Reformation Themes: Last Sunday of Epiphany-the Transfiguration (year C)- Luke 9: 28-36

Friday, February 28, 2025

Last Sunday of Epiphany-the Transfiguration (year C)- Luke 9: 28-36

The feast of the Transfiguration commemorates an important and mysterious event from the Gospels (e.g., Luke 9:28-36). The Transfiguration provides one of the most distinctive and dramatic manifestations of Jesus' divinity. In the synoptic Gospels, our Lord takes Peter, John, and James up onto a mountain where He has a shining appearance during prayer. Moses and Elijah appear and converse with Jesus, and a divine voice proclaims, "This is my beloved Son; hear him" (Luke 9:35 KJV/NKJV).

Although August 6 has been one date to observe the Transfiguration, beginning in the sixteenth century, Johannes Bugenhagen, Viet Dietrich, and some other Lutherans observed it on the last Sunday before Lent. These Lutherans viewed the Transfiguration as an epiphany or a manifestation of Christ's identity similar in some respects to the coming of the Magi and Christ's Baptism.

This reformation liturgical tradition resurfaced in recent common lectionaries. From the 1970s onward, a Transfiguration gospel has been used on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany (or the Last Sunday before Lent) in all three years among many Lutherans and others. This certainly seems both a biblical and reasonable way to conclude the Epiphany season. It is also an appropriate reminder of our Lord's glory before we enter the somber season of Lent.

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The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty: From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit: The holy Christian (catholic) Church; The Communion of Saints: The Forgiveness of sins: The Resurrection of the body: And the Life everlasting. Amen

Nicene Creed

I BELIEVE in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things visible and invisible: And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God; Begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of very God; Begotten, not made; Being of one substance with the Father; By whom all things were made: Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, And was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, And was made man: And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried: And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures: And ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of the Father: And he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Spirit, The Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spake by the Prophets: And I believe one holy Christian (or catholic) and Apostolic Church: I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins: And I look for the Resurrection of the dead: And the Life of the world to come. Amen.