15th February 2026

Every human being knows that unless Jesus returns first, death is coming. It’s a topic that we don’t like to talk about, yet the Apostle Paul openly declares that it is the last enemy to be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:26). Nevertheless, Christians should be able to talk about death because the heart of the Christian message is that death has been defeated in Jesus Christ. His resurrection broke death’s power, providing believers freedom from the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15), transforming it from an end into a passage to glory. Truly, death has lost its sting (1 Corinthians 15:55).

The story of the Transfiguration in Matthew 17 is not just a strange moment of glory on a mountain; it is a preview of death’s defeat. Briefly, a window was opened so the inner circle of disciples, and us today, can see what is really true about Jesus, about the future, and about the end of death itself. The episode on the mountain took place under the shadow of death: Jesus had plainly told his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed, and be raised (Matthew 16:21). Peter’s rebuke of Jesus (v.22) was born out of the feeling that this looked like failure and defeat: to the disciples, death means the end of hope; to Jesus, death is the path to victory.

Less than a week after this incident, the Transfiguration took place, as if Jesus was saying to his disciples, ‘before you see me suffer and die, I want you to understand who I really am’. In this remarkable event on the mountain, Jesus’s appearance was transformed. His face shone like the sun. His clothes became dazzling white (Matthew 17:2). In the Transfiguration, Jesus was not becoming something new, rather he was revealing what he had always been. This is really important regarding death, because if Jesus were merely a teacher or a prophet, death would have silenced him and ended his mission, but death did not define Jesus; he defined death. 

This mountaintop experience was not an escape from death but a revelation about it. Jesus’s glory was revealed not because he would avoid suffering and death, but because suffering and death would not defeat him. Peter’s mistake was that he wanted glory without death. He didn’t want Jesus to go to the cross (Matthew 16:22), and here on the mountain, he wanted to build some shelters so they could stay on the mountain and not face the consequences of coming down (Matthew 17:4). But neither Peter nor Jesus could stay.

The voice from heaven told the disciples, and us, to listen to Jesus (v.5). Listen to him when he speaks of suffering and death. Trust him when the path to glory leads through the grave, because death has lost its power and sting. The Transfiguration did not remove suffering from the disciples’ future, but it changed how they faced it. They will see Jesus arrested, beaten, and crucified, but they never forgot seeing him in glory on the mountain.

This matters for us because death still visits our homes. We still see friends and family suffer, bury loved ones, and face our own mortality, but the Transfiguration tells us that death does not have the final word. The one who shines in glory is the same one who came down from the mountain, entered the grave, and rose on the third day. Because of Jesus, graves are temporary, loss is not final, and death is defeated. So, when we face death, either our own or that of those we love, we do not stand in despair. Listen to Jesus and trust that beyond the shadow of the cross lies the light of resurrection and glory.

Local congregation:
Grace Communion West Hampstead 
Sidings Community Centre
150 Brassey Road
West Hampstead
London
NW6 2BA

Meeting time:
Sunday 12.30 pm

Local congregational contact:
Gordon Brown
gordon.brown@gracecom.church

Word of Life contact:  
wordoflife@gracecom.church