2 Corinthians 3:12-18; Luke
9:28-36
February 7, 2016
© 2016
Twenty some years ago Candy
and I lived in the L’Arche Daybreak community in Richmond Hill, Ontario for
four months. I worked in the Woodery where I got to know Dave. Though he could
not read, he was able to operate a couple of the power tools. He was constantly
frustrated by his life struggles. Shortly after coming we attended community
worship in which Dave helped Father Henri Nouwen celebrate communion. When Dave
put on the alb, his face lit up. He treated the bread and wine with reverent
care. He knew he was handling the holy.
He was beaming as he served us. After worship I said to Candy, “That must have
been something of what Moses looked like after he had been with God.”
At first Moses was unaware
of the supernatural glow on his face. Paul wrote of Moses’ glow in 2 Corinthians
3:18 that as we see the reflected glory of God, we are being transformed from
one degree of glory to another. When we have been close to God, we can expect
God’s glory to radiate from us, just as it did from Dave.
Prayer lifts the veil on
God’s glory, so we may be transformed from one degree of glory to another.
Luke’s emphasis on Jesus’
praying is the context for the Transfiguration in Luke 9:28-36. But it started
in verse 18, when Jesus was praying and asked his disciples about who he was.
When Peter answered that he was “The Messiah of God,” Jesus told them he would
suffer and die and rise again. Then he said that anyone who wanted to be his
disciple would have to take up a cross and follow him, and that some of them
would not die before seeing the Kingdom of God.
Now about eight days
after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up
on the mountain to pray.29And while he was praying, the appearance
of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.30Suddenly
they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him.31They appeared
in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish
at Jerusalem.32Now 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.33Just 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.34While
he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified
as they entered the cloud.35Then from the cloud came a voice that
said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”36When 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.
The Transfiguration was a
crucial turning point in Jesus’ ministry. From here forward everything took him
to the cross. Just as at his baptism when he started his ministry, now as he
headed to the cross, the voice of the Father affirms him as the Son with the
Father’s blessing.
Luke told the
Transfiguration with words and images that recall Israel’s Exodus from Egypt
under Moses.
Moses received the Law on
Mount Sinai. Elijah met God on Mount Horeb. Jesus will return to the Mount of
Olives, and was Transfigured on “The Mountain.”
The cloud of God’s glory
covered Mt. Sinai. Jesus will return in the clouds, and a cloud overshadowed
the Mount of Transfiguration.
For 40 years in the
wilderness the Israelites lived in shelters as Peter proposed for Jesus, Moses
and Elijah.
The Exodus was the great
redemptive event of Israel’s history, and the word for “departure” that Moses
and Elijah spoke about to Jesus is “exodus.” The “exodus” Jesus was to
accomplish at Jerusalem was the great redemptive event for all humanity: his
death and resurrection.
Prayer lifts the veil on
God’s glory, so we may be transformed from one degree of glory to another.
Jesus’ prayers mark the
beginning of two parallel sections meant to be seen together. In verses 18-27
the order is: he was identified as Messiah, he foretold his suffering and ended
with coming back in glory. The order reversed in verses 28-36 for the
Transfiguration. His glory was revealed while he was praying, he spoke with
Moses and Elijah of his departure, and the voice of the Father identified him
as the Chosen Son.
Luke wanted us to be sure we
knew Jesus was praying at this momentous turning point in his ministry. Since
our prayers tend to be asking God to do something for us, we may assume Jesus
was asking the Father for something: revelation of his glory, confirmation of
his identity and mission, strength for the ordeal ahead, maybe even a precursor
to his prayer in the Garden to let this cup pass from him. While these things
might have been included, I think Jesus’ conversation with Moses and Elijah
about “his departure that he was about to accomplish” points in a different
direction. I think Jesus was having a conversation with the Father about the
significance of his death and resurrection and what it would bring to people,
which continued with Moses and Elijah who had anticipated that redemption in
their times and could now see it far more clearly and full of glory.
God does not need our
prayers to be informed and instructed about what to do. That is not to say we
shouldn’t ask God to act, but if that is most or all of our prayer life, we
will miss out on God’s glory. But if our prayers are a conversation with God in
which we do most of the listening, glory will shine through on us and we will
glow. The seventeenth century Russian mystic Dimitri of Rostov (1651-1709) defined prayer in a way I think gives us insight
into Jesus’ praying at his Transfiguration. “To pray means to stand before God
with the mind, mentally to gaze unswervingly at [God], and to converse with
[God] in reverent fear and hope.” (The Art of Prayer, Igumen Chariton,
Faber and Faber, Boston, 1936 Russian, 1966 English; p. 50)
Prayer lifts the veil on
God’s glory, so we may be transformed from one degree of glory to another.
Even if only for the moment,
Dave was transformed from his frustrating disability to a degree of glory when
he distributed the communion bread and wine. We may not glow like Moses, but as
our praying brings us into God’s presence, we will be transformed from one
degree of glory to another. Like Moses, we may not notice it ourselves, but
others will know when we have been with God.
The departures of Moses and
Elijah from this life were singularly attended by God. God buried Moses outside
Canaan. God took Elijah by a whirlwind. Death is under God’s sovereign control
and points to Jesus’ resurrection.
Though I thought of Moses
when I saw the radiance on Dave’s face at communion, I can’t say I’ve seen the
supernatural glow of Moses. However, I have been with many people as they are
dying and believe some of them have seen the glory of God absorbing them. The
account of the 4th century Desert Father, Abba Sisoes rings true.
When Abba Sisoes was at the point of death, while the
[Brothers] were sitting beside him, his face shone like the sun. He said to
them, “Look, Abba Anthony is coming.” A little later he said, “Look, the choir
of prophets is coming.” Again his countenance shown with brightness and he
said, “Look the choir of apostles is coming.” His countenance increased in
brightness and lo, he spoke with someone. Then the old men asked him, “With
whom are you speaking, [Abba]?” He said, Look, the angels are coming to fetch
me. … Once more his countenance suddenly became like the sun and they were all
filled with fear. He said to them, “Look, the Lord is coming and he’s saying,
‘Bring me the vessel from the desert.’” Then there was a flash of lightning and
all the house was filled with a sweet [fragrance]. (The Sayings of
the Desert Fathers; tr. Benedicta Ward, SLG; Cistertian Publications,1975;
p. 215)
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