Sermon for March 2nd, 2025
Matthew 17:1-9 (NT p.18)
1Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ 5While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’ 6When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’ 8And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. 9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, ‘Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’
Translation, Transformation, and Transfiguration (Oh, My!)
A little disclaimer: Last Sunday we observed our annual Mr. Rogers Day celebration, and so like our subject, the sermon focused on child-like simplicity and wonder. Today, however, we're gonna go with nerdy and intellectual--diving deep into the linguistic nuances of scripture and theology. But before we do that... a little bit of humor:
A girl and her mother from a rural America were visiting the big city and found themselves in a large shopping mall. They were amazed by almost everything they saw, but especially by two shiny, silver doors that could move apart and back together again. The girl, wide-eyed with wonder, asked her mother, "What is this?" Before the mother had a chance to answer, a little old man with a balding head of wispy gray hair shuffled up to the moving doors and pressed a button with his cane. The doors opened and the old man slowly hobbled into a tiny room as the doors closed again. The mother and daughter watched as small circles of lights with numbers above the doors illuminated in sequence. They continued to watch as the circles lit up in the reverse direction. Then a bell rang, the doors opened up again and a tall, handsome, man in his late 20s stepped out. The mother turned to her daughter and said, "I don't know what it is...but go get your father and bring him here right now!"
Today, on the church calendar, is a day pastors and theologians call transfiguration Sunday.
The English word transfiguration comes from an older Latin word, transfigurare. It's made up of two parts: Trans (meaning to cross over or to change) and figurare (meaning figure, shape, form, or body). And that's exactly what Jesus does in today's scripture passage--his body transforms. It becomes radiant and glowing. Other bodies, other figures also "cross over" from some other time and place: The figures of Moses and Elijah--bodies that have long since ceased to exist--take on concrete and tangible form once more.
The transfiguration is considered one of Jesus' miracles, although it is unique among all of his miracles, and I'll explain why in just a moment. All of Jesus' miracles involve transformation or transcendence of some sort -- he transforms water into wine, he transcends the wind and the waves to walk on water. But by far, the largest category of all Jesus' miracles is transformations of the body: He heals the sick; he gives sight to the blind; he makes the lame to walk; and he raises Lazarus from the dead. You might say that body transformation is Jesus' specialty. But the transfiguration is the one miracle in which Jesus transforms his own body, and that's what makes it unique among all the miracles.
So, to summarize all that, Transfiguration is (among other things) about the transformation of the body. Hold that thought, we'll come back to it later.
Speaking of transformation... The Bible--our collection of scared scriptures--in its almost 2,000 years of existence, has gone through several transformations itself. The most obvious transformation is linguistic: It has been translated (which is a type of transformation) into English from older languages. I just mentioned one of those languages: Latin. In the 14th century, a man named John Wycliffe first translated the Bible into English from Latin. And the Latin Bible was itself translated from Greek, the language the New Testament was originally written in.
And in the Greek language, the word in Matthew 17:2 which reads "transfigured" (And he was transfigured before them) was originally another word that should be familiar to us: The word Matthew uses here is μετεμορφωθη. It means basically the same thing as transfigurare--to change forms--but it's also where we get the English word metamorphosis from.
Now up to this point, I've been using the words "transform" and transfigure" interchangeably, but there's a very small difference, a very slight nuance between "transformation" on one hand, and "metamorphosis" (or transfigure) on the other. It's a small distinction, but I think it's important.
Transformation is typically neutral. It's just change. It's not necessarily "bad" change (that would be dis-figuration or de-formation) but it's not necessarily good, either. Metamorphosis, on the other hand, usually has a positive connotation. A catepillar "metamorphs" into a butterfly, and we usually consider that an improvement (I imagine the butterfly does too!).
When I was growing up, there was a cartoon series (and a very lucrative line of toys, too) called "Transformers." They were cars or airplanes or dinosaurs that transformed into robots...or maybe they were robots that transformed into toys. Which one was better, the robot or the car? Neither! That was what made them so cool -- robots are awesome, and cars are awesome, dinosaurs are awesome, so now you have a toy that can be both, it can transform, it can go back and forth as many times as you want it to.
And that's another difference: Transformation is a two way street--something can be transformed into something else and then back again--but metamorphosis is usually a one way street: The butterfly never becomes a caterpillar again. Metamorphosis usually implies progress, a journey, significant life change... for the better.
Now back to God and the Bible: We tend to think of God (and the Bible) as constant, eternal, never-changing, the same yesterday, today, and forever! There is certainly some truth to this, but like most things in our theology, it's more complicated than that.
