The Gospel for the Last Sunday in Epiphany
Luke 9:28-36
Now about eight days after this had been said, he took with him Peter, John and James and went up the mountain to pray. And it happened that, as he was praying, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became sparkling white. And suddenly there were two men talking to him; they were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were heavy with sleep, but they woke up and saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what he was saying. As he was saying this, a cloud came and covered them with shadow; and when they went into the cloud the disciples were afraid. And a voice came from the cloud saying, ‘This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.’ And after the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. The disciples kept silence and, at that time, told no one what they had seen. -- The New Jerusalem Bible. 1995, c1985. Doubleday: Garden City, N.Y.
A Study
Two commonly-held beliefs ought to clash when we assert that (1) the "John" who witnessed the Transfiguration (2) is the same "John" who was principal author of the Gospel of his name. Can you imagine anyone who was an eyewitness to this scene who would not put it at the top of his all-time-memory list? John, instead, uses the words of John the Baptist, early in the Gospel, to establish the identity of God the Father and God the Son, and introduces God the Holy Spirit and the Lamb of God, all in Chapter 1! Think on that, later.
Luke addressed himself to "Theophilus," either a student of Christianity or the metaphor for a group of Christians. He recounts, using almost identically the same words, the same story told by Mark and then Matthew, giving even more credence to the Markian account penned 20 to 40 years earlier.
The parallels that Luke draws between Moses and Jesus are not subtle to someone with even a smattering of Pentateuch exposure. The glowing faces, the white raiment, being on a mountain, the descending cloud -- these are symbols transposed almost directly from Moses' contacts with YHWH. This symbology uses the mindsets prepared by Isaiah for a new prophet, and packages the new prophet in the old symbology. Did it really happen this way? Peter, who was there, recounts the voice of God speaking of his beloved son. That much is corroborated by an eyewitness, if the historicity of 2 Peter is true [which, of course, is a matter of great controversy!].
The difference between John and the Synoptic authors is that John accepted the unity of the Trinity from the first words he wrote. He must have been in awe all those years, being the "disciple that Jesus loved," always wondering "why me?" and thinking of new ways to honor the Christ. For him, the transfiguration, even if it happened as Mark & Co. describe it, was anticlimax. Far from being a turning point in Jesus' approach to His mission, it was just another confirmation of his deity and his calling.
A Reflection
I had the chance last night to ask our rector about the transfiguration story and how he intends to preach it at church today. He said, "It's too hard. I'm preaching the Epistle!." Smart man.
A very present danger for anyone who thinks that he understands a particular piece of the scriptures is that he may not really understand it. Each time we return to a familiar reading, it changes before our eyes. Those who have studied this passage for years find that there's something new every time they look at it again.
My own unresolvable question: was the Transfiguration intended to be for Jesus, for the three who accompanied him, for Elijah and Moses, or for us? Each choice leads us in different directions about God and his intentions. Fortunately, none of the choices seems to exclude the others. Perhaps they're all right. At any rate, it's easy to understand why our rector would choose to preach the Epistle.
I wonder what I'll take away the next time I read this one.
7:56:23 AM 
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