The unveiled glory of the gospel
Commentary
Throughout the year there are special ceremonies in which certain people shine. The Oscars celebrate the movies; the Emmy Awards, television; the Tony Awards, Broadway; Country Music Awards, the best in country and western style music, and so on. Nominations are made and voting takes place to select a person who has excelled in his or her professional field. Something similar happened last summer in Sydney, Australia, at the Olympic Games. The glory of athletic competition and excellence will be beamed around the world for all to watch. Each competitor is seeking to stand on the highest platform in recognition of the best performance at that time. A gold medal is presented and received. What added satisfaction there is, if a record has been broken in the event! Whose story of triumph will capture our attention, like Lance Armstrong's story already has, coming back from cancer to win the Tour de France two years in a row?
It is that time in the year for the Christian church to conduct a special ceremony to celebrate how Jesus shines in the world -- yesterday, today, and forever. It is not so much that he receives our acclamation, although he would cherish that. It is, rather, that he receives the heavenly Father's confidence in his particular field of endeavor -- the salvation of the world. We witnessed it at the time of his baptism in the beginning of this season of Epiphany. Now, at the close of the Epiphany season, we witness it once again. Although we have moved from a river to a mountain, the voice is still the same, affirming Jesus as the Beloved. God the Father is pleased with him and we should listen to him.
Exodus 34:29-35
Mountains always have had importance for people around the globe from culture to culture. Whether for military advantage, the construction of a city or temple or monastery, a place to retreat, a subject for art, a symbol of the gods, or a place to meet God, mountains figure prominently in the landscape. Moses received his call from Yahweh on Mount Horeb to lead the people out of bondage (Exodus 3:1-11). After he accomplished that task, he received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-20). In an action parable expressing the anger of God and the disgust of Moses upon seeing the people break covenant so easily and so quickly (Exodus 32; the golden calf), the stone tablets were dashed upon the rocks; God's Law ultimately breaks upon us, revealing our rebellion! Thus, it was that a second edition of the two stone tablets was so quickly needed.
The glow that Moses had when he first came down the mountain was red hot anger. He put a sword into the hands of the Levites and exacted a high price upon the people for their insolent idolatry (Exodus 32:25-29). This second time down the mountain, however, was different. "The skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God" (34:29). The people's initial reaction was one of fear and trepidation. But, they soon got over it and drew near to Moses to hear what the Lord God had told him. Besides the Ten Commandments, there were many ordinances provided for community, culinary, and cultic behavior.
What is striking about this account is that here Moses' face contains a glory and needs to be veiled in the presence of the people. This is a visual sign to the people that Moses has indeed been talking with God and now bears God's very words to the people. It is interesting to note that initially on the mountain, as recorded in Exodus 24:16-17, it is the glory of the Lord that appears directly. This is fitting for the Holy One first and foremost, and then for his servant, Moses, to reflect that glory. On a later mountain, Jesus alone will bear such a glorious appearance. The voice of God will speak and confirm him as the one to listen to, for he now bears God's very words to the people. In fact, he is God's living word to the people.
One might ask what purpose the shine on Moses' face serves. It manifests the fact that Moses has indeed conversed with God. He himself reflects the glory of the Lord and also the glory of the precious Law that has been entrusted to the people from the heart of God. The Law reveals the splendor of God because it is an expression and an extension of his holy will. The Law defines God's intentions for his people, how they can live their lives within the context of this world. So solid, true, good, and enduring is this Law, that Jesus said he did not come to abolish the Law and the prophets, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17). Paul, when he writes about the Law asks if it is sin. To which he replies himself, that it is not. "By no means!" (Romans 7:7).
One might ask what purpose the veil serves. Practically and psychologically speaking, the veil serves the purpose of hiding the glory reflected in Moses' face, so that the people can concentrate on God's Word directly and not be sidetracked by the messenger. In addition, it serves to keep Moses' ego in check, so that he remembers that he represents God to the people, not himself. What would happen if we were to reintroduce the veil for televangelism? Do you think anyone would listen better to the content of what is presented? Do you think the televangelist would continue in the ministry? What other interesting questions could be raised in the context of parish ministry if the veil were to be part of the pastor's/staff's attire?
2 Corinthians 3:12--4:2
Was the Corinthians church itself the thorn in Paul's flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7)? What a contentious congregation! His first letter, though well-written and exquisitely argued, did not have the desired effect of healing the divisions that were apparent there. A second, more stern letter followed, some of which may be argued to be contained in 2 Corinthians 10-13. Yet, troubles persisted. Evidence of this is that Paul had to spend a good portion of 2 Corinthians in defense of his ministry, which was under attack by those who had significant theological differences with him.
