Luke 9:28–36

²⁸Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. ³⁰And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, ³¹who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³²Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tabernacles, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah"— not knowing what he said. ³⁴As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!" ³⁶And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

In times of stress; in times of difficult decisions; in times of sorrow and grief; when a great change in the direction of life is upon us, we do well to retreat into a solitary place to be alone with God. For we have a loving Father who cares about what we are going through; who listens to our hurts; who comforts us in our sorrows; who strengthens us in our doubts and fears, who gives wisdom and guidance.

Jesus was at a major turning point in his life. The direction and focus of his ministry was at a crossroads. He announced that change to his disciples. He was now turning his direction to Jerusalem and looking squarely at the cross. He was setting his face on Jerusalem, on his suffering, on the cross, on his death and resurrection. He took Peter, James, and John with him to a solitary place to pray, to be alone with his Father as he begins the final journey of his life; his trip to the cross. A fitting place for us to stand as today as we turn our attention from Epiphany to Lent. It is a pivotal day when we turn our eyes to His suffering and death. You will note the final hymn today is a farewell to the "alleluias" we sing during the rest of the year which will now be absent from our Liturgies until we come to the resurrection of our Lord at Easter Vigil.

We are on the mountain with Jesus looking on through the words of St. Luke. As he prays, his face changes and his clothing becomes dazzling white. His glory is revealed to us right before our very eyes.

And behold, we see two others. Moses, the giver of the Law and Elijah the foremost of the prophets. The Law and the Prophets. That is the name the Israelites gave to the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus has come to fulfill the law and the prophets for they speak of him. The Old Testament Scriptures point to him. They are about him. "For if you believed Moses, you would believe me," says Jesus, "for he wrote of me." "Has not Moses given you the law, yet none of you keeps the law." Moses said, "The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed form the people." Jesus is the prophet like Moses who was to come; to whom we must listen in order to be saved. For his word is truth and his gospel is the power of salvation to all who believe. Today, on a mountain top, Moses meets Jesus face to face. Moses yearned for this day. He yearned to see God face to face. He longed to see the one about whom he spoke. Today he sees him face to face in the fullness of his glory. The prophet like Moses who was to come; who was greater than Moses.

Elijah, prepared the way for Jesus. Miracles he performed which echoed those of Jesus. He multiplied the food; he raised the dead; he went to war with Satan and overcame the prophets of Baal; he predicted the inclusion of the gentiles in the kingdom of God.

On this mountain top, Moses and Elijah pass the torch to Jesus, the one whose way they had prepared. It was the passing from the Old Testament, the Law and the Prophets, sealed in the blood of bulls and lambs, to the New Testament, sealed in the blood of the Lamb, the Son of God. It was the fulfillment of all that Moses and the prophets had long awaited and expected. Jesus is the greater Moses and the greater Elijah. They who had foretold of the cross were now to witness it. They who had told of salvation coming to the world, finally met their Savior face to face. They had prepared his way and now it was coming to pass.

And they talked about the exodus of Jesus. Luke uses the same word for the Exodus when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery...and you shall be my people." For the nation of Israel, the Exodus was their deliverance. It was the defining moment in history for the Israelites; it was the great salvation event. It was the birth of the nation. The Exodus gave them identity. They became the chosen people of God. But now they spoke of the greater Exodus, Jesus' exodus. This greater exodus, the greater salvation event that is for all peoples of the world. The exodus of Jesus is the cross, his suffering and death that make us the chosen people of God. That suffering and death of Jesus that delivers us from bondage to sin. As Moses led Israel out of Egypt through the water of the Red Sea; Jesus leads us out of sin and death through the water of Baptism. It is this Exodus of Jesus that is the defining event of all human history; for all humanity; for all time, not just Israelites, but for all nations, tribes, languages and tongues. Jesus' death on the cross is this Exodus that creates the new nation, the Kingdom of God. It is by this Exodus that God reigns in the world and in our hearts and individual lives. It is this Exodus that gives us our identity and determines who we are as believers in Christ. The Exodus of Jesus gives us eternal salvation and makes us the people of God. It is the Exodus of Jesus that leads us out of bondage to sin and death, through our Red Sea, the waters of baptism, and which leads us to the land of promise for all eternity.

