Message for Feast of the Transfiguration – Sunday, August 11, 2024

Brothers & Sisters,

The Transfiguration

Luke tells us that Jesus took three disciples with him and went up on the mountain.  He took Peter, James and John, the inner circle of disciples. Jesus chose three, not all, and He does this more than once; a strange occurrence to  choose some over the others, but this is what He did. Many of us would not feel equal and comfortable with this kind of selection, but this is what Jesus did, and selections are made regularly in God’s kingdom.

This transfiguration is God revealing his glory to these men in His Son Jesus Christ. God revealed His glory to the children of Israel when He travelled with them in the wilderness in a cloud of fire. God shrouded his glory from Israel but showed it to Moses when he went up on the mountain, and Moses’ face was changed. He had a reflection of God’s glory because God would not give His glory to Moses. God said, “My glory I do not give to another.”  He does not share His glory with anyone. God’s glory is that which encompasses all when they are in a relationship with God. They had to cover Moses’ face because the glory of God was so bright that people could not look on Moses’ face. This was only a bouncing off of Moses, it was not the fulfilling glory of God  the heavenly glory, which is something that we cannot really see.

Jesus went up on the mountain to be transfigured by His Father, a moment of immense power and divinity, and God chose only a few men to witness this awesome event and share it with the world when the time was right. This event took place during Jesus praying, and Moses the lawgiver, and Elijah the greatest prophet, were chosen to be there to witness this great event. We can say that the transfiguration, the glory of God, was shown to the disciples and also the law and the prophets. Moses did not see the promised land and Elijah was taken up before he saw God’s glory, so here the Father gave both the opportunity to see the glory of Christ. The disciples did not fully comprehend who Jesus was, so here they saw the real Jesus transformed in His divinity.

This church is named “The Transfiguration”. Did our church builders want all who attend here to be transfigured, to be filled with the love of Jesus Christ?

To be a Christian requires change on our part. The values of this world are not the values of Christ, therefore our transfiguration is required to be a disciple of Christ.  Are you all ready to be transfigured?

Rev. Basil