Transfiguration in context

If you’re like me, the transfiguration of Jesus has always fascinated and perplexed you. Because this Sunday is Transfiguration Sunday, I’ve dedicated my day to understanding (at least trying to) the transfiguration.

A Few Prolegomena

• Peter, James, John, & Jesus go up a mountain
• Jesus is transfigured (Grk – metamorphoo, from which we get metamorphosis)
• The same Greek word is used in Romans 12:2 and 2 Cor. 3:18 – a pretty powerful connection, but not the focus of my study

• Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus
• Moses – ultimate representative of the Law
• Elijah – ultimate representative of the Prophets
• Voice from heaven
• “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
• This is my Son – from Psalm 2:7 (Writings – Khethubim in Hebrew)
• My Chosen One – from Isaiah 42:1 (Prophets – Naviim In Hebrew)
• Listen to him – from Deuteronomy 18:15 (Law – Torah in Hebrew)
• In other words, The Father makes it clear that Jesus fulfills the TaNaKh. The Father quotes all three sections of the Hebrew Scriptures!

The Interesting Stuff

There’s a Midrash (commentary on Tanakh) on Psalm 43 that seems to serve as a background for the Transfiguration account.

Here is the Midrash quote:

Psalm 43:2 states: ‘Why did I walk depressed because of the oppression of my enemy.’ [Has not God saved me in the past and does he not tell me now] – Did I not send you redemption (in Egypt) then as it is said: ‘He SENT Moses, his servant, Aaron whom he CHOSE’ (Ps 105:26); and so He sends us another two as their counterparts, as it is said in Psalm 43:3: ‘Send your Light and your Truth they will lead me…’ So God says to them: I will send your salvation again, as it is said, ‘Behold I SEND you Elijah the Prophet’ (Mal 3:22-23). So now one is named. The second one is “Yea my servant, I shall take hold of him, my CHOSEN one [in whom I shall delight]” (Isa 42:1). Thus does the Psalm say: “Send your Light and your Truth they will lead me; they will bring me to your holy mountain and to your tents (Ps 43:3).

What does this mean?

The rabbis looked at Psalm 43:3 and saw, “Send out your LIGHT and your TRUTH, let them lead me…” and said that when the next generation was oppressed they would need two redeemers similar to Moses and Aaron who redeemed the previous generation.

In the Midrash, they taught that these two redeemers would come in the form of LIGHT and TRURTH.

To make a long story short, they thought the LIGHT would be Elijah and the TRUTH would be the Messiah. Micah 4:5 speaks about Elijah’s coming and Isaiah 42:1 speaks about the Messiah’s coming.

According to Psalm 43:3b they (the LIGHT and the TRUTH) would bring them “to your holy hill and to your dwelling” (a plural noun in Hebrew meaning “tabernacles” or “tents”).

So, here on the mountain we have the two redeemers Elijah (LIGHT) (the preparer for the Messiah) and Jesus (TRUTH) (the Messiah) together and Peter wants to do what? Build tents! Peter knew the text! Moses seems to have been along to point to this.

Then at the end of Psalm 43 it says, “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (literally “The salvation of my countenance/face and my God). Seems the Gospel writers want us to see in the word salvation, which is “yeshua,” a reference to Jesus as our “salvation” and our God.

I haven’t got this all figured out yet, but I find it very interesting. Anybody else ever heard of this?

Thomas a Kempis on Self-Esteem

“Shall I speak unto my Lord, since I am but dust and ashes? If I esteem myself to be any thing more, behold, Thou standest against me, and my iniquities bear true witness, and I cannot contradict it. But if I abase myself, and reduce myself to nothing, and shrink from self-esteem, and grind myself to (what I am) dust, Thy grace will be favorable to me, and Thy light near unto my heart; and all self-esteem, how little soever, shall be swallowed up in the valley of my nothingness, and perish for ever.” (Thomas a Kempis Of The Imitation of Christ, Book III, Chp. 8.1)

Honorable Discharge

In my office are two brittle, broken Bibles. Their bindings are busted and their pages falling out. The congregation purchased new Bibles for the pews and donated the older ones; these two weren't fit to be donated. So, how does one honorably discharge a Bible?

Is truth dead (in your life)?

Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. (Psalm 43:3)

Oh if God's truth would guide us and only His truth! to the place where God dwells no less! What joy that would bring!

How often we are guided, however, by our bruised feelings, our prejudices, our ignorance, our pride, and our selfish desires. It's no wonder we hurt so much.

I fear we live as if Malcom Muggeridge's words were true, "It is truth that has died, not God." (Malcom Muggeridge, Chronicles of Wasted Time: An Autobiography, “The Green Stick,” 20)

A Lectionary Lacuna?

I was reading from Ezekiel 16 last night - whoa was God not happy with Israel! It's no wonder He sent them into exile! Don't believe me? Read it. (Read it in ESV - NIV is too soft.)

As I was reading it, I asked my wife, "Hmm, I wonder why this text isn't included in the lectionary?" A lacuna perhaps? Or perhaps it was too poignant? You ever heard it read in worship?

The Fire Within Doesn't Start There

Yesterday I had the opportunity to hear Ray Vander Laan speak (known for "That the World May Know" series). What a fantastic experience! If you've seen Ray's videos, he's very informative, but lacks intesity. That Ray is no more; he's on fire.

He spoke about praying for the fire within for years without seeing results. At some point, however, someone (might have been a Rabbi) told him that the fire didn't start within; it started outside him - in,with, and under (my Lutheran faith coming through) the Word of God.

Think Jeremiah 23:29 - God's Word is a fire.

Do you want fire? Read the book! Read it, learn it, know it, live it, devour it. The fire within doesn't start within - it's set ablaze by the Word!

And that was just five minutes of the seminar!

He also talked about The Western Mind (abstract, propositional, definition, systematic, etc.) and The Eastern Mind (concrete, story, word pictures, saying, question). Both are needed - not one at the expense of the other. (That got me thinking about another area of recent study - the emerging church- more to come another time.)

A couple points of interest:

1. Why didn't Jesus just stand up an announce, "Hey I'm the Messiah and here are 52 proof texts"?

Because nobody would have listened - at least not anyone from the Eastern mindset. So, what did Jesus do? He gave living, visual evidence He was the Messiah. Want specifics? Ask.

2. What did it mean to be a disciple?

EVERYTHING! Disciples (called Talmadim) followed their Rabbi everywhere. They sought to walk in the way of God by walking like their Rabbi walked - who walked in the way of God. VanderLaan gave the image of walking so closely to your Rabbi that you would get dusty from the dust he kicked up. In short, Jesus didn't call admirers. He didn't call people to give assent to an idea. He called people to follow Him! To live like/with Him. Are you dusty?


Other topics addressed: significance of Galilee regions, schools of Judaism (Beth Sefer, Beth Midrash, Beth Talmud), becoming talmudim, age of disciples when called, binding and loosing, tzitzit, kanaf, and tallit, the use of Allusion ("Remez"), the Kingdom of Heaven, Exodus event's connection to Passover celebration, the institution of Lord's Supper, the non-drinking of the cup of protection, the Night of Watching in Gethsemane, and the drinking of the Elijah cup.

Want to talk about one? Post.

A Perturbing and Perpetual Pastoral Problem

If people were like cars, my job would be a lot easier. I could fix what was broken, tighten what was loose, or replace what was busted. But they're not; they're exceedingly complicated. If you've been alive more than 30 seconds, you know what I mean; I don't need to give any examples.

Having said that, I need your thoughts. How do you help someone who has made a bed that's incredibly uncomfortable to sleep in and complains about it? I'm talking about the person who knowingly marries someone with serious issues and is shocked to discover life isn't daises and picket fences, had a child with someone to whom they're not married and complains that life is difficult, or some such scenario. What do you do?

Telling them they got their comeuppance is tempting, but not wise. Artfully applying law and gospel is not the answer I'm looking for even if it is the right answer (that's too simple). I know how to apply law and gospel, but at some point I don't know what else to do. Sin breaks things.

The unfortunate and uncomfortable truth is that people don't deal with their original sin - the sinful marriage, the sinful fornication, the sinful divorce, etc. Perhaps the answer I'm looking for is repentance (a practice I'm increasingly learning to appreciate and see the desperate need for in my own life), but how does a person repent from a sinful marriage, being an illegitimate parent, divorcing when they shouldn't have, etc.?

Do I need to tell people, "You need to repent for marrying your spouse?" What does that look like?

I can see telling someone to repent for parenting a child outside of marriage, but what does that look like? The same with divorce, but what does that look like?

I guess what I'm asking is, how do I help people deal with the root of their sin and not just the consequences?

Does anyone else struggle with this?

Acts 3:19 comes to mind; any other suggestions?

Caucus Complete

I attended my first caucus last night. It was a fascinating experience as over 600 people from rural Iowa crammed into a tiny school gym to make their voice known.

I really got the sense that a lot is at stake in the next election. I know a lot is at stake in every election, but the urgency seemed to be ratcheted up a notch or two last night.

Did any other of you Iowans attend your caucus? What are your thoughts?

How about you non-Iowans, what are you impressions/questions of/about the caucus?

Truth Matters

Truth is very beautiful; more so, as I consider, than justice – today’s pursuit, which easily puts on a false face. In the nearly seven decades I have lived through, the world has overflowed with bloodshed and explosions whose dust has never had time to settle before others have erupted; all in purportedly just causes. The quest for justice continues, and the weapons and the hatred pile up; but truth was an early casualty.

(Malcom Muggeridge, Chronicles of Wasted Time: An Autobiography, “The Green Stick,” 19)

Do you agree?