We've already seen how the Bible has changed through the centuries as it has been translated. Sometimes those subtle changes have significantly changed the way we interpret and understand it. No translation is from one language to another is a perfect correspondence. If you don't believe me, try translating the Spanish word mañana into one simple corresponding English word. Does it mean tomorrow? Later today? Sometime in the near future? Or (my favorite) "not likely to ever take place at all?" Language is intimately connected to culture, and so when you change from one language to another--or from a 1st century culture to a 21st century one--some things are forever lost, and some things are (unintentionally) gained. The Bible changes in time, just as we do.
What about God? Does God change? Some people are adamant that he does not, and there are scripture passages that seem to back that up. BUT... We also believe that Jesus is God, and throughout the course of his life on earth, Jesus changes. Jesus transforms, Jesus undergoes metamorphosis. His transfiguration on the mountain is one of many milestones we celebrate on his journey through life: Incarnation, Baptism, Transfiguration, Resurrection, Ascension. At each point, Jesus is irrevocably different than he was before.
So. To summarize all that, Transfiguration is more than just change, more than mere transformation. It's metamorphosis. Evolution. Change and progress and growth all mixed together.
Alright. One more thing, and then I'll (hopefully) tie all this together. Jesus' transfiguration up on the mountain in today's scripture passage has been described as an event where heaven and earth come together (God and Jesus), where the Old and New Testaments come together (Moses & Elijah, and Jesus). In other words, where time and space converge.
This often happens on mountains. God gives the Ten Commandments to Moses on top of Mount Sinai. Jesus was crucified on the Mountain known as Calvary. And the prophet Elijah was instructed to "go and stand on the mountain before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice." And it was in the still small voice, on the mountaintop, that Elijah heard the word of the Lord.
This is why we call an encounter with God a "mountaintop experience." Personally, I've always thought that those who live near mountains live closer to God. Of course, as an El Pasoan... I'm probably biased.
But Jesus' transfiguration in today's scripture passage is the mountaintop experience to end all mountaintop experiences: Moses and Elijah show up, Jesus starts glowing, and God speaks in an audible voice from the Heavens. No wonder Peter, James and John "fell to the ground and were overcome by fear." The presence of the living God and creator of the Universe is not for the faint of heart. It's probably best that it only happens up on the mountain and doesn't last for a long time.
Now, I've said a lot today about translation, transformation, and transfiguration... but at some point comes the most important theological question of all: So what?!? Or, to put it more politely, why do any of these things matter to us, today? What can we learn from the story of Jesus' Transfiguration? Three things:
- Our bodies matter. Jesus cared about bodies, enough to heal them, enough to change and transform them, including his own. As individuals, then, AND as a church, we should care about bodies, too. We tend to think of church as a place where we can grow spiritually, or emotionally, or intellectually. In fact, as Presbyterians, we're really good at the "intellectually," and sometimes we (I) get stuck there. But transfiguration teaches us to watch our figures. Like our intellect, our spirit, and our emotions, our bodies are a gift from God. And they are on a beautiful, transformative journey throughout our lives.
- Don't just change. Metamorph. Or, to put it differently, strive to make the kind of changes in your life that carry you forward, not backward...that carry you upward, not downward or sideward. That may sound overly simplistic, but this is especially challenging for institutions and people alike, especially as we grow older: "I just want things to be the way they used to be again." But Jesus calls us ever forward, ever onward, through metamorphosis after metamorphosis. And what doesn't kill you...makes you a butterfly.
- God speaks to us on the mountaintops. But notice the variety of ways in which God speaks! The most obvious is the audible voice from the heavens, and some people do hear God's voice that way. I'm not usually one of them. And that's ok. Remember the appearance of Moses and Elijah? God also speaks to us in the voices and images and traditions from the past. Remember the cloud? Sometimes God speaks to us through the fog and the clouds and mysteries that we can't quite understand. Sometimes God speaks to us through the beauty of the mountains and the wonders of creation. And there's one more thing. Remember what happened when the disciples fell down in fear, overwhelmed with it all? The very next verse says, "but Jesus came and touched them, saying 'get up and do not be afraid.'" Sometimes God speaks to us through the gentle touch and the kind words of another person. In fact, it's often the simple, quiet things like this that are the most profound, the most transformative.
I hope you have many mountaintop experiences in your life, many transfigurations and metamorphoses, where God speaks to you and is present with you in a powerful way. I also hope that as often as you can, you have the opportunity to BE the gentle touch, and the kind, reassuring voice of God in the lives of the people you meet.
