“THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE.” Many people (and some might say, many wise people) have accepted this maxim as a truism. In our earthly experience, perhaps it is indeed valid. Children grow. Relationships change. Cars break down. Politicians come and go. And, perhaps the most difficult change with which to deal: loved ones die.
“All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field…. The grass withers, the flower fades” (Isaiah 40:6b, 8a).
Some people thrive on change and imagine that life without change is as good as death. Others value more that which endures and stands the test of time, so change is the erosion of that which is good, beautiful, and true. Most probably fall somewhere in between those two ends of the spectrum. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the reactions are many and varied when it comes to perhaps the greatest picture of change in Holy Scriptures, the Transfiguration of Our Lord.
On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus appears to be altered, His face changing, His clothes becoming dazzling white, a cloud of glory overshadowing the witnesses to His apparent change. Those who thrive on change may see this transfiguration and think, Yes, that’s the way we also need to change! Those who try to stand the test of time may see how Christ revealed His glory and think, Yes, that’s the way Jesus changes to show Himself to us—we don’t need to change where we are! (And lest anyone suspect the building of straw men, I have heard these exact sermons.)
However, the change we see in Jesus is not something new occurring in or to Him. It is a revelation of who He truly is. Jesus was showing Himself to be the divine Messiah, completely God and completely man at the same time. He is One with the Father (John 17), with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change (James 1:17). He is the One who has been from before the beginning of creation, Who Was and Is and Is to Come (Revelation 1:8). The change He came to effect is not a change in Himself, but rather a change in us.
That change in us is a change of renewal. When God finished His work of creation, He declared all things, including us, very good. However, we ourselves caused the first change, a change away from that very good state to our own way of doing things in the Fall in Eden. Since then, we have continually needed to change back, to repent. This is why Jesus came: since we cannot perfectly repent, He took our punishment to change our corrupted, sinful human nature back to the sanctified, pure, very good creation we were made to be.
God is love. That does not change. God is gracious and merciful, abounding in steadfast love. That does not change. How do we know? As Isaiah wrote above, “The grass withers, the flower fades.” But the Word of God Isaiah wrote continues: “But the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8).
So in Jesus’ transfiguration, we see a glimpse of His glory and divinity. We begin to see how, through that glory and divinity, He is changing us. And because He is changing us, we are not changed in conformity to the world and its ways of thinking and acting, but we are changed and transformed by the renewal of our minds back to that very good of Genesis.
In short, THE ONLY CONSTANT IS GOD AND HIS WORD.
Your fellow servant in Christ,
Pastor Schneider