TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY Year A February 19, 2023
Exodus
24:12-18 • Psalm 2 or Psalm 99 • 2
Peter 1:16-21 • Matthew 17:1-9
Today we are celebrating Transfiguration Sunday. We all know the story… Jesus took a couple of
his close followers up on the mountain and they, literally, had a mountain top
experience of God. But why? Why did it happen that way and why is it
something we need to know about?
Our scripture Journey begins with Moses. The LORD called Moses to come up the mountain
and receive instructions. Those
instructions are what we know as the Law of God – The Ten Commandments.
You may have noticed that there are themes running though
the Sunday readings that continue through for a number of weeks and there has recently
been a theme of Light… This theme of
light we find in today’s readings also, but there has been another theme present
in the last few weeks, which is still present in today’s readings also…. A
theme of God’s Law.
Mostly, we as the forgiven, redeemed and sanctified
people of God, overlook this aspect… and we focus predominantly on the Light of
Christ, who achieved salvation for us.
The theme of God’s Law is not actually secondary. I liken God’s Law as being like the law of
gravity is for those aeroplanes using the law of aerodynamics. We all fly in aeroplanes, grateful for the
speed at which we can cover long distances. At the same time, we never forget or belittle
the law of gravity, but instead we have a healthy respect for it, as do all
those who utilize the law of aerodynamics.
Similarly, we live in the joyful and grateful reality of
God’s grace – which I liken to that law of aerodynamics. We can fly, but we must always be aware that
gravity exists… God’s divine and perfect law is a constant, unchangeable
law. God’s law explains the nature of
and perfection of God. The law of God
was officially given through Moses.
Who was Moses? He
was a mere human. He was a condemned
Israelite baby, dramatically rescued from assured death by being hidden in a
basket on the river. He was rescued by
the daughter of Pharaoh, teaching us that God is happy to use the good of
outsiders to achieve his plan. Moses was brought up as an Egyptian
Prince. As a young adult he wrestled
with his true identity as an Israelite. He
became confused about who he was and where he belonged and he ran out into the
desert. There, after a time of rest, he encountered
God in the burning bush and this led to him returning as a leader of God’s
people, who were about to be rescued and called out of Egypt and out of slavery. These people would all be called into the
desert to discover their true identity.
Forty days or forty years…. Surely it is no coincidence that the number
40 is repeated many times in the Bible.
Forty is the number for testing, trial, probation and preparation. But note that before Moses spent forty days
and nights up on the mountain, he spent 6 days waiting for God to call
him. After 6 days of the cloud, the
glory of God, covering the mountain, God called Moses to come up and receive
the law of God. Guess who else was
called after 6 days?
Our Gospel reading begins, “Six days later, Jesus took
with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain,
by themselves.” This is written in the
Gospel of Matthew who was writing for the Jewish people, who would have been
familiar with the scriptures and, who would’ve understand that there was
something profound being indicated by this little preface about 6 days.
The Sixth day was the day that God made mankind. Six is man’s number, the completion of creation,
and we read that after the sixth day waiting for God on the Mountain, Moses was
called into the presence of God to receive the law. The past was completed and the nation was to
be called into the “rest”… the Blessing.
For the nation of Israel, who been enslaved and governed by Egypt for so
long, this also indicated their new identity as their own nation. Their time with Egypt was completed… they
would receive their own code…. Their own way of being a nation… their own
religion… their own God.
Of course, we need to note that Israel had already been
called by God to be his own chosen nation, but the people, so long in the land
of the Egyptians, were having an identity crisis. Yes, they always knew that they were
Israelites, God’s favoured nation, but beyond that, they didn’t
understand. Some of the way of thinking
of the Egyptians had infected the Israelites, just as our culture has a way of
infecting all of us. To be influenced
and changed by our culture isn’t always a bad thing, depending on what that
culture is and what are the influences. In
Egypt, Israel had become somewhat confused by worshiping other gods and had
developed many practises that were somewhat depraved, and we get a hint of what
these were by noting some of the practises that Moses explicitly condemned,
recorded in the book of Leviticus.
I am sure that it was not lost on the original readers of
Matthew’s Gospel that it was after 6 days that Jesus called Peter, James and
John up the Mountain. This is
significant. Moses went up after 6 days
and he received the sacred Law. What was
it that Peter, James and John received?
Moses after 6 days entered into the cloud of the glory of
God. Check out what is said to Peter,
James and John; “…. suddenly a bright
cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son,
the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!"
Moses received the Law on tablets of stone. Peter, James and John received Jesus. Jesus is that tablet upon which the law is
written. Jesus did not come to abolish
the law and the prophets – but to fulfil it. The law and the prophets, is represented on
the Mountain by Moses and Elijah. Jesus
is the ultimate law and the ultimate prophet.
The connection with the first giving of the law on tablets of stone and
the story of Jesus on this mountain was a definite message to those early
Jewish Christians, who understood their history of the giving of the Law.
In our Letter from Saint Peter, he refers to and explains
this very event and he begins by stating; “For we did not follow cleverly
devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
The issue Saint Peter is dealing with, is the divinity of
Jesus. Our faith is part history. A person called Jesus, known as the Christ
existed and was recorded historically as performing great deeds. Many people believe this much…. Or at least
they should because it isn’t a matter of faith, but a fact. However, the nature of Christ, his divinity
and all that encompasses, is a matter of faith.
If you were on that Mountain and witnessed Jesus
transformed, would it still be a matter of faith? What if you could hear about it from an eye
witness? In fact, there were three eye
witnesses.
You see, we, and those early Jewish Christians, for whom
Peter was writing, are much like the Israelites were at the time that God
called Moses up the Mountain. We know
that God loves us and that Jesus died for our sins. We’ve been told that Jesus rose from the
dead, but my question for us to ponder is this; has it impacted our identity? Are we walking in this new reality?
All that Jesus is- His divine nature, and His being the
embodiment of the sacred Law of God, … and then our being united to Christ
through our baptism, is meant to impact our identity. We too need to be transformed.
The celebration of God giving the law is celebrated by
the Jewish people, fifty days after the second Passover… they call it Shavuot,
also known as the feast of the Harvest – It is also known more commonly to us
as Pentecost…. The timing for God
sending his Holy Spirit was no coincidence.
By God’s Holy Spirit, Jesus, who is the embodiment of the
Law, is given to be with us always. We
have a union with the sacred law, because we have Jesus with us always. We should not take God’s name in vain, we
should not worship other Gods… we should love our neighbour…. We should… but in
our own strength, our natural being, we can’t – but we have God, the Holy
Spirit in us who can – He is our teacher, guide and comforter that will never
leave, nor forsake us, who, if we are deliberately willing, can do all this in
and through us.
We think we are mere mortals, and we are often dismayed
and disheartened by our weak humanity, but we are the chosen people of
God. We are Chosen to have Christ’s
SHINE HIS LIGHT through us. Peter was
impetuous. John and James were known as
the sons of thunder. Moses was a
stutterer, confused and dismayed by his failure, he ran away. God chose these people. He loves to choose those the world might
consider disqualified. But these people were
all transformed by their relationship with God.
God desires for us to have this kind of relationship with him… not just encounter him. He is with us. He is in us… He is Jesus the Law keeper… He is the Holy Spirit – the Power of God. So… who are we? Not actually mere mortals, but through our baptism we are changed. We have a new identity and we are now the children of the living God. We are called to be transformed.
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