Before  you read on, I invite you to open your Bibles and read the text that will shape this upcoming Transfiguration Sunday:  Exodus 24:12-18andMatthew 17:1-9… Go ahead and read, I’ll wait. 

As the Christian year moves from the light of Epiphany toward the longer days of Lent, we find ourselves in a season of transition. The light we notice now is uneven and surprising—sometimes clear and bright, sometimes muted or fleeting, yet still real. It is in this in-between moment that the Church celebrates the Transfiguration. 

In Matthew 17, Jesus is revealed to the disciples in radiant glory. This is not a change meant to impress, but a disclosure of who Jesus truly is. The disciples are frightened, much like Israel waiting for Moses on Mount Sinai, surrounded by cloud and uncertainty. God’s presence is overwhelming, and yet it is given in grace. Moses and Elijah appear, pointing to the Law and the Prophets, but when the cloud lifts, only Jesus remains—and a voice calls the disciples not to preserve the moment, but to listen. 

John Wesley understood the Transfiguration not as a spiritual escape, but as preparation for what comes next. The vision of glory follows Jesus’ warning about suffering and the cross. It is given to strengthen faith, not to remove hardship. Glory is revealed so the disciples can endure the road that leads downward from the mountain. 

For Christians today, the Transfiguration matters because it names a pattern we still live within. Faith does not eliminate fear, but Christ meets us in it. Listening to Jesus means coming down the mountain and learning how to live transformed lives in ordinary, anxious, and often fragile circumstances. The light shown in Christ points not only to who he is, but to what God intends for humanity—lives gradually reshaped by grace. We have to meet with and engage the world – not simply stay cloistered on top of the mountain. 

Interestingly, Jesus tells the disciples to keep silent about the vision until after the resurrection (he often tells the disciples not to speak about what they have witnessed until the right time), reminding us that the story of glory cannot be told apart from suffering and redemption. As Epiphany gives way to Lent, the Transfiguration invites us to trust the light we have seen and allow it to change how we live, love, and care for one another along the road ahead – a road that may not be easy, but one we are prepared for because we are convicted that God is great.

As you ponder Transfiguration more deeply, I invite you to consider these questions: 

• Where in my life might God be inviting me to see more clearly—not a change of circumstances, but a deeper truth or presence already at work beneath the surface? 

• What voices or habits compete with Jesus’ call to “listen to him,” and what might it look like for my daily choices, relationships, or reactions to be shaped more intentionally by Christ’s way? 

• How could a glimpse of hope or grace strengthen me for the road ahead, especially in places of fear, uncertainty, or quiet suffering, rather than allowing me to escape from them? 

Grace and Peace, Pastor M@