Matthew 17:1-9 (NRSV)
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his
brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And
he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his
clothes became dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them
Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus,
“Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings
here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he
was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the
cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased;
listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the
ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them,
saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” 8 And when they looked up,
they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus
ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been
raised from the dead.”
Year A
Last Sunday of the Epiphany
February 26, 2017
Cross~Wind
Title: How Important is Jesus?
Introducing the Passage
The story takes place six days
after the disciples have a discussion regarding the identity of Jesus.
Brightness is symbolic of divine presence. Moses and Elijah, according to
Exodus 33 and I Kings 18, had direct communication with God. The passage quotes
from Psalm 2:7, a hymn sung at the time of the enthronement of the king in
Jerusalem. In other words, in this story, Jesus is king, Moses represents the
Law, and Elijah represents the prophets. God the Father affirms the ministry of
the Son. Yet, they are to remain silent until God raises Jesus from the dead.
At that point, they can share the good news.
Jesus brings to its climax the work
of the prophets who have proclaimed the word of the Lord. Jesus fulfills,
brings to its desired conclusion, the entire story of Israel, who was to be a
light to the nations. God formed the nation of Israel for a purpose. Israel was
to be the vehicle of the redemption God wanted to offer the world. Israel was
to be a witness among the nations of that longed-for redemption. Israel was to
be a model of redemption. Israel existed for the sake of the redemption of the
world. Jesus brings the story of Israel to fulfillment. He is the suffering
servant of Isaiah 53. Yet, such a message of salvation and redemption would not
be possible without the ministry of Moses, Elijah, and the ministry of the
kings of Israel.[1]
Introduction
I want to explore a few things we
know about the sun and relate them to Jesus, who we believe to be the Son of
God.
We now know that the sun is the
center of our solar system and the source of the power that gives us life. Nevertheless,
for most of human history, we have not understood it.
Until fairly recently, we
appreciated the light from the sun every morning but did not think of it as an
energy source. Now solar panels are popping up around the world, and the
Planetary Society, led by Bill Nye, is getting ready to launch a satellite
called LightSail, which sunlight will
power.[2]
Imagine for a moment how
perceptions of the size of the sun have changed over the centuries. For
thousands of years, human beings underestimated the size of the sun, thinking
it was smaller than the earth. Even the ancient Greeks, known as the
philosophers and scientists of the ancient world, had trouble figuring out
which heavenly body was bigger. The philosopher Anaxagoras thought the sun was
just a few times bigger than his country, Greece. The mathematician and astronomer
Ptolemy calculated that it was bigger than Earth but estimated that it was just
150 times larger. Finally, in 1672 two astronomers calculated the true size of
the solar system. Today we know that the sun’s volume is 1.3 million times
bigger than Earth’s volume. Picture a baseball, approximately three inches in
diameter. If Earth is the size of a baseball, the sun is a ball with a diameter
of 25 feet.
Many people fail to grasp the
effect of the sun on our day-to-day lives. Flare-ups on the sun can affect
Earth’s magnetic field and can mess with power-line currents and oil pipelines.
Such flare-ups have caused railway malfunctions, spontaneously turning red
lights to green. You can now get an iPhone app called 3D-Sun, giving you all
the info you need about sunspots and solar flare-ups.
The point is that the sun is
powerful, big and able to affect our day-to-day lives.
The fact that in English, sun and
son are so much alike has led to much reflection on Jesus as the Son of God and
the light from the sun. What I am thinking about here is that Jesus seemed
small to many of his contemporaries. When three disciples had a vision of Jesus
on the mountain in Matthew 17:1-9, they thought they were doing great honor to
him by equating him to Moses and Elijah. Yet, they slowly learned that Jesus
was so much more than they imagined. Given that a voice from heaven refers to
Psalm 2, a hymn used at the time of the coronation of the new king in
Jerusalem, this passage suggests he is king.[3]
We may well need a more
creation-centered spirituality. Such an approach could guide us to proper
humility regarding humanity. It might also help us re-think the role Jesus has
in our daily lives. Yes, Jesus is larger than any of us might imagine.
For too many of us, we have
appreciated Jesus but have underestimated his size, power and effect on our
lives. We have been like Greek farmers looking up into the sky, ignorant of the
fact that the sun is 1.3 million times bigger than Earth and able to push
spacecraft through the solar system at breathtaking speeds.
Some of us need to see Jesus for
who he really is. Ever since I made that decision as a boy of ten to invite
Jesus into my heart, I have been learning who Jesus is. He is not just in my
heart. He is the heart of divine energy that gives life to the universe.
To help us see Christ clearly, I want
to spend some time in a letter written well after the resurrection of Jesus. In
our passage, Jesus says to them, “Tell no
one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead”
(v. 9). We can see many Christian truths only in the light of the resurrection.
So let us flip ahead to the letter
to the Colossians.
First, Paul’s Christ is a big Christ.
“the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all
things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible … all
things have been created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:15-16).
He is cosmic. He is present at
creation. God created everything that exists through him and for him. Every
star and planet. Every rock and plant. Every person, culture, nation and
religion. Nothing exists outside of Christ’s creative power. The finite cannot
contain the Infinite, of course.[4]
The temporal cannot contain the Eternal. In fact, the finite and the temporal need
completion in the Eternal and Infinite. Christ is bigger than any single aspect
of creation, and his presence touches every part of God’s infinite and
ever-expanding universe, without being trapped in it. “In him, all things hold
together” (1:17).
