February
15th, 2015 “The Turning Point” Rev.
Heather Jepsen
Mark
9:2-9
Transfiguration, metamorphosis, a
change in appearance or being. In our
gospel reading for this morning Jesus is transfigured, he is changed. This moment marks the center of Jesus’ life
and ministry in the gospel of Mark. It
also marks a center of sorts in our church year as we are about to embark on
our Lenten journey. This morning’s
reading is rich, but its language and imagery are of a culture far distant from
ours. Today I want to dig deeper into
the text, in order to better understand its significance within the gospel and
within our own lives.
The story begins with Jesus separating
himself from the crowds for prayer. As
you know we find him often doing just that.
We talked last week about Jesus knowing his own need to connect with God,
and setting an example for all of us. It
is often in prayer where Jesus reveals the most about his true nature. Prayer in the river Jordan at his baptism,
prayer on the mountain at his transfiguration, and prayer in the garden of Gethsemane,
all serve to show us and the disciples who Jesus really is.
On
this occasion he has left the majority of disciples behind, and has taken only
his inner circle; Peter, James, and John.
It was this group of men who left behind successful fishing careers to
follow Jesus, and we have seen him separate his disciples into this inner
circle before for healings among other things. Today we might imagine that he took these
three with him to witness the transfiguration and to tell others about it
later. Or, perhaps he simply took them
as emotional back up.
When they arrive on the mountaintop
Jesus begins to shine. His clothes, his
face, his entire appearance seem to radiate light. He has been changed, transfigured. The disciples see two men with Jesus; Moses
and Elijah. These two figures in
particular are very significant. Both of
them encountered God on a mountain top, Moses on Mount Sinai and Elijah on
Mount Horeb, and both of them were known to have special relationships with God. Perhaps most important to the gospel writer
is the Jewish tradition of Moses and Elijah, in which both of them were
associated with the Messianic age. Their
presence together with Jesus on the mountaintop would serve to confirm to the
disciples, and more importantly to readers of the gospel, that Jesus is in fact
the promised Messiah.
Peter says “Master, it is good for us
to be here, let us make three dwellings.”
Peter wants to hold on to the moment, to celebrate it in stone and mud and
to make it last. The gospel writer
apologizes for Peter, saying that he was afraid and he didn’t know what he was
saying. We might wonder why this apology
is necessary, but Peter’s statement shows that he doesn’t understand what is
going on. He has forgotten that Moses
and Elijah already dwell with God. He
has forgotten that Christ has already told him that he will soon suffer and
die. He seems to think that this moment can
last forever. His lack of understanding could
be embarrassing to the gospel writer, or could simply be another example of
Jesus’ disciples once again missing the mark of his teachings.
While Peter is speaking a great cloud
comes and overshadows everyone. Not only
is this cloud above them, it begins to surround them, to overtake them and the
disciples are hidden in the cloud. Again,
this is not the first time people have experienced God in a cloud. God spoke to Moses on Sinai through a cloud
and a cloud led the Israelites many a day in the desert. Regardless of their academic knowledge of God
clouds in the history of Israel, to experience the real thing makes the
disciples understandably afraid.
From within the cloud comes a strong
voice, a powerful voice, a frightening voice, the voice of the Lord, “This is
my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Readers
have heard the voice from the cloud once before at Jesus’ baptism. At that time the voice identified Jesus as
the son of God. “You are my Son, the
Beloved, with you I am well pleased.”
Jesus begins his ministry following this voice from heaven, and now the
voice further identifies Jesus before the disciples and sends him now to his
ministry in Jerusalem.
It seems that as quickly as the cloud
appeared it was gone. Jesus and the
disciples are suddenly alone, the moment is over. The disciples are stunned into silence by
this experience, by this supernatural encounter with God, and they tell no one
of it. This moment is the center of the
story for Mark and a turning point of sorts.
From now on Jesus will turn toward Jerusalem
and the conflict and death that await him there. From this moment on, Jesus’ mission and
journey will lead him to the cross. For
Jesus, the transfiguration confirmed who he was, and assured that the path
before him was not only according to the law and the prophets but was also the
will of God. For the disciples, the transfiguration
told them that Jesus truly was God’s Son, and that he was to be followed even
on the way to Jerusalem and certain death.
The question remains, just what does
this story have to do with us? As
believers, we find in the transfiguration the moment when Jesus is recognized
for who he is. This is the time when
Jesus is clearly identified as the Son of God and the one to whom we should be
listening. In the church year it is
important to mark the moment when Jesus turns toward Jerusalem , as we ourselves begin the journey
of Lent.
Like the disciples’ moments with
Jesus, our relationship with God covers both the ups and downs of our
lives. When we have strong encounters
with God, at a special worship service or on a retreat we often feel something
like a spiritual high. We experience
things becoming clear and we seem to better understand God and our own
mission. In those moments we know for
certain that God is with us in all that we do.
Oftentimes we are like Peter, wanting to build some dwellings and to
remain with God on the mountaintop forever, but that cannot be so. Eventually, those spiritual highs fade and we
are back into the doldrums of our everyday lives.
In many ways, the church year is a
reflection of our lives. We have
celebrations such as Christmas, we have moments of revelation such as Epiphany,
and we have moments of crystal clear understanding such as the Baptism of
Christ and this, his Transfiguration.
But invariably our lives will enter darker times, times when we experience
suffering and loss, times when we wonder if God is really there at all. In the church year, we mark these low moments
of our lives through the season of Lent, the season of darkness.
The
transfiguration marks the change, a turning point in the ministry of Jesus,
just as its celebration marks a change in our church year. Along with Jesus, this is the moment when we
turn our faces toward Jerusalem . Like most people, we don’t want to be sad and
we don’t want to talk about sad things and we certainly don’t want to go to
Jerusalem and the cross. Many modern
churches skip over the season of Lent because they don’t want to bum people
out. Even the disciples rejected the
path that Jesus was laying before them, I think that is part of why the transfiguration
was needed. Both the disciples and us
need to be reminded that this one who will lead us into suffering is worth
listening to. “This is my Son, the
Beloved, listen to him.”
Beginning
with our Ash Wednesday service this week, collectively as a church we are
embarking on a 40 day journey. This will
be a time of reflection for us as individuals, and together as a community here
in worship. This is the time to consider
the down moments in our faith life, and to journey with Christ to the
cross. This is a turning point in our
life as a church. For the next few weeks
we will commit ourselves to walking together that lonesome valley of death with
our Savior.
But for now, for now we can enjoy this
moment of glory. Christ has been transfigured,
changed before our eyes. We have beheld
his glory. We have heard the voice from
heaven. “This is my Son, the Beloved;
listen to him!” Let that be our message
for this morning and as we embark on our journey through Lent. Jesus is God’s Son; let us do our best to
listen to, and to follow wherever he may lead us, even if we aren’t sure we want
to go there. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment