Transfiguration Sunday
2 Kings 2:1-12
Psalm 50:1-6
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Mark 9:2-9
Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
grace and peace to you from the one who reveals God. Amen
We have reached the Transfiguration,
the mountain top experience
that is the tipping point in the story of Jesus’ life,
after this it’s all downhill as it were
to Jerusalem and the cross.
Leading up to this point
Jesus has been baptized by John,
tempted by the devil,
called disciples,
began his public ministry of healing
and proclaiming the good news that the kingdom of God has come near.
He’s sent his disciples to proclaim this good news too
and performed signs like feeding thousands
with just a bit of bread
and walking on water.
News about Jesus has spread
attracting attention both positive and negative.
So far only the unclean spirits
seem to know who Jesus is
and he is constantly shushing them,
while other theories
about how Jesus fits into the story of Israel are abundant.
Finally, six days ago
Jesus sat his disciples down
and asked them straight out
“who do people say that I am? And they answered him, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets. He asked them, But who do you say that I am?”
and Peter opens his big mouth
and gets the right answer for once saying
“You are the Messiah”
and just like the unclean spirits
Jesus shushes him,
and then goes on to teach them what it means that he is the messiah
- that he will undergo suffering, rejection, be killed,
and after three days rise again.
And this clashes so greatly with Peter’s concept
of what it means to be the Messiah
that he concludes that Jesus must be possessed
and tries to perform an exorcism on him,
only to have Jesus turn and rebuke him
“get behind me Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
At this point the disciples know that Jesus is the Messiah,
but they are less clear on what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah.
How can Jesus be the Messiah
and yet undergo what he says is going to happen?
And it is in this supremely confused mindset
that Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up the mountain
and God affirms for them
that whatever else happens in the days to come
that Jesus does fit into the story of God and the people
and that he is blessed by God.
Jesus takes Peter and James and John up on this high mountain
and he is transfigured before them,
his clothes turn a dazzling white,
a sign that something extraordinary is happening.
And then the disciples see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah.
Moses, who God chose to lead the people from slavery to freedom,
Moses who on another mountain
received the law from God
and who in turn taught the people the law,
the way of life.
And then there’s Elijah,
one of the great prophets,
the prophets sent by God
to call the people back into relationship with God
when they strayed away from the covenant of Moses.
Elijah who we heard in our first reading
how God took up to heaven
even as he passed along the job to the next in line, Elisha.
The law and the prophets are the cornerstones of the faith,
and here the disciples see their representatives speaking with Jesus,
as if to show that Jesus is the next in line to lead the people.
And Peter gets excited,
this is more like what he imagined
the experience of the messiah to be,
and he wants to stay on the mountain forever
and as he suggests this
“a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘this is my Son the beloved; listen to him.’”
There can be no confusing things now,
whatever else they experience,
they have heard the voice of God
claiming Jesus as beloved Son.
Jesus is more than just the next in line,
he is the one.
They are to listen to him
but not only does he teach good news,
he is the good news.
Jesus is the gospel.
Jesus reveals God.
Jesus is God.
And then the clouds lift
and all they see is Jesus.
He’s all they need.
And Jesus leads them back down the mountain,
back down to Jerusalem and the utter foolishness of the cross
that will seem contrary to everything God stands for,
and yet is how God chooses to act.
But as confused and despairing the disciples may be,
they will always have their mountain top moment,
when they heard the voice of God
affirm the truth before them.
Jesus knows that in the coming days
Peter will deny him,
and the rest of the disciples will abandon him
but he also knows
that when they hear the women on Easter morning exclaim
‘we have seen the Lord’
they will remember this moment
and they will listen for what comes next.
Most of a life of faith
is lived in the valleys rather than on the mountain tops.
If we’re lucky we’ll maybe experience
one or two transfigurations in a lifetime,
moments of such clarity and connection to God
that it can be no one else.
And then we have to head back down the mountain
to regular life and the utter foolishness
of how God chooses to act in the world
and sometimes it will be too much
and we will deny Jesus or abandon him,
and then in the depths of our despair
Jesus will send someone,
fresh from their own encounter with God
to proclaim to us
“I have seen the Lord’
and we will remember our experience on the mountain top,
and we listen for what comes next.
New life. Amen
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