Mark 9:2-9 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
Last Sunday After the Epiphany: The Transfiguration of Our Lord Sunday, February 14, 2021 “Get to Know Jesus in His Heavenly Glory”
“Come here; you’ve got to see this.” I’ve probably said that at times when I was amazed by the sunrise or the sunset in the window and thought someone else would appreciate it. I’ve maybe whispered something like that when I saw a snake or a coyote or some other wildlife that someone else might want to see. I can imagine saying it, and perhaps you can too, about all sorts of surprising, amazing, beautiful, or maybe just extremely unusual sights. Today, I am saying it about what we see in God’s Word in Mark’s Gospel. You have to see this. That’s pretty much what Jesus must have said to his three disciples, Peter, James, and John. Mark records that Jesus took them with him and led them up the mountain. No, it doesn’t sound like he gave them a warning that they were going to see something amazing, but he wanted them there to see it. And see it they did. They saw Jesus change. We use the word “transfiguration” to describe what happened, but that’s a word that we don’t use anywhere else, so it maybe doesn’t tell us a whole lot. The Greek that Mark and other Gospel writers use to describe it says that there was a metamorphosis, a definite and distinct change. Matthew and Luke both talk about the face of Jesus shining, and Mark says that “His clothes became radiant, dazzling white, whiter than anyone on earth could bleach them.” Come and see along with those disciples what happened to Jesus. They went up the mountain by themselves and at the top, Jesus began to shine with a bright and blinding light. He showed forth this bright, heavenly glory. Today in our sermon we are gazing along with those chosen disciples on the heavenly glory of Jesus. We get to know Jesus even better as we see this heavenly glory. The glory shows us who he really is, and it shows us who we really are. We have been getting to know Jesus for a number of weeks in our worship services. Well, that’s our theme for these several weeks, even though we get to know Jesus better in all of our worship services. And a lot of what we have learned about Jesus reminds us that he often seems different than he really is. Most people who saw Jesus would have said that he looked just like any ordinary human being. Sure, he taught with authority, he had people who followed him to learn from him, but there was nothing obvious that suggested he was anything more than a human being just like they were. And, of course, Jesus was a true human being just like they were, but he was also much more. He was and still is—in fact, he always was and he always will be—true God. The Father’s voice said as much on the occasion of his baptism. The same voice said the same thing again on the mountain where Jesus was transfigured. And for a few shining moments on that mountain, Jesus showed who he really was, that he was more than just an ordinary human being. He showed that he is and was true God as he allowed his heavenly glory to shine forth. This wasn’t a trick. It wasn’t a reflection of the sun or even a reflection of heavenly glory shining on Jesus. It was his glory shining forth. He is God. He is the eternal and almighty God clothed in human flesh and bones and blood. He is God himself and a human being just like us. And it is important for us to know Jesus this way. It is important for us to realize that he is more than a selfhelp guru whose books we can read and whose advice we can take to make our lives better. He is more than a great teacher who opens our eyes to new knowledge and understanding. He is even more than a prophet who speaks God’s Word, though he certainly does that. He is God himself come into or world to save us. He is God keeping the promise that he made to people to send a serpent-crusher, to send a chosen one, to send a servant who would suffer and die for the world’s sin. That bright light that shone from Jesus indicated that there was much more to him than what was usually seen, that there was a truth that almost always remained hidden during his earthly ministry. It showed the disciples, and it shows us, that he had a heavenly purpose. Our lives are so obviously connected to the physical world around us. We need food and sunshine and fresh air and all of these wonderful things that God gives us, but we can also focus on those things so exclusively that we forget that God has made us to be in a relationship with him, that God has a spiritual purpose in mind for us, that God has a heavenly goal for us. That light of the heavenly glory of Jesus reminds us that God has more in store for us than this life and this world with all its