2/15/2024 4:12:35 PM
February 11, 2024
Transfiguration of Our Lord—Last Sunday after the Epiphany
Sermon Text: 2 Kings 2:1-12a
Other Readings: 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 and Mark 9:2-9
- We know that Elijah was an important prophet because he appeared alongside Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration. What clues does 2 Kings 2:1-12a give us about why Elijah was such an important prophet?
- What do you think God was communicating by having Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration?
- As great as Moses and Elijah were and as much as we should listen to them, why are we to listen to Jesus all the more? Confer Mark 9:7.
- In our Second Reading, St. Paul says that the gospel “displays the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4). What is the ultimate glory that the gospel shows us about Christ? Confer Mark 9:9.
- Elisha is very reluctant to be parted from this influential man of faith who served as a spiritual father and as a prophetic mentor to him. We also see Elijah work a miracle, just one of the miracles that the Books of Kings records for us. Lastly, when Elisha calls Elijah “the chariots and horsemen of Israel” (weapons of war in their day), Elisha is saying that prophets like Elijah are the tools that God uses to get things done for his people.
- God was saying that all of the Old Testament and its prophets were pointing God’s people to Jesus who is the promised Messiah and Savior from sin.
- Jesus is the Son of God and is loved by the Father because of his perfection. As great as Moses and Elijah were, they both were sinners.
- Jesus’ greatest glory is that he rose from the dead. The resurrection helps shed light on the importance of transfiguration, and Easter is the whole reason that, as St. Paul says, we can preach “Jesus Christ as Lord.”