Seeing Christ for who He is enables us to become who we truly are.
I got a bit agitated by a press release from my seminary. One of the current professors had received a major grant to research, as he puts it, “the hagiological argument for the existence of God”—that is, “the argument from (human) holiness.”
In sum, he intends to set about proving the existence of God through the stories and examples of saints, looking at what they actually did, how they experienced God, and how their lives as a whole reflected God.
It agitated me because it illustrates the challenge we have in sharing the Gospel in our current age. In every age Christians have to re-present the Gospel. But there is nothing particularly new about his study. On the contrary, it is precisely how God set forth to reconcile himself with humanity, indeed with the whole of creation, through His Only Son, Jesus Christ. It is precisely the point of the last Sunday of Epiphany, when we remember The Transfiguration.
We prayed the formula in the collect:
1. Jesus is revealed for who he is, in this case on the holy mountain, and that
2. Seeing him clearly for who he is will strengthen us for the challenges we face as Christians and that
3. We will thus be changed into his likeness.
That’s it, and it bears a closer look at how the process unfolds from today’s Gospel, noting all that Matthew packs into this account. Matthew tells us that “six days” after Peter acknowledged Jesus as the Christ, Jesus took them up the mountain. Six days is a clear reference to the Creation, a New Creation is dawning before their very eyes.
We must be very clear: Jesus is not changing. Their vision and understanding of him is changing as they see him for who he truly is.
The scene gets even more dramatic as Moses and Elijah appear. The Jewish scriptures are often referred to as The Law and The Prophets. Moses represents The Law, as we see illustrated in our Old Testament reading today. (Exodus 24:12-18).
Note that when Moses went up on the mountain, he went into the cloud that had been there for six days, again reminding us of The Creation. The cloud was of “the glory of the Lord” that was “like a devouring fire.” Moses stayed there 40 days and 40 nights, reminding us of Noah and the Great Flood, this is a do-over. Moses will come down with The Law, not as dictated by God but written by God in stone tablets. Could it be more emphatically authoritative?
Elijah was regarded as the greatest of the prophets that came after Moses. He also famously went up on a mountain where he encountered God. (1 Kings 19:11-12). The Lord passed by in a terrible storm and fire, but the encounter with God came in his still small voice. Elijah gets his instructions and follows the Word of God. That’s what all real prophets do.
Now Peter, James and John see Jesus with these representatives of the Law and Prophets, on a mountain, in a cloud.
Peter kind of gets it at first, but not quite. Dear Peter. It is so easy for us to identify with him. He has been taught since he was a child about Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets. He’s trying to reconcile Jesus with all he has ever known. He says, “Aha! The Christ is right up there with both of them!” But that’s not it, there’s more. Now they hear the voice of God correcting this misunderstanding. This is God’s Son. Listen to Him!
Peter will spend the rest of his life bearing witness to Jesus. He doesn’t resort to philosophical or theological arguments. He proclaims what he saw, what he heard and most importantly what that helped him to know. His testimony, his new testament. He will die for bearing witness to Jesus as the Christ, the Only Son of God.
This is precisely the point John makes in 1 John 1:1-4. (p. 1021 in your pew Bible.) It is the precise point Paul makes repeated in his evangelism, Galatians 1:12 (p. 972 in your pew Bible) being one example.
And that is precisely why we are here today. There should be some good to come from all this, our worship, our educational programs for children, youth and adults, our ministries within the church and to the wider community. There is a lot of good that comes from all of it. We’re better as people. Our families are strengthened, our children are growing to become good, responsible people, and our community is better too. We are positively affecting the world. All of that reflects God’s love and presence working in and through us.
All of it is rooted in the Apostles’ witness to Jesus. It is strange, difficult to imagine, difficult to embrace. You are most welcome to wrestle with it and to contend with its implications, its impact and influence on you, how it connects with your experience of life and how you envision your future.
Peter says we “will do well to attend this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day the morning star rises in your hearts.” You see, you are a jewel, a unique and precious jewel that reflects and refracts the light of Christ in a unique way. Your sufferings and challenges matter so much to God that he gave us His Son. His Son!
He says, “Get up and do not be afraid.” Do not be afraid.
Any of us, all of us, are in the process of growing to see Jesus more clearly. As we see him more clearly, he transforms us. Few if any of us will write a book about it. Each of us becomes a book about it. As we see Jesus more clearly, we become more like him and others can see him in us more clearly, that our witness in our lives, who we are and what we do, reflects what we have to say about Jesus.
AMEN