February 2026
The Transfiguration – The ROCK
Rev. Logan Landes
The Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ is recorded in three of the four Gospels — Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This is no small detail. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, three Evangelists deemed this event so significant that they ensured it would be proclaimed to the Church in every generation. The Spirit would have us hear it, ponder it, and receive its comfort. But what exactly is the Transfiguration of Christ, and why does the Church hold it in such high importance?
The Transfiguration is the moment when Jesus revealed His divine glory to Peter, James, and John. It is important to note that this was not a moment when Jesus became something new or took on a status that He didn’t already have. Rather, this was the moment when Jesus revealed to His disciples His true identity as God and the Son of God in the flesh unveiled. His glory, which He normally kept hidden beneath perfect humility, shone through His human flesh and affirmed for the disciples all that had been said of Him and all that He had said of Himself.
In this moment, Moses and Elijah appeared alongside Jesus Christ. Though they had died, God deemed it fitting that both men should appear before the disciples. What is learned? Moses represents the Law and Elijah represents the Prophets. Their presence at Christ’s Transfiguration wasn’t just to make the event seem more thrilling or spectacular. Their presence there testified to the disciples and to the Church that all Scripture points to Christ. While there, they spoke with Christ about His coming departure- His suffering, death, and resurrection. Again, they didn’t do this only to fulfill a social need for conversation. There was purpose. This conversation showed that Christ is the fulfillment of what Moses, Elijah, and all the prophets spoke regarding the Messiah- His death was the fulfillment of God’s promises. The Law and the Prophets didn’t stand alongside Christ but yielded to Him. He was what they were all pointing to and He was their fulfillment.
Then, even more amazingly, a cloud descended around them and the voice of the Father spoke. “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” This was not the first time God the Father proclaimed overtly the identity of Jesus of Nazareth. It pointed the disciples and it points us back to Christ’s baptism- another glorious moment in the life of Christ. At the baptism of Christ, the Father’s voice came from Heaven to declare that Jesus the Baptized was His Son and that He was pleased. God’s good pleasure in His Son had not and would not diminish, but rather, Jesus’ adherence to God’s plan for salvation was righteous and very pleasing to God.
At the sound of the Father’s voice, any doubt lingering in the disciples’ hearts was laid bare and driven away. This was not merely a man who looked like them claiming divinity for Himself; this was God in heaven speaking His infallible Word. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of God, and the Savior of the world. In that moment, the Father publicly affirmed the Son’s divine identity and declared His approval of the mission set before Him — even the mission the disciples would later try to prevent, the way of the cross. As Moses and Elijah had already testified in their prophetic witness, Christ would accomplish salvation not by avoiding suffering, but by embracing it. Therefore, Christ’s Word was — and remains — above all human wisdom and experience. For this reason, God commands us, “Listen to Him.” Not merely as an act of reverence or respect, but for our own good, for it is through His Word that forgiveness is bestowed and life is given.
This message — spoken and confirmed by Moses, Elijah, Jesus, and God the Father Himself — is of exceptional importance, for the disciples’ faith was about to be tested, just as the Church’s faith would be tested by the forces of evil throughout every age. The Transfiguration takes place as Jesus and His disciples are on their way to Jerusalem, a journey that would become a gauntlet for their faith. They were about to follow a man who claimed to be God, only to see Him mocked, rejected, and treated as less than human — something no one would ever expect of the Almighty. The Transfiguration, then, prepares the disciples for what lies ahead: Jesus’ arrest, His suffering, and His crucifixion. It serves as a divine assurance, given in advance, that these events were not to stir doubt or despair within them. Jesus is the Son of God, and what would unfold in Jerusalem and upon Golgotha was not evidence of failed divinity or mere mortality, but the very outworking of God’s saving plan.
We, the Church today, also learn from this. The world has not stopped rejecting Christ and the forces of evil have not stopped trying to tempt man away from the truths of God’s Word and plant doubt in the Church’s heart. Rather, this moment is a testimony that much will happen that is difficult and unpleasant- this is the result of sin. Nevertheless, we are to remain faithful and trust our God’s Word. The Church believes and confesses that true glory is hidden under humility and even suffering- Christ shows this. The cross does not contradict Jesus’ glory; it reveals it. This doesn’t align with the world’s understanding of glory, but it is true according to God, just the same.
This is an important message for the Church, because we are still people. We see how people naturally want to behave in the disciples in the text. Peter saw this all happening and he didn’t want it to end. He wanted to stay there and so he suggested to Christ that he build tents for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. This reflects a human temptation to cling to visible glory and to avoid suffering. Peter wanted to remain in this “divine high” and dwell in the unabashed glory of Christ as long as He could. He didn’t want to move forward to the suffering that was to come- the arrest, the crucifixion, and the burial. And who among us can really blame him? Why leave the pleasant for the unpleasant? That’s the human way of thinking. But Jesus doesn’t allow for it. Jesus did not permit Peter to build the tents, but instead, would lead them back down the mountain to fulfill all that He needed to fulfill- even the suffering. The Church is likewise called to do the same thing. The Church must follow Christ in carrying crosses. We are blessed with the “divine highs” of the Divine Service- Confession and Absolution, Baptism, The Lord’s Supper, Preaching, and celebrations such as Christmas and Easter- and these things are wonderful. But the Church has not been called to hide within the mountaintop of the sanctuary always. We have also been called to go down into the valleys of the shadow of death and “listen to Christ.” We are to go into all nations bearing the gift of the Gospel, forsaking the highs, and going to the lows that many who don’t know the Son of God may come to know His love and receive the life won on that cross. That’s what Jesus did.
After Moses and Elijah had appeared and spoken, after Jesus’ body shone like the sun, after the voice of God spoke, and after Peter suggested the erection of tents, everything settled. Suddenly, there was no longer a grand spectacle- only Jesus remained alone.
The vision ended and the disciples saw “Jesus only.” Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the Prophets) disappeared, teaching that the Law and the Prophets serve Christ and their role had been fulfilled in Him. He was now their embodiment. Salvation is found in Christ alone- not in the Law or the Prophets, but in what they pointed to. The Church doesn’t stand upon visions or spectacles, but rather, she is focused upon only Jesus and His Word. That is where the Church’s hope is and that is where her salvation is. And there only.
The Transfiguration teaches the Church how God chooses to work among us: His glory is hidden beneath humility, and His power is concealed within what appears weak and ordinary. Having glimpsed Christ’s unveiled majesty on the mountain, we are then taught where to look for Him now. Not in spectacles or spiritual displays, but in the means He has promised — in the preaching of His Word, in the waters of Baptism, and in the bread and wine of His Supper. There, just as surely as on the mountain, Christ is present and at work for the sake of our salvation, assuring us of that salvation through His Means of Grace.
In Christ’s Name,
Amen.
Pastor Logan Landes