Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light...
When I was a kid I thought that Jesus' head glowed in real life. I read a lot of those Bible story books for kids that featured paintings of the Masters in which Jesus always had a halo. I didn't understand that this was just an artistic tool to communicate holiness/sacredness. In my childhood mind I thought that Jesus walked around glowing 24/7 like The Last Dragon. This being the case I just couldn't understand why those around him didn't understand that he was God incarnate...I mean he is glowing people! I would have at least have expected them understand that there was something special about him. What would you think if someone you knew just started shining and emitting light? In today's reading we have a case where this occurred. The Bible never speaks of Jesus walking around with a consistent halo on but it does discuss an episode in which three of his disciples saw his face shine, his clothes whiten and two dead prophets carry on a conversation with him as the voice of God spoke from above. As they found themselves in this fantastic scene they were left with the task of sorting out what it all meant.
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| The Chapel of Moses, Church of the Transfiguration, Mount Tabor, Israel |
...And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”...
As was often the case, Peter was the first to speak out. Seeing that the spirits of Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus he offered that they should three tabernacles to honor these three great men of God. Later on in history the Franciscans would build the church that is pictured in these images at the location in which they believe the Transfiguration occurred. Similar to Peter's proposal, they built three chapels in it to honor Jesus, Moses and Elijah. Actually the "chapel" to honor Jesus is the main altar of the church... and technically all of the altars (like the altars in any Catholic church) are dedicated to the sacrifice of Christ (despite whatever particular imagery may be above it). This is because the Franciscans understand something that Peter did not quite grasp in this story. Jesus is greater than any of the great prophets of the past. Jesus was whom they prophesied about. The conversation between Jesus, Moses and Elijah was not a meeting of equals for just like the Disciples, Moses and Elijah two were in need of the grace that Christ would purchase on the cross. But there where significant reasons for Moses and Elijah to be present at this moment.
Moses was the Law-giver. The first five books of the Old Testament are the Torah, the Law. Not only is Moses similar to Jesus in that he heard from God, gave directions concerning the Law and freed God's people but Moses was also the first miracle worker described in scripture (I guess you could sort of consider Sampson's feats miracles). Specifically these miracles are called signs and wonders. They are wonders wrought as a sign that the message proclaimed from these men was from God. Often times when God was revealing something new to humanity he did it through miracle workers to validate there claims of speaking for God. When you consider the time span that the narratives in the Bible occur in, miracles and God speaking didn't occur that often. That is why they were wondrous when they did occur. Except for a few exceptions Scripture records three pairs of consistent miracle working prophets (I use the phrase "pair loosely here): Moses and Aaron (with Joshua), Elijah and Elisha and Jesus and the Apostles (with the Apostolic generation of 1st century believers). The final similarity to Moses is his shining face. Exodus tells us that after Moses would go and speak to God on the mountain his face would shine, so he would wear a veil when talking to the Israelites. The significance of Jesus' shine and speaking to Moses was to show that not only was he authorized to speak authoritatively concerning the Law but he also was in conversation with God Himself.
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| The Chapel of Elijah, Church of the Transfiguration, Mount Tabor, Israel |
The Jewish Bible (the Christian Old Testament) is referred to as the Tanakh in Judaism. It is a acronym using the first Hebrew letters of each subdivision of the Scriptures: "Torah ("Teaching", also known as the Five Books of Moses), Nevi'im ("Prophets") and Ketuvim ("Writings")—hence TaNaKh." Elijah was seen as the greatest of the prophets. Scripture holds that he was taken into heaven upon a fiery chariot and did not see traditional death. This being the case he has long been associated with being the foreteller of the Messiah. Jesus taught that John the Baptist (Jesus' forerunner) played the role of Elijah in announcing the Messiah's arrival. Being a prophet, Elijah not only spoke for God (and performed signs and wonders) but also heard from God. The most popular one of these instances is when Elijah is fleeing persecution and hears God's voice in an unexpected way... as a still small voice. When God speaks from Heaven to Jesus' disciples it wasn't just to announce that Jesus was the Messiah (symbolized by Elijah's appearance) but that He was God's very own Son. God implored the disciples to listen to Jesus because he was not just the Law-giver or one of the Prophets but because he was the very Word of God in flesh.
