Weekly Sermon of
Dave Johnson

Episcopal Church of the Resurrection 

“The Glory of God in Jesus Christ” (Luke 9:28-35) 

March 2, 2025 

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In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

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Every year on the Last Sunday of Epiphany the gospel passage is an account of one of the most important events in Jesus’ earthly ministry: his transfiguration. At his transfiguration Jesus gives three of his disciples—Peter, James, and John—a glimpse of his glory as the Son of God and Savior of the world. Luke tells us: 

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And while (Jesus) was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:29-31). 

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As Jesus is praying his disciples glimpse his glory—“The appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.” In Matthew’s account we are told Jesus “was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white” (Matthew 17:2). Even though the sun is 93 million miles away it is so bright you cannot look at it. You may glimpse it for a moment but when you look away or close your eyes the image of the sun’s brightness remains. At his transfiguration Jesus’ appearance was so bright Peter, James, and John could only glimpse Jesus’ glory for a brief moment. 

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And yet this brief moment left an indelible impression on Peter. In his second and last letter, written shortly before his martyrdom during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero, Peter referred to this moment on the Mount of Transfiguration when he glimpsed the glory of Jesus Christ the Son of God: 

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For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain (2 Peter 1:16-18). 

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As if that were not enough, two towering figures from the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah, also appeared with Jesus. You may remember that in Jesus’ day the Old Testament scriptures were referred to as “the Law and the Prophets.” On the Mount of Transfiguration Moses personified the Law and Elijah personified the Prophets so that together they personified the entire Old Testament, all of which points to Jesus Christ the Son of God and his death and resurrection to save the world, including you. 

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In the Old Testament we are told Moses encountered the presence of God in a cloud on Mount Sinai, and it was then and there that God gave Moses the Law, summarized in the Ten Commandments written on tablets of stone by the finger of God. As we read in today’s passage when Moses came down from Mount Sinai, “the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God” (Exodus 34:29). The brightness of the glory of God literally rubbed off on Moses. 

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In the Old Testament we are also told that Elijah encountered the presence of God on Mount Horeb. God had commanded Elijah, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by”—and here is what happened:

 

Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking 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 sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave (1 Kings 19:11-13). 

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So, in today’s gospel passage we see that Moses and Elijah who had both encountered the presence of God on a mountain, again encountered the presence of God on mountain as they encountered the presence of Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus’ face shone like the sun and his clothes were dazzling white because Jesus Christ is the glorious Son of God. That is why Peter, James, and John could only briefly glimpse Jesus’ glory. And what were Moses and Elijah talking about with Jesus? Luke tells us they “were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” The Greek word translated “departure” here is exodon (exodus) and refers to Jesus’ impending death on the cross, when his earthly life would end, and he would depart this world. 

 

The Greek word translated here as “about to accomplish” could also be translated “about to fulfill.” It is the same word used by the gospel writers when telling us of Jesus “fulfilling” the Old Testament scriptures—and it is the same word Jesus himself used in his Sermon on the Mount when he proclaimed:

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Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished (Matthew 5:17-18). 

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Moreover, during Holy Week Jesus said this about the law and the prophets: 

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‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:37-40). 

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Back to today’s passage…Luke continues: 

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Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” (Luke 9:35). 

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In the same way Moses had encountered the presence of God in a cloud on Mount Sinai, the disciples encountered the presence of God in a cloud on the Mount of Transfiguration. In the same way Elijah heard the voice of God on Mount Horeb the disciples heard the voice of God on the Mount of Transfiguration. And as the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry and his departure was drawing close, God the Father reiterated words he had spoken at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry at Jesus’ baptism, “This is my Son.” The entire Old Testament, the Law and the Prophets, which was written over thousands of years and all points to the Person and Work of Jesus Christ the Son of God was about to be fulfilled on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. It was all about to get very real. 

 

And on Good Friday the same God who revealed his glory to Moses on Mount Sinai and revealed his glory to Elijah on Mount Horeb and revealed his glory to Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration revealed his glory yet again on a different mountain, Calvary. And at the foot of the cross stood John, one of the three disciples who had glimpsed the glory of God on the Mount of Transfiguration, and this time he glimpsed the glory of God in Jesus’ death on the cross, where God revealed that he is not only the King of Glory but also the King of Mercy and the King of Love. This is why years later this same John wrote, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth…The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:14, 17). 

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And as Jesus Christ the Son of God died on the cross, he not only revealed anew the glory of God he also fulfilled the entire Old Testament, the Law and the Prophets. “Love the Lord your God,” Jesus had said, “Love your neighbor as yourself…on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” And as Jesus hung on the cross, he did exactly what he had preached in the Sermon on the Mount: he fulfilled the entire law and the prophets—every letter of the law, every stroke of a letter of the law…all the way to his final gasp, “It is accomplished.” 

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And in that moment Jesus’ departure, Jesus’ exodus, was complete. And the good news of the gospel of this glory and love of God, the good news of the gospel of this grace and truth in Jesus Christ means that you are forgiven because Jesus fulfilled the law in your place in his death on Good Friday and that you are ensured eternal life because Jesus was raised from the dead on Easter Sunday. 

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That means that even now, as Paul wrote in today’s passage from his Second Letter to the Corinthians, “All of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18). 

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And when the time comes for your departure, the time for your exodus from your earthly life, will mark the beginning of your eternal life where you, like Moses and Elijah and Peter and James and John will see the glory of God in the face of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

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Amen.