Moses's face shines as he comes down the mountain, and Israel remembers her sin. These are they who cursed God at the Red Sea and fashioned a god for themselves at Sinai. The bitter taste of idolatry still sticks to their tongue. The sound of their cursing still rings in their ears.
Moses has been sustained by the light of Christ for forty days and forty nights and now it shines forth from his face. Idolatrous Israel sees that light and trembles.
Peter, James, and John are a bit different. When Jesus shines like the sun and his garments blaze like fire, they're more impressed by Moses and Elijah. They've been with Jesus for years. But Moses and Elijah, these are the prophets of old! The disciples have heard the stories. Wow... Moses.... Isn't that something?
So Peter makes a reasonable suggestion. Let's pitch some tents. We have honored guests. And who knows, maybe Elijah will call down fire from heaven and Moses will sing the song of the sea by its light!
Jesus' glory? Pretty cool, that, but Moses and Elijah are here. But Peter doesn't notice so much what they're doing. The prophets are talking with Jesus. God in human vesture, that's something Moses and Elijah have been waiting for centuries to see.
The Consolation of Israel is standing on the mountain, and Moses talks to Him about His Divine Exodus. Jesus preaches to His prophets of the things they saw only in shadow. Though He's shining like the sun, Jesus tells His prophets that His true glory will come later.
But the disciples aren't listening. They'll have to wait to hear it till they come down the mountain when Jesus will say, "The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day."
The Father is not impressed with Peter's tentmaking skills. Peter's pulling a Martha and the Father wants him to be Mary, sitting at the Savior's feet. The heavens are rent in twain and God the Father's voice thunders from the sky, "This is my beloved Son with Whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"
Now they tremble. They tremble because they weren't listening. They tremble because of the terseness of the Father's command. They tremble because now as they look up at Jesus whose body is beaming forth holy light, they feel the sting of their sin and recognize their unworthiness to hear their Lord's words.
Of course, it'd be a lot easier to keep beating up on Peter, James, and John if we weren't just like them. We love to see the speck in their eyes, but we ignore the logs jutting out from our own. Many of us come to church on Sunday morning and figure we're giving God His hour so that we can keep the other hundred sixty-seven in the week to ourselves.
Listening to Jesus doesn't really hold our interest that much anymore. After all... we've been hearing him for years, right? Surely He can't expect us to keep up with it now. If I nod off during one sermon, if I ignore one prayer, if I recite the confession of sins without really contemplating my great evil, He'll let it slide.
"Preach the cross to get them converted, then tell them how to live their lives." That's what some preachers say. But the Christian hungers and thirsts for righteousness. The Christian wants always to hear the words of solace and assurance that Jesus so loves to give. The Christian will not be satisfied with anything less than His Savior's voice.
Repent. Say with Saint Ambrose, "Because I always sin, I always need medicine." Sit at Jesus' feet and feed upon His Words. Hear the gracious promises of the Gospel as if your life depends on it, because it does!
Jesus steps forth to His beloved disciples and He touches them. God touches His servants with human flesh. And the flesh and bones Jesus, the one Moses and Elijah had been waiting for, comforts them.
"Do not be afraid," says the Holy One of Israel. And when Peter, James, and John lift up their eyes, they see Jesus only. They will now walk down the mountain to another holy hill. They will travel with Jesus from the Mount of Transfiguration to Calvary, and there they will see a Jesus more glorious than they have ever seen Him.
To glorify is to lift up, and it is the Roman centurions who will glorify Jesus on the day He destroys death. And so, Jesus tells his disciples to keep silent about the transfiguration.
"Not until after the resurrection," he says. No replacing Calvary with the Mount of Transfiguration. The glory of Jesus is metal, bone, and shell ripping through the muscles of His holy back. The glory of Jesus is nails through flesh and vein. The glory of Jesus is sharp thorns impaling His innocent brow.
The heavens will darken and the moon will not give its light. And the glory of the Lord shall shine forth from Zion, from her bloody cross.
There you see Jesus' glory because His glory is the forgiveness of your sin. Jesus will not have us see his transfiguration unless we see it through the cross. His words, not His glory. His words, not His prophets. There as He is transfigured, He points to the glory of His death. He points to the place from which all forgiveness and all life flows.
His blood heals you. His body gives you life. And it's not just Peter, James, and John, who are comforted by His touch. Kneeling before Him we will feel the touch of His body on our tongues. We will feel His blood flow down our throats. He will touch us, forgive our sins, and we will tremble no more.
And then, at the day the Father has appointed, the Son will return, His glorious wounds still marking His body with His love for us, and He will take us home to the New Jerusalem.
In the eternal day at the end and beginning of all things, our bodies will reflect His glorious light for all eternity, for the Son of God will be our light. Like Moses, we will sit on Sinai and be sustained by our Savior unto ages of ages, our tears gone, our joy made perfect, and our life undying.
He is the Father's beloved Son. Hear Him. He says, "I died for you."
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
