Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

The cloud, the light, the mountain, Moses, Elijah: all these things show us that the Son of Mary, the Rabbi of Peter, James, and John, His disciples, He truly is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. One and the same. He is the God of Sinai, the God of creation and redemption, living in ordinary human flesh. It is not His Divine nature which changes form on that mountain, but His human nature. The magnificent Divine qualities or attributes have been communicated, that is, transferred to His visible flesh and blood and are shown forth full force in the transfiguration. This is the high point of Epiphany, where His disciples see Him as He is in Divine glory and not hidden. To be sure, for all sinners like you and me, He must be hidden so that He could save us. But it is also true that apart from the Flesh of Jesus there is no Son of God, no Second Person of the Holy Trinity. He who placed the stars, who cast Satan out of heaven, formed the mountains, set the course of rivers, and crafts each snowflake, is forever joined to the stuff of Mary’s womb, made one of us for us. He is one of us in order to be the sacrifice, the guilt offering, the atoning death in our place.

And that is the conversation of heaven. Moses and Elijah, the great representatives of the law and the prophets, the council of God’s ambassadors of Grace, are gathered together to talk about this. They talk about the only thing that matters, the only thing that counts, the only thing that endures into eternity: they speak about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. St. Luke says their topic is his coming exodus or departure, that is, they speak about his execution and vindicating resurrection, about His leading us out of this valley of sorrow, out of death, sin, and even Hell, and leading us to Himself in heaven!

Would this conversation make those stern prophets sad, or guilty, or afraid? Quite the opposite, in fact. In perfect bliss, as they are by this time gathered to Abraham’s bosom, rejoicing in the reward of God’s intervening mercy on their behalf, they are glad to talk about the death of Jesus Christ. For they see the Day that the Lord has made, they rejoice and are glad in it. Moses is no longer barred from the Promised Land. Elijah’s fiery chariot taxi transported him to his destination! They behold the Day when the builders rejected the Stone that God established as the chief Cornerstone. They see the real Day of Atonement, the actual Day of the Lord. They see Good Friday, the Day that the sun refused to shine, the earth shook, the graves opened, the angels wept, and a pagan Centurion wet His spear in Jesus’ side and was converted by that Holy Spirit so that he boldly confessed, “Surely this Man was the Son of God!” They see that Day from on high, and they are glad in it. This is the Day they prophesied, the Day that returns mankind to God’s possession, the Day that the Lord purchased and won for them, the day He made to bring joy to the human race.

But Peter is not yet there. He sees. He hears. He knows. And with three tents ready to stick into the ground, he wants to stay there on the mountain. He must be ready to leave behind wife and children, in-laws and employment, friends and neighbors. But Peter’s work is not done. He has, at this point, already done some good things as fruits of his faith, by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. He has confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And he had even been given a holy interpretation, from God Himself, of what his name means. But, then, Peter tried to take it back. Selfishly, sinfully, he tried to stop the sacrifice of Christ from happening and was rebuked with the stern response, Get thee behind me Satan! Again, now that he’s here on the mountaintop, he sees what is good. He desires it. But it is not time for him. His shame was not yet full, and I’ll explain what that means later.

So Peter, thus strengthened, descended from that mountain. He had been nurtured there by God, heard His Word. He had seen glory. But when Good Friday finally came He again denied the Christ, his Lord, until that rooster crowed the awful Law that cut into his heart, opened his tears, and brought him back again to repentance and faith. But after that, and even after seeing the risen Lord for himself, he still hid behind locked doors for fear of the Jews, until the Lord came bringing peace and absolution and opened up His side to the probing, proving hands of Thomas. After that, at Pentecost, Peter was anointed with fire by the Holy Spirit. He spoke miraculously in unlearned languages and God has built his Church upon that confession that he gave when he said, You are the Christ, Son of the living God. Peter has been the instrument of conversion, bringing the Word of God, the consolation of the Spirit, to many.

