Rev. Cecil Van Niejenhuis
Feb 15, 2026
Matthew 17:1-9, Exodus 24:12-18
Most every day, at our house, we watch the news on television.
local,
National,
Stateside
And sometimes international…
I don’t know if you see what I see, but there is an interesting pattern that has been in place for years, already…
The news hits hard. Trouble here. Trouble there…sometimes it feels like a non-stop jackhammer. So much going on…
So many moving parts…
Ah—but then—just before it’s time to sign-off…
There is that one human interest piece.
Something good.
Something uplifting
Something which seems so beautifully human and smile-worthy…
It’s like the polar opposite of what the news has been focusing upon…
Now—it’s not exhibit A: I’m only human…vile, corruptible, abusive with power
Now—it’s exhibit B: I’m wonderfully human: compassionate, kind, using my resources for the wellbeing of others!!
It’s a metamorphosis---a transfiguration of sorts!
It’s the kind of window into goodness, and what can be the way we interact with each other—
---the kind of window which encourages us. Keeps us going.
This is how it can be—and sometimes is…and one day will be!!
Well—this morning Matthew describes for us—a singular and spectacular moment
Wonderfully odd, and oddly wonderful: the transfiguration of Jesus
There is Jesus—and with Jesus are Peter, James and John---and Jesus has taken them up a high mountain. No crowds…
No enemies…
Not even all of his disciples.
Just Jesus and these three close friends…
And right there—in front of their eyes—Jesus was transfigured.
His face shone like the sun
His clothes became as white as light.
So brilliant and piercingly bright---how could they even keep their eyes on Jesus???
And if seeing Jesus wasn’t a moment of incredible…
Suddenly two others were with Jesus…
And not just any others…but Moses…and Elijah…speaking with Jesus….
Somehow, it was clear to these disciples that it was Moses and Elijah…the two great representatives---of the law, and the prophets.
And Jesus…Jesus the fulfillment of all that they represented…
All that they longed for…reached for…
Peter James and John—asking the question—without even asking it out loud…
---Do you see what I see????
And Peter blurting out—as Peter would…:
I could build a tent. Three tents…
This is so good—we need to hang on to this. Prolong this.
Stay in this glorious, grand moment…
But as quick as Peter blurted out what he was thinking…
A bright cloud---surrounded,
covered,
enveloped Jesus and Moses and Elijah…
And a voice from the cloud said---"This is my Son, whom I love…
With whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him…”
It was the voice of God—who else could it be??? (Do you hear what I hear???)
Peter, James and John fell down…overwhelmed…trembling
What they were seeing and hearing…
was so glorious—so beyond the pale…
But it told them exactly what they needed to know..
What they needed to have affirmed and confirmed…
Jesus –Jesus is God’s beloved son…
Jesus is the Messiah—the Anointed one---the king promised…the Shalom-Maker
Listen to him, said the voice of God…
Trust him, in other words.
Have faith in him…
Even when…the road gets long…and winding…
This spectacular moment that was provided for Peter and James and John…
This spectacular moment was intended to encourage!!!
I say that—because at first…in Jesus’ ministry…
At first—we get all the lovely things…
Let’s call it the Epiphany parade…the glory days!!
---do you see what I see???
Jesus healing the sick
Multiplying loaves and fishes: feeding the crowds
Telling fascinating parables
Teaching that sermon on the mount
All these lovely things that make us want to stay there!
If we want to see God’s kingly power in action…well, let’s see it do all those positively wonderful things…Revelations of God’s love lighting up our lives….
But then--Just before this transfiguration—Jesus begins to speak about—reveal—a whole new dimension to his glory…
--he begins to speak about his suffering and his death…
Oh—he tells them about his resurrection too…but that goes into one ear and out the other—they can’t hear resurrection talk just yet—because they are so discombobulated by his death talk…
So just at that moment when Jesus started to speak about his suffering and his death…and knowing that there would be trouble and confusion and maybe disillusionment ahead…he takes these three close friends up that mountain to see this vision of his glory…
What Matthew tells us about Jesus on that mountain with these friends…
Well—Matthew trusts that whoever reads this—will hear an echo of something that happened long before…
In that exodus story we also read from this morning.
It’s a kind of preview…
Moses with Joshua—up on that mountain…and a cloud covered,
Surrounded Enveloped the mountaintop
It looked like the mountain was on fire…a bright cloud, it was…
The people of God looking up and seeing that bright cloud—glorious and close
And then a voice—the voice of God calling to Moses
And Moses walked into that cloud—into God’s presence…
Later—the Israelites would say—Moses face shone…radiant…it was, because he had come from the presence of God…there was a glory there…
That moment—that moment which was a bit of a transfiguration for Moses…when he went up on that mountain and received the stone tablets from God…
That moment came pretty quickly after all of those great early moments…
The glory days of Israel’s beginning, you might say…
The days of crossing the Red Sea—the waters pushed back like at the dawn of creation, and the people walking safely on dry ground…
God providing…manna…
Quail…
Water—Israelites saying to each other—do you see what I see?
All revelations of God ---a parade of epiphanies…glorious!!
But ahead of them…and between the grand beginning and the ultimate promised goal…
Entering that promised land with milk and honey…
Ahead of them…
Between the initial glory and the ultimate glory…
The wilderness. Where, as we know…they spent 40 long years…
So for us…at what is called the last Sunday of the Epiphany season…
Transfiguration Sunday…
After some weeks of focusing on the revelation of good things…the lovely light that shines into darkness…
Now comes the season of Lent.
Not wilderness, exactly, and not forty years, exactly, but 40 days…
40 days of dealing with ashes, with all that leads Jesus—intentionally, and inevitably, to the day of his deepest suffering. Calvary.
And the surprise, of course—
is that the revelation of Jesus which comes through his suffering…
suffering which springs from a love so pure and indescribably deep
----this too is glory…
And we’ll get to that, these next weeks…
But this morning…this morning
Comes the encouragement which Jesus offers…
The encouragement which comes by way of seeing something beautiful. Glorious. As it will be…a vision of what in some mysterious way, already is…even if clouded…
For Peter, James and John…
Standing on the threshold of learning more fully that Jesus would suffer and die…
For you and me…
As we stand on the threshold of Lent, not only, but as we live in and with and through all kinds of troubling things
Confusing things---disillusioning things….clouding things
Comes the encouragement of Jesus’ transfiguration. Jesus in all his glory! Do you see him there??
Brilliant as the sun
White as light
A preview of resurrection Sunday not only…
But a preview of the glory that awaits us in eternity!!
To see Jesus—face to face—
To be in the presence of and enveloped by the glory of God
Do you see what I see???
This moment of transfiguration---this revelation of glory, was Jesus saying—Remember this…
Remember this moment—when you saw this glory and when you heard the voice of God saying—this is my son…
This confirms that I am who I say I am…Remember---and anticipate
My promises are for real. Trustworthy. Keep the faith…the day is coming… and of course, for you and me, this is confirmed not only in the transfiguration, but in the resurrection…
A vision of God’s glory---intended to encourage. And you know what? Everytime, anytime we see in this life…something beautiful…
In nature…what God has created…
In art…or music or dance or words—things we create…
Or in life…when human nature images the nature of God…
These are moments which find their deepest meaning as reflections, echoes of what our Bible story reveals…anchored in the transfiguration event. Glory exists. Has been revealed. Will be revealed. Shalom is what Jesus came to bring.
In worship…we hear the news…the good news…and then, afterwards?? Back to the regular programming of our lives… Let’s take with us—the memory and the encouragement intended. Let every ounce of beauty in this life—be it behavior, art, music—transfigure your spirit and make you ask—do you see what I see?
Anything and everything that is beautiful---that opens up for us that sense of the Divine… in a small way reminds us, encourages us to hold onto a vision of the day when Jesus, in all his glory, will reveal a world utterly transfigured: all things made new.