Second, this enormous and expansive
Christ is a powerful force in human
life.
“For
in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was
pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by
making peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:19-20).
New Testament scholar Richard Hays
notes an interesting thing about the word reconcile. In ordinary Greek usage,
it typically is not a religious term.
“Rather, it is a word drawn from the
sphere of politics; it refers to dispute resolution. So one could speak of the
diplomatic reconciliation of warring nations or, in the sphere of personal
relationships, the reconciliation of an estranged husband and wife.”
America today could use some form of reconciliation in the
political realm, but only one that would respect difference. When Paul talks
about God reconciling the world to himself, he is “speaking about overcoming
alienation and establishing new and peaceful relationships.”
God works through Christ to resolve
disputes, overcome alienation and establish new and peaceful relationships. We who
profess being disciples of Jesus must confess that we have fallen short of
this. We have not shown this reconciling power in our congregational lives, in
our relationships between various denominations, or in the world. Yet, whenever
and wherever we see peace replacing conflict, we know that the power of Christ
is at work. Sometimes, we can even be part of this transformation because God
calls all Christians to engage in the ministry of reconciliation.
Third, we feel the effect of Christ
on our day-to-day lives.
“And
you, who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now
reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and
blameless and irreproachable before him” (Colossians 1:21-22).
Christ has made peace with us through
his sacrifice on the cross, giving us forgiveness and new life. He has wiped
the slate clean, and now we can stand holy and blameless before him.
Conclusion
We are
moving toward the season of Lent. This time in the church year is often a time
of expanded devotional life and prayer. I have a suggestion. Let us all seek an
expansion of the influence of Christ upon our lives. We will do so with the
special emphases of Lent that will move us toward the great celebration of
Easter. We will do so with a special study during Lent called “Draw the Circle.”
Many congregations in Indiana and throughout the country have found this study expanding
their practice of Christian faith and life. We invite you to use the devotional
that begins with Ash Wednesday. We invite you to be in the groups on Wednesday
nights.
Going deeper
Matthew 17:1-9 is the story of the
transfiguration. The source is Mark. The biblical connection of this story is Moses
ascending Mount Sinai in Exodus 24 and the story of Elijah, who also received a
revelation on Mount Sinai. They personify the Law and Prophets.
Matthew 17:1-9 (NRSV)
Six days later, [after the incident at which Jesus asked the disciples who people say the Son of Man is in 16:13-27] Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, (tradition says Mount Tabor, though some scholars favor Mount Hermon) by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, (generating his own light) and his clothes became dazzling white. [Such brightness is symbolic of divine presence. That which one day everyone will see, these disciples have the privilege of seeing.] 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. [As readers, we must be mindful of Exodus 33 and I Kings 18. Jesus inherits their direct communication with God. Another valid interpretation is to see here Jesus as king in the sense of the enthronement psalms, Moses representing the priesthood, and Elijah representing the prophets. In this view, the name “David,” hides in the title, “Beloved.”] 4 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, (suggesting the Feast of Booths) one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; (only in the account of this event by Matthew) listen to him!” [This confirms the confession of faith by Peter. The other times the heavens opened was the baptism in Matthew 3:13-17. These pivotal incidents represent God’s validation of Jesus as the bearer of divine revelation, both in his teaching and in his person. In both episodes, the voice from heaven echoes the text of Psalm 2:7, in which God utters the ancient adoption formula over heirs to the throne of the Davidic dynasty — “You are my son; today I have begotten you.” The use of the title “my Beloved” also may involve the biblical memory of Isaac and the near sacrifice of this son in Genesis 22. We as readers have someone new to whom to listen other than the Law and the Prophets, even if this new person is in conversation with them.] 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came (usually people approach Jesus) and touched them, (usually in reference to his healing and raising people from the dead) saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” 8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
9 As
they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the
vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” [The
disciples have eyes opened. The appearance is over. As they came down the
mountain, Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone about the vision until God
raises “the Son of Man … from the dead.” Barth says that the messiahship of
Jesus is his secret, and one can publish it only when God fully discloses it
from within.[5]]
[2] LightSail is like a giant Mylar kite that light
photons from the sun will push along. The beauty of photon power is that it
lasts forever, unlike the rocket fuel on traditional satellites. A spacecraft
pushed by the sun will keep going, gradually moving faster and faster, until it
reaches speeds of one-tenth the speed of light — about 108 billion miles per
hour.
[3] Let me conclude with a note from Colossians 1:15-20:
15 He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation; 16 for
in him all things in heaven and on earth
were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and
in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he
is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have
first place in everything. 19 For in him
all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
[4] When
Lutherans were arguing with Calvinists about the presence of Christ in the
Eucharist, the Calvinists said, “The finite cannot contain the infinite” (in
Latin, finitum non capax infiniti). Whether that was a persuasive argument
relating to the Eucharist is for you to decide. But on its face, the statement
is correct.
[5]
Church Dogmatics III.2 [47.1] 460.
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