Sermon for February 15, 2026, The Transfiguration of Our Lord

Matthew 17:1-9 (The Transfiguration of Our Lord—Series A)

“Christ’s Glory is Your Glory”

Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, Enfield, CT

February 15, 2026

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text today is the Gospel Reading from Matthew 17:

¹And after six days, Jesus took Peter and James and John his brother and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves. ²And he was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothing became white as the light. ³And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared speaking with Him. ⁴And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will make here three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁵While he was speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice from the cloud saying, “This is My Beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to Him.” ⁶And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were extremely terrified. ⁷And Jesus came and touched them and said, “Get up and stop being afraid.” ⁸And when they had lifted up their eyes they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone. ⁹And when they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell no one the vision until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” 

          Imagine seeing what Peter, James, and John saw on that mountain! Jesus shining in divine glory—His face like the sun, His clothing white as the light! Moses and Elijah appearing with Jesus in glory! (Luke 9:31). The bright cloud overshadowing them and the voice of God the Father declaring, “This is My Beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to Him.” Imagine seeing this vision! And realize that one day, you actually will!

          The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” When you hear the word “glory,” what comes to mind? Most people say things like, “brightness, brilliance, shining light, radiance.” Jesus’ Transfiguration certainly fits the bill. Here, Peter, James, and John saw His glory as Jesus revealed Himself to be True God in human flesh. Peter said it this way in our Epistle reading today, “For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to Him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain” (2 Pet. 1:17-18 ESV). Jesus received honor and glory from the Father, the Majestic Glory, as the Lord of glory was transformed before these disciples.

          But the Son of God and Son of Man, Jesus, is not the only One who appeared in glory. Moses and Elijah were there with Him “in glory,” Luke tells us. These are two prominent Old Testament figures, B.C. people! And yet, they are alive, in glory, with Jesus on the mountain. The Scriptures tell us in Deuteronomy that Moses died in the land of Moab and that the Lord buried him there (Deut. 34:5-6). We read in 2 Kings 2 that, “Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11 ESV). Neither Moses nor Elijah could have lived on earth all those years until this moment of their appearing with Jesus. They had been in heaven with the Lord for hundreds of years, and yet, here they were, alive with Jesus in glory.

          There are many facets of Jesus’ Transfiguration that can be considered. But today I’m admiring the “jewel” that is this text and am looking at the facet that gives us a glimpse into our future glory. Luther helped with this in his annotations on our text from Matthew’s Gospel. While Luther is the well-known Reformer, he was first and foremost a teacher of Holy Scripture and a pastor. And that shines forth as he helps us see in the Transfiguration event our future glory with the Lord Jesus Himself.

          To see our future glory means that we must first take stock of our present. We are mortal and are subject to death. We are subject to death because of the curse of sin. Sin is not simply breaking God’s Commandments, but it is a condition, a state of being. We are fallen creatures unable to fear and love God. Our fallen nature separates us from God and puts us squarely under His judgment and condemnation. And the punishment that God has justly declared for our sinful condition and our sinful actions, words, thoughts, and desires is physical and eternal death (Rom 6:23).

          And there is nothing glorious about death. Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” To fall short of God’s glory is to miss the mark, not hit the target. There’s no glory in sin and death. Scripture puts death in the category of darkness. Several times in the psalms we hear the phrase, “the shadow of death,” as in Psalm 23. The brightness of life is enveloped in the dark shadows of the punishment for sin that is death.          

          Yet, Paul has written, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” There is Good News for us. Sin has been defeated and that means death has been defeated. Both sin and death have been taken away by Christ Jesus, our Lord. Jesus, glorified on the mountain, came down from the pinnacle of glory and ascended the place of the skull. Nailed to a cross, Jesus was enveloped not in a bright cloud but was overshadowed by a cosmic darkness from the sixth hour until the ninth hour (Matt. 27:45) as the Lord of glory was crucified, suffered the punishment of hell on the cross, and gave up His spirit into death for the sins of the world.

          The death Jesus died “he died to sin, once for all” (Rom. 6:10 ESV). Jesus’ death on the cross and shedding of His blood has bought us back from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil. And where sin is forgiven, death is defeated. “ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:55-57 ESV). And the victory over sin and death is the glory that will be revealed because of the forgiveness of sins.

          The Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus previews for us the resurrection of the dead and the future glory our own bodies! When the Lord Christ comes at the Last Day, what will happen when death has finally been swallowed up? There will be nothing except immortality and glory for us! Luther remarked, “Those who die only pass on from this miserable and calamitous life into another, better one. For if Moses and Elijah had simply died and been reduced to nothing, they would not appear here [with Jesus].”^[1] Those who live and die with saving faith in Gospel will be with Christ at the time of physical death. Their souls will live with the Lord in Paradise until He comes again and raises the dead.

          All three Christian creeds confess “the resurrection of the body” or “the resurrection of the dead.” It is then, ultimately, that we receive the glory of Christ in the splendor of the resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15, “So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:42-44a ESV). Again, Paul writes in Philippians 3 that the Lord Jesus Christ “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Phil. 3:21 ESV).

          Believers in Jesus will rise on the Last Day with bodies like the glorious risen body of our Lord. On that day and forevermore, “The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 13:43 ESV). That sounds like Jesus with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration—shining in divine glory! In the resurrection, we will be glorified like our Lord and Savior. We will be then what Jesus is now in His resurrected glory! We heard last week Jesus say that we are the light of the world just as He is the light of the world. As His disciples, you are what He is now in this life by faith and, in the resurrection at the Last Day, you will be glorified and will be in glory with Jesus in His new creation.

          Just imagine seeing Jesus in His glory on that mountain in Galilee over 2000 years ago. Well, fellow saints, you won’t have to imagine it forever. Jesus, the Lord of Glory, has died, risen, and ascended. And He will come again in glory to raise you from the dead and glorify you in body and soul eternally with Him. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, your sins are forgiven. You are free from the power of the devil, and death has been swallowed up. Now, by faith, you await the glory of the eternal radiance that Christ showed in His body at the Mount of Transfiguration. Then, your Lord will share His glory with you, His beloved, forevermore. Amen.

     ^[1] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, ed. Christopher Boyd Brown, vol. 67 (Saint Louis: Concordia, 2015), 308.