Scripture Luke 9:28-36 (NRSVUE)
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 as bright as a flash of lightning. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking about his exodus, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep, but as they awoke 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 set up three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” not realizing what he was saying. 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.
Sermon
I have lately developed a fascination with Scotland, particularly with the northern Isles, including Shetland. I am a fan of the TV show by that name, and I have fallen in love with the images of sea and sky, the beautiful waves and the call of the sea birds, all of which resonate with my early experiences of sky and ocean growing up.
Recently I read this description of a visit to Scotland by psychologist Andrew Tix. He writes,
Several years ago, my family and I had the opportunity to travel to the Isle of Skye, an island near the coast of northwest Scotland. Because it was dark when we arrived, I didn’t have any sense for the landscape. When I went for a walk the next morning, I was surprised to find myself surrounded by five stunning mountain peaks. There was a thick, Scottish mist in the air that seemed to affect the quality of the light coming from the sunrise. The wind gusted and blew dark, low clouds quickly by me. As I walked, I felt a tinge of fear and stopped. I suddenly became aware that I felt completely overwhelmed by the glory around me. I looked up and saw the moon. At that moment, I realized in a fresh way that the majesty I observed is only a small part of the grandeur of the entire universe.[i]
Andrew Tix is writing about awe. He goes on to share how this single experience of awe changed his life and his outlook on faith. Imagine how the three disciples, Peter, John, and James, were changed by their experience of awe on the mountain with Jesus.
The passage we are reading takes place shortly after Jesus has dropped some very heavy information on his disciples. This is a hinge moment in the gospel. It is a turning point. At the beginning of chapter nine, Jesus asks his disciples the question, Who do the crowds say that I am? One of the answers given is “Elijah,” possibly the most significant prophet in the Hebrew scriptures. Jesus presses his disciples, “But who do you say I am?” And Peter answers: “You are the Messiah of God” Which is to say, “God’s anointed one, the One who has come to save us.”
And then Jesus says this: “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
This is that turning point in Luke’s gospel: The moment when Jesus begins his journey to Jerusalem, the place where these dark and disturbing things will happen. Jesus goes on to tell the disciples that anyone who wants to follow him will also have to take up their cross.
And then, eight days go by.
Imagine what those eight days were like. Of course, Jesus was going about his ministry— teaching and preaching and healing people, possibly feeding them. Meanwhile, his followers are marinating in those words. Were the disciples filled with dread at what was coming? Did they focus on the present moment, taking heart that Jesus’ ministry was going on? Did they waver between dread and confidence that they misheard Jesus, or he didn’t really mean it, or something else would happen and everything would be ok?
Now, our passage. Jesus asks an inner circle of friends to go with him up a mountain to pray. Peter, John, and James willingly follow him.
Jesus prays a lot in Luke’s gospel. In fact, I came across an article calling Luke “the Gospel of Prayer,” and recommending it as a helpful guide for those of us who want to learn how to pray. The author writes,
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus prays a lot. And the lesson isn’t lost on his disciples…What impressed them and what they wanted for their own lives was the depth and graciousness of his soul. The power they admired and wanted was Jesus’ power to love and forgive his enemies rather than embarrass and crush them.[ii]
So, his inner circle was excited to climb that mountain with Jesus, to experience a time of prayer with him.
Safe to say, it didn’t go exactly as expected. Instead, Jesus was transformed before the disciples’ sleepy eyes. His face changed, and his clothes became bright as a flash of lightning. As if that weren’t enough, there appeared two figures from their own scriptures: the leader Moses and the prophet Elijah.
Why Moses and Elijah? The usual answer—and a good one—is that, together, they represent the law (which Moses brought down from Mount Sinai) and the prophets, the two great cornerstones of the Hebrew Scriptures. But there are other reasons, too. One commentator reminds us that they both saw God’s glory up close and personal. They both had revelations of God on mountains. They both came to the end of their lives at God’s specific bidding—Elijah taken up in a whirlwind, and Moses, dying at God’s command.
And now, Jesus has an experience at which Moses and Elijah are both present, and Jesus reveals the glory of God in himself. This takes place on a mountain. And later Jesus will die on a cross, in obedience to God.
Jesus, Moses and Elijah converse together about Jesus’ “exodus,” or “departure.” While that sounds as if it were primarily about Jesus’ death, it could also easily be about his resurrection and ascension into heaven—his exodus from this world, and into the realms of glory.
And the disciples, through their sleepiness, become aware of all this. They are shown an experience that must fill them with awe, and possibly terror. Jesus is recognizably himself, but he is also more than they have ever seen. He is shining with a light that signals the very presence of God.
