19^th February 2013

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley Sunday 10 February 2013

Lessons - Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99; Luke 9:28-36

And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered and his
clothes became dazzling white. (Luke 9:29)

Christians are not alone in having stories about the dazzling appearance
of God to humans. 'To see the divine face - the face of God - was the
great passion that animated pagan religion, in a vast array of it native
expressions.' (David Bentley Hart, First Things, vol 230, p71). In
Metamorphosis (c 125-180), for example, Isis is worshipped as the 'shining
goddess' and 'Queen of Heaven' (p72) who creates, sustains, loves and
protects life and defeats the powers of death and hell. She lights up
reality and transforms the lives of her devotees.

Nor are they alone in believing in the power of transfiguration. Although
the word is not commonplace, it is used in magic and imaginative story-
telling. In Harry Potter a number of transfiguration teachers are employed
at Hogwarts' school. JK Rowling described transfiguration as 'a branch of
magic that focuses on the alteration of the form of an object, via the
alteration of the object's molecular structure' - that is to say, its
'nature is completely altered'. (Herald UK 7/12/1998)

Something similar takes place in the Transfiguration of Jesus. The
splendour of Jesus' appearance suggests the awesome presence of God. His
face is 'altered' (Revised Standard Version) and his clothes are 'dazzling
white'. The human Jesus is transformed into a divine figure: the Son of
God, the Chosen One (v35). Christians, like Peter and the other disciples,
and Jews, like Moses (Exodus 34:29ff), also desire to see the face of a
divinity that bedazzles and transforms our lives!

There is no need to be alarmed by these similarities between pagan
religion and Christian-Jewish faith. Nor should we conclude that Judeo-
Christianity is merely one form of the natural human longing for God's
presence.

Consider the differences subtly interwoven into Luke's account of Jesus'
transfiguration.

The splendour of God's self-revelation is not displayed as a force of
nature but is visible in the presence of two historical persons: Moses and
Elijah, figures of faith, hope and courage. As model representatives of
the law and the prophets, they embody Jewish faith at its best,
persistently reminding the people of the privileges of grace and their
responsibility to worship God, obey the commandments, act justly and
resist the nature religion of their pagan neighbours. At great personal
cost, they declared God's grace-and-goodness: Moses defying Pharaoh and
leading the exodus out of Egypt with its nature gods; Elijah berating
Queen Jezebel for promoting pagan beliefs and immoral practices akin to
the worship of Isis.

Thus, we are to understand the transfigured Jesus, not as a divine
presence unrelated to history, but as a figure whose destiny is in
continuity with these historic figures. Luke makes it clear that Jesus is
not a god-like figure drawn from nature religions.

When he tells us that Moses and Elijah spoke of Jesus' 'departure which he
was to accomplish at Jerusalem' (v31), he links Jesus to God's covenant
with Israel and points to the harsh reality that many of Moses' and
Elijah's heirs will crucify him. The Greek word for 'departure' is
'exodus' which means 'going out from' (as in leaving Egypt and the pagan
gods) or 'leaving this life' and dying (as in 2 Peter 1:15).

Luke is saying that in Jesus God is bring about a New Exodus: a new act of
deliverance from slavery that is to be accomplished by his death in
Jerusalem. Unlike pagan forms of transfiguration, the glory of God is to
be visible in the face of a crucified Jewish man. He does not cease to be
human but his godlikeness radiates in his complete self-giving humanity.
In this unique human figure the universal longing to see God is
transfigured (para Hart p71).

The setting in Luke underlines this point. Immediately before, Jesus
speaks of his crucifixion and resurrection (vv21-27). Immediately after, a
dramatic healing is accompanied by another prediction of betrayal and
death (v44). Jesus' transfiguration is an early announcement of the
victory of the crucified God!

Other details reinforce the connection between transfiguration and
crucifixion.

* Luke alone reports that they went up the mountain 'to pray' (v28c). In
this way he links the prayers on the unnamed mountain where the
transfiguration took place with the anguished prayers on the Mount of
Olives immediately before Jesus' betrayal and arrest (22:39ff).

* Luke also mentions that, on both occasions, the disciples were 'heavy
with sleep' (9:32a; 22:45). Those who barely 'kept awake', even when
Christ's 'glory' is so dazzlingly displayed, 'fell asleep' when his true
'glory' - the splendour of sacrificial love - is about to be revealed on a
barbaric cross.

* At the end of the episode we learn that 'Jesus was found alone' (v36),
as he is later, before his betrayal and arrest. This is not so much an
historical detail as a profound theological claim. Jesus alone illuminates
the full and costly glory of God. Even Elijah and Moses no longer stand
beside him. This unexpected turn of events begins to alter the disciples'
view of things. Seen through their eyes, it is an honour that Jesus is in
the company of the great 'figures' of faith! That Moses and Elijah are
honoured to be in his presence forces them to reconsider radically their
vision of the splendour of God.

In the transfiguration Jesus is glimpsed for who he is: the Crucified-and-
Risen light of the world. Greek Orthodox Bishop Joseph of Arianzos puts it
well:

'Moses and Elijah are confirming without a margin of doubt that Jesus is
not just a simple person, or a wise teacher, a virtuous reformer of some
new-wave of life-style, a charismatic miracle-worker, or even a Prophet or
a Saint, but He is the Son of the Word of the Living God! True God from
True God! Light from Light! He is the true and eternal light which
illumines and sanctifies every person who comes into the world.' (John
1:9)

The whole episode foreshadows the events in Jerusalem. The transfiguration
signifies that this unique human 'figure' - crucified-and-risen - is none
other than the truly dazzling and radiant Splendour of the Father!

Insight into the full extent of his glory must await crucifixion,
resurrection and ascension. That is why the disciples, somewhat
improbably, 'kept silence and told no one in those days anything of what
they had seen' (v36). Silence is the proper reaction. Without silence, we
mistake this dazzling encounter as an expression of the 'glory' that all
people seek. Without silence, we mistake Jesus for a magician who
completely alters his human nature (molecular structure) to become divine.
Without silence, we miss the full radiance of God's sacrificial and
triumphant love in the person of Jesus. Euphoria is out of place.
Religious enthusiasm is wrong-headed.

Thus, the transfiguration is an event that brings deep joy that springs
from a proper silence in the presence of God. That is why silent
meditation is a necessary part of our worship - not to be quiet for its
own sake but to reflect on the unmatched radiance of God's costly, self-
giving love. Silence born of awe in the presence of God is the
precondition for following the crucified Jesus as Lord. When we are silent
in this way, we shall see the true 'glory' of God and be encouraged to
follow Christ by giving ourselves in love for the world.

As our Eastern Orthodox friends remind us, the transfiguration signifies
God's renewal of the whole creation. It is a sign of hope that -
eventually and despite appearances - mercy and justice shall illuminate
the earth. In pointing forward to the triumph of the crucified Lord, it is
a word of hope to people whose minds and bodies have been disfigured by
affliction, neglect or abuse, whether caused by others or themselves.

In a world where there is so much suffering and evil, and where enthusiasm
and chattering are an excuse for deep thinking and bold action, the Church
needs to recover the true art of silence. Then, in the transfiguration of
Christ, we shall see the foreshadowing of the splendour of God's costly,
triumphant love for the world. Then we shall be pleased to 'glorify' God
and serve our brothers and sisters in need in the company of the One who,
in becoming one with us in his humanity, demonstrated the dazzling
radiance of God's love for humanity.

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Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church,
Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Dr Champion is Chair of the Assembly of
Confessing Congregations within the UCA.

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