· 2 Kings 2:1-12
· Psalm 50:1-6 (2)
· 2 Corinthians 4:3-6
· Mark 9:2-9
Last week we were reading about the very beginning of Yeshua's ministry, and today we are on to Transfiguration, which is the beginning of the end. Then after Pentecost, which is the end of the gospel, we'll simply jump back to where we left off in Mark 2, and go on until Christ the King.
This peculiar order of doing things comes from the fact that the early Church assigned Jesus's birthday to 25 December, for political reasons, and then proceeded to make a big fuss of it, neither of which is at all supported by the scripture. If it weren't for politics, the church year would start the week after Pentecost, skip Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, and simply proceed through the gospel in order from Yeshua's baptism through to Pentecost. And we would have big celebrations for the Baptism and Transfiguration, not for the Nativity, which is of little interest, or Epiphany, which probably never happened at all.
Did the Transfiguration happen? I'm inclined to think so. First of all because it's in Mark, and I trust the author of Mark. But also, because it's very Hebraic. The New Testament was written very much in the context of the Roman Empire, and there isn't much Old Testament Judaism in it, but this is very much an Old Testament story. Not just because Moses and Elijah appear, but because the details are right. It takes place on a high mountain, and God speaks out of a cloud. In the Old Testament, this is how God has conversations with his most responsible servants, particularly Moses. Also, we hear that Jesus's face shines and his garments turn unnaturally white. This is how angels generally appear.
An angel is a messenger of the Lord. A prophet is a human who receives messages from the Lord in dreams and visions; an angel is not human, but a heavenly creature who can meet with God in person. So angels get messages direct from the mouth of God, not in dreams or visions. They have glowing faces and incredibly white garments. Moses' face also glowed after he talked with God face to face. No other human in the Old Testament is recorded as having spoken to God face to face, or having a glowing face.
So, this story, more than just about anything in the four gospels, is very faithful to Old Testament traditions. And this inclines me to believe that it is true.
We can read the Bible in a more or less literal sense. When I first began to seek the Lord, I assumed it was mostly metaphorical, but the more I read the Old Testament, the more I'm inclined to believe that much of it is factual, especially when it comes to the ways in which the Lord communicates with us. Now Moses is known to have spoken with God face to face, and Elijah, though he didn't in his lifetime, was taken up to heaven bodily instead of dying, where he would of course have spoken to God. And these two, God's most responsible human servants, are having a conversation with Yeshua on a high mountain. This in itself would not make Yeshua's face glow. God himself must have been there speaking with him directly. But since the story was reported by Peter, James and John, not by Yeshua himself, I think God was there, in a way that they did not perceive. Maybe a burning bush, or something like that. Then when God wishes to speak to them directly, he brings up a cloud, and talks to them out of the cloud, which is how he usually talks to people.
What God has to say to Peter, James and John is just to confirm what he already said to John the Baptist: "this is my son, the chosen one. Listen to him." What God says to Yeshua, we don't know. I suppose it must have had something to do with the Passion. And this, as far as we know, is the only time in Yeshua's life on earth that he spoke directly with God, face to face. His disciples saw him appear in the form of a direct messenger from God, not just a prophet or a holy man.
So the Transfiguration is another step in the relationship between Yeshua and God. Yeshua was born the same as any other man. He heard the teaching of John the Baptist and repented his sins. God found his repentance acceptable and selected him to be particularly dedicated to his service, and commissioned him to do miracles. Yeshua preached, and did miracles in the name of the Lord, to establish the validity of his teaching. Then, Yeshua was called to meet with Moses, Elijah, and most importantly, God himself. The Lord spoke to him directly, and then spoke from a cloud to his disciples, confirming again Yeshua's authority. And then Yeshua was offered as a sacrifice of atonement for the people of God. The virgin birth, the Epiphany, the edits that were made to the story of Yeshua's immersion in the Jordan, those are unnecessary to advance the story of God and Christ. It is the Transfiguration that shows us what their relationship was. We should give it a great deal more importance.
Praise be to God, the Wise, the Loving One, the Most Glorious.
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