Transfiguration Notes
Matthew Chapter 17
I’ve often been fascinated by the greek workd “metamorphe” which is translated “transfiguration.” I wouldn’t guess that it has to do with “metamorphosis” the change of the shape, but there seems to be some major change, some revelation about who Jesus is. I have, in past sermons, used butterfly as a metaphor. It reminds me, in part, of Nabakov’s work on them.
“We are all butterflies” could be a sermon. A bad one.
Moses and Elijah represent the law and the prophets, the traditional division of the text. Still, the story makes me wonder what they are talking about.
I’d try
“Boy, it’s kind of odd to be here. How you doing?”
“Hey Moses. You need a haircut.” Jesus says
“just because you’re the son of Adam doesn’t mean you can give me haberdashery suggestions.”
They both turn to Elijah. “And where have YOU been?”
“So… Patriots by 20?”
We also see that Jesus has the approval of God. The disciples are afraid of the voice from above. They are scared out of their wits. What does it mean to get God’s approval? What did Jesus do? I mean, does one do anything? Maybe Moses and Elijah were giving him some kind of test that Jesus passed.
Moses ad Elijah disappear. Does this mean the law and the prophets disappear? Does Jesus embody or surpass them. He then says “do not be afraid.”
“Do not be afraid” occurs many times in scripture. It is the phrase every Christian should have tattooed on their forehead. One could preach several times a year on that phrase, using anecdotes about fear and overcoming them. One interesting self-help book out there is titled “Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway.” Susan Jeffers has useful stories for sermons.
2 Peter 1:16-21
The author states, boldly, “we did not follow cleverly devised myths.” Immediately, the story is posed against myth. The author is claiming authority. He is saying he is a credible witness, not merely making things up.
I find this statement cryptic: So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. I’m not sure if the emphasis is so we have the prophetic message, or we have the prophetic message confirmed. The writer then resorts to an exhortation: be attentive until the morning star rises in your hearts. This is a metaphor, I suspect. It might refer to Jesus, who is the morning star.
Then the passage states that prophecy is not of human will but from God, which seems to be a truism of sorts. What makes a prophecy interesting is that it is… true. In that way it seems as if it is from God. Human beings can prophesy, but they can be wrong. We don’t know if something will be true until it actually happens. And if you wait long enough, it will. And if you want to see something, you might make it happen.
Exodus 24:12-18
I find the anthropomorphism of scripture to be enjoyable and illuminating more often than not. The Lord tells Moses to go to the top of the mountain to get stone tablets. He did not use a cell phone. Or papyri.
Moses goes up the mountain and the clouds cover it. Admittedly, I get a bit confused by the passage. Is it a cloud that looks like a devouring fire? In Robert Alter's notes: “An enveloping cloud, flashes of fiery effulgence from within it.” It is like a fire. It is not a fire.
The Lord is imbuing words with permanence. Words dislocate power away from the meanderings and maliciousness of individuals.
Moses is different than the people. He is their leader. And he has disappeared. One could study Moses as a leadership problem. When he leaves, there is chaos, even though he delegates leadership. The leader is often like god, and seems like him. And when he disappears, people do crazy things like create false idols.
He is gone for a long time.
What happens when a parent leaves the house? Or when a country doesn’t have a leader? Factions form. People create civil war. The person who unites has, seemingly, divine power.
Obama seems to have that capability.