A good friend of mine is expectantly waiting for the arrival of her second grandchild. I am right there with her because I was blessed to be the one to marry this beautiful couple. Until the moment of arrival and they become parents for the first time, no one can tell them what it will be like. There is no way to explain how their lives will change, how many sleepless nights they will have, how their hearts will swell beyond belief with love and how priorities are rearranged in a moment. Parenthood is a mystery. It defies words. It affects everyone differently, but everyone is changed. New moms glow; dads are puffed up with pride. Eventually they find their new groove, but the moment one becomes a parent alters one’s life forever.
Eight days later in the Jewish tradition, male children are circumcised; claimed by God and given their name. Luke tells of John and Jesus being circumcised eight days after their respective births (1:59, 2:21). That is why the opening line caught my eye. But let me give you background.
Jesus has just told his disciples about his imminent death and resurrection. Then he says, take up your cross and follow me and concludes with “some standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”
Several times this week I was asked, “What is the transfiguration?” We just heard Luke’s account of Jesus ascending a mountain and being transformed in appearance. Both his skin and his clothing are transfigured; they become “dazzling white.” This is not a cool parlor trick, rather this change represents the glory of God, the divine nature of Jesus. Praying to God, being in communication with the Almighty, changed Jesus, transfigured Jesus. Much like it changed Moses in our Old Testament lesson. Being that close to the divine changes a person. Moses had to wear a veil to help the people hear his teaching and not be so caught up in how his skin changed while being in the presence of God.
Prayer transfigured Jesus and prayer can transform us.
Our skin might not change, but our perspective and attitude can, life circumstances can, with God’s help. Prayer can transform, re-frame a situation and help us to know that God is with us.
Prayer is not just getting our way. “Prayer is surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boat-hook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God” (Success Syndrome, K Hughes, Tyndale, 1988, p. 73).
The transfiguration starts with prayer, but there is more to it. Moses and Elijah are with Jesus on the mountain; they “appeared in glory;” reflecting the glory of God. Moses represents the Law of God, for he is the one who delivered the 10 commandments. Elijah represents the prophets because Malachi and Matthew both speak of Elijah coming before the Messiah (Mal 4:5, Mt 11:14). So, the fact that Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus declares him to be the fulfillment of both the law and the prophets.
Of course, the disciples almost miss the point. Peter, James and John, the inner circle of Jesus, are with him on the mountain. The same intimate group who were present when Jesus raised Jairus daughter from the dead. When Jesus is transfigured through prayer, they are “weighed down with sleep.” They catch a glimpse of the glory but move right to trying to memorialize it, rather than appreciate it. And God almost cuts them off mid-sentence! The transfiguration is not about holding on to this moment, it is about being in awe of God who made it happen and recognizing that Jesus is God’s Chosen Son!
In this moment, Jesus is a living human, and Moses and Elijah represent the fulfillment of the law and prophets. All are glowing, all reflect God’s glory. But if we, like the disciples, are missing the point, then God clearly states it: “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him.” The radiance declares his glory, God’s words declare his divine relationship.
Those words are reminiscent of Jesus’ baptism, when God declared, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Lk. 3:22). Jesus was baptized at the beginning of his ministry and circumcised eight days after his birth. So why did this transfiguration account start “after eight days?” It could be just the passage of time. But there is a theology about the eighth day. It relates to creation, sabbath and new creation. As you know the creation story is marked with “there was evening and there was morning, the first day” (Gen. 1:5). This happens on all six days God creates. But on the seventh day, when God rests, evening and morning are not noted, but sabbath is formed when God blessed the day and made it holy. This is Saturday. That is why sabbath starts at sundown on Friday and goes through sundown Saturday. Jesus died on the cross just as sabbath began. He “rested” on the sabbath and was raised on the first day of the week, Sunday, which is also the eighth day. That is why we worship on Sundays! The Eighth Day is the day of Christ’s resurrection, the day after the “old sabbath,” the day when a “new creation” was made. We are living in that new creation! Just like baptism replaced circumcision, Christ is starting a new thing. An early Church father, Origen, wrote, “Before the arrival of the eighth day of the Lord Jesus Christ the whole world was pure and uncircumcised. But when the eighth day of the resurrection came, immediately we were cleansed, buried, and raised by the circumcision of Christ” (Selecta in Psalmos 118).
We are a new creation in Christ because we are living in the eighth day!!!
A time when we are transformed by Christ through prayer.
A time we are transfigured by God’s love and mercy.
A time we are made whole when we come to the communion table.
Transfiguration is a moment about transformation and how people are changed moving forward. Today we welcome our three new members, Carol, Myles and Mary Ellen. Our congregation will be transformed by their presence with us. Their gifts will renew our community, our congregation will nurture their faith. Together we are a different community than before. Just like new parents can’t know what lies ahead, we do not know what the change will be. It is a mystery. Yet we know God is working to transfigure, to transform, our community.
Soon we will come to table, a place we are transformed by Christ. Let us not be weighed down with sleep like the disciples.
Let us see the glory of our Lord, knowing that we will soon honor the time of his death and resurrection. Let us claim him as our Lord and Savior, as he transforms us. May our eyes be opened in the breaking of the bread, just like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, that is the resurrect story Luke tells. Jesus met them on the road, on the first day of the week, the day of resurrection, the eighth day! (Luke 24:13-35) The eighth day was the beginning of the new creation. The beginning of our new life with Christ. May we, like them, be transformed in the breaking of the bread!
Amen.
