Show and Tell
August 3, 2025, Transfiguration (observed)
Exodus 34:29-35, 2 Peter 1:13-21, Luke 9:28-36, Psalm 99
Back when I lived in Boulder, a parishioner came up to me at coffee hour and said “you know, Jesus never said he was the Son of God.” And if you want to split hairs, maybe they were right. Jesus frequently refers to himself as the Son of Man, as the Son of the Father, and when Peter confesses “you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” Jesus doesn’t deny it. But I don’t think I can point to a quote of Jesus explicitly saying “I am the Son of God.”
However, I don’t think this is quite the “gotcha” statement that this parishioner intended. You see, the Gospels are well-constructed stories, and one of the first things we learn in a writing class is to show rather than tell. And the Gospels – each of the four in their own way – are Spirit-led to show who Jesus really is. So Jesus doesn’t need to make a sermon where he introduces himself as the Son of God. What’s much more powerful for us, hearing these stories of Jesus’ life and ministry – is to be shown the ways that Jesus takes up his identity as the Son of God.
And this is exactly what’s happening in the story of the Transfiguration that we heard today. Generally, we get to hear this story twice in a year – once on the Feast of the Transfiguration, which we’re observing today, and once on the last Sunday of Epiphany, the Sunday before Ash Wednesday.
In the Transfiguration, Jesus is revealed for who he really is. As Jesus goes up the mountain to pray with his closest disciples, his face changes appearance and his clothes become dazzling white. It reminds the disciples of Moses, whose face shined after he spoke face-to-face with God on Mount Sinai. And in fact, the disciples also see Moses and Elijah, two of the famous prophets of the Hebrew people, conversing with Jesus on the mountain.
The disciples realize that this event has deep meaning. For Peter, who has just confessed that he believes Jesus to be the Messiah, this is confirmation of Jesus’ identity. Here he is, arrayed in splendor, conversing with Moses and Elijah. Peter and the disciples are, in this moment, “eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
Now, Peter has gotten something right here, but he also gets something quite wrong. His realization, his confession, and his ability to see who Jesus really is – the son of God – lead him to say “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
Luke tells us that Peter did not know what he said. I think it’s one of those moments where you ask “what were you thinking?”
If there was any logical thought going through Peter’s mind, Luke hasn’t preserved it. But I do wonder why Peter might have said this. For me, one possible explanation is that he was reveling in the beauty and majesty of this moment, and could sense that it was about to end, and he wanted it to keep going for ever. In these three tabernacles, Jesus and Moses and Elijah could keep talking, and nothing would have to change. There would be no risk—and no reward. It’s a silly thought, but one we’ve probably all experienced from time to time.
But Jesus doesn’t even have to dignify Peter’s outburst with a response. On cue, a cloud overshadows them all, frightening them. And from the cloud comes the voice of God: “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” It echoes the voice heard at Jesus’ baptism at the beginning of his public ministry: “You are my Son, the Beloved: with you I am well pleased.”
Jesus is the Son of God. It has been foretold and it has been revealed bit by bit throughout his life and ministry. And now God is speaks not to Jesus but to the others: “This is my Son.” All of the strange occurrences, healings, and preaching makes sense: it all proceeds from this identity.
But this identity will not be easily shaken, and it will cost Jesus his earthly life. Even now, the disciples are a bit afraid, and they don’t share this experience with anyone. In the version in Mark’s gospel, Jesus instructs them not to share what they have seen until after his death and resurrection. It is a truth so precious that it must fall on the right ears.
And this truth, of who Jesus was, and is, and is to be – the only-begotten Son of God – is a truth so precious that it has endured to this day, passed down to us in the Scriptures and the Creeds and in our own families of faith. Whether or not the Transfiguration is an important part of your own understanding of Jesus, it is part of the story that we now inhabit, part of the way that we are shown and told who Jesus is.
And the way we share this truth with each other is through baptism. It is therefore meet and right that today we will baptize two teenagers into the Body of Christ. They will both answer the question “do you wish to be baptized?” with “I do.”
And in the water of baptism, and the sealing with oil of chrism, they, not unlike Christ, will be transfigured: they will become Christians. Not unlike Jesus on the mountain, that which is exterior will be wiped away and they will be seen only for who they truly are: the beloved, the chosen of God.
~The Rev. Charles Martin