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St Matthew 17:1-9
'Satan on the Mount of Transfiguration'
Divine Service
Transfiguration Sunday | February 1, 2009
Dear Saints,
“Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, brought them up on a high mountain by themselves, and was transfigured before them” (Matthew 17:1-2a). Notice: “after six days.” Six days of what?
To answer that question we simple have to turn the page in our Bibles and see how Matthew chapter 16 ends. This is the great confession of Peter. Beginning in Matthew 16:13, Jesus takes His disciples to Ceasarea Philippi and asks them, “Who do people say that I am?” The disciples give all the various answers: John the Baptist raised from the dead, the prophet Elijah or one of the other prophets.
And then Jesus asks the question that matters most of all to us: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answers on behalf of all the disciples with this blessed confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus commends Peter, tells him that this confession came not from flesh and blood, but from the heavenly Father, and gives Peter the keys of heaven, the authority to forgiven or bind sin.
Then, and this is important for us to understand the text before us, the transfiguration, Jesus begins to teach His disciples about the cross.
“From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day” (Matthew 16:21)
Jesus began to teach them, that is to say, this is the first time the disciples are learning about this, the Lord's suffering and death and resurrection. This is the most difficult teaching in the world, that God becomes a man to die for us. We're used to hearing it, each and every Sunday, but here the disciples are getting it for the first time.
Now they should have had this teaching from the Old Testament, but the Messiah that they were expecting was a strong, glorious, military Messiah who would come to overthrow Rome and give Israel their own country back.
This is why, when Jesus begins to tell them about the cross, Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” Now if it is shocking for us to see Peter take it upon himself to rebuke the Lord Jesus, more shocking still is the rebuke of Jesus, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but of the things of men” (Matthew 16:23)
Why such strong words? We must understand that what Peter is suggestion was a real and difficult temptation for Jesus: to avoid the pain and suffering and death of the cross, to avoid the shame and the wrath and anger of God. And now this temptation is put before Him by one who loves Him, and who He love, who doesn't want Him to suffer.
Satan is there, tempting Jesus away from the cross. But Jesus fights this back, “Get behind me, Satan”, and then, for six days, teaches His disciples about His suffering and death and resurrection, and also about their suffering and death for His kingdom, for the Kingdom of God is not full of power and glory, but a kingdom full of humility and weakness and the forgiveness of sins.
So this is what was going on for the six days before the Transfiguration: Jesus was instructing His disciples about His suffering and death and the forgiveness of sins that comes from this. If we've got this background, we see Peter's sin on the mountain, and we learn what the Father and the Son are teaching us here.
We are tempted to think of the Transfiguration of Jesus as the glorious high-point of His ministry, as the opposite of the cross. But when Jesus is there shining in His glory, standing in the heavenly council of Moses and Elijah, He is talking about nothing other than the cross. (We have to go to Luke to get the content of the conversation:) “Then behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:30-31).
There were Jesus and Moses and Elijah in glory, and Peter wanted it to stay that way. He didn't want to leave the mountain. He wanted to capture this moment, to never leave, to have things always just like this. “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” (Matthew 17:4) Do you see what peter is saying? “Let's keep things just like this. This is nice, look, everyone's here, Moses and Elijah, and You are bright and shinny and happy.”
See how Peter loves the Lord Jesus, and is trying to protect Him, but His mind is not on the things of God but of men. He has not understood what Jesus is come to do. He wants Jesus without the cross, and you see, dear saints, that what Peter wants because of his love for Jesus is the same thing the devil wants out of his hatred and fear of Him: Jesus without the cross.
Satan on the mount of transfiguration, that is what Peter is here. Tempting Jesus to avoid the pain and suffering of our redemption, the same temptation that the devil is always putting before our Lord. And, again, we must understand this as a real temptation for Jesus, how He would have been glad to stay there on the mountain, but He knows better. Here Jesus could just as well have rebuked Peter again: “Get behind me, Satan. There is nothing that can stand between me and Jerusalem, Me and the shame of the cross, Me and death.”
Though everything in the the entire universe would try to stop Jesus from going to the cross, all these plots are foiled, temptations are over come. Jesus will be the Jesus crucified for sinners, crucified for you and me.
And here is what this text has for us. Our sinful flesh is always sorting out what kind of Jesus we would like to have. “I would like Him to be a little more tolerant of my sin, I'd like Him to be a little more selective about the people He lets into His church, I'd like for there to be not so much talk of suffering and death, cross and blood, I'd like this or that.” We, like Peter, are constantly tempted to create a Jesus after our own fancies, to have out own ideas about what He should do and say.
This is why the voice of God the Father out of the clouds is for Peter and for us, “This is My Beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” Listen to Him, to Jesus, listen to what He is saying, pay attention to His Words. He is teaching you what is most needful and most important.
“From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day” (Matthew 16:21).
There is no Jesus without His suffering and death; there is no crossless Christ. There is only Jesus, crucified for you, dying out of His great love, the one who overcame all the temptations of the devil so that He might have you as His own. This is your Jesus, your Life and Salvation, your Savior. Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church | Aurora, CO