained hidden. And it brought to bear the witness of both the Old Testament spokesmen and the very voice of the Father in testimony of Jesus as the Son of God, the Savior, the Christ.
I’ve pondered this event, as I am sure many of you have, year after year. It’s a treasure trove of depth and meaning. There are so many significant details, it’s impossible to cover everything. Today I want to focus especially on the aspect of the transfiguration that has to do with what the disciples saw. Their eyewitness account. And why seeing it with them matters, also to us.
Seeing, along with hearing, is a key concept in Holy Scripture. Often times we are commanded to “behold!”, that is, “look, and see!” something of great importance. Now, of course, none of us were there to see any of the Bible’s events, but we can see them through the eyes of faith, and witness them along with the writers who proclaim the word to us. This is why their eyewitness account is so crucial.
Peter makes a point of this in our Epistle reading. “We didn’t make up a bunch of clever myths. We were eyewitnesses of these things!” Jesus instructed the three disciples not to tell anyone the vision” until after his resurrection. But now, Peter reflects on that sight, and writes about it in today’s Epistle.
It is a basic Scriptural standard that “every matter must be confirmed by 2 or 3 witnesses”, according to Deuteronomy 19, Jesus rightly took the 3 up the mountain with him for the very purpose of them witnessing what would happen. But many others served as witnesses to the important events of Jesus’ work: So also Jesus gave “many convincing proofs” to the hundreds of disciples who would see him – alive – after his resurrection. John testifies poignantly about the blood and water that came from Jesus’ side, proof that he truly died. And countless others in the great cloud of witnesses tell us what they have seen and heard. We do well to “behold!” it all, through them.
We dare not put God to the test like doubting Thomas, “I won’t believe it if I don’t see it!” Yet, still we ought to appreciate that God has provided for us these eyewitnesses so that even though we weren’t there, and we don’t see first-hand, still we may believe. The witness of Holy Scripture is how the eyes of faith see… as the Spirit works through this testimony to enliven and strengthen our faith. He who has ears to hear, thus, also, has eyes to see.
So what did Peter, James and John see? They saw the Lord Jesus transfigured. His appearance changed – from his normal, everyday Jesus, to a bright-shining glorified Jesus. He gives them a peek behind the veil, as it were, to see a glimpse of the true glory that is his – glory of the one and only, Son of God, beloved of the Father. In a word, they saw Jesus as God.
Now, John would later write in his Gospel, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” In other words, though no one has ever seen the Father, we only know the Father through the Son.
This is worth pondering. Who could see God face to face and live? Certainly not a sinful man like you or me. God’s holiness is radiant and all-consuming. For us, in our sins, to stand in his presence would be like bringing a sheet of notebook paper up close to the Sun. We can’t even get that close. God is holy and he hates sin, and there is no place for sinners anywhere near his presence.
Remember when Isaiah saw God (in a vision!) and his first reaction was to exclaim, “Woe to me, I am ruined… for I am a man of unclean lips… and I have seen God!” Such is the reaction of any unholy, unclean, unworthy creature when faced with the divine glory of the Incomprehensible!
But it is a different thing to see God in the face of his Son, Jesus Christ. What a kind, loving face that is. A face that is one of our own. A smile that invites us to follow him, learn from him, be fed by him. We behold Jesus in the gospels as one who loved all people, had great compassion, and gave his time and energy freely to the crowds of people who clamored for him – sheep without a shepherd. But he alone is the Good Shepherd, and would lay down his life for the sheep.
Mostly, we see him in humility. Born in humble circumstances. Growing up and asking questions, learning like we do. As a man, itinerant, nowhere to lay his head. Scorned by his enemies, betrayed and abandoned by his friends. Arrested and imprisoned, flogged and crucified. Most of what we see of Jesus isn’t that impressive to earthly eyes.
But there’s this glimpse of glory on the mount. There’s this shining moment, in which just a bit of his true brilliance shows through. You could say that Jesus really is the Son of God, but to see him dazzling like the sun, says it in a way words cannot. It must have made quite an impression on Peter, James, and John. It was, in a word, glorious.
What a blessing for us, through the Gospels, to have a look over their shoulders as they beheld the transfigured glory of Christ. But as great as it was, this glory was not for basking in. There was no time to set up tents and stay a while. This was a glimpse. It was a short and sweet glance behind the veil, for a very specific purpose.
Did you notice that Matthew’s account begins, “six days after this”? Any time we see such a remark, it’s good to ask, “after what?” What connection of context is there for us to consider? And this one is very telling:
Six days before the Transfiguration, Peter made his great confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God! Jesus commended him for this answer, which he received not from flesh and blood, but from the Father! And then Jesus proceeded to explain exactly what it meant for him to be the Christ. It meant suffering, betrayal, arrest, death, and resurrection. It was more than Peter could stand to hear, and he tried to rebuke Jesus. But Jesus called Peter Satan, and rebuked him instead. Nothing would deter Jesus from his mission. Nothing would stop him from facing the cross. Nothing would distract him from dying for Peter’s sins, for everyone’s sins, for yours and mine.
Good Friday would be a dark day – figuratively and literally. It would be hard to see the glory that was hidden in the bloody, sweaty, agonizing sacrifice of Jesus. It had the appearance of the opposite of glory. It looked all wrong. But there in the back of their minds, was the Transfiguration. A reminder to them, and perhaps even more so to us, that with God, things aren’t always as they appear. Humble Jesus is really the glorious Son of God. The shameful, mournful, sorrow of the cross – is really the greatest work of God, the great and glorious work of his Son, the redemption of the world, the crux of history, and the height of God’s love shown forth in the strangest and most blessed way.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Behold his transfiguration. Behold his crucifixion. Behold his resurrection. We behold him now, through the word, and by our faith.
And one day, we will see not just with the eyes of faith, but as Job says, with my own eyes, I will see – I and not another. We will see him face to face and be with him in our own resurrection. How glorious that will be!
No comments:
Post a Comment