Last Sunday after the Epiphany - Transfiguration Sunday - February 15, 2026

Summary

Mother Suzanne explores the Transfiguration as a pivotal moment where Jesus, accompanied by Moses and Elijah, is transformed on a mountain before his disciples Peter, James, and John. She emphasizes that rather than trying to decode this mysterious encounter, we should enter into it, understanding that the Bible is less a book of certainties than a book of life-changing encounters with God. The transfiguration serves as God's loving preparation for Jesus before his descent toward Jerusalem and his ultimate death.

THE GOSPEL                                                                                                                                                Matthew 17:1-9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” 

Artwork:  The Transfiguration, by Raphael (Rafael Sanzio), 1516

Transcript

Mother Suzanne:

What if the point is not to decode the cloud, but to enter into it. What if the whole Bible is less a book of certainties? Then it is a book of encounters in which a staggeringly long parade of people run into God each other and life, and they're never the same again. And the name of the one God, father. Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. In today's gospel, we meet Jesus along with Peter James and John Hi. On a mountain. Special, special things happen on mountains in scripture. If there is a mountain stated, get ready, something special is going to happen. Matthew wastes no time in describing what happens. Once on the mountain, Jesus and his disciples are simply praying, and then right before their very eyes, Jesus begins to glow. He was transfigured. His face changed and his clothes became bright white, dazzling.

What is described is extraordinary. Put yourself in the position of Peter, James and John for just a moment. You walk up with your teacher minding your own business, and you look over and he's glowing. He's dazzling from head to toe. You are witness to this person, your teacher being transformed. So the religious word for this process is transfiguration. It's a funny word, isn't it? We don't really use that word a whole lot, but here it is in our scripture this morning. I will say many people, including really smart biblical scholars, don't really know what to do with it. It's been debated for centuries.

But in the gospel of Matthew this morning, we notice that it's just kind of plopped down. Nothing leads up to it really, and nothing kind of follows it, but it's right here in this very specific place. So when I recognize things like that in scripture, when things just seem out of the place, out of place, I always ask the question, what is up with that? What's the point? What is the point of Jesus being transfigured? Well, believe it or not, there really is a point, a very important point. Think of it this way, I like to think of the Christmas message at the tightly, even intricately packaged Christmas gift, which takes us the entire season of epiphany to unwrap and discover. Transfiguration Sunday draws the season of Epiphany to a close, and Matthew's account provides the nearly perfect bookend to the story of Jesus's baptism that we read the first Sunday of Epiphany. It probably seems like a really long time ago, doesn't it? Because it was. So here we are on the last Sunday of Epiphany, and the same words echoed on the first Sunday of Epiphany are the same words echoed on the last Sunday of Epiphany. And for all you biblical nerds out there, I hope that's exciting to hear. The words that are echoed both Sundays are this. This is my son, the beloved with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.

This is repeated for effect. They are bookends to one another, kind of like the author saying, pay attention. These words matter. So the same words we hear at Jesus' baptism in the Jordan, when the heavens opened up and the dove descended on him are the same words which were spoken from heaven. When Jesus ascended high on a mountain and was transformed, dazzling white at these two very pivotal moments, Jesus' father was present and calling out who his son was at his baptism and at the transfiguration with his disciples in the entire time. What is echoed is listen to him.

So perhaps you're wondering, since this is the last Sunday of Epiphany and we are headed straight into the season of lint. If you didn't know that, guess what? Lint starts this week. Yeah. Already. Why are we reminded the last day of epiphany to listen to Jesus? Well, the story, it takes place on a mountain, but most of us know that these mountaintop experiences don't last forever. Who in this room has had a mountaintop experience? Okay, are you still on that mountaintop experience? No, they don't last forever. Well, same for Jesus. He eventually has to come off the mountain, right? He has to take the walk down. And with each step down the mountain, he is acutely aware of what he will face. And y'all, what he knows he will be facing is his death. As he walks down, he is headed first face into what is known as his own mortality. He knows he will soon face death. And with each step down the mountain with each breath he takes as his feet perhaps lose their footing, he is reminded. All control will soon cease to be for him. He will soon die.

But before he does, God in his goodness brings him up to the mountain. And there we find Jesus not alone. It's an easy detail to be overlooked. And some might say Jesus is rarely alone in the Gospels, but that he shares company with not only his disciples, but two giants of the faith known as Moses and Elijah, all of them hanging out on top of this mountain. What does that mean? Well, you have the two giants of the Old Testament, and you have Jesus together seamless as one. I can imagine that Moses and Elijah weren't there talking to Jesus about the details of the law and the prophets. They weren't arguing with him, but that is what they were experts on.

Instead, I choose to think that they were there to offer Jesus some kind of support, to remind him that they are there for him, that they are there because he needs them. These giants of the faith point Jesus in the direction he needs to go. And they reinforce him as he makes his way to Jerusalem. Remember whenever you read the words, Jesus is headed to Jerusalem. That is another way of saying Jesus is headed to his death. I personally think it's an incredibly pastoral moment. It's the kind of thing a loving father does for a son, and that Jesus needed this boost is a testament to his humanity, and that Jesus chose to go on to suffer and die is a testament to his true divinity.

So this funny word called transfiguration, a thin place, a liminal space. It's found in scripture because it's pivotal in the story of the progression of Jesus to Jerusalem. He has to go to the mountain before he comes down to face his death. And when all is over, when Moses and Elijah are gone, when the voice from heaven has been silenced, when Jesus's face and clothing turn to normal and the disciples are left in holy awe, what we have left is Jesus. Whatever all of these signs and symbols may have meant, the disciples are once again with their Lord, their teacher, their friend Jesus, the one whose clothes and face shown like the Son, the one equal to Moses and Elijah, the one whom the very heavens proclaim as God's own beloved son is still present and will never leave. So ask the question again. What if the point of transfiguration Sunday is not to decode the cloud, but to enter into it? And what if the whole Bible is less a book of certainties than it is a book of encounters in which a staggeringly long parade of people run into God each other and life, and yet are never the same again?

Amen.

Mother Suzanne:

May the Lord, my Lord, bless and keep you forever grand peace. Perfect peace, courage. Lift your eyes and see his face. Know His grace for may the Lord. Lord bless and keep you forever

Mother Suzanne:

In the blessing of God Almighty. Father, son, and Holy Spirit rest upon you this day and always Amen.