Mark Batterson writes,
Paul likens us to shining stars, and the word shine means to reflect. The scientific term is albedo. It’s a measurement of how much sunlight a celestial body reflects. The planet Venus, for example, has the highest albedo at .65. In other words, 65 percent of the light that hits Venus is reflected. Depending on where it’s at in its orbit, the almost-a-planet Pluto has an albedo ranging from .49 to .66. Our night-light, the moon, has an albedo of .07. Only seven percent of sunlight is reflected, yet it lights our way on cloudless nights.
In a similar sense, each of us has a spiritual albedo. The goal? One hundred percent reflectivity. We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord. You cannot produce light. You can only reflect it.[1]
That is what our Gospel reading is all about on this Transfiguration Sunday. It’s all about glory. Listen for God’s word to you from Luke 9:28-43…
Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
The first degree of glory I want to talk with you about is the Jesus degree. Two times in this text we hear of glory. Luke says that Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus in glory. And Luke tells us that since the disciples stayed awake, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men who stood with him.
What is “glory”? The Greek word that is used in this passage is δόξα from which we get our word “doxology” which means a “word of praise”. But the word δόξα can also mean…“honor, renown; glory, an especially divine quality, the unspoken manifestation of God, splendor.”
Part of what is meant by glory in this story in Luke is explained by what is said earlier of Jesus: “And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.” One gets the sense here that Jesus’ face, as well as his garments, were glowing.
And what has just happened in Luke, before the Transfiguration of Jesus, is also very important. Peter has just confessed Jesus to be the Messiah and Jesus has said to his disciples: “Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.But truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”
When Jesus spoke of coming in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels, I believe he was speaking of his Second Coming. And in the Transfiguration, we get just a glimpse, as it were, of Jesus’ heavenly glory. The veil is pulled back slightly, and the glory is revealed to Peter, John and James. Jesus’ words here are probably, in some sense, the source of subsequent references to heaven as “glory”.
And what is it that enables Peter, James and John to see Jesus’ glory? It is the fact that they are awake. The NRSV says they were “weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory.” Other translations suggest that the disciples actually fell asleep, but when they re-awakened, they saw Jesus’ glory. Either way, the thing that is essential to seeing Jesus’ glory is wakefulness.
I wonder, are we spiritually awake enough to see Jesus’ glory all around us?
Since I am a fan of C. S. Lewis, people often ask me what my favorite C. S. Lewis book is. Sometimes I am not sure how to answer that question because I have so many favorites. But I can tell you the one C. S. Lewis book I have that is falling apart, because I have read it so many times, is Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. Lewis wrote the book at the end of his life and it was published shortly after his death. But the publisher issued a condensed version of the book before the final publication entitled: “Beyond the Bright Blur”. It was called this because Lewis said when he tried to picture God, sometimes all that would come to his mind was a bright blur. That fits in with the idea of glory, and the brightness of God being so great that we can’t fully see him. But Lewis’ goal in his final book was, in a sense, to move beyond the bright blur, to move closer to God through prayer.
Isn’t that good? And doesn’t that tie into our passage for today? Luke’s Gospel is the only one that tells us that Jesus was transfigured, his glory was revealed, while he was praying. That, I think, is significant.
In his book, Reflections on the Psalms, Lewis says that God…
…is that Object to admire which (or, if you like, to appreciate which) is simply to be awake, to have entered the real world; not to appreciate which is to have lost the greatest experience, and in the end to have lost all… The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever”. But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.
The second degree of glory I want to talk with you about is the Moses degree. Moses not only appears in this story of Jesus’ Transfiguration, but he has his own experience of encounter with glory. “Kabod” is the Hebrew word for “glory” that corresponds to the Greek δόξα. Kabodliterally means “to be loaded down with riches.” Now, that word is not used in this story about Moses in Exodus 34, but the idea of kabod is conveyed here…
Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Isn’t this fascinating? Just like Jesus, Moses went up a mountain to communicate with God and, in his case, to receive the Ten Commandments. And when Moses came down the mountain his skin was shining because he had been talking with God. This gets back to what I said at the very beginning about reflecting God’s glory. God’s glory, his brightness, was reflected in Moses’ face. But notice how this is somewhat different from what we are told about Jesus. Moses’ glory is a reflected glory. We are never told that Moses had a glory all his own. But Jesus’ glory is his glory, it is a glory inherent in who he is. And the voice from the cloud, in the Transfiguration story, tells us who Jesus is. He is the Son of God, his chosen one. Therefore, we need to listen to Jesus above all other voices.
The voice of Moses is a good voice. The voice of Elijah is a good voice. But in the Transfiguration story we get the distinct impression that they are there to point to Jesus. And then at the end of the story, Moses and Elijah disappear and we are left alone with Jesus. The point is clear. Jesus is all we need. We need to listen to his voice above all others.
One more thing about Moses and Elijah: what were they talking with Jesus about? Luke tells us they were talking with Jesus about “his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” This is probably a reference to Jesus’ death, but also to his resurrection and ascension—the whole package, the entire means by which he would depart this earth. The word for departure is an interesting one. It is the word ἔξοδον, from which we get our English word Exodus. Of course, the book of Exodus in the Bible is all about the Israelite Exodus from slavery in Egypt under Moses’ leadership. Luke is telling us, in a not so subtle way, that Jesus is about to accomplish a new Exodus through his death and resurrection. Through his death and resurrection Jesus is going to rescue people from slavery to sin. Do you know what the word Exodus literally means? It means the way out.
In buildings in the USA we have bright red signs over doorways that say “Exit”. In the United Kingdom they have similar signs that say: “Way Out”. Jesus is the ultimate Way Out of every difficult situation in life.
Finally, the third degree of glory I want to talk with you about is the Us degree. What does all this have to do with us? Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3…
Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses’ face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, much more does the ministry of justification abound in glory! Indeed, what once had glory has lost its glory because of the greater glory; for if what was set aside came through glory, much more has the permanent come in glory!
Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
Wow! There is a lot in this passage from Paul and it seems very difficult and complicated, but what I want you to see is this… Paul says Moses put on a veil so that the Israelites would not see the glory fade from his face. But Paul says that we have a greater glory, one that will not fade away. So, we do not need to wear a veil.
With unveiled faces we can actually see the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror. How do we see that glory? I believe we see it by staring at Jesus. And as we stare at Jesus, as we study his life and words, as we become preoccupied with Jesus, we are transformed into his image.
I have shared this with some of you before. My mother used to comment to me when I was growing up about how people who were married for a long time ended up looking like each other. Scientists have actually studied this, and they say it is true. When you live with someone for a long time and spend a lot of time gazing into their face, your face actually ends up mirroring their face. You begin, unconsciously, to mirror their facial expressions, and the muscles in your face actually adjust so that you begin, in a way, to look alike.
I think that is, in a way, what Paul is telling us in this passage. As we spend time gazing at Jesus, and living with him, day in and day out, over a lifetime, we end up looking like him. And we actually end up, not just reflecting his glory, but sharing in it. We are transformed by the Holy Spirit into Jesus’ image and we begin to move from one degree of glory to another.
Allow me to close with one more reflection from C. S. Lewis. In 1941, in the midst of the Second World War, Lewis preached a sermon at the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Oxford a sermon entitled, The Weight of Glory. At the end of the sermon he said this…
It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour’s glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavey that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinarypeople. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendours… Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbor, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat—the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.
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