The write of the book of Hebrews starts off by stating: "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds." It basically says God spoke through the Prophets in the past but now He speaks through the words of Christ. You may have noticed that I play softball on this blog. I give a few details on the particulars of what I specifically believe, but as a whole I try to find the good that is in the body of Christ in general. You may know that I am a Baptist, but I usually don't get into too many things that would cause unnecessary division. Sometimes I reveal a little more, not in an effort to demonize another believer with different beliefs but rather to highlight what I think a particular scripture may be showing. Theologically I am what you would call a Cessationist. Cessationism basically states that the sign gifts (miracles, prophecy, tongues, etc.) were for a specific purpose (the initial revelation of God's word) and when that purpose was fulfilled the went away... hence the "cease" part of "cessation." If I were in the position to rename theological notions I would re-brand "cessation" as "graduation." The sign gifts were like classes that you go to every week day for 12 years or more. They are not your life vocation, but they teach you about your future life's vocation. Once you have been taught you graduate into the working world. The sign gifts were an instructional period in Church/Salvation history but now we have graduated into a period in which we work the things that God has taught/revealed to us. Even though the future outside of school may be frightening a graduation is always a time to celebrate and never a time to be scared.
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| Church of the Transfiguration, Mount Tabor, Israel |
...But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only...
After the transfiguration Jesus looked upon the three of his disciples that had just witnessed the mind boggling event. He saw men who had just witnessed a miracle a mystery and a calling. He gave them the gift of Comfort. This is the gift of faith, hope and love that remain past any spiritual gift. It is also the same gift that we are called to offer the world. It isn't parting the Red Sea, making fire fall from the sky or raising the dead but it is miraculous. We live in a world devoid of faith, hopeless and loveless. We live in a world of violence. We live in a world with orphans, widows and prisoners. We live in a world too often short of opportunity, resources and friendship. A world like this doesn't need anyone else to walk on water... it needs a kind hand to give it a cup of water at a hospital bed and strong arms to dig a well in a barren land. You don't have to pray to God to give you miraculous powers to move mountains. The ministry that he has called you to he has prepared you for. He has prepared you by making you a normal person with a few non-miraculous talents...but with a miraculously saved soul, a transformed mind and an open heart. This is the vocation that Christ calls you to...and the only one that exists. It is a ministry with great need and few workers. It is intimidating but you should not be intimidated because Christ goes with you. So “Arise, and do not be afraid”... or in other words, get up and go to work!
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| The dual level nave, Church of the Transfiguration, Mount Tabor, Israel |
...Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.”
The Franciscans built the nave of the Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor with two levels. One level is in the depths of the building in an area where many older churches have catacombs and/or relics of saints. This feature is usually a testament to the "foundation" of the church being built upon the saints and forefathers of the faith. The other level is the main floor where we see the mosaic of Christ floating in mid air in the Transfiguration. The Christian message in itself is based on the dual structure of a "depth" and grounded part that looks up to the heavens. When Christ consoled his disciples after the Transfiguration he admonished them to keep the event a secret until after his crucifixion and resurrection. It was after Jesus' resurrection and appearance to the apostles that they started making sense of everything he said and did. Everything in Scripture and Christian practice must be viewed through this very same lens. The point of it all (what we believe, what we do, how we live) is all because of what Christ did for us. He embraced the death of the cross so that we might be free from the punishment of sin...but then he conquered death so that we might embrace eternal life. This was the greatest of his signs and wonders, Not only did it show that God authorized his message but it showed that He was Almighty God Himself. It shows us that we have nothing to fear... not even death itself. Christ was once in the depths (dead) but he rose and confirmed the truth of eternal life to his disciples before ascending into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God. Therefore, each believer should heed his commission to "Arise, and do not be afraid.” We arise to shine the message of faith, hope and love that Christ has written on our hearts. Faith and hope which continually abide and love which will never cease.
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