Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, March 2, 2014
Moses receives the Law and the Commandment.
Transfiguration Sunday marks the liturgical midway point between Christmas and Easter. Now we turn from the incarnate light of Epiphany toward the penitential pathway of Lent that leads toward the crucifixion and then the joy of the resurrection. Today’s readings show us the awe and fear of humans encountering the divine. Exodus describes Moses going up Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from a fearsome God cloaked in clouds and fire. This scene is a surprising contrast with the verses that came just before, in which Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the people apparently dine and drink with a more accessible divine being. In our quest for God, humans have always wrestled with the contrasting ideas of an intimate God who knows our deepest thoughts, and a transcendent God who surpasses human understanding.
Psalm: Psalm 99
This hymn of praise envisions God as a mighty king, at whose appearance the people tremble and the earth shakes. Yet, recalling Moses and Aaron receiving God’s law and teaching, it also shows us God as forgiving and kind, a doer of justice, equity and righteousness. Again the people look for God and find both distant might and present love.
Second Reading: 2 Peter 1:16-21
Here’s something to know about the New Testament’s Letters of Peter: The Apostle Peter didn’t write either of them, and this one was probably written 100 years or more after the Crucifixion, long after Peter’s death. But that doesn’t matter! This letter may have sought to bridge quarreling factions in the young church as believers wondered why Jesus hadn’t yet kept his promise to return. Recalling Peter’s presence at the Transfiguration, it reminds us to trust in God.
Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9
Using images that recall Moses on the mountain and in words that precisely echo God’s approving words at Jesus’s baptism in the Jordan, this account shows us Jesus with Old Testament prophets, glowing in dazzling light, revealed as both human and divine. It’s no wonder that Peter, James and John were afraid … until Jesus’ loving touch reassured them. Jesus calls us, too, to follow his way … and not to be afraid.