Luke 9:35
Luke 9:28-36
28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his exodus, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"―not knowing what he said.
34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
36 When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
• Overview of Luke's Gospel
So Far in Luke 9
• Jesus calls the 12 together and gives them authority to heal and cast out demons.
• Sends them out to proclaim the gospel and heal; charges them to find and stay at houses of peace/shalom, with the famous exhortation to shake the dust of any place off their feet if it isn't one of peace.
• Charges the 12 to feed the crowd—"you give them something to eat." 5 loaves, 2 fish.
• Peter confesses Jesus as Messiah, the Christ of God.
• Jesus' passion prediction—suffer, die, be buried, raised.
• Jesus calls us to bear his cross, to lose our lives in order to save our lives.
• And now, Jesus transfigured on the mountain top!
Backtracking: read Exodus 34:29-35
Jesus' appearance became transformed not simply because he experienced God's glory ass Moses did, but because Jesus is the source of divine glory.
Listen to Jesus!
Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
Listen to Jesus! not "look at him," despite all the resplendent shiny glory and bling that surrounds him.
Martin Luther: "The eyes are hard of hearing."
Listen to Jesus, not to Moses or to Elijah, who didn't quite get everything right all the time. Listen to Jesus and not to any other cultural, economic, consumer, or ecclesiastical voices evokes the Barmen Declaration [1934] from the Confessing Church in Germany in the wake of the idolatry of National Socialism – Nazism. The declaration is fairly short and extremely clear. In the current global political climate we need to claim and take its content to heart and to the streets.
Theological Declaration of Barmen
• Barmen Declaration background
• Barmen Declaration text
Please notice the German Churches call themselves "evangelical" or "good news," which is the usual terminology for German protestant churches and the designation Martin Luther chose.
Jesus Christ, as he is attested for us in holy scripture, is the one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust and obey in life and in death.
We reject the false doctrine, as though the church could and would have to acknowledge as a source of its proclamation, apart from and besides this one Word of God, still other events and powers, figures and truths, as God's revelation.
and further:
We reject the false doctrine, as though the church were permitted to abandon the form of its message and order to its own pleasure or to changes in prevailing ideological and political convictions.
Mountains and Revelation
Mountains and other natural expressions are special venues of divine revelation and signs of God's presence in Judaism. You remember Moses receiving the commandments on Mount Sinai–Exodus 20:1-17? Elijah on Mount Carmel—1 Kings 19:12? Jesus' Sermon on the Mount—Matthew 5, 6… Jesus of Nazareth's death on Mount Calvary as God's ultimate revelation—Mark 15:37-39?
In addition, in Hebrew cosmology, the cloud of the shekinah is a frequent feminine image of God's Spirit. Check out the revelatory cloud in Luke 9:34-35 .
We know all creation is holy, sacred, set apart, though in events like today's we experience a special meeting of heaven and earth. How about God's presence in the sacraments?
Epiphany into Lent
The Baptism of Jesus and the Feast of the Transfiguration form Trinitarian bookends, with both qualifying as theophanies, or particular revelations of God. Transfiguration concludes the Epiphany season and – depending on how you count and measure – finishes the first major segment of the church's year of grace that began with the first Sunday of Advent.
Today we looked at Jesus' transfiguration. A quote from Nelson Mandela: "We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us." So… how about us?
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