Luke 9:28-35
Jesus climbed the mountain to pray, taking Peter, John, and James along. While he was in prayer, his face and his clothes shown blinding white like the sun at noon. At once two men were there talking with him. They turned out to be Moses and Elijah—and what a glorious appearance they made! They were speaking of Jesus’ coming departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Peter and those with him were slumped over in sleep. When they came to, rubbing their eyes, they saw Jesus in his glory and the two men standing with him. When Moses and Elijah had left, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He blurted this out without thinking.
While he was babbling on like this, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them. As they found themselves buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God. Then there was a voice out of the cloud: “This is my Son, the Chosen! Listen to him.”
Today is the last Sunday in Epiphany Season for this year. This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent and our journey to Easter. During Epiphany we have been discussing various manifestations – God showing Godself to the world in the form of Jesus. Today’s is the ultimate manifestation.
The story today is the one we call the Transfiguration, but before we get into it, we need to go all the way back to the Book of Exodus to set some context for the Transfiguration – context which we here today in the 21st century might not really get, but which those present that day would have understood completely.
It's another somewhat lengthy reading, but bear with me. It comes from the 34th chapter of Exodus and takes place after an incident of major importance.
Moses had originally gone up Sinai to speak with God and God had given him the tablets that we call the Ten Commandments. When Moses returned, he found the people worshiping the Golden Calf they had made for themselves as their God. This made Moses so angry that he threw down the tablets and shattered them.
After a couple of days, Moses went back up Sinai to ask God not to destroy the people for what they had done and God agreed to a second set of stone tablets. This is what happened when Moses returned to the people (from Exodus 34):
Peter, James and John would have entirely understood the reference being made when Jesus’ face shone before them. They would have recognized that what had just happened was not some random event but the sign that one had stood in the very presence of God, as Moses had done long ago.
We, for convenience’ sake, divide scripture into the Old Testament and the New, but it is truly all one story – an old, old story begun in the Old Testament – the Hebrew Scriptures – and told down through the centuries and on into the New Testament where it’s promises come to pass in Jesus.
Peter, John, and James saw what had always been there to be seen by those with eyes to see. But we humans tend to see what we expect to see and nothing more. It takes something truly out of the ordinary to jolt us past our expectations so that we actually see deep reality.
Because they had been so recently stunned by what they had seen, the chances are good that the disciples would even have heard the voice of God when it spoke to them, before “common sense” had its chance to rear its head and convince them they couldn’t possibly have seen what they thought they saw or heard what they thought they heard.
The truth is that the three disciples that day saw the “real” Jesus – the shiny, son of God, Chosen One – but they also saw the Jesus they knew – the one they had traveled the territory with, had shared meals with, had so often witnessed healing the sick and the broken. Because they are one and the same Jesus – but this time, for a stunned moment, they could actually see the glorious one and understand who this Jesus was.
The glory of God is all around us all the time but it is hard to see because our minds are so trained to refuse what “isn’t normal,” what isn’t natural or reasonable. But once in a while something will be so real that it breaks through our mind’s defenses and we know that we have seen what we have seen. We know that we have somehow seen the holy.
I know, for instance, that this earth is holy. I know because I experienced seeing its holiness shining through and because the earth has told me so itself in so many words, and no one, not even my own modernist mind, will ever convince me that I did not have that particular experience.
Like the Israelites with Moses and the three disciples with Jesus, when we have had an experience like this, we know. Our experiences may be entirely different from one another but we share the knowing, because we have been moved beyond doubt.
I expect we have all had such moments. What is your experience of being shown godself in a manner which has never left you doubting again? For myself, I may doubt many things (I do) but about this central fact that God’s holiness is always present all around me, there is no doubt – none.
As we end this season of Epiphany – of manifesting – may we each promise ourselves to be more attentive – to look about us – and see what is real, right in front of us.
And as we prepare to enter the season of Lent let us think about these words spoken by Jesus shortly after that mountain-top experience to prepare them for what was coming:
May we never be afraid to ask. Amen.
