ATOP THE HOLY MOUNTAIN
Matthew 17:1-9
Transfiguration Sunday, Year A
Analysis by Fred Niedner
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.”
From Wikimedia Commons
“No matter where we go, we can hear the baptismal promise and find ourselves in the company of those whom God uses to shine light in the darkness and call the lost and alone to God’s self.”
DIAGNOSIS: We See Where This Journey Leads and Want No Part of It
Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem) – Struck Down by Fear
The only symptom of trouble apparent in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ “transfiguration” is fear strong enough to face-plant the trio of disciples. Seeing Jesus with face and clothing aglow hadn’t scared them, nor had the appearance of Moses and Elijah come to chat with Jesus. That much was all so cool and wonderful that Peter volunteered to set up tents so they could all observe the Feast of Tabernacles together. Fear didn’t strike the disciples until they heard the voice from the cloud repeat the words proclaimed at Jesus’ baptism, “This is my beloved Son; with him I am well pleased.” Only this time the voice added, “Listen to him. Heed him.” Most likely, therefore, the sound of the heavenly voice hadn’t terrorized them, nor the reminder of Jesus’ baptismal identity, but the words of Jesus that the voice ordered them to heed.
Step 2: Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem) – The Problem with One-Way Tickets
Like us, the disciples were very good at heeding. Indeed, we’ve heeded Moses and the Prophets all our lives. And if this transfiguration moment means that Jesus has come to fulfill the torah and prophets, we’re good with that. (Yes to those tents, Peter!) What, then, has Jesus said to spook the executive committee of disciples so thoroughly? Immediately prior to this mountain meeting, and again just moments afterward, Jesus predicts his own violent death and calls the disciples to come with him. “Take up your cross and follow me; you find your life by letting it go, giving it away” (Matt. 16:21-26; 17:12, 22). Jesus had repeatedly proclaimed the “kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2; 4:17) and instructed the disciples to declare likewise (Matt. 10:7). And now he means to walk into a death trap and take them with him? We’re good at heeding, but not so adept at dying. How can you trust a leader, teacher, and would-be Immanuel figure who talks like Jesus?
Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Ultimate Problem) – Lament of the Used and Disposable
Now we get it . . . Moses and Elijah, Mr. Torah and the Godfather of Prophecy, both previous guests at mountaintop theophanies (Exodus 34; 1 Kings 19), were celebrities to be sure and amazing company at an exclusive meet-and-greet, but they’re also two figures who heeded God’s call and then never made it to the promised land. Moses had face to face talks with God, and there was all that miracle manna, but 40 years in the wilderness was one, long ordeal, not a picnic. And then God took Moses to a mountaintop and buried him there, in sight of the land of milk and honey he would never enter after all that trouble. Elijah worked for God as long, as hard, and as zealously as Moses had, and when his patience, and perhaps his faith, too, finally ran out, God didn’t offer a nice retirement package, but took Elijah up, somewhere. Such is the reward for serving God . . . toil and trouble and then you die. Others finish your work and the world goes on without you. And now Jesus promises us the same, but with a cross at the end, not even a quiet, private burial and angels whisking us straight to heaven (cf. The Assumption of Moses) or a sweet, low-swinging chariot coming for to carry us home. We are expendable. We get used, then mutilated and thrown away. Yes, you touched us, Jesus, and told us, “Fear not,” and we’ve tried to heed that command. Still, we respectfully decline your invitation and call, Jesus. Since we end up dead anyway, we’ll seek another travel agent.
PROGNOSIS: Alternative Glory and a Tabernacling Mountain
Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Ultimate Solution) – King of the Slain, Forgiven Sinners
There’s one other thing Jesus said just before our mountain meeting. “The Son of Man will come (along with his messengers) in the glory of his Father, and he’ll compensate everyone for what they’ve done. Moreover, some of you here today will live to see the Son of Man come into his kingdom” (Matt. 16:27-28). If the disciples heeded that, they likely assumed it would look like conventional scenes of glory and honor. Good folks would be rewarded and bad dudes punished, and all of us super-disciples get to hang out with God’s long-time favs. Instead, however, Jesus gets proclaimed and crowned king on a more pathetic mountain, in the darkness, with ordinary bandits, not ancient worthies for company. Once more a voice declares him God’s son, but this time it’s the executioner. The only parting gift the Son of Man offered for compensation was his body and his blood. The blood, he said, “is poured out for the forgiveness of sins,” and that atoning blood got splattered on everyone, even on those who cried out for his blood in righteous anger (Matt. 27:25). That blood-spattered crowd includes us. Now all us bandits, the people of his kingdom, are with him on that holy mountain.
Step 5: Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution) – Among the Cemetery’s Escapees
Yet another mountain moment transpired when the Son of Man breathed his last. The mountain next door, the one called the Mount of Olives which had served for millennia as Jerusalem’s cemetery, was split open and the saints buried there, the ones who had heeded Moses and Elijah, came marching forth to appear and testify in the holy city after Jesus’ own resurrection (Matt. 27:51-53). We’re in that number, too, as were Peter, James, and John by the time Matthew wrote his gospel and his community received his witness. Yes, if we follow Jesus, we will die, but not alone. We die with him, and with him we also rise – daily, as by Spirit-breathed faith we cling to God’s faithfulness.
Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution) – Joining the Holy Mountain Tabernaclers
The Transfiguration story in the synoptic gospels is also meant to help believers answer a crucial question. You claim your Jesus is risen? Show me. Where is the risen Christ, and what’s he doing? This question is part of why we need to know this transfiguration story and why Jesus tells the disciples to save it until after the Son of Man is raised from the dead. Where is he? We’ve seen Jesus in the company of those whom God has taken to God’s self and whom God dispatches to teach, lead, and feed God’s people. Moreover, soon after Jesus and the executive trio came down from the mount of transfiguration, Jesus tells all the “little-faither” disciples that if they had even a lick of faith, they could move that very mountain. We’ve sung a lot of silly songs about Jesus’ assertion, but truth be told, by faith, we can take that mountain with us. No matter where we go, we can hear the baptismal promise and find ourselves in the company of those whom God uses to shine light in the darkness and call the lost and alone to God’s self.
