There are some things you just have to see. The very first American Roadside Attraction is Lucy the Elephant in New Jersey, built in 1881. It’s a six-story structure in the shape of an elephant, and you can climb up inside of it and look out its eyes. President Woodrow Wilson visited it in 1916. It kicked off a trend and by the 1950s roadside attractions were popping up everywhere, all luring people with the promise of seeing something truly great. Carhenge is like Stonehenge, but made out of cars. There’s the world’s largest ball of twine. There’s the world’s largest rocking chair. The world’s largest bottle of catsup is right across the river in Collinsville. Have you seen it?
Today roadside attractions aren’t nearly as popular, but we still have a hunger for seeing something great. We just direct it elsewhere. We flip through channels on the TV or we scroll through social media looking for something that will make us laugh or wow us. They’re digital roadside attractions, diversions from the normal and the mundane.
Jesus’ transfiguration took place quite a ways off the beaten path and displayed something to the disciples greater than any of us have ever seen. This was no mere roadside attraction. Jesus displayed for their benefit and ours just who he really is. You can’t take a road trip there to see him today. But we can still see Jesus’ glory, and what a wonderful sight it is to behold. We see the glory of Jesus in his gospel.
The account of Jesus’ transfiguration is found in Matthew 17 and also in Mark 9 and Luke 9. Jesus had traveled far to the north, to Caesarea Philippi. This was a sort of getaway with the disciples, a time for teaching them instead of serving the crowds. It reminds me a little of the pastors’ conference I just went to this week. Our pastors and other leaders also need to be fed by God’s Word. I can tell you though that nothing quite like the Transfiguration happened in Des Moines.
What mountain the Transfiguration happened on is a subject of debate. One of the mountains near Caesarea Philippi would make sense. Mount Herman is up there. That one is mentioned in a few places in Scripture. Jesus went up a mountain with only Peter, James, and John, the three disciples who are sometimes called his “inner circle.” You can’t argue that these men were the most holy or most deserving to see what was about to happen. Just a little before this was when Jesus called Peter Satan. He said, “Get behind me, Satan” when Peter told Jesus he didn’t need to go to the cross. Peter still had a lot to learn.
**On the mountain, what these three disciples saw was something we can hardly begin to imagine. Matthew says, There he was transfigured in front of them. His face was shining like the sun. His clothing became as white as the light. 3Just then, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus.**
Now this is something I would take a road trip to see! Jesus demonstrated in many ways in his ministry that he was more than just a teacher. He’s not like someone like Socrates or Plato or Buddha or Confucius. Those men were all wise in their own ways, they all had disciples who followed them and learned from them and loved them. But Jesus can’t be categorized with men like that. The things he taught were not just earthly wisdom, they were the things of God. And he demonstrated the power of God by his miracles, by changing water into wine, by healing with just a command, by his authority over even the weather. No man has power and authority like this, unless it is given to him by God, or unless he is true God.
And that’s what we see here on this mountain. Jesus, the man, who was born in little Bethlehem, who grew up in Nowhere Nazareth, who walked the dusty earth with his little band of disciples, now shining with all the glory of God. And beside him, conversing with him, two of the greatest prophets, ones who had witnessed God’s glory in their own times.
As amazing as this sight would be, it’s no surprise that it would also be overwhelming. This is not the sort of “wow” that you might get from seeing the world’s biggest ball of twine. This is something otherworldly, something supernatural. And it’s also something holy.
The holy glory of God is something we can’t grasp. We can’t comprehend it. You couldn’t paint a picture of it. We can’t live in it. When Moses asked God to show him his glory God said, “I will cause my goodness to pass by you, but you can’t see my face. No one can see me and live.” When Isaiah saw God’s glory in his temple vision he said, “Woe to me! I am ruined!” When Elijah was on the mountain waiting for God he heard just the small whisper of God’s voice. He had seen some great miracles but at that sound he covered his face. Even these small glimpses of God’s glory were enough to terrify some of the greatest prophets. Why? It’s because of sin. We’re sinners. Sinners cannot stand in the presence of a holy God.
If you could take a road trip to the Mount of Transfiguration to see Jesus shining in all his glory, would you do it? Even with all your sins? Even with all your uncleanness? Maybe that would sound like a good idea. Maybe you’d drive there and set out up the mountain. But do you think you’d make it to the top, as you got closer and closer and the light, brilliant light, brighter than the sun, started to burn, not your retinas, but your conscience, your soul?
“Take off your shoes. This is holy ground.” God told Moses when he approached the burning bush. I can take off my shoes, but I can’t take off the sin that is lashed to my heart. Every step up that mountain would only make it more clear. I’m not worthy to be there. I’m not worthy to stand before him. I’m not worthy to enter the presence of one so Wonderful.
I don’t think I would make it up that mountain. And I don’t think that if I had been up there with Peter, James, and John that I would have been bold enough to stammer out anything the way that Peter did. Matthew writes
4Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
Peter was terrified, but at the same time he wasn’t begging to leave. Instead he wanted to stay. He wanted them to live up there on that mountain forever. The glory of God is something that terrifies us but at the same time it is something that we long for. We do want to be there on that mountain. We do want to see Jesus. We want to see his glory. We want to see his heavenly kingdom.
It’s because that’s what God made us for. He didn’t make us to live on our own, far from him. He didn’t make us for condemnation. Hell was made for the devil and all his angels. He made us for himself, and not just to visit on weekends. He made us to live with him in his glory and to find joy in his presence. He made us to be with him for eternity.
But Peter couldn’t stay on that mountain and that isn’t why Jesus had brought him there. You can’t get to heaven by driving there or climbing a mountain. What Peter needed, and what you needed, was for the glorious Son of God to come down from his glorious throne to visit you with his grace and bring you his salvation.
Jesus’ transfiguration is a most glorious revelation of who he is. Jesus could have gone everywhere with this kind of brilliant glory. Or he could have stayed there on the mountain until word got out and people from all over came there to bow before him. But that wasn’t why he was transfigured. It was for the sake of those disciples, who were about to be severely tested. Jesus showed them his glory before going to the cross, so that they would understand this is not by accident. This is not because he is so weak and helpless. The humble cross was where our glorious Lord chose to go.
And Jesus showed his glory for our sake as well. No, you can’t go there and see it for yourself. But you can see in his word what he has done and what he promises. See there who it was who went to the cross for you. See there what he laid aside for your sake, because of his undeserved love for you. And when the devil threatens you and troubles overwhelm you, see there who Jesus is. He is not just a wise teacher or a legendary figure. He’s the all-powerful Son of God, who shines even now with all the glory of God just as those disciples witnessed on the mountain. There is no power that is over him and no darkness that is before his face.
And finally, see there that this unseeable glory is the glory you will see. You can’t see it now, not in this life. But that’s why Jesus came. It’s why he stood on that mountain as the Father proclaimed, “**This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.” **He came to sacrifice himself on the cross to cleanse your heart and to make you holy so that you can stand before him and you can live in his presence and you can stay on the holy mountain of his heavenly kingdom in his glory forever.
You do meet Jesus today, with all his glory. Not the visible glory that burns sinners to ash, but the wonderful glory of his gospel. It’s what is proclaimed to you in his Word. It’s what you receive in his Sacraments. Your sins are taken away. Jesus’ own body and blood are given here to eat and drink for your salvation. Here the song of heaven is sung by true saints, people whom God has chosen and whom he has made holy.
As you go down from this mountain, into the week that lies ahead, go with your heart strengthened by the gospel. Go with your Savior, having seen his salvation, having seen his glory. Amen.
— Pastor Seth Georgson