The story today is the one we call the Transfiguration, but before we get into it, we need to go all the way back to the Book of Exodus to set some context for the Transfiguration – context which we here today in the 21st century might not really get, but which those present that day would have understood completely.
It's another somewhat lengthy reading, but bear with me. It comes from the 34th chapter of Exodus and takes place after an incident of major importance.
Moses had originally gone up Sinai to speak with God and God had given him the tablets that we call the Ten Commandments. When Moses returned, he found the people worshiping the Golden Calf they had made for themselves as their God. This made Moses so angry that he threw down the tablets and shattered them.
After a couple of days, Moses went back up Sinai to ask God not to destroy the people for what they had done and God agreed to a second set of stone tablets. This is what happened when Moses returned to the people (from Exodus 34):
- When Moses came down from Mount Sinai carrying the two Tablets of The Testimony, he didn’t know that the skin of his face glowed because he had been speaking with God. Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, saw his radiant face, and held back, afraid to get close to him.
- Moses called out to them. Aaron and the leaders in the community came back and Moses talked with them. Later all the Israelites came up to him and he passed on the commands, everything that God had told him on Mount Sinai.
- When Moses finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face, but when he went into the presence of God to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. When he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they would see Moses’ face, its skin glowing, and then he would again put the veil on his face until he went back in to speak with God.
Peter, James and John would have entirely understood the reference being made when Jesus’ face shone before them. They would have recognized that what had just happened was not some random event but the sign that one had stood in the very presence of God, as Moses had done long ago.
We, for convenience’ sake, divide scripture into the Old Testament and the New, but it is truly all one story – an old, old story begun in the Old Testament – the Hebrew Scriptures – and told down through the centuries and on into the New Testament where it’s promises come to pass in Jesus.
Peter, John, and James saw what had always been there to be seen by those with eyes to see. But we humans tend to see what we expect to see and nothing more. It takes something truly out of the ordinary to jolt us past our expectations so that we actually see deep reality.
Because they had been so recently stunned by what they had seen, the chances are good that the disciples would even have heard the voice of God when it spoke to them, before “common sense” had its chance to rear its head and convince them they couldn’t possibly have seen what they thought they saw or heard what they thought they heard.
The truth is that the three disciples that day saw the “real” Jesus – the shiny, son of God, Chosen One – but they also saw the Jesus they knew – the one they had traveled the territory with, had shared meals with, had so often witnessed healing the sick and the broken. Because they are one and the same Jesus – but this time, for a stunned moment, they could actually see the glorious one and understand who this Jesus was.
The glory of God is all around us all the time but it is hard to see because our minds are so trained to refuse what “isn’t normal,” what isn’t natural or reasonable. But once in a while something will be so real that it breaks through our mind’s defenses and we know that we have seen what we have seen. We know that we have somehow seen the holy.
I know, for instance, that this earth is holy. I know because I experienced seeing its holiness shining through and because the earth has told me so itself in so many words, and no one, not even my own modernist mind, will ever convince me that I did not have that particular experience.
Like the Israelites with Moses and the three disciples with Jesus, when we have had an experience like this, we know. Our experiences may be entirely different from one another but we share the knowing, because we have been moved beyond doubt.
I expect we have all had such moments. What is your experience of being shown godself in a manner which has never left you doubting again? For myself, I may doubt many things (I do) but about this central fact that God’s holiness is always present all around me, there is no doubt – none.
As we end this season of Epiphany – of manifesting – may we each promise ourselves to be more attentive – to look about us – and see what is real, right in front of us.
And as we prepare to enter the season of Lent let us think about these words spoken by Jesus shortly after that mountain-top experience to prepare them for what was coming:
- “Pay close attention to what I am telling you! The Son of Man will be handed over to his enemies.” But the disciples did not know what he meant. The meaning was hidden from them. They could not understand it, and they were afraid to ask.
May we never be afraid to ask. Amen.
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