Exodus 9:29-35
Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant in his hands, but Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.
When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them.
Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face, but whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, then the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining, and Moses would put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with him.
Luke 9:28-36
Jesus took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. … While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.
Today is Transfiguration Sunday -- that Sunday that falls between Epiphany and Lent. Epiphany ended last Sunday and this coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent and our journey to Easter.
Today’s story requires two readings to fully understand what is going on here – two readings that fall about as far apart from each other as we can get in scripture. The first reading came from the Old Testament book of Exodus while the second comes from Luke’s Gospel in the New Testament. They may be separated by a large chunk of time, but we, today, need that first reading to fully understand the second which is the story we really want to look into today.
The important point from Exodus is that when Moses came down from Sinai, “the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.”
Now, Peter, James and John would have known this story from their scriptures and would therefore have entirely understood the reference being made when Jesus later stood before the three with his face and clothes shining. They would have recognized that what had just happened was not some random event but the sign that Jesus had stood in the very presence of God, just 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 Hebrew Scriptures – and told down through the centuries into the New Testament where it’s promises come to pass in Jesus.
Peter, John, and James, that day, 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 the deep reality around us.
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 shining, son of God, Chosen One – but they also saw the Jesus they knew – the one they had traveled the territory with, shared meals with, and so often witnessed healing the sick and the broken. They saw both and they understood that they truly are one and the same Jesus.
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.” Maybe it’s not what we expect to see -- so we don’t. That’s why eye-witness accounts can sometimes be so very unreliable.
But in God’s world, 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 – a shiny reality more real than anything else we’ve ever seen.
I’ve had such moments. I expect we all have had them. I may doubt many things (and I do), but about this central fact -- that God’s holiness is always present all around me -- there is no doubt in my mind. None.
And at rare moments I am even blessed to see it.
Today’s story requires two readings to fully understand what is going on here – two readings that fall about as far apart from each other as we can get in scripture. The first reading came from the Old Testament book of Exodus while the second comes from Luke’s Gospel in the New Testament. They may be separated by a large chunk of time, but we, today, need that first reading to fully understand the second which is the story we really want to look into today.
The important point from Exodus is that when Moses came down from Sinai, “the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.”
Now, Peter, James and John would have known this story from their scriptures and would therefore have entirely understood the reference being made when Jesus later stood before the three with his face and clothes shining. They would have recognized that what had just happened was not some random event but the sign that Jesus had stood in the very presence of God, just 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 Hebrew Scriptures – and told down through the centuries into the New Testament where it’s promises come to pass in Jesus.
Peter, John, and James, that day, 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 the deep reality around us.
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 shining, son of God, Chosen One – but they also saw the Jesus they knew – the one they had traveled the territory with, shared meals with, and so often witnessed healing the sick and the broken. They saw both and they understood that they truly are one and the same Jesus.
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.” Maybe it’s not what we expect to see -- so we don’t. That’s why eye-witness accounts can sometimes be so very unreliable.
But in God’s world, 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 – a shiny reality more real than anything else we’ve ever seen.
I’ve had such moments. I expect we all have had them. I may doubt many things (and I do), but about this central fact -- that God’s holiness is always present all around me -- there is no doubt in my mind. None.
And at rare moments I am even blessed to see it.
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