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Texts: Luke 9:28-36 and Exodus 34:29-35
Last week we learned how the Old Testament gives us the vocabulary to understand the new. And wouldn’t you now, this week gives us a perfect example. Let’s pretend we’ve never read the Old Testament and look at our text one more time. “About 8 days…” So far so good. We know Jesus, and we know he likest to go off by himself from time to time to pray. We know Peter, James and John too. They are the big three, first among the twelve, Jesus’ closest friends.
The things get strange. He starts glowing, no shining! Even his clothes are like lightning. This hasn’t happened before. Nowhere else in the gospels does Jesus light up like a torch. What does it mean? Is he really a god pretending to be human?
Then two men show up, Moses and Elijah. Since we haven’t read the OT, we have no clue who they might be. Are they his teachers? Is Jesus merely the keeper of ancient secret knowledge? Then a talking cloud shows up and says, “This is my son, who I have chosen.” So Jesus was God’s adopted son?
I’m not pulling these examples out of thin air. These are actual heresies the church has struggled with. Without the Old Testament to inform our reading of the new, we wind up with more questions than answers.
Look! They found the originals! Pic by Rob Sheridan via Flickr on a Creative Commons License
So let’s go back to the Old Testament reading, lay them next to each other, and see what we learn. “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands.” What’s on those tablets? That’s right, the 10 commandments. Actually, we don’t know for sure. Scripture just says the tablets had the law, it doesn’t say if it was the whole law, or just the big ten, but in the Charlton Heston movie it’s the 10, so that’s what it is.
Notice the differences. Moses is coming down the mountain to give the law to the people, but Jesus is going up. Moses went alone to meet with God, but Jesus is bringing his closest friends. He’s going to commune with God and he’s bringing us with him.
Moses comes down, and he doesn’t realize his face is radiant. Then, he puts on a veil because it frightens the people. There is no matching self-consciousness in Jesus because the light in this story isn’t a reflection. We’re talking the difference between the moon and the sun here. Moses puts on a veil, but Jesus is taking his off. It’s as if, here on this mountaintop, close to God, surrounded by his closest friends, he can finally let his guard down.
Now look at the disciples. Are they afraid, like the people were of Moses? No. They don’t understand it, as evidenced by Peter’s stupid, “Let’s build some tents” idea, but they weren’t afraid…
Actually, they probably were. Imagine. Jesus invites you up to pray. And you know when Jesus wants to pray you’re going to be there a while. The scripture says on more than one occasion that Jesus would pray so long that the disciples would fall asleep waiting for him. So, you settle in for a nap and when you wake up, the mountaintop is lit up! But the shadows are all wrong, because the light isn’t coming from the sun, it’s coming from the Son. They had to be scared, but the scripture never mentions it because their trust in Jesus is bigger than their fear.
So, you don’t do the sensible thing and run away screaming. You move toward the light. And as your eyes adjust, you see two men talking with Jesus, Moses and Elijah, the giver of the law and the greatest of all the prophets. We really have no parallel to this moment. You could say it would be like meeting George Washington and Abe Lincoln, but even that doesn’t do it justice, because those are just political figures. This is politics and race and religion all rolled into one. These are the two men who define you as a human being, and just as you wake up, just as you begin to comprehend what’s going on, they start to leave.
Now Peter’s “build a tent” idea doesn’t seem so stupid, does it? “Please, don’t go! Just stay. We have so much to ask, so much to learn. Please don’t go.” But they do, and then comes the cloud, and now at last the disciples are afraid.
They have every right to be. They know that cloud because they know their scriptures. When the Hebrews camped at the base of the mountain, a cloud like smoke from a furnace descended, covering the mountaintop, and there was the sound like a trumpet, thunder and lightning, and the whole mountain shook, and God spoke to Moses out of the darkness, warning the people to come no closer. No one was to touch even the foot of the mountain, not even the priests. Only Moses could speak with God.
Only now the disciples are the ones on the mountaintop and the cloud envelops them. And just as they had feared, a voice speaks to them out of the darkness of the cloud. But it’s not the words of judgment they expect. The voice says, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.”
And just like that, the veil is pulled back into place, the cloud is gone, and Jesus is just Jesus, not a walking star, and they’re pleased to discover they are all alive and in one piece. And they don’t. Say. A word. Can you blame them? What could you possibly say. Who would believe it if you tried?
It wasn’t until much later, after the crucifixion, after the resurrection, after the gift of the Holy Spirit, after time to think and ponder and pray that they came to understand something new. God didn’t call a prophet to the mountaintop, he called regular people who loved Jesus. God didn’t hand over a new set of laws, 10 new commandments. God said, “This is my son, listen to him.” Jesus is the new law, written on our hearts.
Moses used to come down the mountain and show people his face to prove that his message really came from God, and then he would cover his face so no oune would see the glory fade. Jesus doesn’t need to prove anything to anybody, because he’s not the reflection. He’s the source. His light doesn’t fade with time, in fact it grows as it is reflected in the hearts and faces of his followers. As their numbers and purity grows, so does his revealing light.
I met a delightful person this week, who confided in me, even though we had just met. This person said, “I miss church. I used to go, but I made some choices and now I feel uncomfortable. I want to go, but part of me is afraid.” Maybe you’ve felt that way too, like you want to get your life together before you go meet with God. I’ve certainly felt that way. But brothers and sisters, hear the good news from our text today.
You have been invited to the mountaintop, not because you’re perfect, but because Jesus saw something in you, and called your name. And even though you don’t always understand, and sometimes you fall asleep when you ought to be praying, and sometimes the smartest thing you can think to say only serves to highlight your own ignorance, none of that matters, because he saw something in you. He called you. He knows you, and he loves you anyway.
Capitalizing on the one skill every good disciple has, you put your footsteps in the footsteps of Jesus, and without really understanding how or why or when, you wake up and suddenly you’re standing face to face with the shining Son, and you feel no fear.
Make no mistake, there is no hiding. In his light , every speck and imperfection is obvious, and yet none of it matters because he loves you anyway. And just as suddenly, you’re face to face with the cloud and darkness, that aspect of god that is beyond our knowing, that can only be revealed by hidden-ness. And for a moment, we are justly afraid, but only for a moment, because the voice from the darkness points us back to the light, and when we turn our eyes to see, it’s just Jesus. This is God as we can understand God. This is what we need to know.
When you look in his eyes, what do you see? Rage? Arrogance? Fear? Shame? Guilt? What do you see? Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. This is God. This the still small voice calling in your heart. You do not have to be afraid, you do not have to understand it all, and you do not have to get it right before you begin. All you need to do is answer the call, and take the next step. If you turn your face to the Son, all the shadows fall behind you.
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Based on a work at revsmilez.com.
