(The following is the sermon transcript as delivered by Rev. Tab Ottmers on March 2 in the Year of Our Lord 2025).

The text for our sermon this morning comes from the Gospel reading, in particular verses 29, with special emphasis on verse 30, and what Moses and Elijah are talking about. And Jesus was praying "...as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem."

God's grace, mercy and peace be unto you, from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Moses and Elijah, standing there with Jesus, are discussing with Jesus his departure, in the Greek, his Exodus. Moses and Elijah, the prophets and the Old Testament summed up there in those two saints. And as we sang in today's hymn, "Beautiful Savior," you can only understand that hymn correctly if you can say your savior, here on the cross, at his departure, is more beautiful than anything you have ever seen with your eyes.

Moses and Elijah are standing there, they're seeing Jesus in His radiance, in His glory. And what do they want to talk about? What, in their opinion, is more beautiful than Jesus standing there in his full glory? They can't help but talk about this beautiful Savior who's covered in blood, who's whipped and beaten. This is beauty. This is our treasure. "I decided to know nothing among you except Christ and Him crucified," Paul says.

God comes to us in humility. That's what we rejoice about today. That God doesn't come to us in his almighty glory, in his strength. Because if that were the case, James Peter, and the disciples who were gathered there on the Mount of Transfiguration, when they saw the beauty of Jesus His glory, they were perplexed. They wanted to hide their face when they heard the voice of God. If Jesus appeared to us in His glory, we would be the same. So thanks be to God today, we contemplate that Christ comes to us in humility.

Now, today, as I mentioned earlier, the season of Epiphany finds its conclusion. The brightness of the star of Bethlehem is eclipsed by the brightness of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. While Christmas and Epiphany, we celebrated the humanity of Jesus, His being born in the flesh, being born under the law, just as we are. Epiphany was about witnessing the miracles of Jesus, the revealing of his identity as true God, the transfiguration of Jesus shows the continuity, the message of the Old Testament in the flesh, in Jesus Christ.

What the wise men believed by faith and were willing to travel great distance at a great cost to themselves, that message that they believed was not new. The Jewish people of God there in Bethlehem, there in Jerusalem, they had the same scriptures as the wise men. But who would go and fall down and worship at this Christ Child? The wise men, they didn't have any advantage over anyone in all of Israel. The wise men didn't have any scripture that King Herod didn't have, and yet, few came to see God in the flesh. Few would come at a distance and fall down and worship this king.

But who could blame them? I mean, when Jesus was born, there was no bright miracle at his birth. His conception by the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb, of course, that is a miracle. But, as far as the eyes are concerned, there was nothing visual that really marked this child as something unique. But we remember Simeon. We remember Anna. The wise men. There was no transfiguration light at Jesus birth or his childhood, he was just kind of plain. This is what is perplexing, if you think about it, about the transfiguration. While Epiphany and Christmas were about miracles, the transfiguration, if you think about it, is the pausing of a miracle.

The miracle of the incarnation, the enfleshment of the eternal God, which was begun at Christ's conception, Christ's covering, his humility, is put on pause. For a few moments on the Mount of Transfiguration the miracle is paused. The humility of Christ is set aside. And yet consider this--his human form, His body, His humanity, was not swallowed up nor destroyed by the presence of the full divinity of God. Being born in the flesh, being born under the law, God does not lose any of his divinity. It's a fascinating thing, if you consider it. For a moment, can you consider that the eternal God, the infinite God, becomes finite. Becomes contained in the finite of the flesh of Jesus Christ. In Him, the fullness of God dwelt.

There's a movie that, it's one of my favorites, actually, Guardians of the Galaxy. Guardians of the Galaxy is about the journey of a group of various sort of ruffians or vagrants who are on a quest to capture a one of a kind stone. A stone that possesses immeasurable power. And the possessor of the stone is able to rule all the universes. He's able to dominate all his enemies. The catch, though, to this stone, this "Power Stone," as it's called, is that if you touch it, or you try to grasp it as a human, it will destroy you. Various people tried to hold the stone to show that they're strong enough, but many failed, and they died a miserable death because mere humans cannot contain the infinite "Power Stone."

God's divinity is no mythological power. He is the eternal Creator. He is a personal power. It is a miracle that the God, who is infinite, comes and joins himself to humanity. It's a miracle that God is able to place himself into human flesh, and the human flesh is not destroyed. The fullness of God dwells in human form in Jesus. Finite human form is able to contain the infinite. So for a moment, dear Christian, consider how amazing it is that your human nature is not so foreign. It's not so petty that God would avoid it. Remember, we were created in the image of God. But we must keep things in the right order as we consider humanity and the divinity of God. It's not because our human form is so strong, so powerful, to contain God, but that God, in His divinity, is able to unite himself with humanity without destroying it.

So what does this mean for us?

This means that you, dear Christian, are not trash. You as a person, your identity, your personality, your body, your mind as messed up as you might think it is, as you might lament, what it means to be human, to have needs, to have desires. We humans, from conception, are the pinnacle of God's creation. This is why murder is such an offense in the eyes of God. To destroy one made in the image of God, who would even think about such a travesty. But don't we do such things? When Jesus warns us, "to everyone who's angry with his brother, I tell you, you will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council." Do you not murder in your hearts? Do we maybe not even think highly enough of ourselves as the pinnacle of God's creation that we look down on one another or even ourselves?