Peter wants to hold onto the moment. “Master, it is good to be here,” he says, and then calls out to Jesus that he wants to make three tents or booths for the three holy men. An act of hope. An act of hospitality. An act of eagerness. But not in the cards. Immediately a cloud overshadows the disciples, and now they are truly frightened.
The cloud is also a connection to the stories of the Old Testament. When Moses and the people were in the wilderness, the presence of God went with them as a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. This cloud is the presence of God here, too, on this mountain. God speaks out of the cloud: “This is my Son, my Chosen (or, my Beloved).” But then, these words, familiar to us from Jesus’ baptism, have an addendum. God continues, “Listen to him!”
Listen to him.
If the disciples listen to Jesus, they might not like what they hear. They might not understand it, especially when he predicts his own death, which he will do again. But God does not tell them, “Understand him.” God tells them, “Listen to him.” Maybe they can listen, and trust that understanding will come later. Maybe they can listen, and keep what they’ve heard for when it is needed. Maybe they can listen, especially in this moment, shot through with God’s glory, and know that Jesus is as close as they can get to God on this physical, human plane.
Maybe their listening will eventually combine with their awe and teach them what they need to know. In the piece about Scotland quoted above, the writer continues:
In retrospect, I believe that this incident opened me up to an entirely new, more experiential way, of approaching my relationship with God.
This story reflects a true experience of awe, and has proven to be one of the most profound moments of my lifetime. I am not alone. In general, awe may be one of the most spiritually significant emotions that humans experience. And understanding and cultivating awe may be one of the keys to Christian formation.[iii]
It’s possible that Jesus took his disciples with him for the purpose of showing them the power of prayer, and that God stepped in to take it to another level, a level at which awe came into play. The three disciples, discouraged, confused, or frightened by Jesus’ words about what was to come, would have this moment of glory to reassure them, to fill in the blanks about Jesus. It was also a moment that could help them, even in the most devastating moments, to nevertheless have a tiny spark of trust in God, despite the horrors.
We need awe; it is a message from the universe that a Creator is behind whatever has made us gasp in wonder. And we need to cultivate it, which, for most of us may simply amount to allowing ourselves to feel it. We live in a society where a good sandwich may be pronounced to be awesome, which is an unfortunate diminishing of what awe truly is. It is all around us. We may need to help ourselves, deliberately, to experience it by letting go of cynicism, or ennui, or the conviction that it doesn’t happen to us. It can. It will. And we don’t need to have visions of Jesus to experience it.
Last week a sunset had me in awe. Many times in my life the ocean has had me in awe—especially when, as a child, it signaled to me that there was something such as eternity. These experiences are part of everyday living, but they are also moments that shimmer with glory.
Some of us may have experiences of God that are more specific—dreams, visions, deep awareness that comes to us in the middle of specifically religious or spiritual activity. But those of us who don’t have those experiences, will still see the glory of God in nature—in trees, in sunrises and sunsets, in the first crocuses that poke up their heads in the spring. Or we will experience awe in music—in the way it can transcend words and lift us out of ourselves. Or we will experience awe in other arts—dance, painting, sculpture. Here’s what my favorite pastor-poet, Steve Garnaas-Holmes, has to say about it all:
He is an ordinary person,
also dazzling with light.
We are given clarity,
and also an obscuring cloud.
Jesus, no different from you,
is the Son of God.
Sometimes we see the light
that was always there.
Your neighbor, shabby looking
on Saturday morning, gleams with heaven’s radiance.
You are no one special
and everything you do matters.
It’s just bread
and also the body of God.
Creation and the end of time,
Moses and the life to come, are all present.
It’s as if we need to wear sunglasses all the time,
everything shining with God like that.[iv]
Everything is shining with God. Everyone is shining with God, if only we can allow ourselves to see it. It was for the disciples to both look and listen, so that they could see and trust. It is for us to both look and listen, so that we will see and trust. Everything is shining with God. Everything.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
[i] Andrew Tix, “Overwhelmed by Greatness: The Psychological Significance of Awe in Christian Experience and Formation; Awe as a Vital Spiritual Emotion,” The Table, Biola University Center for Christian Thought, October 26, 2015. https://cct.biola.edu/overwhelmed-greatness-psychological-significance-awe-christian-experience-and-formation
[ii] Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, “The Gospel of Prayer,” Franciscan Spirit Blog, November 11, 2022. https://www.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-spirit-blog/the-gospel-of-prayer/#:~:text=In%20Luke's%20Gospel%2C%20Jesus%20prays,power%20outside%20of%20this%20world.
[iii] Tix, Op. Cit.
[iv] Steve Garnaas-Holmes, “Transfiguration,” Unfolding Light, February 23, 2025. https://unfoldinglight.net/2025/02/23/transfiguration-4/.