But still, even after all of that, even after Peter had a dream where the unclean foods of the Old Testament are pronounced acceptable to heaven, he, the chief of the Apostles, preached heresy in his actions! He committed hypocrisy, and added shame upon shame. For after that dream, and with clear knowledge that the old ceremonial Law had been fulfilled, he tried to hold men to that Law again. Early in the history of the Christian Church there were Gentiles mixing in with Jews, and some of the latter were insisting on keeping the religious purity laws. Peter suddenly separated himself from the Gentiles in Antioch, with whom he had been eating in full fellowship, and in so doing harmed the young faith of many Christians who looked up to him as an example. Paul was also there, and fortunately, he spoke up in public to call Peter on his error, to save him from causing further damage. (Galatians 2:11-16) Peter, who was directed by Jesus to feed God’s sheep, was binding the hearts of men with the law. His high office and great honor, his heritage and learning, his special place in history and extraordinary circumstances, were not enough to save him from his fallen flesh. There is no excuse for blaspheming God, for violating His Word, for selling out. And even one as zealous as Peter, with all his experience and promise, can possibly cave in to the political pressures of men.

But God’s grace was enough. It restored him again, the way it always did. God brought Peter back by Paul’s rebuke, by the power of His true Word which cuts to the heart and binds up again in perfect love. As the shame of his sin increased, God’s grace increased toward him all the more. Peter was humbled under God’s Grace, which makes men free. In God’s mercy, he was not allowed to pretend his lies were pious or devout. In God’s mercy, he was chastised and brought low. In God’s mercy, he wept, confessed, and believed. In God’s mercy, he repented and the angels rejoiced.

Peter’s glory came. But only after his shame was full and completely forgiven. He did feed God’s sheep, even us. And he did glorify God by stretching out his hands to die, by the strength of the Spirit he finished the race and did not forsake the Lord even at pains of death. Thanks be to God. For His mercy endureth forever!

Now, may the life of Peter instruct all of us. For no one who still resides in the fallen flesh in this life can act above God’s Word. No one is incapable of error or is without sin; nobody lacks the pride, lust, greed, and ambition that marks us as sinful. Our shame is not yet full. Every day we must repent. We must submit to God’s Word. It alone is the truth, the judge, the rule, and the norm. And thus the Father’s ever stern, and yet always gentle voice comes to us from heaven: Listen to Him! He is the Word appearing in our Flesh. And listen to this exchange: He became what He was not in order that we would also become what we were not! That is, He became the Sinner standing in our place, so that by His death and resurrection we are guaranteed to be ourselves resplendent, holy, innocent, just, beloved, and transfigured!

God strengthened Peter for the long journey ahead of him by giving him a glimpse of His glory on the mountain. That experience did not keep Peter from stumbling from time to time. Nor did it take away all of Peter’s troubles. But neither did Peter’s stumbling keep God from loving and saving him. Again and again, despite Peter’s sin, God intervened and welcomed him back. And what, too, of Moses, that cowardly murderer, and Elijah, that despondent unbeliever? Their faith wasn’t perfect, either. But the Grace of God, the exodus, the mission if you will, of Jesus Christ was enough to perfect them and their faith in the end. And so it is also true for you. Listen to Him! Behold His glory in His Word. Behold His welcoming, inviting, absolving Word. Behold, His mercy.

Come, and eat, hidden under bread and wine, that glorious body of Christ that Peter saw on the Mountain. Be strengthened by that eating, by being joined to the Flesh of Mary’s womb shining with God’s true love, united to Divine majesty. Be consoled and comforted by the God who has gone before you to bring you to Him, by the God who desires to be merciful to you. And rejoice in the company of Moses, Elijah, Peter, and the whole cloud of witnesses already at rest. For there on the mountain Peter saw his future – and you see yours.

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

Readings:
Deut. 34:1–12 This is the land…I have caused you to see it with your eyes
Psalm 99 He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar
Heb. 3:1–6 Christ as the Son over His own house, whose house we are…
Luke 9:28–36 behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah