Listen
It is interesting to note that the record that appears in the Gospels of the transfiguration of Jesus is not the first time that such an event took place. Way back in the history of the people, a similar event occurred with Moses when the covenant between God and the people of Israel was being renewed.
Previously Moses had gone to Mount Sinai where he received the tablets containing the Ten Commandments. Moses was 40 days and nights receiving laws and guidance from God for the people. On his return he noticed that the people had grown weary of waiting for him and had made an idol of gold. In anger, he broke the tablets. Now he was back on the mountain to meet with God again to receive anew the tablets. Once again he spent 40 days and nights on the mountain with nothing to eat or drink.
This time when he returns it is recorded that his face shone. The brightness of it was a sign to the people that Moses had been in the presence of God Himself. Moses was glowing with the glory of God. How long this glow stayed with Moses is not clear but certainly it lasted quite a long time as evidenced by the Scripture which records that Moses veiled his face when speaking to the people but removed it when he entered the tent to speak with God.
It is clear from this passage that the idea of transfiguration is not new. But it is also clear that this is not a normal thing as well. In fact, the only two times that anyone is seen as transfigured is in the time of Moses and then Jesus. The first is the leader who freed the people of Israel from their bondage in Egypt in a physical deliverance and the second is the leader who will free the people from their bondage in a spiritual deliverance.
Both Moses and Jesus spend 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness in preparation for the task they will be expected to complete. For Moses it is to bring a renewed covenant to the people and to gain their acceptance of it and for Jesus it is to bring an everlasting covenant to the people and to gain their acceptance. Further to this the people as a whole spend 40 years being prepared to be the people who can inherit the land promised to them and live in the land according to the covenant they make with God.
It is not without significance that the three figures who appear transfigured on the mountain are Moses, Elijah and Jesus. Moses and Elijah are leaders who overcame great obstacles and who renewed the covenantal relationship between the people and God - Moses in the great exodus and Elijah in confronting the false gods of the king’s wife. Both also have no known place where they are buried. Moses disappears into the hills and Elijah is swept up into the heavens. Jesus comes as the last in a line of great prophets and teachers. He will not only call the people to a renewal of the covenant in baptism but he will ensure that they will have an eternal place with God by the sacrifice of his life as atonement for the sin of the people.
It is indeed a strange quirk of the church calendar that we are still in the midst of winter and just recovering from the events of Christmas and the Epiphany when we will be thrust headlong into a series of events that will culminate in the remembrance of the final days of Jesus upon this earth. One of the more difficult things for us to grasp as we live in this time and place is how to live the whole of the Christian message and yet at the same time relive in such a short period of time events that transpired over a period of more than 30 years with the majority of what we know of Jesus coming in just 3 years. We are set on a brief tumultuous ride between Christmas and Easter. We cover all the main events of his life and death and resurrection. We then settle until Pentecost when we celebrate the full gift of the Holy Spirit upon us and then we seem to go dormant until the whole thing begins again at Advent.
The event recorded as the transfiguration is meant to be a pivotal point in the ministry and mission of Jesus. Up to this point Jesus has been speaking with the disciples about the fact that he has been sent from God to redeem the people and draw them back to a relationship with God but he has also told them that this will mean his suffering and death – death on a cross. The disciples would no doubt be deeply distressed at the thought of their teacher and friend – one who had great power to heal and to guide – being led to a cruel death.
In the transfiguration the disciples not only see the glory of God shining on the face of Jesus, they also see with him two pivotal leaders of the faith. Their presence was significant because they represent turning points in the history of the people of the covenant and the message to the disciples would be that the one whom they were following was also one who would make a significant impact on the life and faith of the people. While they may not yet understand that Jesus is indeed God Himself in the flesh, they would certainly be able to understand that God was present.
And then in the midst of Peter’s stumbling words, a cloud comes and overshadows them as in the days of Moses. And from the cloud comes the voice of God encouraging – even commanding – the disciples to listen to Jesus as he is the Son of God.
The event of transfiguration is never repeated. The event is never marked by any visible outward sign but no doubt it left its mark on the hearts and minds of the disciples that day.
The words that echo from this story are simple: God reveals to the disciples who Jesus really is. And while the disciples only have a glimpse of what is to come, they already have seen that there is a connection and a continuity between the old covenant established with God in the time of Moses, reaffirmed in the time of Elijah and the new covenant with God to be established in the time of Jesus.
They have but one thing to do and that is to listen – listen to the voice of God in Jesus. Jesus knows the path that he must take and he knows the sacrifice that he must make. The disciples in that day could not change that path and we cannot change history. But just as they were encouraged, so we are encouraged today to listen – listen to Jesus!