But Jesus is the greater Moses. Moses, gave the Law and led the Israelites out of Egypt, but he could not take them into the promised land. For the law does not save. The Law does not give us eternal life in heaven. It was left to Joshua to lead the people of God into the promised land. Joshua, the same Hebrew word from which we get the name Jesus, meaning "God saves." "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, the only begotten God who is at the Father's side, he has made him known." The Exodus of Jesus is the greater exodus. It is our exodus from sin and death. The greater Moses would lead us out of bondage and also into the promised land, the holy of holies, the eternal kingdom of God. And so there on this mountain, Moses, Elijah and Jesus spoke of this greater exodus that Jesus was about to accomplish on a cross.

When Peter, James and John awoke from sleep, they beheld the glory of Jesus. Why had they never seen the glory of Jesus before? Because of sin. Why have we not seen the dazzling Jesus before? Because of our sin. Sin that blinds us from seeing the holiness of God. Sin that puts a veil over our eyes and covers us so that we do not understand or fully comprehend the love of God for us. Peter, James and John were asleep on that mountain, and like them, we often sleep. We become dulled to the things of God; take him for granted; and instead of being good stewards by doing the job he has given us to do spreading the gospel into all the world and showing our neighbor love and caring for the weak, the poor, the handicapped, the suffering and the aged, we live hedonist lives, looking only to our own needs, satisfying only our own desires, doing only what serves us and gets us ahead, without regard for the many who are suffering and living in the slavery of sin and under the power of death.

The sin that lies in our hearts dulls us to sleep; it veils our eyes and the glory of God is not seen. We pray, O Lord, that on account of the suffering and cross of Jesus, you not look upon our sin, but forgive our sins and give us faith so that our eyes be opened to see your glory that we might too be filled with love for our neighbor which serves those in need.

Then we too shall cry out with Peter, "Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make thee a tabernacle." Again, the word Peter used was the same word for the tabernacle that Moses had built in the wilderness as a dwelling place for God. The tabernacle is where God dwelt among his people. It was the presence of God among them. When the cloud overshadowed the tabernacle, God filled the holy of holies and no man could enter. The tabernacle is God's house. So here on this mountain, Peter was saying, "Lord, let us make a tabernacle for you so that God may dwell among us forever and ever." But he did not understand. Jesus needed no tabernacle. Jesus himself is the tabernacle of God. For the fullness of the godhead dwells in Jesus bodily. Jesus is the presence of God. Jesus' body is the tabernacle. And today we are the body of Jesus. We are the tabernacle. In the church God dwells on earth. The church is the dwelling place of God on earth.

And as a cloud overshadowed the tabernacle and formed a covering, the cross of Christ covers our sin so the eyes of God do not behold it. As the tabernacle which Moses made was overshadowed by a cloud and covered, as the Holy Spirit overshadowed the womb of Mary and she became pregnant with God's Son, the cloud overshadowed Peter, James and John and God spoke out of the cloud. "This is my Son, my chosen one; listen to him."

At his baptism, God had spoken, when Jesus began his ministry. Now as he is bringing it to an end and turning his eyes to the cross and his death, God speaks again. "This is my Son." As Moses had foretold, "A prophet shall arise who is greater than me and you must listen to whatever he tells you and he who does not listen to him shall be destroyed," now God is proclaiming that Jesus is this prophet. His word is the ultimate authority; over kings and queens, over sin and Satan, over illness and death and over our lives. His word has power to rebuke sickness and death, it has power to rebuke Satan and sin, it has power to rebuke our sinful hearts and deeds. His word has power to open or close the gates of heaven to anyone he wills.

And his word dwells with us today, in the tabernacle the church. His word is present in the proclamation of the gospel, in the absolution of sins, in the water of baptism and in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. Listen to him means to hear and obey the Word of Scriptures; to believe your sins are forgiven in the absolution; to become God's child in baptism; and to partake in Holy Communion every possible chance you have. Today as you come to the altar, this very bread and wine is the tabernacle in which Jesus comes to you and dwells with you.

Oh, Lord, we thank you for taking away the guilt of our sins by your death on the cross. We worship you and praise you with hearts of love and the gifts of our stewardship. To the praise and glory of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.