The Transfiguration of our Lord February 22, 2004.

Exodus 34:29-35

Psalm 99

2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2

Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)

First Reading

The Transfiguration of our Lord marks the transition from the Sundays after the Epiphany to the season of Lent. On the mountain, the light and glory of God are revealed in Jesus, a central theme of Epiphany, but this light and glory are revealed along with disclosure of Jesus' pending departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem (Lk 9:31). The Gospel reading is Luke's account of the transfiguration; the Old Testament and Epistle readings highlight different dimensions of this event in the life of the Christ.

Moses returns from Mount Sinai with new covenant tablets. God's will for the way God's people conduct their lives is as concrete as the tablets that Moses carries. That this direction comes from God is as obvious as Moses' shining skin. While the people of Israel are frightened by Moses' appearance, Moses does not seem to be aware that his face has been transformed. Through the use of a veil, Moses does not allow the nearness of God's presence and power to become something the people overlook. In Moses' face the people come face-to-face with the nearness of their God.

Using biblical typology as his method of interpretation (see Satterlee and Ruth, Creative Preaching on the Sacraments), Paul treats Moses as a type of the apostles and their ministry. Like Moses' ministry, the ministry of the apostles is a revelation of God's glory. Paul argues that Moses used the veil to hide the fact that the shining skin on Moses' face faded in the time between Moses' visits with God. By contrast, the apostles are bold because their hope is in the permanence of God's glory in Christ. Paul also uses "veil" to describe the people's inability or unwillingness to see God's glory in Christ.

By referring to "these sayings" (9:28; cf. 9:18-27), Luke intends that the Transfiguration be understood in terms of Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection and the cost of discipleship. Jesus goes up a mountain. Like Moses, Jesus journeys to a place of revelation, to a place of prayer and communion with God. Jesus takes with him his inner circle of disciples, those who will witness to the Transfiguration. On the mountain Jesus prays, and his face, that which makes Jesus recognizable as Jesus, changes. Like Moses, Jesus' face shines as Jesus is in the presence of God. Jesus' clothes become dazzling white, another symbol of the presence of God. Moses and Elijah appear, and Peter, James, and John see them. The presence of Moses and Elijah points to Jesus as the Messiah. Like Jesus, they manifest the presence and brilliance of God. Moses and Elijah converse with Jesus about his pending departure (in Greek "exodus"). Jesus' death on the cross will bring freedom and liberation. Jesus' death and resurrection are grounded in Moses and Elijah, the Law and the Prophets, as part of God's plan of salvation. Peter wants to build tents and hold on to the moment. But God appears and, echoing Jesus' baptism, announces that God is well pleased. God's instruction to the disciples is to listen to Jesus. In words prior to the Transfiguration and in actions after, Jesus teaches that God's glory is to be found in Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection.