Sunday before Lent
“he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light. ”
Summary
We often speak of mountain top experiences: those moments when God is powerfully present, when we feel that we have stepped outside of the humdrum and the ordinary and touched the divine and the eternal. Both readings this morning recount such an experience. In both they take place on a mountain top, above the concerns of the everyday.
In Exodus 24:12-18 it is only Moses who is permitted to draw near to God, the rest of the people must stay at the distance. In Matthew 17:1-9, however, Jesus takes people with him. Here, instead of the “devouring fire” seen by Moses on the mountain, they see Jesus transfigured by the fire, the light and glory emanating from within him.
The disciples are scared out of their wits but Jesus restores them with a touch. Here God is no longer separate from humanity, no longer distant and other but is deeply and intimately enmeshed in and with humanity.
God does not remain on the mountain top, God accompanies them back down the mountain into the world of the everyday. Here they are to learn that they too can be transfigured, soaked through with the love and the will of God. And, being filled with Christ, recognise Christ in others and in the world around them.
God is not for special times and special places, God is for all times and all places. Shining through the world, shining through each and everyone of us, calling us to reach out our very human hands that through them God might bring healing and renewal to a needy world.
FIRST READING
Exodus 24: 12-18
The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there; 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 onto the mountain of God. To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us, until we come back to you. Look, 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 Israelites. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights
GOSPEL
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 bright as light. 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 set up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud 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 raised their eyes, 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
