Seeing Jesus
Last Epiphany – Transfiguration.
Fr. Tim Nunez
March 2, 2024
May my spoken word be true to God’s written word and bring us all closer to the living word, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai in today’s reading, the two tablets of the Covenant contain the Ten Commandments. This is his second try. You may recall that the first time he came down with the Ten Commandments, he found that Israel had turned away from God. They had coerced his own brother Aaron, who had been his right-hand man and will become the forerunner of the Levitical priesthood, to cast an idol, a golden calf. Things got, shall we say, a bit tense. God was angry, Moses was furious and it got rough.
But God called Moses up the mountain again. Moses was allowed to see God’s back, any more would have killed him, and God gave him the new set of the Ten Commandments. This morning, let’s focus on his shining and the Ten Commandments, and how they compare to the Transfiguration of Jesus in today’s Gospel.
Moses’s face shone from his encounter with God. His skin was shining, but not in the way a tourist’s shines after soaking up the sun on their first day of vacation at a theme park or the beach. Radiant, but not in the way a bride is radiant. The Hebrew word translated here as shone and shining is virtually unique to this episode. Radiating, but in a way we struggle to describe because it is different from the shining we are used to seeing.
This is very, very special. Moses is regarded as the greatest prophet of Israel, in part because of his leadership of the people out of Egypt, into the brink of the promised land; in part because of the demonstrations of God’s power worked through him such as parting the Red Sea; in part because he was the bearer of God’s law to the people and in part because he was a mediator of God’s word and will give it directly to the people.
But the unparalleled character of his repeated and very personal encounters with God are unique in the Hebrew scriptures. Yes, God spoke to many of the patriarchs and the prophets and accomplished a great deal through the heroes and the kings of the Old Testament. But no one had anything akin to the burning bush experience, or the repeated opportunities to go straight to God for one on one meetings.
And he comes with the new copies of the Ten Commandments. Moses did not carve these from dictation by God. God wrote them himself on the stone tablets with his finger. Think about that for just a moment. What does that say about the authority vested in the Ten Commandments? The witness is that the very God who created everything there is, who is Almighty and all powerful in all things, who knows everything and we can’t get away with anything, wrote these Commandments into stone.
Can we make any stronger rules or laws than that? And yet, how hard is it for us to actually follow them? We struggle to hold God first. We are constantly making idols, physical or priorities. We routinely take his name in vain, and by that I don’t mean the casual mention of it, but rather asserting our own ideas or positions as being His. We’re not very good at keeping the Sabbath holy. And as a people, we kill, steal, lie and covet each other’s activities, stuff and relationships. There is so much adultery and far too many of us fail to honor our fathers and mothers.
Now, let’s look at Jesus on the mountain at the Transfiguration. Moses didn’t have any witnesses, but Jesus took Peter, John and James with him up on the mountain. Their description is radically different from what the people saw with Moses. Jesus changed. His face changed and his clothes became dazzling white.
The difference is like the difference between the moon and the sun radiating. We love those moments when we catch a full moon low in the sky. The curvature of our atmosphere acts like a lens and magnifies it so that it looks many times larger than it usually appears. And at a full moon, you can see clearly in the night. You can almost read a book. Maybe you can read a book if your eyes are young and good. It is truly so bright and so beautiful.
But the moon is not generating any of that brightness. It is merely reflected. The sun generates its own light and is so bright that it’s unhealthy to look directly at it. Moses shining, as special and unique as that was, is wholly different from the radiance of Jesus. Moses’s face reflected his exposure to the living God. Jesus, as God’s only son, exudes that radiance out of his very being. It’s just who he is. That is normally contained, but in this moment, Peter, John and James get to see him for who he truly is and as he truly is.
That distinction is underscored by the conversation that Jesus is having with Moses and Elijah. When they speak with him about his departure, they are obviously talking about his coming crucifixion in Jerusalem. And the word that is translated as “departure” is Exodus. In Greek, that means literally “the way out.”
Peter’s impulsive instinct to honor all three of them by building them drawings or tabernacles gets answered by God. God says, simply, “This is my son, my chosen; listen to him!”
Moses came down from the mountain with tablets bearing God’s specific instructions defining the basis of Israel’s side of their covenant with him. This is how you as my people are to behave, so to speak. “Do this!” Jesus? It’s just him. Listen to him. And it goes deeper than that.
Only Jesus.
As we listen to him and follow him, Jesus writes his will on our hearts. When we listen to Jesus, we will put God first. He will keep us from having false idols. We will not assert our will as his will. And we will keep his day holy. We won’t murder, steal, commit adultery, lie, or covet. We honor our fathers and mothers. The Ten Commandments continue to have value as a measuring device, but obedience to Christ flows from within, out of our relationship with him.
This presents a great challenge to all who follow him, which has to be consistent and complete in following him. We are far too likely to fall short, which he will forgive by his grace. But when we do follow him and we do listen to him, then we see tremendous fruit and blessing.
Consider the teachings that Jesus gives us. Do not worry. You must forgive. Love one another as I have loved you. Search out your heart and think on these things. Listen carefully and consistently and see where he brings your life.
AMEN