Up on the Mountain – Up on the Cross

The Reverend J. Howard Cepelak

Trinity Church

Waltham, Massachusetts

Epiphany VII – Transfiguration Sunday – 19 February 2012

II Kings 2:1-12, Psalm50:1-6, II Corinthians 4:3-6, Mark 9:2-9

From the Second Book of Kings:
As Elijah and Elisha were walking and talking, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two…and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

From St. Paul’s Second Epistle to the Corinthians:
If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light….

And From the Gospel According to St. Mark:
Jesus took with him Peter, James and John, and led them up to a high mountain apart by themselves; and he was transfigured before them…and there appeared to them Elijah with Moses….

Let us pray.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in thy s sight, O God, our Rock and our Redeemer, our Strength and our Salvation,
Amen. †

Epiphany, the liturgical season that emphasizes God’s self-revelation to the world in His Son, Jesus Christ, always ends with the account of our Lord’s Transfiguration in a vision given to Peter, James and John. This, being the last Sunday in the season, we celebrate this great event. That’s how the season ends.

Now Epiphany always begins with another revelation again given to three men – this time the Three Wise Men – in which God revealed to these gentile royal dignitaries that the infant King of the Jews whom they came to see was also their King as well. God had revealed to them, having summoned them by a brilliantly shinning star, that He, the One True God, had taken on human flesh for the sake of the salvation of the whole world – the Jewish world and the Gentile world alike.

For the Three Wise Men, their visit to that house in Bethlehem, some twelve to eighteen months after our Lord’s birth in a stable, was a pivotal event. Scripture tells us that the divine revelation changed their lives. So much so that they presented to the little child their gifts of gold, representing worldly wealth, frankincense used exclusively for divine worship and myrrh, the ointment used for anointing the dead. Gifts from the royal wise men to the royal infant king – but not only royal but also divine. God offered His revelation. The Three Wise Men received it. It changed their lives.

Although Scripture only tells us that they returned to their home country, we have to rely upon legend to tell us what happened after they got home. One account claims that all three came from Persia. When they got home, they told everyone what they had seen and thus laid the foundation for the eventual Christianization of that country.

Another legend claims that each Wise Man or King came from a different country; one from Persia, another from Asia Minor, present day Turkey, and the third from Africa. When each returned to his own country, he laid the foundations there for the eventual reception of Christianity.

In just the same manner, the Transfiguration of our Lord high up on that mountaintop in a stunning vision given to Jesus’ three closest friends and trusted disciples, represented a pivotal event in their lives as well. God had revealed to Peter, James and John, all faithful Jews, that their master, teacher, healer and friend, Jesus, was the true Messiah – the One who fulfilled both the Law and the prophets of the Jewish religion.

In the vision, Peter, James and John saw Jesus radiating a brilliant light standing with Moses the Lawgiver and Elijah, the most important of all the Hebrew prophets. So important was Elijah that he alone among all of the prophets was assumed into heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Moses stood together with Jesus in a cloud from which they heard a voice from heaven say, This is my beloved Son; listen to him.

There was a reason – a very practical reason – for this retreat to the mountaintop. Jesus had taken Peter, James and John up on a mountaintop where they could be away from the crowds. Crowds had been following Jesus wherever He went in those days. He had healed many people from all sorts of afflictions. He had cast out many demons. His reputation had spread. Multitudes of people came to Him seeking healing either for them or for a loved one.

Jesus needed a break. He needed a rest. All of this work took energy. Remember when the woman with the hemorrhage touched the hem of his cloak? Jesus felt the power go out from Him. We can assume that this was the case whenever He healed or cast out a demon. The energy would go out from Him. Now he needed a little rest and relaxation. He healed by virtue of His divine nature. He rested because of His human nature. So, He and His three closest friends went up to the mountaintop.

High up on the mountain, God changed the lives of these three disciples. From that moment on they knew that Jesus was the Savior. Everything had changed. They had been blessed with this great revelation. But there was more to come. God’s full manifestation remained incomplete.

They did not know what would have to happen to complete the epiphany. As they stood up on that mountain, Jesus had yet to hang up on the cross. He had yet to die and rise from the dead. He had yet to ascend up into heaven. But that would come. And again, Peter James and John would never be the same again. Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection is the ultimate pivot point in anyone’s life. Everything turns on the cross.

Peter, James and John spent the rest of their lives proclaiming the saving power of God in Christ to the ancient world. And the world was never the same again. Human history had turned on the pivot point of the cross.

That’s what happens when you come in contact with the One True God – when you come to know Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the crucified and risen Savior of the whole world who fulfilled the Hebrew Law and prophecy but also all pagan philosophy and religion as well. Knowing Jesus as the Christ – as the crucified and risen Savior – is the pivot point. When the revelation comes, one can never be the same again.

The unique quality of our Lord’s perfect revelation changes everything that anyone has or can ever believe. Law of some sort makes up the content of most religions. Our Ten Commandments have parallels – not necessarily exact parallels – but similar teachings in every religion. But law in any form cannot save. It serves as a standard for judgment but not for salvation. It is, as St. Paul points out, the agent for the recognition of sin. But it does not defeat death. It cannot offer resurrection. In fact, faith in the Law rather than in the Savior is a veil to the light of the Gospel as well.

The same applies to prophecy. Prophecy comes and goes. Right now, as in the first century, prophecies of the end of the world abound. Some claim the end is coming because the sun will either implode or explode. Some say the end is coming because mankind has fallen to new lows of human moral depravity. Others claim that God is so thoroughly disgusted with us that He can no longer tolerate the disgrace. And still other say that the end is coming because of the human affliction of the planet causing either global warming or global cooling – environmental sins against Mother Nature. We will either roast to death or freeze to death. But prophecies of all sorts currently abound.

Prophecy of this sort again cannot offer deliverance from sin and death no matter how one defines sin or explains death. Only God has the power for ultimate deliverance with the perfection of life.

Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. Salvation simply is not available in any other religion, philosophy or belief system of any sort. Truly, if you push any other religion – any other faith – to its end, to its outer limits, you can only come to Christ. The best of any human aspiration can only find fulfillment in the only Savior of all mankind.

The three Wise Men and the three disciples received the revelation to which God had called them. Anyone who comes to God in Christ comes because he has been called.

But called still requires reception. St. Paul wrote about how the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light. True then as it is now. Pagan religions abound as people today make up their own faith systems of bits and pieces of whatever appeals to them at any point in time. Nature religion, perhaps the oldest form of paganism currently enjoys a tremendous popularity in he form of environmentalism.

Humanism, the pagan deception of human self-salvation also holds great appeal to many. People believe that a governmental system of human creation – following an economic structure of forced compliance – with human life being perfected through the exercise of human intelligence – well, nothing can ever be more destructive. Human beings cannot perfect themselves or their society. Tried over and over again in human history and failing every time it’s tried, nonetheless people will still place their faith in these deceptions.

God has given us His perfect revelation. He has called us unto Himself. But He still leaves us with the choice. Receive Him or reject Him – one or the other.

Our job, as God has called us into His eternal saving Truth, is to proclaim it, as did the wise men and the disciples. We cannot force acceptance. We can only offer it. And that’s all we can do until He comes again.

With this in mind, let us pray.
Heavenly Father, grant us the wisdom of the wisest men and the conviction of the greatest disciples. Give us we pray the courage to proclaim your saving Word in all conditions of life, and to live our lives as manifestations of deep faith, high hope and holy love, that we may worship and serve you in all that we say, in all that we do and in all that we are,
to the honor and glory of your Son,
our only Savior,
Jesus Christ the Lord,
Amen †

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