e-vo for week of February 15

Dearest e-votees-

This coming Sunday is the last Sunday of Epiphany. It is the Sunday when we commemorate the Transfiguration of Our Lord. Each of the synoptic gospel writers show up in our lectionary. Matthew (17:1-9, year A), Mark (9:2-9, year B—this year) and Luke (9:28-36 [37-43], year C). 2 Peter 1:16-21 also mentions the Transfiguration and shows up on year A of the lectionary and is the only direct reference in the writings of Peter to any event of Jesus’ ministry that Peter witnessed. Interesting to ponder that of all the experiences that Peter experienced during the life and ministry of Jesus this is the only one that got such a mention. What was so profoundly meaningful about this experience to outshine all the others? What epiphany did the Transfiguration evoke in Peter?

Peace,
Karl

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2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Mark 9:2-9, NRSV

Questions that come to mind as we linger in this text:

• Why was Andrew (the fourth of the fishing partners) left standing on the chain-link fence?

• How did Peter know that it was Elijah and Moses?

• What in the world (or was it beyond this world?) did Jesus, Elijah and Moses talk about?

• Did the disciples make the connection with the Tabernacle of the Old Testament and God eventually coming to tabernacle with God’s people in Revelation 21:3?

• Did the disciples make the connection with the voice speaking from the torn open sky at Jesus’ baptism?

• Why didn’t Jesus want the Transfiguration to be revealed for a while?

• What did Peter, James and John hear when Jesus said “after the Son of Man had risen from the dead”? What did they understand?


This experience was vivid and memorable (see 2 Peter 1:17-18). This experience was beyond the normal experience (and not just for outstanding laundering abilities). This experience was transcendent and formative and unsettling and divine. This experience was terrifying and could evoke the “fear of the Lord” in all its many nuances.

Have you had experiences that were so vivid and real and transcendent and other-worldly and unsettling? If so, do you share them with others or keep them under your hat until an opportune time? Do these experiences make things clear and vivid or do they draw you up into the mysteries of God which can sometimes seem more like looking through a dim reflection in a mirror? What sense do we modern, practical, over-burdened and under-timed folks make of something like the Transfiguration?

A few assertions and thoughts that come to mind as we face the week ahead:

• We may feel like Andrew on the chain-link fence but God never leaves us nor forsakes us and Jesus has a penchant for fringe-dwellers.

• God doesn’t sever ties from the past so much as bring things to completion and fulfillment and moves on to fuller expressions and understandings (maybe that’s why Moses and Elijah were involved in this moment).

• There are all sorts of things we might like to know about God and God’s ways in the world. There are lots of details about Jesus to which we are not privy. They may be interesting but they aren’t necessary. God meets us reliably in water, bread, wine and word. In those places God says all that we truly need to hear.

• God can still speak through extraordinary visions, experiences and revelations. Should we be so blessed we should be grateful. We should never let our powerful personal experiences become some sort of litmus test for the faith of others. What may be crucial and formative for us need not be normative for others.

• What do we hear when Jesus says “after the Son of Man had risen from the dead?” What do we understand? The answers to these questions have a profound and lasting impact on who we are and how we make our way through this world and beyond.

• The Transfiguration is public-domain now. How do we let this experience shape us? How do we participate in this experience shaping the world?


God, draw us up into this deep, powerful, evocative and holy moment of the Transfiguration. Transfigure us so that we reflect your likeness more readily. Teach us to learn what it truly means to fear the Lord in the best sense. Help us hear your voice which calls us “beloved” too. Help us see your image in others and call them “beloved” too. Amen.