Sight and Sound
Commentary
Although I still think a bare stage is the most effective form of theater, there’s no denying that people expect bells and whistles when it comes to both stage and screen. These three texts would be a delight for an expert in special effects. Moses ascends the mountain to once more encounter God. The cloud, the blazing thunder and lightning, the overwhelming weight of glory (In Hebrew the word for glory, khavod, is a weighty word) is reflected off the face of Moses.
In 2 Peter, we have a remembrance of the Transfiguration, the revelation of Jesus as the figure of glory we won’t see so clearly again until Revelation. And of course, the Matthew text is the Transfiguration itself.
Exodus 24:12-18
You might want to expand the lesson to include the entire chapter, especially the verses immediately preceding, because something extraordinary happens immediately prior. Despite warnings elsewhere that no one can see God and live, Moses and seventy-three others ascend the mountaintop, or near it, and there they behold God. Their attention is given to the floor, perhaps because no one can long gaze on God’s glory. They also eat and drink with God, an extraordinary gesture of peace and safety.
Even as Moses prepares to reascend the mountain after the shared epiphany, he takes care of the administrative matters, making it clear that if there are disputes Aaron and Hur will be the adjudicators. Alas, as we know, Aaron will make a poor judgment with regards to the golden calf, which is not an idol, but a steed to bear YHWH, reflecting a misunderstanding of the nature of the God they serve.
The entrance of Moses into the cloud is an awe-inspiring moment. Like us, the people below know God from a distance – our most inspiring, intimate, glorious moments with God are still at a step or two removed from the glory which we are not yet able to endure. The problem is that the forty days they endure with the presence of Moses will be difficult for them to bear. Just as the glory of Jesus when he is transfigured seen by the three apostles on the mountaintop fills them with awe, it also wears off before the arrest and crucifixion. They still run and deny. This is where we benefit in the long periods of time between epiphanies, supported by the body of Christ in the church from which we draw strength, and through the blessings of communion which strengthen us for times of absence.
2 Peter 1:16-21
The author of 2 Peter wants us to know that he and others are “eyewitnesses of his majesty.” We have eyewitness proof about the ministry of Jesus. These are not “cleverly devised myths.” For a long time after the resurrection of Jesus, the living witness to his miracles remained. The church historian Eusebius, writing in the fourth century, quotes a single paragraph from the historian Quadratus: “But the works of our Savior were always present, for they were genuine: - those that were healed, and those that were raised from the dead, who were seen not only when they were healed and when they were raised, but were also always present, and not merely while the Savior was on earth, but also after his death, they were alive for quite a while, so that some of them lived even to our day.”
Of course, those living witnesses are no longer around, but the people who heard the people who heard the people who heard them and saw them and touched them are still among us, a living chain. So, 2 Peter states “…we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19)
And just as that morning star is visible in daylight if you know where to look under the right conditions, so Jesus, and the works of Jesus, are visible at all times, if we look with the heart of faith.
Matthew 17:1-9 — Transfiguration Sermon
I find it interesting that the divine voice pronounces the same words at the baptism of Jesus as at the Transfiguration, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” I think about our own journeys, first as seekers, then as strugglers, then finally arrayed in glory, like Moses and Elijah, standing beside Jesus. God is well pleased with us at whatever stage of the journey we find ourselves, and that is why, whether encouraged or discouraged, on fire or feeling a bit doused, we need to check God’s approval ratings for us, not the world’s.
We too will share in the unutterable khavod, the Hebrew word that means both weight and glory. And we don’t have to wait. Looking at each other with the eyes of love transfigures all of us, revealing us as the beloved of God to each other.
There’s a rabbinic story from the Babylonian Talmud that is retold in several versions. For some Jewish denominations certain prayers are to be recited at dawn, but dawn, unlike sunrise, can be difficult to determine, so some students ask their rabbi, “How light does it have to be to constitute dawn?” The rabbi turns the question back to the students. They give various answers. One says, “When I can see two animals in the field, and I can tell the cow from the horse.” Another says, “When I can tell a fig tree from an olive tree.” And a third said, “When I see a person and can tell if that person is a woman or a man.”
“No,” said the rabbi, “When you can see a person and know that person is your brother or your sister, then the night is over, and the new day has dawned.”
