Luke 9:28 About
eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and
went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his
face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two
men, Moses and Elijah, 31 appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus.
They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at
Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became
fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As the
men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, it is good for us to
be here. Let us put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for
Elijah." (He did not know what he was saying.) 34 While he was speaking, a
cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the
cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I
have chosen; listen to him." 36 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.
As can be
readily gathered from the text, this Sunday is Transfiguration Sunday. For the
preacher, it's the sort of Sunday that is on the one hand quite easy in terms
of planning, and on the other hand entails some difficulty.
It is easy
in the sense that one needn't spend much time mulling over which text to preach
on. It's obvious. Transfiguration Sunday means preaching on the Gospel text,
even for those who don't already observe the custom of regular Gospel-text
sermons. A lot can also be made at the "atmospheric level." We are
getting ready to say goodbye to the Sundays after Epiphany. In a few short days
Ash Wednesday will be here and we will be in Lent. That is a major mood change.
Liturgically, having a Sunday with a set theme like Transfiguration Sunday
functions as a 'bridge' between the two seasons and their vast differences in
terms of focus.
The tricky
part is that the story is so familiar. We hit it every year as we pass from
Epiphany Sundays to Lent. Even on the three year lectionary with the built in
differences between the individual Gospels, the nuts and bolts of the story are
always the same: Jesus, Peter, James and John are on the mountain. Jesus is
joined by Moses and Elijah. They're conversing, but the exact content of their
discussion is not revealed. Jesus is 'altered' in some way in his appearance.
Peter wants to build 3 'booths'... one for each of the holy figures. The voice
says this is my beloved son, etc. In the end, nine out of ten times the sermon
becomes something about "mountain top experiences" and how they're
sure nice when they happen, but they can't be preserved; there's work to get on
with down off that mountain. That's even the flow of one of the most beloved
hymns of the hymnal "Tis Good Lord to be Here."
One
somewhat interesting approach is to come at each of the Gospel versions within
the context of their own sitz em leben ... the circumstances surrounding the
context of their writing. In the case of Luke--an extremely Gentile-friendly
Gospel--it has been noted by boatloads of scholars that a primary concern of
Luke's Gospel is to show the Empire that the message of Jesus of Nazareth is
not a threat. Jesus and his disciples may have started out as Palestinian Jews,
but unlike the Zealots and young rabble rousers of mid 60s AD Palestine, they
did not preach open revolt against Rome. Furthermore, many pious Jews accepted
Jesus and his kingdom not of this world, but the Jewish leadership as a whole
did not. In terms of continued relevance in God's unfolding plan for the world,
therefore, a Judaism without Jesus, would be no longer relevant. (very
politically incorrect to say these days, but that is most certainly the point
of much of the New Testament narrative).
And so
with this in mind, what does one find when approaching Luke's Transfiguration
account? We find Jesus atop a mountain with two of the Old Testament's greatest
mountain top heroes, Moses (Mt. Sinai) and Elijah (Mt. Carmel). Moses talked to
God face to face and received the Torah from him. Moses was the hand-picked
captain to lead the Exodus of God's people from slavery to redemption (note:
they were not led from slavery to freedom; they switched masters from
evil/oppressive Pharaoh to their Redeemer loving/gracious Yahweh). And then
Elijah atop his mountain exercised perfect faith/obedience to Yahweh; vastly
outnumbered... and with everyone against him from the king on down (remember
Ahab and Jezebel?) Elijah prayed fire down from heaven and then slew the false
prophets of Baal. In terms of MOUNTAIN TOP HEROES, they didn't get any better
than Moses & Elijah. In terms of collecting "hero trading cards"
everyone would want a Moses & Elijah card. They were the Babe Ruth and Lou
Gehrig of the Old Testament.
So what
does that mean for Luke? Here are these two great figures of Israelite lore
standing WITH JESUS. They're talking with him, but they are not arguing or
jousting with him like the Pharisees; they're not clamoring for his death like
the Chief Priest and Sanhedrin; and they're not shouting "crucify him,
crucify him" like the unruly Jerusalem mob. They are there to 'endorse'
him; they are there to say, in effect, your mountain top experience, especially
your eventual one atop Mt. Calvary, will eclipse ours. What ours was about was
a mere shadow of what you're here to do.
And as the
story unfolds, it's nice that Peter would like to build a booth for all
three--Moses, Elijah, and Jesus--but in the end such honorific thinking
mistakenly puts all three on the same footing. Two things set that record
straight: the heavenly voice commands that we listen to the beloved son; listen
to him as perfect expositor of EVERYTHING that Moses and Elijah were about, but
listen to him alone (not the other rabbis, not the tradition of the elders,
etc. etc.). The other salient matter is that in the end, Moses and Elijah
disappear, leaving only Christ. This is not to say that the Old Testament is no
longer relevant, but it is to say that the whole epoch has its culmination and
fulfillment in Christ. There is no such thing as a legitimate understanding of
Moses & Elijah apart from Jesus.
One last
observation on the command listen to him. Typically we like to listen to
winners. Listen to General Patton because he's a battle-hardened winner. Listen
to George Halas because he's a winner. Listen to EF Hutton because he's a
winner. As disciples of Jesus, we are told to listen to the one who preached
forgiveness, not retribution; listen to the one who said pray for our enemies;
listen to the one who said we can't serve two masters, God and money; listen to
the one who willingly left his mountain top of glory for a mountain top of
universal service for others. It sorta redefines God's view of 'winning.'
Cheers,
TM
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