The Transfiguration

Begin this blog entry by reading Mark 4:2-9

Tomorrow is Transfiguration Sunday, that transitional Sunday between the season of Epiphany and the Lenten season. I've been somewhat preoccupied with putting things together for our weekly Lenten study that starts up soon, so I thought it might be a nice break to step aside from Lent and think about something else. Since it's on the liturgical calendar and in the lectionary this week, it's no wonder that the story of the Transfiguration popped into my head.

It's a unique little story about how the disciples saw Jesus transfigured on the mountain top and they saw, standing next to him, Moses and Elijah (not to be confused with Elisha, who comes later). I wonder what the disciples must have been thinking when they saw Jesus the Christ with Moses (representing the law) and Elijah (representing the prophets and the prophesy that Elijah would return to mark the appearance of the Messiah).

We know what Peter was thinking.

"DUDE!!!! That was WICKED AWESOME!!!!"

Okay, he probably didn't say dude. Or wicked. Or awesome. But he was struck with awe and he did immediately suggest that they build homes for Moses and Elijah. Beyond that, Peter, like the other disciples, was rendered speechless by fear. Or awe. Or both. At any rate, scripture reports that he "did not know what he was saying."

Have you ever seen something so awesome happen that you just start talking without even knowing what you're saying? You ramble or babble because the only thing you can think to do is move your lips and make sound come out, even if it's incoherent sound. I'm trying to remember if I've ever had a moment where I was so awe-struck that I just started to babble. I'm not sure I can recall that ever happening to me.

It did, however, happen to the disciples as they witnessed the transfiguration. The word "transfigure" means to change appearance, as if to be glorified or exalted. In witnessing the transfiguration of Jesus Christ on that mountain top, the disciples witness Jesus, perhaps for the first time, as both fully human and fully divine. It's not that this is the moment that Jesus becomes God. It's the moment where the disciples catch a glimpse of Christ's divinity. We celebrate it as a liturgical holiday because it's a good reminder for us, too, that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine. We remember this especially as we go into Lent because it is only as a human being that Jesus could die on the cross and it is only as God that Christ could take away the stain of our sins and offer us His perfect grace. Transfiguration Sunday is a reminder of something truly beautiful and something truly awesome.

I have a new awe for this story. I've heard  it so many times that I can't even begin to tell you when I first learned about it (though I suspect I remember the story better from worship than from Sunday school), but for some reason this story has hit me in a new way this year. I keep thinking about the disciples and what must have been going through their minds when they witnessed this incredible thing. What a gift Christ has gievn them, to see a glimpse of His divinity!

...And what a responsibility.

What does it mean for us, as readers, to stand alongside the disciples and witness the Transfiguration? Do you witness this with awe and perhaps a little fear? Or are you, like the disciples, terrified beyond the capacity to speak clearly? Are you indifferent? Or are you wondering what drugs someone slipped into your drink?

As you hear the story read in worship tomorrow or as you read the story to yourself now that I've encouraged you to do so, may you hear it with new ears, see it with new eyes, and stand in awe of the glory of Jesus Christ as we go into this season of Lent together.

Yours in Christ,
Pastor Becki