Transfiguration-Mt. 17, Ex. 24
Now we come to a decided fork in the road, as the truth about Jesus is more than a casual encounter would permit. The transfiguration prefigures a post Easter view of Jesus at the very start of our reading of him. We learn about a depth to him in a flash of revelation in a metamorphosis, a transfiguration where we encounter a deep truth about him.
Truth is rarely simple, and it often exists in layers. Appearances deceive. We have reality veiled from us. When I wa sin school, we had a class where the professor was fascinated by the question of whether any human being can fully grasp the behavior, let alone the intentions of another. The shine of revelation makes us shield our eyes. the shine of the truth may well make us shield our eyes. Peering too deeply into another life may veil our eyes from hard truths or noble ones.
The mountaintop awakens Moses to new intimacy with God and continues the fire of the burning bush, and the mountaintop awakens the disciples to deeper realities-They carry their vision with them down off the mountain. We are so tempted to try to stay in some sort of spiritual high
I’ve usually read Peter’s trying to build booths/shelter as an impetuous act of generosity or maybe trying to hold on to the glory for a while. It is more likely a thoroughly apocalyptic scene (See Zech. 14) and a belief that God’s reign would arrive at the feast of tabernacles where God would indeed dwell with the people as they dwelt in booths. it was a divine hospitality in its notion.
The sacraments reveal the presence of Christ to the yes of faith when common basic things are transfigured by God’s action. In the movie Tender Mercies a boy looks in the mirror to see if he looks different after baptism. He does not yet grasp transfiguration. The sacraments reveal the presence of God beneath or through very common things, water, bread and cup. This child looks the same but is transfigured as this child is not a member of the Christian community, The water now is about internal cleansing and being reborn in the waters of spiritual life, God’s grace will nurture this child as surely as plants need water to grow.(Cloud of glory appears in both the exodus reading and the gospel reading.)
Roman Catholics hold to a doctrine of transubstantiation of the substance of the bread and cup changing. We are not that far away from them, without the ancient explanation of Aristotle. for us, the bread and cup remain plain bread and fruit of the vine. In participating in this we see the elements as moving beyond their appearance, and see ourselves and our God in a new light. Bathed in some sacramental water,this child is bathed in baptismal light. Eating a ritual meal with Jesus, we are united with the living Christ, in our whole lives, body, ind, and our very souls.the sacraments show God moving to our dimension, our physical level as a gateway to the divine realm. God is dwelling with us here and now.(Battle Hymn transfigured you and me)
The words of Matthew are applied to Kennedy and all of us in our baptism. You all recall that the voice from heaven says the exact words when Jesus is baptized, but in today’s reading is added-listen to him. In Communion we do just that, we live in a glimpse of what life is meant to be under the sway of God.In God’s eyes, we are seen through the eyes of divine love, to receive the blessings of heaven itself, to luxuriate in the very presence of God.
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