Almost everyone loves butterflies. The Russian-American lyrical novelist, Vladimir Nabokov, an avid student and collector of butterflies, a lepidopterist, and also an avowed atheist, once stated: “We are the caterpillars of angels.” Although Nabokov’s statement is poetically pleasant, it is not accurate Biblically. We are not angels nor will we ever be angels.
The butterfly, as well as its cousin the moth, is the best known example of metamorphosis in nature. Metamorphosis is, from a scientific point of view, an abrupt change in form. It is quite common among insects, invertebrates, and frogs, just to name a few.
Illustra Media produced a beautiful and fascinating video entitled Metamorphosis which argues from this transformative process for Intelligent Design. The producers of this video state that they love science but not “scientism”. Scientism is, at its worst, a naturalistic religion, and at its least, a naturalistic philosophy. Scientism argues that there are no supernatural causes, but all is cause and effect. Unfortunately, many in the Western world, especially those in the secular media, are seduced by this false religion.
The butterfly begins as an egg. Its next stage is that of the larva; this is its caterpillar stage. In its early larval stage, the Western Swallowtail disguises itself as a bird dropping. As the caterpillar grows, it sheds its skin several times. As a caterpillar, its compelling force is to eat as much as possible and grow as rapidly as possible. When it has reached its maximum maturity, it enters its next stage in which the caterpillar tucks itself in a pupa, the chrysalis, which some have mistakenly named “a resting place”. This is partially true in the caterpillar now sleeps, but remarkable changes are taking place. Its caterpillar flesh literally dissolves. Wings form. Antennae form. Its mouth parts changes from one that chews to one that now sucks. When the nascent butterfly is ready to emerge from its chrysalis, it must struggle to free itself. This struggle enables it to grow strong. If the butterfly doesn’t undergo this struggle, it dies.
When it emerges, its wings are small and wet and it cannot, at this point, fly. Fluid must be pumped through its veins to its wings, its wings must expand, and it must exercise its muscles before it can fly.
In the Transfiguration of Jesus, both Matthew and Mark use the word, metamorphoō, whose definition is somewhat similar to the scientific definition of metamorphosis: metamorphoō basically means “a change in one’s form”. This word only appears four times in the New Testament, in Matthew and in Mark’s account regarding the Transfiguration. In Luke’s account, this morning lectionary gospel reading, the word is implied. The word appears two other times in the New Testament, these appearances referring to our spiritual lives.
What does the Transfiguration of Jesus teach us? Only as our vision is such that we can “see” Christ in His full, majestic, fearful and kingly splendor as the Son of God in whom the Father is well pleased, can our metamorphosis, our transformation, one that is dependent upon the work of the Holy Spirit within us as we listen to Christ, can our transformation be made complete.
Before we explore this teaching point, let’s examine the context of this event in the life of Jesus. He has just taken the disciples on an arduous forty-mile, rugged trek on foot from Bethsaida which required climbing through sheer rocks and tree-studded mountains beside a rushing creek. This rushing creek further along becomes the Jordan River. At the end of their trek, they came to the city of Caesarea Philippi were they stand in front of a temple dedicated to the god Pan, the shepherd god, which stood in front of a large cave opening in the side of a mountain inside of which was a pool of water fed by a natural spring. This spring was the source of the stream Jesus and the disciples had walked alongside earlier. The stream eventually becomes the Jordan River. Statues of other gods were also worshipped at this site, as well as emperor worship of the Roman Caesar Augustus who also had a temple there. The opening of the cave in the side of the mountain was called the Gates of Hades and the pagans believed that this was the portal leading into the Underworld, the abode of departed spirits who dwelt in hopelessness in mist and darkness. Earlier in Israel’s history the gods Baal and Asher were worshipped at this site where Jesus now stood with his disciples; these gods required child sacrifices. If the sacrificed child sank out of site when thrown into the pool, then the gods were appeased. If blood floated to the surface, then the sacrifice was not accepted and another child had to be put to the death. It is here at this site that Peter makes his confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Living God. Jesus tells Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”
Shortly after this, Jesus predicts His crucifixion at the hands of the elders, chief priests and the teachers of the law following which He would come out of the grave. Peter admonishes the Lord, and said, “This shall never happen to you.” Jesus rebuked Peter, stating, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.”
Jesus then says to the crowd following as well as the disciples (Luke 9:23–27, English Standard Version):
“ And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.’”
Knowing the context, let’s explore a narrative account of the Transfiguration of Jesus similar to one found in Kermit Zarley’s The Gospels Interwoven, but one with explanations. According to Luke, approximately eight days after this (six days, according to Matthew and Mark), Jesus took with him only Peter, James and John, the brother of James, and led them up onto a high mountain to pray. We don’t know where this mountain is. The traditional Roman Catholic site is Mount Tabor, but the mountain closest to Caesarea Philippi is Mount Hermon, just about a six days journey from that city. Mountains play on important role in Scripture. Noah’s ark came to rest on a mountain. God confronted Israel and gave His law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Jesus preached a famous sermon on a mount. While up on the mountain, the three disciples witness the metamorphosis of Jesus: His face shone like the sun; His clothes became a dazzling white, a white so pure is was whiter than any bleach could attain, as white and blinding as a flesh of lightning. This has echoes of Daniel’s terrifying vision of the Son of Man (Daniel 10) whose face appears like lightning. Two figures in glorious splendor stand with Jesus, Moses and Elijah. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai after talking with Yahweh, his face shone. He reflected the glory of God. But Jesus’ glory radiates from within Him. His glory comes from within Him and it shines through His face, whereas the glory of Moses shone on His face.
Moses represents the law, the Torah, and Elijah represents the prophets. Both the law and the prophets pointed to Jesus who now stands with these two spokesmen of prophetic promise. Jesus is also the great prophet predicted by Moses in Deuteronomy 19, as well as the living Word of God, the living Torah. Thus what Moses and Elijah pointed to is now visible in Jesus Himself, the perfect revelation of God as given in Scripture. The three together discuss Jesus’ pending departure, or exodus, as Luke uniquely phrases it. When the three disciples reached the summit of the mountain, they were very sleepy, but this vision abruptly woke them. Peter, mindless with fear, blurts out, “Rabbi, it is good to be here. Let us make three booths, or tabernacles for you three to dwell in.” Peter is mindlessly making reference to the Feast of Booths. Allen Ross, in his article “The Transfiguration” found on Bible.org, explains the significance of the booths:
“…it commemorated the wilderness wandering or temporary sojourn of the people until they settled in the land. The people therefore would build the little shelters and live under them for the week, only to come out of them at the end, at the great day of the feast (with much relief we might add). The seven day festival not only commemorated the temporary sojourn of the people in the wilderness, but in this age, for the final great day was a celebration of the settlement in the land, and (in the future) the culmination of the promises.”
Ross then states, “Zechariah makes it clear that in the kingdom the people will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, i.e., the culmination of all the promises. Peter had the right idea, in general, but the wrong time, for Christ had to die first.”
The Festival of Tabernacles is thus a type of the final gathering of all of God’s people at the end of the Age.
Immediately after Peter blurts this out, a bright cloud appears, and the disciples fear intensifies as the cloud overshadows them. The cloud, the voice, the discussion of Jesus and Moses and Elijah concerning Jesus’ exodus all have overtones of Israel’s mountain experience at Sinai (Exodus 19:16–19):
“On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.”
The disciples hear a voice that says, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen, with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” Was the voice, too, like the voice that spoke from the cloud at Mount Sinai? Was it like thunder also? Even though the Father is addressing all three disciples, His words especially addressed Peter who had not listened to Jesus when Jesus explained that it was necessary for the Son of Man to go to Jerusalem and be crucified. But on the other hand, Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi is affirmed by the Father. The disciples, their terror now total, fall face down on the ground. Jesus touches each of them and says, “Get up. Don’t be afraid.” Suddenly they are alone with Jesus. He instructs them: “Don’t tell anyone what you’ve seen until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”
This morning’s epistle reading makes it plain that Peter, after denying Christ three times, remembers the transfiguration and that it played an important part in his ministry (2 Peter 1:16–18):
“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 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,’ 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.”
Matthew tells us that on the way down the mountain, the disciples ask Him why the teachers of the law claim that Elijah must come first. As Zarley continues with his narrative,
“Jesus replies, “‘To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of man must suffer much and be rejected? I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him. In the same way the Son of man is going to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood he was talking to them about John the Baptist” (p. 135).”
Allen Ross states:
“The disciples then want to know why the teachers say that Elijah was first to come. They had seen Christ in His glory; they had seen Moses and Elijah; but they were not to say anything about it until Jesus died and rose again. Jesus’ answer was that ‘Elijah comes and will restore all things.’ That is the future; that is the ‘not yet’ of the Elijah prophesy of Malachi. But then Jesus added what we call the ‘already,’ by saying, ‘But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize Him.’ He was speaking of John the Baptist, of course. The teaching about John in no way teaches re-incarnation. The Lord simply is saying that John came as the fulfillment of the prophecy that ‘Elijah’ should first come. But it was not yet time for the fulfillment of all things, and John did not turn the nation around, because He was captured and put to death. The point is that Jesus will also be seized and put to death. Jesus was telling the disciples that before the crown there was the cross. And both John and Jesus had to suffer at the hands of wicked people.”
What, then, is the significance of the transfiguration? It is three-fold. The first and second are given in Robert H. Stein’s article, “The Transfiguration,” in Paul Achtemere’s Harper Bible Dictionary, Stein states that the transfiguration is “a breaking through his humanity of the true form (Gk. morphē) of the Son of God (cf. John 1:14).” This is the reverse of Philippians 2:5-11:
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
The Greek word for “form,” morphē, appears twice here. The Greek word for metamorphosis, metamorphoō, contains “form” within it. At the transfiguration, He who took on the form of a servant is now taking on the form of Majesty and Deity. The disciples now see the true glory of the Son of Man who humbled Himself by assuming the form of a servant.
The second point that Stein makes is that the transfiguration is “a glimpse of the glory of the Son of God ar his Parousia (2 Pet. 1:16-18).” Later, Luke makes this statement in 17:24: “For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.”
I go back to the beginning of this sermon for my third point as to why the transfiguration is significant: Only as our vision is such that we can “see” Christ in His full, majestic, fearful and kingly splendor as the Son of God in whom the Father is well pleased, can our metamorphosis, our transformation, one that is dependent upon the work of the Holy Spirit within us as we listen to Christ, can our transformation be made complete.
Paul states in Romans 12:1–2:
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
The word that Paul uses for “transformed” is a form of metamorphoō, as is “transformed” in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” We are undergoing an invisible process within us that should manifest itself in acts of love of God and love of neighbor. Returning to our opening example of the butterfly, when we receive Christ as who He is, the Son of God, our Savior and our Lord, the Holy Spirit enables us to come out of our egg. Some in life remain in their egg stage until it shrivels and hardens to the point where they can never be born. Spiritually speaking, you and I are now in our caterpillar stage. We are eating on the Word of God and growing in the faith. Beloved, you and I must listen to Him. When we die, we enter our chrysalis stage and our flesh, like that of the caterpillar, will dissolve. But at the resurrection, we will emerge like butterflies, except our bodies with will be radiant and glorious, like that of Christ’s at His transfiguration. Thank God that transfiguration, metamorphosis, has been revealed to us in Christ and that in the near future it well be ours to experience and behold in all of its glorious completion—we are destined to be even more beautiful than even the most beautiful butterfly.
In Romans 8:17 Paul describes the future of those who persevere in the spiritual battles we fight this side of heaven. He calls them joint-heirs. Those who share in the sufferings of Christ will also share in his glory.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.