Bible Tuesday for the Feast Day of the Transfiguration, 2017
Exodus 24:12-18
The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.” Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
This passage takes place after Moses received the Ten Commandments and all the Law on stone tablets but threw those down when he saw the Israelites and Aaron worshiping the golden calf. That whole incident culminated with the Israelites entering into a covenant with God to abide by the Law which includes the Ten Commandments.
It was common for very important covenants, including border agreements and treaties between countries, to be “written in stone” with copies made for each party of the covenant. Some of these stele of the ancient world are still in existence, with new ones periodically being unearthed. What these steles given to Moses unique is that only Israel receives a copy of the Law, a copy which God himself makes. While artistically the Ten Commandments are rendered as two dome topped tablets, such stele shape was developed in Roman times. Among Syria, Babylonia, and more ancient peoples, covenant tablets would have been rectangular or square in shape.
Note that the sign of the presence of God is both cloud and fire. While Joshua accompanies Moses up the mountain, only Moses is called into the presence of God. All Israel can see the presence of God symbolized by the cloud and fire both on the mountain, and as pillars leading them throughout their wilderness journey, but Moses along is called into the cloud and speaks with God.
Psalm 2
Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and his anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”
I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling
kiss his feet, or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled. Happy are all who take refuge in him.
The covenant that God made with Abraham stated, in part, that God would bless all peoples of the world through Abraham and Sarah and their offspring. This belief also takes on the dimension of Israel being God’s chosen people, and indeed, they were/are, chosen to be God’s instrument of evangelism throughout the world. In this psalm, the primacy of Israel is affirmed as God scolds those who would rise against the “bonds” and “chords” Israel has on them.
But instead of establishing Israel as the bully of the middle east, the psalm calls kings and rulers of the world to stand alongside Israel and serve the Lord and happily take refuge in God.
“You are my son. Today I have begotten you.” – This statement follows an Israelite teaching stated in several prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures which can refer to both the nation of Israel and to a favored king, like that of David. The original Hebrew uses language which echoes used among nobles and royal families who legally adopted protégés as their heirs.
2 Peter 1:16-21
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.
So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
It was common practice in the Roman world to write a testament in the name of a figure recently died in order to honor that person and further the cause to which he/she devoted his/her life and work. Scholars do not agree on whether 2 Peter is such a posthumous pseudoraphe or it was writer by Peter shortly before his death in Rome in 64 or 65 AD.
The letter is a summary of Peter’s proclamation of the gospel of Jesus. The letter focuses on great issues at hand. The pagan culture in Roman society rejected some of the basic tenets of Christianity. Defending those tenets and the belief that Jesus would return to judge the world are main themes in this letter.
This passage of the letter draws on the Exodus story treated above and describes the cloud on the mountain and further adds the voice of “Majestic Glory”. This passage also quotes the above treated psalm and the below treated transfiguration story to authenticate Jesus’ God given divinity as foretold by the prophets and proclaimed by God, himself. The author uses his eye witness account to lend credence to his proclamation.
Matthew 17:1-9
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Six days after what? The end of Matthew 16 presents Jesus telling his disciples to deny themselves, pick up their crosses, and follow him. “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?”
Why six days? It could be a reference to the above treated Exodus passage where Moses waited with the cloud for six days before he was called into it by God on the seventh. It could also be a reference by the author to the partial glory of Jesus that the disciples witnessed on this, the almost Sabbath.
This story of the transfiguration serves many purposes in the gospel narratives. In the gospel of Matthew, this is yet another event where Jesus fulfills the prophecies of old. Jesus meets with Moses, the greatest leader of the Hebrew people, and Elijah, the greatest prophet. But only Jesus is dazzling white, indicating his greater glory and divinity. God descends upon this scene in the now familiar cloud and speaks the promised proclamation, adding, “LISTEN TO HIM!”
The Transfiguration story has been interpreted as a “passing of the torch.” Moses and Elijah faithfully did their parts. Now they pass the roles of greatest prophet and Lawgiver onto Jesus, who does all that and so very much more.
A major difference between the religious/political parties of the Sadducees and the Pharisees was that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead or any kind of afterlife, whereas the Pharisees did. In this story, Jesus talks with Moses and Elijah, who are somehow recognized by Peter, James, and John. Obviously, there is an afterlife because Moses and Elijah are living it. The early Christians struggled to make this point with the Sadducees and their followers.
In the gospels, this story comes right after Peter declares, “You are the Christ! The son of the Living God!” Jesus responds to Peter’s statement by explaining how and why he had to go to Jerusalem to suffer and die at the hands of the high priest. This 180 flip between being the son of God and being executed by the high priest greatly alarmed the disciples and the early gospel hearers. This transfiguration story gives a glimmer of hope that even if Jesus is executed, maybe he will still be around like Moses and Elijah, or maybe even more present, as his dazzling white foreshadows.
Peter makes a strange offer. An actual translation of the word here stated as “dwellings” and sometimes as “booths” would be “tent”. Why would Peter offer that? The gospel of Luke adds to Peter’s offer, “not knowing what he said.” There is no tradition in the Jewish religion of building a synagogue on the site of some amazing event. When Jacob has his dream of angels ascending and descending to and from heaven, he wakes up and erects a large stone to mark the place and then gives it a new name. That happens several times in the Hebrew scriptures. It is only under Emperor Constantine that churches start being built on the supposed sites of Jesus’ birth, crucifixion, burial, etc.