![]() Moses is taken up and spends an extended amount of time in the presence of God: forty days and forty nights. Sometimes we have to be taken out of our circumstances and situations to meet with God. There is an intimacy to a relationship with God we see this as he takes aside certain people – Moses, Peter, James and John for particular purposes. Closeness to God is a thread that runs through both the Old & New Testaments. I am always curious to know how people are positioning themselves to ‘hear from God’. People sometimes tell me that they don’t think they have ever heard from God or had any encounter with him, what some might call a ‘mountain top’ experience – whatever that might mean for them. Jesus is always speaking but we are not always willing to listen to his voice. If we want to hear Him then we need to stay close to Him. They first heard this at Jesus’ baptism but this time there is an addendum, ‘listen to him’. Also keep your ears on Jesus.įor the second time, the disciples hear a voice from the cloud saying ‘This is my Son, the Beloved with him I am well pleased. If we want to see his face then we need to stay close. Where we place Jesus in our thinking and in our lives says something about how close we are to him. How far away is he from you? Three inches, three feet, across the room, a speck in the distance? Go back for another moment to your mental picture of Jesus. If we want to see who Jesus is, if we want to listen to Him – we need to stay close to him. They stayed with him through to the end – even Peter who denies Jesus three times never really leaves him. They had stayed close to Jesus throughout his ministry being the first disciples called. While it might not have made complete sense to Peter, James and John, they have already decided who Jesus is. Once this acknowledgment takes place, Jesus begins to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, to suffer and die at the hands of the chief priests and the elders, and on the third day rise again. Just before the Transfiguration account, Jesus asks Peter ‘who do you say I am?’ and Peter replies ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God’. These three probably had a better understanding of who Jesus was beyond being only human. The description is that of a heavenly being, dressed in white. Peter, James and John are invited to accompany Jesus up the mountain where he physically changes his appearance before them. I want to focus on the watching, the listening and the closeness to God that happens in this story. And then, of course, there are all of us watching all of them. Those who watch are Peter, James and John. Those at the centre are Jesus, Moses and Elijah. The Transfiguration is the luminous story of a mystical encounter, not only between God and God’s Beloved but also between those at the centre of the story and those who watch. Then we have the Transfiguration! If there were hints that Jesus was something more than strictly human, here we have it! Jesus really is more than a mere man, more than human. He is doing a lot of teaching and preaching and the crowds are growing and the Pharisees are starting to close ranks. But we also see Jesus healing people, exercising demons doing more supernatural things. He travels, he cries, he gets angry, he wants to be alone. He was born, had a childhood Jesus eats, drinks, sleeps, goes to a wedding, goes sailing, meets up with friends. ![]() ![]() Just create a picture of what you think He looks like.īy this point in Matthew’s Gospel we have seen a very human Jesus. What colour is his hair, his eyes, teeth – crooked or straight? Ears – big or small? Tall or short? Hands – rough or smooth? I would like you to consider: what does Jesus look like to you? The event was so mind-boggling that the New Testament reading this week in 2 Peter 1 admits that some people dismissed the story as a “cleverly invented tale.” The Transfiguration account is in Matthew, Mark & Luke so we know it is an important event. It is complete with blinding light, a heavenly voice, and visions of Moses and Elijah. Matthew 17 for this week describes one of the greatest “epiphanies” ever the Transfiguration of Jesus before Peter, James, and John. As a reminder, the Greek word for “epiphany” means disclosure, manifestation, unveiling or appearance. Over the past few weeks at various services I have talked about epiphany. This coming Wednesday we begin forty days of Lent. We are about to enter the last week of the short season of Epiphany.
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