Luke 9:28-36, (37-43)
28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with
him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And
while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes
became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly
they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31 They
appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to
accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now
Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had
stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 Just
as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us
to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one
for Elijah"—not knowing what he said. 34 While
he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified
as they entered the cloud. 35 Then
from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen
to him!" 36 When
the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those
days told no one any of the things they had seen. [37 On the next day, when
they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38 Just
then a man from the crowd shouted, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son;
he is my only child. 39 Suddenly
a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he
foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. 40 I
begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not." 41 Jesus
answered, "You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I
be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here." 42 While
he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus
rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 43 And
all were astounded at the greatness of God.]
and they were terrified as they entered the cloud.
·
Jesus took his friends up the
mountain and was transfigured before them. That’s just what our reading says.
Of course, the presence of Moses and Elijah and the voice of God coming from
the cloud are added to the mix.
·
Our reading begins with a reminder of
what went before: Now about eight days after these sayings… The sayings are Jesus’ question to the
disciples regarding his identity, Peter’s declaration that Jesus is the Messiah
of God, and Jesus’ words about his own death and the necessity of each of us
taking up our cross.
·
Just a little more than a week later
- Now about eight days after these sayings - Jesus is transfigured on
the mountain, spoke with Moses and Elijah, has his identity confirmed by the
voice of the Father, dealt with the terror of Peter, James, and John, and
returned to everyday life as we might call it.
·
In one brief incident, the past, the
present, and the future are all there. The past can be seen in the presence of
Moses the Law-giver, and Elijah the prophet who is the model for all the Hebrew
prophets. Whatever Jesus said and did built on the foundation of Law and the
Prophets. Jesus even said that he was the fulfillment of the Law. His concerns
for justice and for the poor and the alienated is in line with all that any of
the prophets said.
·
The present is seen in the experience
of Jesus and the disciples and in the incident that is seen the next day with
the possessed boy and the inability of the disciples to cast out the unclean
spirit. The exorcism of the unclean spirit, as fantastic as it may seem to us,
is the everyday in the understanding of the people of the times. To come down
the mountain after an even like the Transfiguration and to be faced with an
unclean spirit that the other disciples failed to cast out would be a cold slap
of reality.
·
The presence of the future needs some
explanation. What the disciples experienced on the mountain was extraordinary
to say the least. They saw Jesus in a different light and they saw him in his
glory. I don’t think we can say the three saw Jesus “as he really is”, because
they knew Jesus as he really is – a human teacher in the flesh, born of woman
and teaching the truth in the everyday world. What they did see was the
entirety of Jesus. In the Transfiguration, they perceived Jesus in his full
divinity as the glorious Word. Revealed as both God and man, Jesus was the
person they always knew; they just didn’t know all of him.
·
The future yet to be experienced
holds the full revelation of just who Jesus is. The disciples experienced this
in a way that they could not understand. Because of that, they were terrified.
Peter even began to say things that did not make sense, asking to build three
dwellings on the mountain for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Luke says Peter didn’t
really know what he said. That’s no surprise since Peter is always the first
among the disciples to speak his mind, whether or not his thoughts were fully
formed.
·
After the events on the mountain, Peter,
James, and John remained silent about what they had experienced. Silence was
probably the best response. I don’t know what they could have said. They must
have spent time trying to make sense of all these things, especially digesting
the new understanding they received of a “suffering Messiah.”
·
This section of Luke’s Gospel reveals
a lot about Jesus, who he is, and what his mission is.
·
He will not be the Messiah that
people expect, setting up an earthly kingdom with all its privilege, court
etiquette, and power politics.
·
He expects his disciples to follow
him in the way of the cross, the way he walked. He also makes his disciples
part of the story of the Kingdom and of salvation, not simply spectators.
·
He would reveal his glory in two
ways, both of which are absolutely true; his glory is seen where we’d like to
see it - in the cloud, the voice, and the presence on the mountain. His glory
is seen every bit as much in the place we’d rather not see it – on the cross.
·
Luke says the three disciples,
apparently Jesus’ closest friends, were terrified by their experience on the
mountain top. Going aside to pray, they would expect; these are the same disciples
who accompanied Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane. What they say and heard on
the mountain, they did not expect and they had to mull it over for quite a
while. It would take the Resurrection for it all to make sense.
·
It might not be any different for us.
We build on the revelation of the Hebrew Bible. We hear the words of Christ,
calling us to a new life and a new creation. We don’t live on the mountain of
light and cloud, but on streets where we and all sorts of people travel to a
hopeful and an as-yet unknown future. We know the story and we still look to
the greatest of mysteries, the Resurrection, to make sense of it all.
·
Fellow disciples, don’t be afraid…
even if you’re confused and scared to death. Remember what the voice on the
mountain said: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
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