Sermon for February 15, 2026: Who Am I Supposed to Tell? based upon Matthew 17:1-9

Matthew 17:1-9 The Transfiguration
(New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will set up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” 

When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they raised their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

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     I looked over the last couple sermons on this scripture, and I realized that when I preach on this Matthew’s version of the transfiguration, I end up starting with questions. This year: who am I supposed to tell? In 2023: So, when do we tell? In 2020, I didn’t use a question as the sermon’s title, I did wonder, at the beginning of the sermon, just what was going on. Today is a day in the church year called the Transfiguration. According to Carolyn Brown, that word is only really used in church circles and only really used for this day. It is to indicate a day that something about Jesus’ form changed, or at the very least, show us a moment that changed how three of his disciples understood him. It is interesting to me that with that change, we don’t see a ton of clarity. In fact, the end of our reading includes an instruction to secrecy.

     I read a commentary from the Salt Project that points out that the period of the church year after Christmas but before Lent is full of things rightly called revelations, events that make something clear that was once less so. It begins with Epiphany, the celebration of the Wise Ones journey to Jesus. The wise astrologers had seen a bright star that showed them the way to a child who would be a new kind of leader for his people. Then, there was Jesus’ baptism, where he, and probably the people gathered, experienced the Holy Spirit descending upon him as a dove alights on a branch. They also heard the voice from the heavens affirmed that Jesus was a Beloved Son.

     From there, as Jesus passed through the temptations in the wilderness and into his public ministry, we learn of more everyday revelations, particularly healings and wise teaching from Jesus that show people more and more clearly who he is and what he is about. Even his conflicts reveal something about how God has come into the world anew in him. His disciples are confused a lot of the time, but he continues to drop epiphany after epiphany, and they keep following him, even if they don’t totally understand what is going on. Their confusion in much of the Gospel is mirrored by their confusion in the Transfiguration story. They want to understand more clearly, but they just don’t yet.

     In his commentary on this text, Eric Barreto points out that important things happen on mountains. Moses’ interactions with God on Mt. Sinai come to mind, but so do other important hills and high places where the people remembered vital parts of their history and worshiped their God before the temple was built in Jerusalem. Barreto points out that in the chapter just before this one, in an encounter in Caesarea Philippi that happens 6 days before the transfiguration, Peter demonstrates a clear misunderstanding of who Jesus and what he’s supposed to be doing in the world. He gets that Jesus is the Messiah, but when Jesus explains that he expects to have to go through significant suffering in this role, Peter admonishes him. He basically says, “God forbid you be killed.” Jesus calls him Satan for his trouble.

     Jesus goes on to say that if he were to do what Peter wanted, and protect himself, he would limit his ability to follow his mission. The Messiah is not here just to amass power. The Messiah is here to bless those who God bless and hold the powerful to account. You cannot prioritize your own safety and do those things. Jesus says that Peter’s fear is a stumbling block for him. Barreto argues that we need to remember this encounter to better understand the important encounter on the mountain. Peter is missing something when he observes Jesus. He needs something more to help him understand Jesus and his mission clearly. As Barreto states, suffering and glory are not opposed in Christ.

     So, up the mountain Peter, James, John, and Jesus go. As they climb, something wild and unbelievable and incomprehensible happens. Peter, who thought he had Jesus all figured out, realizes he very much does not. I am sure you’ve seen someone’s face shine in love and in pride and in ferocity and in joy. I imagine that shine turned up beyond measure. While Moses encountered God’s mystery in misty, smokey darkness, Peter, James, and John encountered in blazing light. Within this numinous light, Moses and Elijah enter.

     I’ll clue you in on a little interpretive shorthand: When Moses and Elijah show up, holy things are happening. Peter, doing the best he can in the moment, offers to build some tents for the three holy ones. I mean, when faced with two of your most important prophets hanging out with your beloved friend and teacher, hospitality is a pretty reasonable impulse. But, it’s the wrong one, in a similar way that Peter’s impulse to protect Jesus was wrong six days prior.

     More brightness shows up, a cloud so bright it obscures. The cloud may be hiding God or may actually be God, and is here to affirm Jesus in ways similar to his baptism. A voice comes from a bright cloud that says, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with him I am well pleased.” The voice adds, “Listen to him!” The disciples are right to be terrified. This is all terrifying and incomprehensible. What even had they just seen?

     In a very normal, very human act of kindness, Jesus touches his cowering friends, saying “Get up and do not be afraid.” When they look up, everything is back to normal... except nothing will be the same for them ever again. Scholars think that the author of Matthew carried some stories from Mark over mostly whole cloth. Mark is known for Jesus telling his followers and people he heals not to tell anyone else about what they saw. Matthew does that here, too: “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” What a strange piece of instruction with an unclear time frame.

     Epiphany brought clarity to the Wise Ones. And, the Baptism seemed to have brought clarity to Jesus and maybe John and possibly a bunch of strangers in the woods. The regular healings brough clarity to the healed. And, the teaching helped many people understand God’s covenant better. There is a presumption that everyone who received those revelations will then share what they have learned. So, why are the disciples asked not to share anything yet? Why is this revelation different?

     Ronald Allen, in his commentary on this text, suggests that it is because what they have seen is supposed to help explain something that will happen much later. The Transfiguration is the preparation for the Resurrection. They are getting a preview of what is to come. The preview is intended to help them talk about the Resurrection when it finally happens. There’s going to be a lot of hard stuff between the transfiguration and the resurrection. Jesus needs his followers to be prepared for the hard parts. It seems like the transfiguration is the “foretaste of glory divine” that might help them get through the coming weeks. Jesus hopes that in the same way that he transformed before their eyes, this experience will transform within their hearts over the course of the coming weeks and months, eventually guiding them to a clear understanding of the Resurrection. The Transfiguration is a key for a door they haven’t yet walked through.

     Allen puts it this way, “God will make good on the promises that God has made, to make blessing possible for the whole human family, including gentiles.” When they see their friend struggles, when they see him argue and be exhausted and be tormented and beaten and ultimately killed, maybe this vision of the light and the accompaniment of prophets who have come before will be enough to carry them through the mourning. Maybe it will set the foundation for them to believe Mary Magdalen and the other Mary when they rush to them saying “He is risen! He is going ahead to the mountain, a different mountain, in Galilee to meet you there!” Peter, James, and John need the light now, but may not understand why yet. Jesus wants them to keep this information close, stored up in their hearts, slowly transforming them into the disciples who will carry on the church without him physically by their side.

     What is the vision of Christ you are carrying with you in these current times of struggle? What experiences have shown so intensely in your life that, at the moment you couldn’t fully understand, but have come to see as pivotal in your understanding of Jesus on this side of the resurrection. Something began anew in the disciples on that mountain that would carry them through their hardest times. What has changed you so that you can better understand new life when it blooms before you? I don’t know yet who we’re supposed to be telling about the experiences on mountains that helped us know Christ more fully. I imagine that can change day by day. But, I do know that what we have experienced can carry us through harder things than we have imagined and help us build beautiful community on the other side. Get up, and don’t be afraid. Resurrection is waiting ahead of us.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
Carolyn C. Brown: https://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2016/01/year-c-transfiguration-of-lord-february.html?m=1
The Commentary from the Salt Project: https://www.saltproject.org/progressive-christian-blog/2020/2/18/transfiguration-salts-lectionary-commentary-for-transfiguration-sunday
Eric Barreto: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/transfiguration-of-our-lord/commentary-on-matthew-171-9-5
​Ronald Allen: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/transfiguration-of-our-lord/commentary-on-matthew-171-9-6