I apologize for the poor formatting of the following. This is the outline from which I preached on the occasion of the Transfiguration. The outline itself is based on a sermon for the same occasion written by Joseph August Seiss. The full citation is found in the first footnote.
In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Concerning the Transfiguration of our Lord, we will consider:
- The Location;
- The Witnesses;
- The Transformation of Christ;
- The Time when it Occurred;
- The Company of the Transfigured Christ; and finally
- The Meaning of All This.
I. The Location [1]
a. Mountains are particularly suited for the sacred and the Divine.
i.
The Law was given on Sinai.
ii. The first great sermon of Christ is given on a mountain (the
Sermon on the Mount).
iii. The conflict between Elijah and the Prophets of Baal was on
Mount Carmel.
iv. Isaac was prepared as sacrifice on the same Mountain where
Christ would soon be the final sacrifice.
v. Christ often retired to mountains to pray.
vi. The vision of the New Jerusalem was given to both Ezekiel and
St. John from a “very high mountain.”
vii. Jesus is transfigured, betrayed, crucified, ascends, and will
appear again upon a mountain.
II. The Witnesses
a. The life in Christian grace, in fact the law of all creation, is that of mutual dependence and mutual service; according to which it is necessary that some should have gifts and functions not given to others, and that the gifts of each should supplement the particular graces of all the rest.
i.
As Luther once wrote, “A
Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly
dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”[2]
III. The Transformation
a. Whereas the face of Moses shone with the light of God and was hidden by a veil, and the face of Stephen only appeared as the face of an angel, the emanation of light as our Lord is transfigured extends to His whole form; and his earthly clothing, rather than concealing it, became a participant in His light.
IV. The Time
a. The sixth day after a prediction concerning Christ’s death.
i.
The sixth day of creation
is when man was created.
ii. The sixth day is when Christ will be crucified.
iii. Six is also a number of near completeness—the number of earthly
things rather than 7, the number of divinity.
V. The Company of the Transfigured Christ
a. However alone we may seem to be in our devotions, we are never alone.
b. The appearance of Moses and Elijah demonstrates the existence of another state of being for the saints and that it is one of glory far superior to anything enjoyed by them in this world.
c. The greatest significance of the company of Christ is the topic of conversation—the death that Christ was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
VI. The Meaning of All This
a. The least meaning is that the faith of the disciples needed to be strengthened before the death of Jesus.
i.
They needed assurance of
His Divine glory or else their faith would utterly fail them when His Passion
should occur.
b. The most sacred and solemn conversation and consolation offered by Moses and Elijah also served for the strengthening of Christ as He was about to endure His Passion.
i.
Just as He will pray in the
Garden of Gethsemane and be ministered to by the Holy Angels, here He receives
the ministrations of brothers in the faith.
c. That Christ shone with a light all His own signifies that He is True God incarnate in the true flesh of man.
i.
That this light was not
concealed by His clothing but made the earthly fabric a participant in His
light, signifies that we, who are like His earthly garments, have been made
participants of His divinity.
ii. How? By being made heirs of the Father, receiving the washing of
regeneration in Holy Baptism, and by being united to the very Body of Christ in
the Eucharist.
d. We are also given the Transfiguration as a picture and solemn foretaste of the future coming of Christ and His eternal kingdom.
i.
Six days before the
Transfiguration, Jesus told His disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, there
are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man
coming in His kingdom.”[3]
ii. The Transfiguration is a fulfillment of this prophecy according
to St. Peter, “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made
known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitness
of His majesty…when we were with Him on the holy mountain.”[4]
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
[1]
The following outline is based on Joseph August Seiss, “Sixth Sunday after
Epiphany,” Lectures on the Gospels for the Sundays and Chief Festivals of
the Church Year, Vol. 1, 6th edition (Philadelphia, PA: General
Council Publication House, 1915), 280-301.
[2]
Martin Luther, “The Freedom of a Christian (1520),” AE31:333-377 (Philadelphia,
PA: Muhlenberg Press, 1957), 344.
[3]
St. Matthew 16:28.
[4]
2 Peter 1:16, 18.
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