Opening Prayer:
Creator of all, we thank you for the opportunity to gather in study. Open our minds and hearts. By the power of the Holy Spirit, unite us in faith, hope, and love. Help us to be faithful to the gospel and to walk humbly with you. Grant us your peace as we grow in wisdom and understanding. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Matthew 17:1-9 How does this account of Jesus’ divinity revealed upon a mountaintop speak to you.?
Jesus has told his disciples that “the Son of Man is to come … in the glory of his Father … There are some standing here who will not taste death before they see … [him] coming in his kingdom” (16:27-28). Now he and the inner circle of disciples ascend a mountain. Jesus is “transfigured” (v. 2, given an unearthly appearance). An aura of unnatural brightness is linked with mystical appearances in Exodus and Acts; “dazzling white” is a symbol of transcendence. In Jewish tradition, both “Moses and Elijah” (v. 3) were taken into heaven without dying; here Moses represents the Law and Elijah the prophets. Both are associated with Mount Sinai. Peter recognizes Jesus as “Lord” (v. 4), both earthly and heavenly sovereign. In his suggestion of making “dwellings” he thinks of Sinai, for dwellings (booths) were erected on the Feast of Tabernacles, commemorating the events there, and a time when the city was brightly lit. On Sinai too a “bright cloud” (v. 5) symbolized God’s presence. The words spoken by the voice recall Jesus’ baptism and add “‘listen to him’”: Jesus is not only God’s Son and his Chosen, but also the prophet God promised to Moses.
Early Christians knew the book of Daniel well. Vv. 6-7 would tell them that this “vision” (v. 9) is linked to the end times: see Daniel 8:17 (where “mortal” is son of man in the Hebrew). Moses and Elijah vanish into insignificance, leaving Jesus alone. The Church Fathers saw the Transfiguration as fulfilling Jesus’ prediction that some would not die until they had seen the coming of God’s kingdom; others saw the event as a prophecy of the Second Coming.
2 Peter 1:16-21 What are your criteria for distinguishing a “false teacher” from a “true prophet”?
The author has written that God, ultimate “goodness” (v. 3), “who called us”, has given us everything we need for eternal life. What Jesus promised to us is our means of escaping the “corruption” (v. 4) of this world and of attaining union with God. So, he says, our faith and knowledge of Christ should result in ethical living, “mutual affection” (v. 7) and love. If we have these qualities and if they grow in us, they will save us from being ineffectual and “unfruitful” (v. 8) in doing Christ’s work. If we don’t have them, we are “nearsighted and blind” (v. 9) and have forgotten the release from sin we obtained in baptism. So be steadfast in the faith; being thus will gain us entry into Christ’s kingdom (v. 11). This letter is written as Peter’s last testament as he approaches death, instructions he leaves to remind his readers of how to remember to be faithful. (vv. 12-15).
Now he speaks of the Transfiguration. While others (false teachers) have used “cleverly devised myths” (v. 16, deceitful lies to deceive members of the community: see 2:1-3), the author was an “eyewitness” to the event, one which showed the power of God and was a preview of Christ’s second “coming”. At that time, Jesus “received honor and glory from God the Father” (v. 17) when the heavenly voice identified him as “‘my Son, my Beloved …’”. (The “Majestic Glory” is the Father.) Old Testament prophets (“prophetic message”, v. 19) foretold the coming of the Messiah at the end of time; the Transfiguration more fully confirms this. Dear readers, hold to (“be attentive to”) this hope in these times of corruption and false teachers – until the Second Coming (“until the day dawns”) and Christ, “the morning star”, assumes sovereignty. Vv. 20-21 make two points:
- scripture should be interpreted in the community, not on “one’s own”, and 2
- true prophets, in every age, are empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak for God; they do not prophesy of their own volition.
Exodus 24:12-18 What has been your most memorable “mountaintop experience,” spiritually-speaking, and why?
In 22:22-23:33, Moses has ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Law verbally from God – both the Ten Commandments (“words”, v. 3) and the case law (“ordinances”) . In v. 3, Moses has told them to the people; they have agreed to their side of the Covenant. (God’s side is to be their God and to protect them.) Moses has then written down all God has told him. The pact, the union between God and the people, has been ratified in blood, “the blood of the covenant” (v. 8). Blood has been dashed against the altar (symbolizing God) and sprinkled on the people. (Vv. 9-11 are from another oral tradition, so we skip to v. 12).
Now God offers to put all the laws in permanent form, on “tablets of stone”. So important is Moses’ ascent of the mountain that it is mentioned four times in vv. 12-18. Moses leaves “the elders” (v. 14) in charge and commissions “Aaron and Hur” to administer justice in his absence. God’s “glory” (vv. 16, 17) is an envelope of light, a bright “cloud”, veiling his being: the people can see the cloud, but not God. Unlike the light from the Burning Bush (Chapter 3), this appearance of God is frightening “like a devouring fire” (v. 17). Moses prepares to meet God for some time (“six days”, v. 16). “Forty days and forty nights” (v. 18) is reminiscent of the Flood, of the time the Israelites scouted out Canaan’s defenses before entering the Promised Land, and of Elijah’s later experience on the same mountain. It is a considerable length of time.
Closing Prayer
O God of the covenant,
the cloud of your splendor and the fire of your love
revealed your Son on the mountain heights.
Transform our lives in his image,
write your law of love on our hearts,
and make us prophets of your glory,
that we may lead others into your presence. Amen.