Matthew 17:1-9
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led
them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
It Is Good for Us to Be Here
Lydia and I were out on a hike last week at Maligne Lake in Jasper. It was amazing. We pulled into the parking lot and there were fewer than 10 other cars there. We practically had the place to ourselves. Probably 10 minutes into our hike we had left everyone else behind and didn’t see another soul until we got back to the car.
There was a moment when we got to the far end of our loop that we stopped on a hill overlooking the lake and we just sat there. We didn’t say anything. We hardly moved. It was so peaceful and calm. It was good to be there, and I didn’t want to leave until the sun started going down and the cold started setting in and we were forced to move in order to stay warm.
That’s the worst part of a hike, isn’t it? Leaving. You don’t want to leave those views behind. You don’t want to step back into reality or face the pile of work that’s waiting for you when you get back home. You just want to stay in that moment forever.
If I can feel that way about a snow-covered lake in the Canadian Rockies, I can only imagine what Peter was feeling when he said the same thing, “It is good for us to be here.” He had taken a hike up a mountain and was marveling at the view too – only, he was looking at Jesus whose face shown brighter than the sun and whose clothes were whiter than snow.
It was good for them to be there, but maybe not for the reasons that Peter had in mind.
Let me take you back in time one week before Peter’s hike with Jesus. In Matthew chapter 16, we hear Jesus ask his disciples a question: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” – talking about himself. They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you,” [Jesus] asked. “Who do you say I am?”
And then Peter makes the bold confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”[1] At which point Jesus praises Peter for the faith that God had given him and he proclaims for all to hear that Peter’s confession will stand as the foundation for the Christian Church until the end of time.
Peter had knocked it out of the park! He couldn’t have given a better answer. That’s exactly who Jesus is – the promised Savior of the World and the Son of the living God. You just want to slap Peter on the back for a job well done.
Except, two sentences later, Peter shows that he doesn’t fully understand the words that came out of his own mouth. Right after this bold confession, Jesus starts explaining how he would have to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.[2]
If Peter really knew what it meant to be the Christ, he would have been knowingly nodding along. But that’s not what Peter does. Matthew tells us that Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”[3] Peter couldn’t live with the thought of the Son of the living God dying on a cross, and, moments after he was praised for his faith, Jesus spoke some of the harshest words he ever said to anyone: “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”[4]
To put it bluntly, Peter was a glutton for glory. When things were good, Peter was happy. But when Jesus predicted problems, Peter wanted none of it. And so, when we get to the top of the Mount of Transfiguration and Peter sees Jesus shining like the sun, with clothes as white as light, standing next to and speaking to arguably the two greatest men of Old Testament history, it comes as no surprise that Peter would say, “It is good for us to be here.”[5]
Truer words have never been spoken, but, again, not for the reasons that Peter had in mind. It was good for them to be there, but not for them to set up camp and stay there. That was never part of the plan. In fact, that’s what Luke adds to this account when he writes about it in his Gospel. He tells us what Moses and Elijah were discussing with Jesus; they were talking about the Plan:
They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.[6]
You almost have to wonder whether the transfiguration ever would have happened if Peter and the rest of the disciples had been better companions and not such stumbling blocks and temptations for Jesus. Every time he wanted to talk about the pain and suffering he would endure, every time he needed support in his mission, he was met with opposition and rejection by his own friends. So Moses and Elijah, two of the men who spoke and wrote the most about the Messiah’s mission of salvation were sent from heaven to give Jesus the support that he needed.
It was certainly good for Jesus to be there, to steel himself to carry out God’s grand plan of salvation by going to the cross to die for sinners like Peter. But it was also good for Peter, James and John to be there too. It was good for them to see his glory at the same time as they overheard Moses and Elijah talking about Jesus’ death because that began to connect the dots for them. Clearly Peter had hope in Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, the long-promised Savior of the World, but like so many others before and since, they were tempted to expect something other than what God had promised. And, frankly, we’re not much different.
Are you a glutton for glory too? When things are going well in life, do you want to pitch camp and stay awhile? Who wouldn’t? You’d be crazy not to! But, what happens when the glory fades and pain takes its place? How do you react when Jesus tells you to expect trouble and hardship here on earth? How quick are you to wish for a different kind of Savior than the one God promised – one who can cure you of anxiety and depression, who can take all your pain away, who can make you strong and capable and solve all your earthly problems?
We’re not much different than Peter, which is maybe why God treats us the same way. Matthew tells us that while Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”[7]
Before Peter can finish his sentence, God interrupts! And he makes it clear that this Jesus – the one who has been talking about suffering and death, who’s too morbid for people like Peter – is exactly who he wants him to be. “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”[8]
While Peter is still speaking, God interrupts and basically says, “Stop talking, and listen.” It’s a harsh rebuke and it inspires the intended result. When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.[9] I’d be scared too if God called me out like that, and, you know what, sometimes we deserve it. Sometimes we need to stop imposing our expectations of God on God and learn to accept that his plan – as silly as it may seem to us – is the best plan.
Peter didn’t want to entertain the thought that Jesus would ever die. Peter wanted to live in that glory of the Mount of Transfiguration forever, but what he failed to understand was that that was exactly why Jesus had to die – so that Peter could live in glory everlasting. That’s why Jesus came to this earth – to live and die for your sin on a cross, and then, three days later, to rise again to guarantee that you too will live with him in an unfading glory that will last forever.
You can look forward to seeing Jesus’ face shine like the sun too. You can look forward to having conversations with Moses and Elijah, and Peter, James and John, and Grandma Theis and Grandpa Zabell in heaven. But the point here is that we won’t enjoy that glory this side of the grave, so we should stop expecting or hoping for heaven on earth. The point here is that that salvation required Jesus’ suffering and will involve some of our own suffering too before all is said and done.
What took place on the Mount of Transfiguration is perfectly situated for us today as we begin Lent later this week. Who doesn’t want to be happy and live in the glory of God all day every day? But starting Wednesday we set aside our joy for a little while and with Jesus we contemplate the suffering that our salvation required. We silence our greed for glory and we walk with Jesus that long road of shame to Jerusalem. We heed the rebuke of God and listen to our Savior, but not without forgetting this glimpse of his glory.
As dark as things may get, as hard as it may be to hear what our sins did to Jesus, we can remember that this was all part of the Plan. We can still rejoice that we have a God who willingly endured all that for us. And before we leave this Mount of Glory behind, maybe one last thought:
Peter made a fool of himself. He got called out by God in a big way. But when Moses and Elijah went back to heaven and that cloud disappeared, what did Jesus do? He walked over to Peter and touched him. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.”[10] Of all the glorious sights and sounds on that day, I think this was the most glorious – the tender, compassionate, forgiving love of Jesus. We may not be able to stay on the Mount of Transfiguration forever, but we will live in that love all the days of our lives. It is good for us to be here. Amen.
[1] Matthew 16:13-16
[2] Matthew 16:21
[3] Matthew 16:22
[4] Matthew 16:23
[5] Matthew 17:4
[6] Luke 9:31
[7] Matthew 17:5
[8] Ibid
[9] Matthew 17:6
[10] Matthew 17:7