SHINING, EXCEEDINGLY WHITE
Sermon Text, St. Mark 9:1-9. And He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.” Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” — because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a Voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves. Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. O God, on the Mount of glory You revealed to chosen witnesses Your only-begotten Son, wonderfully transfigured in clothes white and shining: In mercy grant that we, who are delivered from the anxieties of this world, may be permitted to behold the King in His beauty, even Jesus Christ our Lord, who with You, O Father, and You, O Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Dear fellow redeemed in Him who washes and whitens your robes in His blood: Grace to you and peace from God the Father and Jesus our Lord.
This is the Bible account we use in catechism class to teach who Jesus is. It’s called Jesus’ transfiguration, which comes right from the description: that one day, Jesus took His disciples Peter, James, and John up to the top of a mountain, and “He was transfigured before them.”
This has to do with who Jesus is. He’s true God and true Man. It’s who the Savior had to be: True Man in order to take our place, to be tempted like us yet not sin, to suffer and die in our place. True God so He would not be born with a sinful nature, would be able to defeat every temptation, and the blood He shed would be holy, able to pay for all the sins.
The disciples believed that Jesus was true God and true Man. They knew He was a true man because they saw Him get tired and hungry, need sleep, and become sad or happy, just like them. They knew He was true God ever since He turned water into wine and (it says) “they believed in Him,” ever since He caused a miraculous catch of fish which they knew only God could do. It was true of the other miracles they saw Jesus do. They also believed what He said, that He came from the Father.
But now in the transfiguration, it’s shown to them. Most of the time Jesus kept His glory as true God hidden. Even in the miracles He did, His glory and power was only seen briefly, like a flash. But now they saw His full glory. That’s what Peter, who was there, wrote later in his epistle that they saw with their own eyes: “His majesty,” His glory as God.
Jesus’ glory as God was suddenly uncovered and it shone through His human nature so that as they looked at His face it was like looking into the sun. That’s how Matthew says it: “His face shone like the sun.” Mark says that His clothes “became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer can whiten them.” (We’ll come back to that.)
Then they saw Moses and Elijah, who suddenly appeared. They heard these citizens of heaven talking to Jesus. Then Peter stammered out his foolish suggestion. Why? St. Mark tells us, but remember, Mark’s gospel is in large part Peter’s remembrances. So it’s Peter, thinking back to this moment, fessing up: “He did not know what to say, for they were sore afraid.” (Really: “I didn’t know what to say, I was so afraid.”) No matter all that they know about Jesus and who He is, they’re completely surprised!
We can learn from this. We certainly know who Jesus is. We’re shocked if anyone we know says that Jesus isn’t God. What a poor existence it is, we think, to not believe that Jesus is God! We don’t think we’re in danger of this. We know who Jesus is. We know there’s a bright shining life where all is perfect. We think you must be in that other world to have it.
You might hear of people having a “book hangover” or “movie hangover.” After spending time in the fictional world, they have depressed feelings that hang on – not about the book or movie, but their own life. They’re dissatisfied living in this world that’s so full of problems, where they have a mundane existence with homework in school or going to the same job with the same co-workers, waking up to the same house in need of repair. They want to stay in that other idealized world (though it’s made up).
We can think that life in the presence of Jesus’ glory, as He says “the kingdom of God present with power,” is so far away. That’s not our life. You know the problems you have. You know your limitations. You get dissatisfied with how your life is. Or dissatisfied with yourself. You don’t live a bright shining life, that’s what you think. There’s always a shadow. There’s plenty of guilt, or regret, or sadness, or impatience and discon-tentedness, or resentment, or bitterness, or depression, or grief.
All this darkness. That’s what the prince of darkness, Satan, wants you to think your life is. And what do we do? Run around and busy ourselves trying to make our life better, to do everything perfectly, to overcome it all ourselves. We know these attempts to “light up your life” are not the real light – it’s like the artificial light of a lamp compared to the real light of the sun – yet we still do it, hoping it will be enough to lighten our darkness.
In fact, if you can’t get past your depression, if you don’t have wonderful successes to report, if you can’t break bad habits, if you have failures in your job, if there are days you can’t put on the happy face, the world asks what’s wrong with you. You wonder why your life isn’t better or brighter.
This is why Mark – from Peter’s memories of this event – describes what happened to Jesus this way: “His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow” – and then this is only in Mark – “such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.” It’s this whitening that comes from heaven.
This isn’t only about Jesus, His clothing and the whitening that came to Him from heaven. It’s about you and the whitening of your own “robes,” your whole self. It’s showing that your life is not dark at all! It’s bright and beautiful. Jesus also said: “The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Mt 13:43). Not just Jesus. You too!
When His forgiveness is spoken to you, believe that you shine like the sun. Your sins are made white as snow, like Jesus on the mountain. You’ll shine like this in heaven because you’re shining like this now, by His grace.
Here’s how it works: In Jesus there was no sin, no unrighteousness. Jesus’ life – His righteousness – is the only one worthy of life in heaven. His shining like the sun was saying: “This One is good enough for heaven.” It’s why God speaks out of the cloud and says: “This is My beloved Son.”
But then Jesus gives us His righteousness. Jesus makes His righteousness the evidence to count for us. By faith in Him you aren’t sinful or unclean – but as beautiful as Jesus! You don’t stand in your own righteousness, but in His righteousness, that He gives you. That’s why the Father adds: “Hear Him!” That’s how you receive it – by hearing Jesus, in His Word, and in the Sacrament.
When you hear His Word and believe it, when you believe His words in the Lord’s Supper, “for you, for the remission of sins,” do you know what you’re receiving? Jesus’ righteousness. God is saying: “You’re righteous.” So we don’t only shine like the sun in heaven – we’re shining like the sun now!
We don’t know this like we should. We don’t have it in full yet, only by faith. The ones in heaven, they have it not by believing but by seeing it! How beautiful their life is now, how beautiful they are for all to see! If you could see them now, you’d hardly believe your eyes. You’d praise them for their beauty. You’d see that it’s Jesus’ beauty, the righteousness with which He has dressed and crowned them.
It’s what we should want most of all: the beauty Jesus gives. The way to have it is to be near Jesus, to hear His Word and to be where He is present with you in the Sacraments. Believe that in this you’re shining like the sun.
We don’t see it yet. We only believe it. But now, learn to really believe it! When you and I come to the Lord’s Supper, we should believe that we are on a mountaintop with our glorious Lord, and that we don’t come away from here the same, but we go from here “shining like the sun.” We also should believe our fellow Christians are beautiful and shine like the sun too. If that’s what God thinks of them, we should too, and live in peace with each other and with our glorious Lord, like we will in heaven.
Then you and I can go down the mountain – into our lives – like Jesus and the disciples: not dissatisfied with it, but eager, happy, and brave, not letting the world or the devil silence the hope that we know we have, that as we walk through this world we’re shining like the sun in the kingdom of our Father – and will forever. Amen!
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