The Transfiguration of Our Lord – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Matthew 17:1-9 “It is Good Lord to Be Here”
January 25, 2026 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
+ + +
O merciful and everlasting God, heavenly Father: We thank You that You have revealed to us the glory of Your Son, and let the light of Your Gospel shine upon us: We pray that You would guide us by this light that we may walk diligently as Christians in all good works, ever be strengthened by Your grace, and conduct our lives in all godliness; through the same, Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, by Veit Dietrich, p. 151)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 17th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
And after six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James, and John his brother, 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 white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with Him.
And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If You wish, I will make three tents here, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.”
When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
In Christ Jesus, who is and always will be the light of the world, the light the darkness cannot overcome, dear fellow redeemed:
How is the temperature outside today. Well here, we had to wrap up a little bit and turn the heat up with the cold weather. Across the country we are witnessing these cold temperatures as this is one of the greatest storms to date affecting the most states at once. As we work to stay bundled, the question is do we need to stay warm? While the physical temperature is freezing cold, we see there is another temperature that is raging hot. And who is on the right side of this temperature? Our text reveals who is on the right side when we all stand before God and all His glory. Isaiah in the spirit has the only response that comes from us after the angels sing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:3b-5). The hot temperature we see is the hot temperature of the punishment we all deserve. And while the world searches for some kind of relief, we know there is only one reason we can say, “It is good Lord to be here.” It is good because of the brightness of God’s love, the brightness of His Son, who reveals He takes all of this pain away.
This glimpse of the pain being taken away appeared to three disciples up on a mountain, where Jesus revealed His glory. And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with Him. This is a dramatic change from the Man they had been following to this point. Jesus in His ministry has been helping His people and has already revealed His power. He has cured illnesses, fed thousands, calmed storms, and raised the dead. As He has revealed His great power, what makes this different than any of the other times? Even with Jesus on the scene doing all of this, the people’s faith is a faith that comes and goes. In one moment, they believe He is God and in another moment they doubt if He is powerful enough for the next threat they see.
Jesus doesn’t stop. On this mountain, He gives His disciples a glimpse. His reveals His divine power, He reveals God’s holy light. As He stands in full glory, He is then joined by two great men of the Old Testament. Two men who we know dwell in paradise. With heaven on earth in full display, wouldn’t you want to be there? Wouldn’t you want to stay there and not have it ended? And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If You wish, I will make three tents here, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” By wanting to build tents, Peter wants this to be permanent. This fits his wants as he confessed to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). For Peter to bring this together in this way, Peter is making a mistake. This is good now, but this is a good that stops Jesus from completing His work as He has already told His disciples what He must do and now Moses and Elijah confirm this divine mission.
We know that Jesus had to fulfill His divine mission completely. As we know the fullness of that mission and what it entails for us, yet it can be easy to fall back to the thoughts of the people and His own disciples. If Jesus would just reveal His full glory now, then all this violence will stop, right? People would see Him and you would think they would have to believe in Him. We know that He brings eternal peace, but wouldn’t it be so much better if He would just give us earthly peace so we can all get along? It doesn’t matter what we want Christ to do, or what kind of great and public miracle He could possibly do. The moment we stray from the confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), we are denying Him the complete trust He deserves. When we don’t trust in Him, then all we will face is the Almighty. He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.
Peter, James, and John have every reason to hit the ground in fear, and we would as well if we would witness the glory of God. Not only do we see the good dissipate because we haven’t been good to dwell in His holy presence, but we know we haven’t always listened to what He has had to say to us. To plug our demands is to forget that Jesus is the Word made flesh. God’s holy law is there before us, and as Moses and Elijah gather, we know from their lives as the Old Testament representatives, they couldn’t stop the transgression of the people. Any good anyone may think they have and think it is better than anyone else, it falls flat before our perfect God. The temperature can only be hot for our destruction especially if we believe it is true and that we have come into God’s presence. We should have fear knowing what we truly deserve because of our sin as Moses was told, But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:20).
As we tremble because of the great temperature our God has because of the lack of good that is in us, it is in this cloud the disciples should also remember the Gospel message does dwell. Going back again to the life of one of the men who was present with Jesus, they would remember that as Moses dwelt in the cloud, The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:5-6). While the world has failed Him, He never failed the world. He has always cared for His people, and the disciples were able to see and hear the great care He has with their own eyes. The Father announces the love He has for His people found in His only Son. With Jesus glory on display, they can confess, For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you! (Psalm 84:11-12)
This is your confession too, because you can confess it through the One who walked perfectly upright for you. The scene of heaven and perfection that is unattainable doesn’t last. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. In the fear of just punishment, your comfort is in the One who is completely good. He relates to you and you see Him like the disciples because though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped (Philippians 2:6). As we heard, it’s not the specialty of the signs, but it is who is doing them. And now in what looks like a world of pure darkness, you have your Savior telling you about His great glory. A glory where He shines bright as the sun. The glory of the divine He set aside for you.
Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” From the mount of Transfiguration, He marches on to the cross where He is raised and shines bright for the world. Because of the cross and knowing that the Son of God died for you, For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:3-4). A walk-through of life with Christ, whose body is now like Transfiguration forever because His disciples heard these words, “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself” (Luke 24:39a). Jesus body alive after the cross, not only reveals that He truly is God because He rose from the dead, but that His glorified body, the body that shines like the sun, and the body you see with your own eyes will be done with your very own glorified and shining body.
Knowing the road will be long until the day your body will be like your Savior’s, the event that took place on the mountain was continued to be shared as Peter writes, For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eye witnesses of his majesty (2 Peter 1:16). Peter had a new understanding of why it was good for them to be present. You also see how good it truly is to still be here as through your presence; the love of the Savior will work through you. This brightness of God’s indescribable love is what will keep you through the earth’s disasters and tragedies. People around you will see this goodness, Jesus’ goodness. And because of His goodness and love, you can confess, Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2). Bright as the sun lightens your eternal home forever, a brightness you will have no fear of seeing, only comfort. To know that it is good to be here, this event of Transfiguration has its reminder in the sky every day. Jesus shone as bright as the sun. You can look from east to west because, From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised! (Psalm 113:3) The days will continue. The physical temperature will come up, society’s temperature will go down, and it is good to be here as you are already in God’s presence and will be forever and ever. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
+ + +