Always at stake for Paul is the right understanding between the Law and the Gospel. Paul acknowledges that the Law is from God and is perfect and holy. But, the Christian cannot use the Law to cozy up to God. It may, in fact, reveal God's will for our lives, in terms of how we should live pleasing to God, in covenant with the promises of God. It may, in fact, promise life, as the people of God live within the parameters defined by the Law. For example, the Fourth Commandment clearly expresses a promised blessing as one honors father and mother. But, Paul recognizes that the Law, in fact, functions differently in our lives on this side of Eden. In fact, it reveals our sins. Not only this, it actually revives sin within us and we die. "The very commandment which promised life proved to be death to me" (Romans 7:10).
It is in this light that Paul reflects upon the very scene which is described in our first text. He refers to the veil that Moses used to cover his face in order to shield the people from seeing the fading glory (splendor; doxa) of God, with whom he had just spoken. He, then, uses that image figuratively as he describes how living by the old covenant (the Law) is like wearing a veil that keeps one from seeing the glory of God in Jesus. "... Only through Christ is it taken away" (3:14). When one lives by the gospel of Jesus, who fulfills the Law for us and pays the price of our having broken the commandments, then one can see clearly the glory of God. The writer to the Hebrews puts it this way: "... In these last days he has spoken to us by a son ... He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature" (Hebrews 1:2, 3).
The veil (kalumma, used only four times in the New Testament and all in this text), that is the Law, keeps us from seeing the freedom that the Christian has in the Lord. It is the Lord who sets us free from the demands of the Law, because he has fulfilled them for us and thereby set them aside as requiring anything from us. "For freedom Christ has set us free," Paul proclaims to a congregation which was in danger of accepting the demands of the Law to mentor them to God (Galatians 5:1). Only Christ Jesus can do that, for he is the glory of God! When a person turns to the Lord, then, God can be seen not only as real, but also as really present with us. This Christo-centric perspective is what is fundamental about Christianity and is what distinguishes it from other religious traditions.
Having made this point, Paul returns to the issue of his credentials, simply claiming that he has his ministry from God and that he will not lose heart. He had stated earlier that the believers in Corinth were themselves his best witnesses to the authenticity of his ministry. "You yourselves are our letter of recommendation" (3:2). Now, he underscores his legitimacy and commends himself by virtue of his upright way of dealing with all matters, renouncing "disgraceful, underhanded ways" (4:2).
Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)
Again, to a mountain. Initially, simply to pray. Ascend the slope physically, as the spirit ascends to heaven spiritually to draw near to the heavenly Father. Was James remembering the experience on the mountain when he wrote in his letter, "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you" (James 4:8); and again, "The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effect" (James 5:16b)? One wonders if the experience of transfiguration was a surprise to Jesus himself. There is no indication that he anticipated anything like this. His passion he foreknew. He spoke about it often with his disciples to prepare them for what was to come. But, this! Something so sublime snuck up on him, let alone the others, that they were all left speechless when it was over and they had come down physically and emotionally from the mountain. If this be so, we see a different side of Jesus than what Mark or Matthew lets us see. There, Jesus has composure after the event to instruct his inner circle to keep silent about the experience. A little redaction is taking place as Matthew inserts the answer to the coming-of-Elijah question (Matthew 17:9f) and Mark anticipates the resurrection glory by Jesus' conditioner for releasing the news (Mark 9:9f).
The transfiguration story is a fitting closing to the season of Epiphany. God makes known the divine glory through the person of Jesus, historically connected to the creation, so that the whole world may see the luminous presence of God. The voice provides a benediction over Jesus, confirming him as the Son of God, chosen and beloved, to speak God's Word to the world. To underscore this, the two premier figures of the Old Testament appear with Jesus momentarily. Moses, the great giver of the Law, and Elijah, the great prophet. All that Jesus came to fulfill in the Law and the prophets are embodied in the presence of these two personages. For Jesus and the disciples the point is clear. The world is at a stargate portal, as it were, when all that has been is preliminary and all that is to come is sequel. Paul would describe it as a new age. Jesus holds the key of this stargate portal, hence the directive to "listen to him" (9:35).
The word used here, akouw, simply means "listen." It can also have the connotation "come to know." More than just listening to Jesus, like a student may listen to a professor give a lecture, the disciple is to come to know Jesus and in the knowledge of that relationship experience the wholeness of life (salvation) that comes through him, as the chosen one through whom the gift is given. This is underscored by the healing miracle that directly follows the transfiguration, when a boy who is seized by an unclean spirit is made whole (9:37-43). This is why Peter addresses Jesus as Master. Moses and Elijah are important in their own right, in their own place and time. But, Jesus for all time and all places is the Master through whom is revealed the glory of God (epiphany), which faith, the "unveiled face" (2 Corinthians 3:18), can perceive.