The old hymn says, “When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word, what a glory he casts on our way.” This should change us. This should transform us too, being one of the disciples.
(The rabbinic story comes from the author’s book No Room for The Inn.)
In 2 Peter, we have a remembrance of the Transfiguration, the revelation of Jesus as the figure of glory we won’t see so clearly again until Revelation. And of course, the Matthew text is the Transfiguration itself.
Exodus 24:12-18
You might want to expand the lesson to include the entire chapter, especially the verses immediately preceding, because something extraordinary happens immediately prior. Despite warnings elsewhere that no one can see God and live, Moses and seventy-three others ascend the mountaintop, or near it, and there they behold God. Their attention is given to the floor, perhaps because no one can long gaze on God’s glory. They also eat and drink with God, an extraordinary gesture of peace and safety.
Even as Moses prepares to reascend the mountain after the shared epiphany, he takes care of the administrative matters, making it clear that if there are disputes Aaron and Hur will be the adjudicators. Alas, as we know, Aaron will make a poor judgment with regards to the golden calf, which is not an idol, but a steed to bear YHWH, reflecting a misunderstanding of the nature of the God they serve.
The entrance of Moses into the cloud is an awe-inspiring moment. Like us, the people below know God from a distance – our most inspiring, intimate, glorious moments with God are still at a step or two removed from the glory which we are not yet able to endure. The problem is that the forty days they endure with the presence of Moses will be difficult for them to bear. Just as the glory of Jesus when he is transfigured seen by the three apostles on the mountaintop fills them with awe, it also wears off before the arrest and crucifixion. They still run and deny. This is where we benefit in the long periods of time between epiphanies, supported by the body of Christ in the church from which we draw strength, and through the blessings of communion which strengthen us for times of absence.
2 Peter 1:16-21
The author of 2 Peter wants us to know that he and others are “eyewitnesses of his majesty.” We have eyewitness proof about the ministry of Jesus. These are not “cleverly devised myths.” For a long time after the resurrection of Jesus, the living witness to his miracles remained. The church historian Eusebius, writing in the fourth century, quotes a single paragraph from the historian Quadratus: “But the works of our Savior were always present, for they were genuine: - those that were healed, and those that were raised from the dead, who were seen not only when they were healed and when they were raised, but were also always present, and not merely while the Savior was on earth, but also after his death, they were alive for quite a while, so that some of them lived even to our day.”
Of course, those living witnesses are no longer around, but the people who heard the people who heard the people who heard them and saw them and touched them are still among us, a living chain. So, 2 Peter states “…we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19)
And just as that morning star is visible in daylight if you know where to look under the right conditions, so Jesus, and the works of Jesus, are visible at all times, if we look with the heart of faith.
Matthew 17:1-9 — Transfiguration Sermon
I find it interesting that the divine voice pronounces the same words at the baptism of Jesus as at the Transfiguration, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” I think about our own journeys, first as seekers, then as strugglers, then finally arrayed in glory, like Moses and Elijah, standing beside Jesus. God is well pleased with us at whatever stage of the journey we find ourselves, and that is why, whether encouraged or discouraged, on fire or feeling a bit doused, we need to check God’s approval ratings for us, not the world’s.
We too will share in the unutterable khavod, the Hebrew word that means both weight and glory. And we don’t have to wait. Looking at each other with the eyes of love transfigures all of us, revealing us as the beloved of God to each other.
There’s a rabbinic story from the Babylonian Talmud that is retold in several versions. For some Jewish denominations certain prayers are to be recited at dawn, but dawn, unlike sunrise, can be difficult to determine, so some students ask their rabbi, “How light does it have to be to constitute dawn?” The rabbi turns the question back to the students. They give various answers. One says, “When I can see two animals in the field, and I can tell the cow from the horse.” Another says, “When I can tell a fig tree from an olive tree.” And a third said, “When I see a person and can tell if that person is a woman or a man.”
“No,” said the rabbi, “When you can see a person and know that person is your brother or your sister, then the night is over, and the new day has dawned.”
The old hymn says, “When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word, what a glory he casts on our way.” This should change us. This should transform us too, being one of the disciples.
(The rabbinic story comes from the author’s book No Room for The Inn.)
