Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons forAug. 6, 2017

Transfiguration of Christ (c.1480), oil on panel by Giovanni Bellini (c.1430-1516). Museo di Capodimonte, Naples.

We take a break from the long season of Sundays after Pentecost because the Feast of the Transfiguration, traditionally celebrated on August 6, falls on a Sunday this year and takes precedence. Our first reading, with Moses coming down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, his face glowing like the sun, will reflect back to us in Sunday’s Gospel when we see the transfigured Jesus standing with Moses and Elijah, shining in dazzling white, revealed as the Messiah.

Psalm: Psalm 99

This mighty ancient hymn of praise envisions God as a powerful king at whose appearance the people tremble and the earth shakes. Yet, just as Moses and Aaron received God’s law and teaching with loud chants of praise, the Psalmist understands God as no petty tyrant but a mighty ruler. God demands justice and righteousness, but God is also forgiving and kind. God reveals to the people both distant might and present love.

Second Reading: 2 Peter 1:13-21

One of the latest letters in the New Testament, this was probably written by a church leader in Peter’s name more than a century after the Crucifixion. Addressing Second Century Christians who may have been worried that Jesus had not yet returned, the letter urges them to trust in God and wait for the dawn and the morning star, reminding them in Peter’s voice that he had been an eyewitness to the Transfiguration.

Gospel: Luke 9:28-36, 37-43a

Peter, John and James go with Jesus to a mountain to pray, and suddenly their mouths drop open in awe as Moses and Elijah appear and Jesus’ face and clothing are transfigured in holy light. The apostles become sleepy, but too intrigued to sleep; then they are terrified as a cloud forms around them. Then God’s mighty voice is heard, booming out the same words that God had spoken from a cloud at Jesus’ baptism by John: “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

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If you’d like to keep up with the lectionary narratives from Genesis, the Psalms, Romans and Matthew that are replaced by the Transfiguration readings this week, they are:
First Reading (Track One): Genesis 32:22-31
First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 55:1-5
Psalm (Track One): Psalm 17:1-7, 15
Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21
Second Reading: Romans 9:1-5
Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21