I love the story of the ‘transfiguration’
of Jesus. There is so much happening in it, and we read it every year in the
church where I serve as pastor right before we start the season of Lent, which
is the 40 days (not counting Sunday’s, so it’s really 46 total days) that lead
up to Easter Sunday beginning on Ash Wednesday.
If you’re not familiar with the
story let me recommend that you grab your Bible and read it. Or, even if you
are familiar with it, which might be worse because that usually means that we
think we completely understand it, let me recommend that you grab your Bible
and read it. Or if you would rather type in “Luke 9:28-36” in your browser you
can read it that way as well.
Here’s the just of it: Jesus goes up
a mountain with three of his disciples (Peter, James, and John), to pray. And
while they are on the mountain Jesus physically changes (“transfigures”), he
kind of starts glowing and his clothes are dazzlingly white. As if that’s not
enough, two other guys show up and start talking to Jesus, Moses and Elijah.
Now Moses lived about 1500 years before this point in time, and Elijah lived
about 900 or so years before this moment, and yet here they are, talking to
Jesus.
My favorite part of this whole story
is the end of verse 33. In my NIV Bible it’s even in parentheses like this:
“(He
did not know what he was saying.)”
Yeah. I get that.
The reference (if you just read the
story) was to Peter. Given the amazingness of this whole image, and the immense
layers of theological insight that we could discern from this event and what it
means to us as Christians and to the Church of Jesus Christ in this century,
maybe it seems odd that my favorite verse is that Peter didn’t know what to
say.
So, let me explain the reason.
Some people think I talk for a
living. And using words is a big part of my job for sure, both spoken and
written. I write out sermons but I preach them every week by speaking them. I
lead Bible studies and devotions and small groups, and in all of them I speak
(a lot probably) of words. I write this bi-weekly column and blog, and in so
doing I use (again, a lot probably) of words, even though these are written
words. When I visit people in their homes or run into them at Food City I talk
to them with (again, a lot probably) words.
I use words to try to convey
spiritual truths and doctrinal ideologies in ways that I can understand, and
hopefully that make sense to people I am talking to. But on this mountain top,
Peter (who used a lot of words as well), is at a loss for words. The glory of
God is being revealed Jesus right before his very eyes. The perfect and loving
image of God in all his splendor, not to mention two giants of the faith with
him; Moses representing the law and Elijah representing the prophets, and there
is Jesus, as the cumulative fulfillment of it all.
And Peter doesn’t know what to say.
And to be honest, neither do I. And that’s a good thing. Because as they come
down the mountain back into the needs and messiness of real life, we find this
little verse tucked away at the end of the story:
“And
they were all amazed at the greatness of God” (Luke 9:43).
So I think that’s the real point of
it all. To be amazed at the greatness of God. Today, would you look for ways
that God is amazing you? Maybe it’s in the sunrise this morning, or the
mountain view you have from your back porch. Or maybe it’s in your child or
grandchild, or in the loving expression on the face of your spouse. Maybe it’s
in the immensity of all of God’s creation, or in the intrinsic qualities of a
single cell. Maybe it is in the image of a long life well lived or a new life
just beginning. Or look in the pages of Scripture, and inside yourself as a
beloved and valuable child of the Most High.
God is amazing. God is good. God is
great. Today be amazed at the greatness of God. And you don’t even have to use
any words, because sometimes it’s OK to not know what to say.
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