But instead of destroying humanity, God becomes flesh in order to do away with our anger. To bear the insults in his own flesh for him, as he's hanging on the cross, to be called a fool by his brothers. Even by us. Maybe when sadness and disappointment gets the better of you. Maybe when we think God is the fool, because our life doesn't go the way we picture it, the way we want it. We know how things should go and that when they don't, do we even consider God a fool? Unlike some random, impersonal power, God uses his divinity to become man so that he may receive your punishment. That on the cross there is God's glory. He takes flesh on himself so that he would be able to be held accountable for all the sins committed against us and the sins we commit against one another.

Our fallen flesh does everything it can to avoid suffering. Thinking that that is how we find glory, that that is how we become like God, that in glory we could grasp divinity. But Christ did not consider godliness something to be grasped, but took the form of a servant. That true godliness is a desire to suffer for another, to give oneself up wholly for their brother, for their sister. True godliness is willing to suffer and endure, even die on a cross, which is what Christ would do before he is raised on the third day.

But as we consider this text, what Moses and Elijah are discussing, I think we can identify with Peter and what's on Peter's mind. As Peter sees Jesus and His glory and Moses and Elijah, Peter wants to stay on the mountain. "Lord, it's good that we're here." Peter, like any of us likes the glory. Peter, like any of us, likes the victorious Jesus, a Jesus who we can call on to reveal his power when we want it revealed, to defeat our enemies. Peter like us, likes the victorious Jesus. So it's interesting today that the miracle of God coming in the flesh is put aside. At this time there are no enemies around Jesus. Jesus is among friends. Have you ever wondered why Jesus shows his glory here at this time on the on the mountain? Let's call it an inopportune time. Jesus, what do you gain by showing your glory to your friends? If Jesus asked me, I would have said, Lord show your glory when they come to arrest you. Lord show your glory when people laugh at you, when they scorn you. Lord show this glory for us today, so that the church would grow, so that people would see how wonderful it is. Lord, show your glory so that my kids would stay in the faith, So my spouse would believe. Lord, why show your glory at a moment when there's not so much at stake?

"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." One of the reasons the transfiguration takes place at this time is because Jesus is about to be arrested. The transfiguration reminds the disciples who it is that's being arrested, and that everything is happening according to plan. Also for Jesus' sake. Jesus, on the Mount of Transfiguration, hears and receives the testimony of Moses and Elijah, the two who sum up the entire Old Testament, the Law and the Prophets. What are Moses and Elijah speaking about?

They're speaking about Jesus's cross, his departure. Moses and Elijah, they are the testimony of all of scriptures, for Jesus' sake, confirming his mission. Even for Jesus who received encouragement. Jesus was human. He needed to receive food. He was ministered to by the angels. So it's not too far fetched to realize that even here, Jesus is receiving encouragement from what Moses and Elijah are discussing. Jesus didn't need a mirror to see himself transfigured on the mountain. But Moses and Elijah, they spoke the word of God. They contemplated it together. This is the strength that enabled and helped Jesus. Jesus leaned on the father's promise in his time of need, as he is about to take up his mission. Jesus desired to hear from the Father. "Man does not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God."

And not only was this encouragement for Jesus, but Peter, James and John, if Peter could get his head out of... If Peter would recognize what was going on. The transfiguration also shows Peter, James and John who it is that's going to be crucified. That the transfiguration is God saying to them, "the way of true glory is not here on the mountain," for they must come down off the mountain and Jesus must be arrested. Even though the disciples saw the glory of God, Peter in his epistle, later on, he writes this. In Second Peter one, he says, "we were witnesses of His glory on the mountain when we heard the Father say, 'This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.' But we have the more sure prophetic word, which you do well to pay attention to as a lamp shining in a dark place." Peter says, "yes, we saw the glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, but you, dear Christian, now have something more sure. You have the word of God."

This is why the greater miracle at the Transfiguration is the fact that Moses and Elijah are there and they're not disagreeing with what Jesus is about to do. Neither Moses nor Elijah are asking Jesus to stay on the mountain. In fact, Moses and Elijah, they're not surprised that God is in the flesh. They're not surprised that Jesus is going to be crucified. Moses and Elijah, they're not even saying, "Peter James and John. Look how bright Jesus is!"

No, they're discussing the cross. They have their eyes fixed, their hearts fixed, on the cross of Jesus. It just makes sense to Moses and Elijah. They're not like Peter wanting to avoid the cross. They're not like us who want to avoid the true glory that comes with suffering. They know the story from the Old Testament. And so you too, dear Christian, when your sins seem heavy, when life seems particularly difficult, contemplate the Exodus, the departure, of Jesus in Jerusalem. That God comes now even to us in humility. Jesus hides his glory. He conceals his Majesty for us. If he came in glory, even when you think that would be best, when God appears in glory, we would all run away.

Look how Peter and James and John, they're fearful. They hear God's unfiltered voice. They fear. They hide their faces. But this is why you can have comfort, dear Christian, that God comes to us in Jesus. God comes to us in kindness. He comes to us in humility. He comes with healing in His wings, this is his glory. And he comes to us now even in mercy. He comes to us in the humility of his sacraments. He comes in humility under the bread and wine. Certainly, there are times I wish the transfiguration of Christ would shine from the bread and the wine. But we must remember we are to behold Jesus by faith. Like Moses did. Like Elijah did.

The cross isn't a surprise. But how God strengthens us and gives us His Holy Spirit, so that we may daily walk in the newness of life. That God himself loves you so much he's willing to give his only Son to die for you. That we would find comfort in his humility, that we would contemplate his humility until he finally does come in glory to judge the living and the dead. And with our eyes, we will see and behold that glory, and we will rejoice.

And may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Amen.