As wonderful as the transfiguration may be, it points beyond itself to an event that is a greater epiphany of God, namely Jesus' "departure" (9:31), which Moses and Elijah apparently came to speak about. It is probably not important to be privy to the particularities of the conversation. It is sufficient to understand that the departure (exodoz) refers to the culminating events of the crucifixion and resurrection which would take place at another venue. Just as Moses led the people out of bondage in Egypt, so would Jesus lead God's people out of bondage to sin and death. Just as Elijah was taken up into heaven in the fiery chariot, Jesus would be raised from the dead and transcend the gravity of the human condition in a glorified body. Though the transfiguration gives us a glimpse of the glory of God through Jesus, it points beyond itself to that time and place just outside Jerusalem, where the glory of God will be manifested in "good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over," to borrow some words from last Sunday's text (Luke 6:38).
So, it is now that the church turns to a new season, Lent, to help us anticipate the passion, death, and resurrection of our Master, to whom we should be listening daily, coming to know him better and better as we grow in the saving graces of relationship with him.
Application
Some folks will spend hours in a tanning booth during the winter, just so they may have an unseasonable summer glow and look good to others. Some folks will shy away from others who appear to have something special about themselves, especially if it is something special we don't have but wish we did (see Exodus 34:30). Wouldn't it be interesting if every Christian could be seen on sight? If it was totally apparent to others that this person or that person was a follower of Jesus? That it would be visible to others when we have been with the Lord in prayer? Or when we have been listening to him guide the nature of our ways?
What would happen if every Christian did what Moses did when he came off the mountain? He talked to the people and explained to them everything that the Lord had told him. He made the Lord's ways accessible to the people in clear terms. He made himself accessible to the people through simple conversation. He did not keep it to himself and simply go about his business; he shared his new-found understanding how the Lord's ways were to permeate every aspect of daily life. In a day when there is a growing cry for religion to be brought back into the public square, it would behoove every Christian to reflect and act upon how personal faith connects to community life and how knowledge of the Lord is to be shared openly through what we say and do in all our relationships and activities. Isn't this part of what Paul means when he writes, "Since we have such a hope, we are very bold" (2 Corinthians 3:12)?
We live in an age of secular, humanistic pluralism. It is politically correct to postulate that everyone has some form of the truth within them and no one has an exclusive corner-on-the-
market when it comes to truth. It is said with inclusive fervor that there are many roads to arrive at the truth, which may or may not have anything to do with a religious posture or a relationship with a living god. This can be understood as the pinnacle of human hubris, the climax of the modern age (despite talk of "post-modernism"), defined broadly as the last 500 years of Western civilization from the Renaissance to the present. Paul would call it a manifestation of the Law, that power to enslave ourselves to our own way of thinking. We become a law unto ourselves, believing ourselves to be God, writing the rules as we go to suit our desires and fancies. This is what Adam and Eve did in the Garden; they refused to remain the creature because they wanted to be like God. We lose our consciousness of sin, without which there is no Christianity (Kierkegaard). Indeed, there is a veil over our face! Only in Christ can it be taken away! Only in Christ Jesus can the truth be truly known, for he is "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).
As Christians we, "beholding the glory of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18), are witnesses of the presence of God in Christ. We are to make bold this witness in public affirmation, so that all may know the truth, which can set everyone free from the bondage of the Law. The power of the Law is broken only through the work of Christ. The Gospel calls each person into a living relationship with Jesus Christ in order to be set free. As Christians, then, we are to live "reflecting the glory of the Lord," being witnesses to point others to the presence of God in Christ, that they too may "listen to him," come to know him and find life in his name.
A final note on "booths." We live in a culture of distractions. For a moment on the mountain, Peter was distracted by the three personages and wanted to build a booth for each. Yet, when all was said and done, only Jesus remained before him. Christians, like everyone else, need help in staying focused on what is vital in order to avoid what Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death) calls our cultural "descent into a vast triviality." One sees signs of this triviality on Dateline, where the question is raised about what year did certain things happen on today's date; also, on CNN Headline News during Sports Trivia. In our age of exponentially expanding information, it will become easier and easier to become distracted by data and lose sight of meaning, to see the components and have no comprehensive understanding of the whole. Without denigrating knowledge and the need to have mastery over the parts in various fields of endeavor, Christians have the opportunity and the obligation to "lift high the cross" as the keynote to keep focused on the center of what is ultimately important. As we let the cross of Christ stand at the heart of all our human endeavors, we will be surprised by joy at how they can become transfigured into something more glorious than we could ever have imagined.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Exodus 34:29-35
The Israelites are at Mt. Sinai in our story from Exodus. They have been delivered from their slavery in Egypt by God, who has seen their affliction and heard their cries and out of undeserved grace come down to deliver them. As a result, the Israelites have entered into covenant with the Lord (Exodus 24:1-
11), and they have freely promised, "All that the Lord has spoken, we will do," (Exodus 19:8), "and we will be obedient" (Exodus 24:7). But then, the Israelites learn what is expected of them in their covenant with God. Moses ascends Mount Sinai and is given the Ten Commandments and the other laws from the Lord. These Moses is then instructed to pass on to his people who wait at the foot of the mountain.
Our passage for the morning comes from the priestly writers, and in that priestly source, Exodus 34:29 actually connects with 31:18. In Exodus 25-31, the Lord has given the plans for the building of the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, and the altar, and he has given instructions concerning the establishment of the priesthood. However, as the Book of Exodus is now arranged, the intervening material of chapters 32-34 has been inserted into the priestly framing account. Chapter 32 tells of Israel's worship of the golden calf and the Lord's fierce anger in response. Chapter 33 details the mediating institutions that the Lord establishes to allow him to continue with his people, despite his wrath against them. Chapter 34 contains an older form of the Decalogue, known as the Ritual Decalogue (34:12-26). Then our text for the morning picks up the priestly material, which is continued to the end of the book, 34:29--40:38.
The final shape of the priestly material comes from the time of the Babylonian exile, and it is intended to so shape Israel's life that she will be a people holy and obedient to her Lord, who will never again deserve the punishment of an exile at the hands of her God. Our particular text, however, is designed to affirm the fact that the laws which Moses delivers to the waiting people actually come from the Lord and are therefore authoritative for Israel's life. The sign of that authenticity is Moses' shining face.
When Moses descends from Mount Sinai with the tablets of the law in his hands, he is not aware of the fact that the skin of his face shines. (The Hebrew verb in verse 29 could also be translated "horned," and thus Michelangelo's famous statue of Moses depicts him with horns on his head.) The people however see the glow on Moses' face, and they are afraid, so that they will not approach him.
Whence comes that shining countenance? Verse 29 says that Moses' skin shines "because he had been talking with God." In other words, Moses has been in conversation with the "glory" (kabod) of the Lord. When the priestly writers talk about God's presence on earth, they describe God's "glory," which is a fiery light phenomenon. God, throughout the scriptures, dwells in light. In James 1:17, he is the "Father of lights." In 1 Timothy 6:15-16, God is "the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in approachable light." God's glory, God's light, is usually said in the scriptures to be surrounded by a cloud, which protects human beings because they cannot bear to look at God's shining effulgence (cf. Exodus 40:34-38). But a few persons, says the Bible, are granted the sight of God's bright glory. In the vision given to the prophet Ezekiel at the time of his call, he sees God's glory that has something like the appearance as it were of a human form, with fire round about (Ezekiel 1:26-28), and the sight causes Ezekiel to fall to the ground and to lapse into stunned silence for seven days. In the story of the Transfiguration, in our Gospel Lesson, Peter, James, and John see the Lord in his divine glory, with his countenance altered and his raiment dazzling white, and they are totally confused and then afraid when the cloud of God covers the mountain (Luke 9:28-36). And here in our Old Testament lesson Moses is allowed to speak to God "mouth to mouth" (cf. Numbers 12:8). He "beholds the form of the Lord." And so when he descends Mount Sinai, the skin of his face still reflects the light from his encounter with the God of glory. That is the proof for the Israelites that Moses has actually met with God and received commandments for Israel from the mouth of God.
So it is in our text that whenever Moses delivers God's law to the people, he leaves his face uncovered, just as he leaves it uncovered whenever he goes into the tabernacle to talk with God, and the people know because of Moses' shining face that the laws are from God. But after giving the laws, Moses puts a veil over his face to conceal its brightness during the routines of everyday.
The Apostle Paul refers to this Exodus text in 2 Corinthians 3:7-16, but Paul's purposes are very different there. He wants to show that the splendor of the new covenant in Jesus Christ far exceeds in glory the covenant and laws given through Moses. Paul believes that salvation is given not through works of the law, but through faith in Christ, and so to read the law as the way to salvation is to read with a veil over one's mind, and the veil is only removed by the freedom from the law given in Christ. We all, "with unveiled faces," Paul writes, behold the glory of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18).
You and I have seen the glory of the Lord -- that glory on which no one can look! How is that possible? God "has shone in our hearts," continues Paul, "to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). And the Gospel according to John agrees. "We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father" (John 1:14). In Jesus Christ, you and I, like Moses and Peter and James and John have seen God. "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). God became man in our Lord Jesus Christ. He stooped to our veiled weakness and revealed himself. And you and I now know who God is and what he is like. He is like Jesus. What Jesus is, God is, in all of his love and compassion, his demand and his command, his healing and mercy and salvation. And we no longer have to guess who God is or try to imagine his Person. He has made himself known through our faith to you and to me. And that, good Christians, is glorious.
It is that time in the year for the Christian church to conduct a special ceremony to celebrate how Jesus shines in the world -- yesterday, today, and forever. It is not so much that he receives our acclamation, although he would cherish that. It is, rather, that he receives the heavenly Father's confidence in his particular field of endeavor -- the salvation of the world. We witnessed it at the time of his baptism in the beginning of this season of Epiphany. Now, at the close of the Epiphany season, we witness it once again. Although we have moved from a river to a mountain, the voice is still the same, affirming Jesus as the Beloved. God the Father is pleased with him and we should listen to him.
Exodus 34:29-35
Mountains always have had importance for people around the globe from culture to culture. Whether for military advantage, the construction of a city or temple or monastery, a place to retreat, a subject for art, a symbol of the gods, or a place to meet God, mountains figure prominently in the landscape. Moses received his call from Yahweh on Mount Horeb to lead the people out of bondage (Exodus 3:1-11). After he accomplished that task, he received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-20). In an action parable expressing the anger of God and the disgust of Moses upon seeing the people break covenant so easily and so quickly (Exodus 32; the golden calf), the stone tablets were dashed upon the rocks; God's Law ultimately breaks upon us, revealing our rebellion! Thus, it was that a second edition of the two stone tablets was so quickly needed.
The glow that Moses had when he first came down the mountain was red hot anger. He put a sword into the hands of the Levites and exacted a high price upon the people for their insolent idolatry (Exodus 32:25-29). This second time down the mountain, however, was different. "The skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God" (34:29). The people's initial reaction was one of fear and trepidation. But, they soon got over it and drew near to Moses to hear what the Lord God had told him. Besides the Ten Commandments, there were many ordinances provided for community, culinary, and cultic behavior.
What is striking about this account is that here Moses' face contains a glory and needs to be veiled in the presence of the people. This is a visual sign to the people that Moses has indeed been talking with God and now bears God's very words to the people. It is interesting to note that initially on the mountain, as recorded in Exodus 24:16-17, it is the glory of the Lord that appears directly. This is fitting for the Holy One first and foremost, and then for his servant, Moses, to reflect that glory. On a later mountain, Jesus alone will bear such a glorious appearance. The voice of God will speak and confirm him as the one to listen to, for he now bears God's very words to the people. In fact, he is God's living word to the people.
One might ask what purpose the shine on Moses' face serves. It manifests the fact that Moses has indeed conversed with God. He himself reflects the glory of the Lord and also the glory of the precious Law that has been entrusted to the people from the heart of God. The Law reveals the splendor of God because it is an expression and an extension of his holy will. The Law defines God's intentions for his people, how they can live their lives within the context of this world. So solid, true, good, and enduring is this Law, that Jesus said he did not come to abolish the Law and the prophets, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17). Paul, when he writes about the Law asks if it is sin. To which he replies himself, that it is not. "By no means!" (Romans 7:7).
One might ask what purpose the veil serves. Practically and psychologically speaking, the veil serves the purpose of hiding the glory reflected in Moses' face, so that the people can concentrate on God's Word directly and not be sidetracked by the messenger. In addition, it serves to keep Moses' ego in check, so that he remembers that he represents God to the people, not himself. What would happen if we were to reintroduce the veil for televangelism? Do you think anyone would listen better to the content of what is presented? Do you think the televangelist would continue in the ministry? What other interesting questions could be raised in the context of parish ministry if the veil were to be part of the pastor's/staff's attire?
2 Corinthians 3:12--4:2
Was the Corinthians church itself the thorn in Paul's flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7)? What a contentious congregation! His first letter, though well-written and exquisitely argued, did not have the desired effect of healing the divisions that were apparent there. A second, more stern letter followed, some of which may be argued to be contained in 2 Corinthians 10-13. Yet, troubles persisted. Evidence of this is that Paul had to spend a good portion of 2 Corinthians in defense of his ministry, which was under attack by those who had significant theological differences with him.
Always at stake for Paul is the right understanding between the Law and the Gospel. Paul acknowledges that the Law is from God and is perfect and holy. But, the Christian cannot use the Law to cozy up to God. It may, in fact, reveal God's will for our lives, in terms of how we should live pleasing to God, in covenant with the promises of God. It may, in fact, promise life, as the people of God live within the parameters defined by the Law. For example, the Fourth Commandment clearly expresses a promised blessing as one honors father and mother. But, Paul recognizes that the Law, in fact, functions differently in our lives on this side of Eden. In fact, it reveals our sins. Not only this, it actually revives sin within us and we die. "The very commandment which promised life proved to be death to me" (Romans 7:10).
It is in this light that Paul reflects upon the very scene which is described in our first text. He refers to the veil that Moses used to cover his face in order to shield the people from seeing the fading glory (splendor; doxa) of God, with whom he had just spoken. He, then, uses that image figuratively as he describes how living by the old covenant (the Law) is like wearing a veil that keeps one from seeing the glory of God in Jesus. "... Only through Christ is it taken away" (3:14). When one lives by the gospel of Jesus, who fulfills the Law for us and pays the price of our having broken the commandments, then one can see clearly the glory of God. The writer to the Hebrews puts it this way: "... In these last days he has spoken to us by a son ... He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature" (Hebrews 1:2, 3).
The veil (kalumma, used only four times in the New Testament and all in this text), that is the Law, keeps us from seeing the freedom that the Christian has in the Lord. It is the Lord who sets us free from the demands of the Law, because he has fulfilled them for us and thereby set them aside as requiring anything from us. "For freedom Christ has set us free," Paul proclaims to a congregation which was in danger of accepting the demands of the Law to mentor them to God (Galatians 5:1). Only Christ Jesus can do that, for he is the glory of God! When a person turns to the Lord, then, God can be seen not only as real, but also as really present with us. This Christo-centric perspective is what is fundamental about Christianity and is what distinguishes it from other religious traditions.
Having made this point, Paul returns to the issue of his credentials, simply claiming that he has his ministry from God and that he will not lose heart. He had stated earlier that the believers in Corinth were themselves his best witnesses to the authenticity of his ministry. "You yourselves are our letter of recommendation" (3:2). Now, he underscores his legitimacy and commends himself by virtue of his upright way of dealing with all matters, renouncing "disgraceful, underhanded ways" (4:2).
Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)
Again, to a mountain. Initially, simply to pray. Ascend the slope physically, as the spirit ascends to heaven spiritually to draw near to the heavenly Father. Was James remembering the experience on the mountain when he wrote in his letter, "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you" (James 4:8); and again, "The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effect" (James 5:16b)? One wonders if the experience of transfiguration was a surprise to Jesus himself. There is no indication that he anticipated anything like this. His passion he foreknew. He spoke about it often with his disciples to prepare them for what was to come. But, this! Something so sublime snuck up on him, let alone the others, that they were all left speechless when it was over and they had come down physically and emotionally from the mountain. If this be so, we see a different side of Jesus than what Mark or Matthew lets us see. There, Jesus has composure after the event to instruct his inner circle to keep silent about the experience. A little redaction is taking place as Matthew inserts the answer to the coming-of-Elijah question (Matthew 17:9f) and Mark anticipates the resurrection glory by Jesus' conditioner for releasing the news (Mark 9:9f).
The transfiguration story is a fitting closing to the season of Epiphany. God makes known the divine glory through the person of Jesus, historically connected to the creation, so that the whole world may see the luminous presence of God. The voice provides a benediction over Jesus, confirming him as the Son of God, chosen and beloved, to speak God's Word to the world. To underscore this, the two premier figures of the Old Testament appear with Jesus momentarily. Moses, the great giver of the Law, and Elijah, the great prophet. All that Jesus came to fulfill in the Law and the prophets are embodied in the presence of these two personages. For Jesus and the disciples the point is clear. The world is at a stargate portal, as it were, when all that has been is preliminary and all that is to come is sequel. Paul would describe it as a new age. Jesus holds the key of this stargate portal, hence the directive to "listen to him" (9:35).
The word used here, akouw, simply means "listen." It can also have the connotation "come to know." More than just listening to Jesus, like a student may listen to a professor give a lecture, the disciple is to come to know Jesus and in the knowledge of that relationship experience the wholeness of life (salvation) that comes through him, as the chosen one through whom the gift is given. This is underscored by the healing miracle that directly follows the transfiguration, when a boy who is seized by an unclean spirit is made whole (9:37-43). This is why Peter addresses Jesus as Master. Moses and Elijah are important in their own right, in their own place and time. But, Jesus for all time and all places is the Master through whom is revealed the glory of God (epiphany), which faith, the "unveiled face" (2 Corinthians 3:18), can perceive.
As wonderful as the transfiguration may be, it points beyond itself to an event that is a greater epiphany of God, namely Jesus' "departure" (9:31), which Moses and Elijah apparently came to speak about. It is probably not important to be privy to the particularities of the conversation. It is sufficient to understand that the departure (exodoz) refers to the culminating events of the crucifixion and resurrection which would take place at another venue. Just as Moses led the people out of bondage in Egypt, so would Jesus lead God's people out of bondage to sin and death. Just as Elijah was taken up into heaven in the fiery chariot, Jesus would be raised from the dead and transcend the gravity of the human condition in a glorified body. Though the transfiguration gives us a glimpse of the glory of God through Jesus, it points beyond itself to that time and place just outside Jerusalem, where the glory of God will be manifested in "good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over," to borrow some words from last Sunday's text (Luke 6:38).
So, it is now that the church turns to a new season, Lent, to help us anticipate the passion, death, and resurrection of our Master, to whom we should be listening daily, coming to know him better and better as we grow in the saving graces of relationship with him.
Application
Some folks will spend hours in a tanning booth during the winter, just so they may have an unseasonable summer glow and look good to others. Some folks will shy away from others who appear to have something special about themselves, especially if it is something special we don't have but wish we did (see Exodus 34:30). Wouldn't it be interesting if every Christian could be seen on sight? If it was totally apparent to others that this person or that person was a follower of Jesus? That it would be visible to others when we have been with the Lord in prayer? Or when we have been listening to him guide the nature of our ways?
What would happen if every Christian did what Moses did when he came off the mountain? He talked to the people and explained to them everything that the Lord had told him. He made the Lord's ways accessible to the people in clear terms. He made himself accessible to the people through simple conversation. He did not keep it to himself and simply go about his business; he shared his new-found understanding how the Lord's ways were to permeate every aspect of daily life. In a day when there is a growing cry for religion to be brought back into the public square, it would behoove every Christian to reflect and act upon how personal faith connects to community life and how knowledge of the Lord is to be shared openly through what we say and do in all our relationships and activities. Isn't this part of what Paul means when he writes, "Since we have such a hope, we are very bold" (2 Corinthians 3:12)?
We live in an age of secular, humanistic pluralism. It is politically correct to postulate that everyone has some form of the truth within them and no one has an exclusive corner-on-the-
market when it comes to truth. It is said with inclusive fervor that there are many roads to arrive at the truth, which may or may not have anything to do with a religious posture or a relationship with a living god. This can be understood as the pinnacle of human hubris, the climax of the modern age (despite talk of "post-modernism"), defined broadly as the last 500 years of Western civilization from the Renaissance to the present. Paul would call it a manifestation of the Law, that power to enslave ourselves to our own way of thinking. We become a law unto ourselves, believing ourselves to be God, writing the rules as we go to suit our desires and fancies. This is what Adam and Eve did in the Garden; they refused to remain the creature because they wanted to be like God. We lose our consciousness of sin, without which there is no Christianity (Kierkegaard). Indeed, there is a veil over our face! Only in Christ can it be taken away! Only in Christ Jesus can the truth be truly known, for he is "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).
As Christians we, "beholding the glory of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18), are witnesses of the presence of God in Christ. We are to make bold this witness in public affirmation, so that all may know the truth, which can set everyone free from the bondage of the Law. The power of the Law is broken only through the work of Christ. The Gospel calls each person into a living relationship with Jesus Christ in order to be set free. As Christians, then, we are to live "reflecting the glory of the Lord," being witnesses to point others to the presence of God in Christ, that they too may "listen to him," come to know him and find life in his name.
A final note on "booths." We live in a culture of distractions. For a moment on the mountain, Peter was distracted by the three personages and wanted to build a booth for each. Yet, when all was said and done, only Jesus remained before him. Christians, like everyone else, need help in staying focused on what is vital in order to avoid what Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death) calls our cultural "descent into a vast triviality." One sees signs of this triviality on Dateline, where the question is raised about what year did certain things happen on today's date; also, on CNN Headline News during Sports Trivia. In our age of exponentially expanding information, it will become easier and easier to become distracted by data and lose sight of meaning, to see the components and have no comprehensive understanding of the whole. Without denigrating knowledge and the need to have mastery over the parts in various fields of endeavor, Christians have the opportunity and the obligation to "lift high the cross" as the keynote to keep focused on the center of what is ultimately important. As we let the cross of Christ stand at the heart of all our human endeavors, we will be surprised by joy at how they can become transfigured into something more glorious than we could ever have imagined.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Exodus 34:29-35
The Israelites are at Mt. Sinai in our story from Exodus. They have been delivered from their slavery in Egypt by God, who has seen their affliction and heard their cries and out of undeserved grace come down to deliver them. As a result, the Israelites have entered into covenant with the Lord (Exodus 24:1-
11), and they have freely promised, "All that the Lord has spoken, we will do," (Exodus 19:8), "and we will be obedient" (Exodus 24:7). But then, the Israelites learn what is expected of them in their covenant with God. Moses ascends Mount Sinai and is given the Ten Commandments and the other laws from the Lord. These Moses is then instructed to pass on to his people who wait at the foot of the mountain.
Our passage for the morning comes from the priestly writers, and in that priestly source, Exodus 34:29 actually connects with 31:18. In Exodus 25-31, the Lord has given the plans for the building of the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, and the altar, and he has given instructions concerning the establishment of the priesthood. However, as the Book of Exodus is now arranged, the intervening material of chapters 32-34 has been inserted into the priestly framing account. Chapter 32 tells of Israel's worship of the golden calf and the Lord's fierce anger in response. Chapter 33 details the mediating institutions that the Lord establishes to allow him to continue with his people, despite his wrath against them. Chapter 34 contains an older form of the Decalogue, known as the Ritual Decalogue (34:12-26). Then our text for the morning picks up the priestly material, which is continued to the end of the book, 34:29--40:38.
The final shape of the priestly material comes from the time of the Babylonian exile, and it is intended to so shape Israel's life that she will be a people holy and obedient to her Lord, who will never again deserve the punishment of an exile at the hands of her God. Our particular text, however, is designed to affirm the fact that the laws which Moses delivers to the waiting people actually come from the Lord and are therefore authoritative for Israel's life. The sign of that authenticity is Moses' shining face.
When Moses descends from Mount Sinai with the tablets of the law in his hands, he is not aware of the fact that the skin of his face shines. (The Hebrew verb in verse 29 could also be translated "horned," and thus Michelangelo's famous statue of Moses depicts him with horns on his head.) The people however see the glow on Moses' face, and they are afraid, so that they will not approach him.
Whence comes that shining countenance? Verse 29 says that Moses' skin shines "because he had been talking with God." In other words, Moses has been in conversation with the "glory" (kabod) of the Lord. When the priestly writers talk about God's presence on earth, they describe God's "glory," which is a fiery light phenomenon. God, throughout the scriptures, dwells in light. In James 1:17, he is the "Father of lights." In 1 Timothy 6:15-16, God is "the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in approachable light." God's glory, God's light, is usually said in the scriptures to be surrounded by a cloud, which protects human beings because they cannot bear to look at God's shining effulgence (cf. Exodus 40:34-38). But a few persons, says the Bible, are granted the sight of God's bright glory. In the vision given to the prophet Ezekiel at the time of his call, he sees God's glory that has something like the appearance as it were of a human form, with fire round about (Ezekiel 1:26-28), and the sight causes Ezekiel to fall to the ground and to lapse into stunned silence for seven days. In the story of the Transfiguration, in our Gospel Lesson, Peter, James, and John see the Lord in his divine glory, with his countenance altered and his raiment dazzling white, and they are totally confused and then afraid when the cloud of God covers the mountain (Luke 9:28-36). And here in our Old Testament lesson Moses is allowed to speak to God "mouth to mouth" (cf. Numbers 12:8). He "beholds the form of the Lord." And so when he descends Mount Sinai, the skin of his face still reflects the light from his encounter with the God of glory. That is the proof for the Israelites that Moses has actually met with God and received commandments for Israel from the mouth of God.
So it is in our text that whenever Moses delivers God's law to the people, he leaves his face uncovered, just as he leaves it uncovered whenever he goes into the tabernacle to talk with God, and the people know because of Moses' shining face that the laws are from God. But after giving the laws, Moses puts a veil over his face to conceal its brightness during the routines of everyday.
The Apostle Paul refers to this Exodus text in 2 Corinthians 3:7-16, but Paul's purposes are very different there. He wants to show that the splendor of the new covenant in Jesus Christ far exceeds in glory the covenant and laws given through Moses. Paul believes that salvation is given not through works of the law, but through faith in Christ, and so to read the law as the way to salvation is to read with a veil over one's mind, and the veil is only removed by the freedom from the law given in Christ. We all, "with unveiled faces," Paul writes, behold the glory of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18).
You and I have seen the glory of the Lord -- that glory on which no one can look! How is that possible? God "has shone in our hearts," continues Paul, "to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). And the Gospel according to John agrees. "We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father" (John 1:14). In Jesus Christ, you and I, like Moses and Peter and James and John have seen God. "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). God became man in our Lord Jesus Christ. He stooped to our veiled weakness and revealed himself. And you and I now know who God is and what he is like. He is like Jesus. What Jesus is, God is, in all of his love and compassion, his demand and his command, his healing and mercy and salvation. And we no longer have to guess who God is or try to imagine his Person. He has made himself known through our faith to you and to me. And that, good Christians, is glorious.
