Do you remember a few weeks ago when our scripture reading told us about the visit of Mary to her older cousin, Elizabeth? These two pregnant Hebrew women were standing at the cross road between the Old Testament yearning for a Messiah and the New Testament learning from the Messiah himself.
You might say that they were the first witnesses of this longed-for event. Elizabeth too old to be a mother, Mary almost too young to be a mother. Their conversation indicates that they both knew what was happening. Elizabeth, the mother of the last Old Testament Prophet and Mary the mother of the Messiah. Our Gospel reading today takes place thirty years later and is also a meeting of old and new. We call this meeting “The Transfiguration”.
Unlike Mary and Elizabeth who knew the truth about Jesus and John, the Apostles, Peter, James and John, who accompanies Jesus to the mountain that day had not yet fully understood who Jesus was! Like these apostles many of us may also wonder, “Just who is this Jesus we say we follow?”
Jesus had invited the three to be with him that day on the mountain. While Jesus is praying they get drowsy and begin to nap. Perhaps you and I are like these apostles. He invites us to be with Him here at Mass today. Yet we some times doze off or let our thoughts wander during Mass. Jesus knew that Peter, James and John needed to know and experience much more about who He was.
They are awakened from their nap by a conversation between Jesus and two men. As they open their eyes they see Jesus, his face changed in appearance, his clothing dazzling white talking with Moses and Elijah. This change in appearance gives rise to the use of the word “Transfiguration” to label this event.
But this event also leads to a transfiguration of the Apostles’ hearts. It brings a rock solid conviction to their vocations as “Fisher of men”. Two of them will suffer martyrdom for their belief and the third will become the guardian of the Messiah’s mother and the author of the Gospel of John which gives the most detailed explanation of who Jesus was in our scriptures.
Unlike us, the disciples had no problem knowing that Jesus was real. In fact it was not a matter of faith. When Jesus said, “lets go to the mountain to pray”, they heard it first hand. Jesus was standing right in front of them. They could reach out and touch him. We take their word for it. Jesus was real. What they struggled with was who he was! In fact we often struggle with that also.
Several years ago a survey of Americans explored the topic of belief or lack of belief in God. Those responding that they believed in God were then asked:
‘What kind of God do you believe in?”
Options: - An authoritarian god.
- A benevolent god.
- An angry god.
- A remote god.
When you hear those choices, what do you think? What do you believe?
If you knew someone who believed in an authoritarian god, how would they describe God?
Does not compromise
Accepts no excuses
Is very judgmental
Demands payment for sin
If you knew someone who believed in an remote god, how would they describe God?
Doesn’t Care about us
We can’t talk to him
Is not interested in human affairs
Is not approachable by us
If you knew someone who believed in an angry god, how would they describe God?
Assumes the worst
Shows no mercy
Takes revenge - Gets even
Punishing (Hell and Damnation)
Difficult or impossible to approach
If you knew someone who believed in an benevolent god, how would they describe God?
Is Loving
Is Merciful
Is Welcoming
Understands me
Is Forgiving
Is a Gift Giver
In your heart, which God do you know?
Going to the mountain with Jesus we discover something about Jesus.We see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah. What is significant about this vision?
Moses - The great prophet of the law.
Elijah - The great prophet of the promise. of a Messiah.
One message of the encounter is that Jesus’ coming is consistent with or fulfills both the Law (as represented by Moses’ presence) and the prophets (as represented by Elijah’s presence) of the Jewish scripture (Old Testament). We can get even more meaning from the encounter that will help us answer the question about what kind of God we believe in.
The story of our God’s interaction with the people of Israel begins with gift and covenant. Our first reading, today, from the book of Genesis, describes the gift and the covenant ceremony.
“I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession.”
Abram asks how he can be sure that he and his descendants can keep the gift.
“It was on that occasion that the Lord made a covenant with Abram.”
We heard the description of liturgy formalizing the covenant in our Old Testamant reading.
he next great gift of God to Israel was the Law which was delivered through Moses. We all remember the dramatic story of the ten commandments. The Law, of course, is the first five books of the Jewish scripture not just the ten commandments.
Lets pause a moment - - - - do we consider the law a gift? Or are we more sarcastic about law?
- Law restrict my freedom
- I personally don’t need it
- Law is for the bad guys
In fact good law, in it essential meaning, is the set of rules that govern how people live together in peace and honor each other’s rights. In the great scope of world history, law has always been a lynchpin of civilization and peace. If you still doubt it - - - look at countries in our own times where law has broken down or ignored by those in power. What replaces law in these places:
- Ethnic cleansing - Racism
- Genocide - Hunger / famine
- Refugees - Collapsed Economy
- War - Confusion
So the gift of the Law was a valuable means by which Israel survived centuries of captivity, wandering, slavery, glory and occupation.
So far, the God we have seen is a God of Gifts and Covenant.
Elijah was the prophet that represented Israel’s belief in the promise of a coming messiah. The Jews believe that Elijah will come again to announce the coming of the Messiah. In the beginning of the Gospel of Luke we find the angel telling Zecheriah, the father of John the Baptist,
“With the spirit and power of Elijah he (John) will go before him,
... preparing for him a people fit for him.”
Matthew, in his telling of the transfiguration story, says that Jesus, on the way down from the mountain said,
“I tell you that Elijah has come already and they did not recognize him.”
The disciples understood that he was speaking of John the Baptist.
And so we leave the mountain with a new understanding of who Jesus really is. The one who has come to renew the covenant, the one who fulfils the meaning of the Law, the one who fulfills the promise and the one who bring the greatest gift of all.
The rest of the disciples did not yet see what we now see that the gift was God himself come to be one of us, to live with us, to die for us and to rise that we might be his sons and daughters.
What would be your answer if you where asked today? The choices:
- A remote god
- An angry god
- An authoritarian god
- A Benevolent God
© Copyright 2022 Joseph E. Hilber. All rights reserved.
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