Afterwords -- transfigured
"And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light." (Matthew 17:1-2)
March 21, 2024
Dear friends,
This remarkable event called the transfiguration took place in the north of the land of Israel, as Jesus had begun to travel southward for his final journey to Jerusalem. With three of his disciples, he goes up on a mountain to pray, and there they get a glimpse of who Jesus really is. It was a view of glorious reality.
Jesus had told them three times that he would go to Jerusalem to suffer and die, and then to rise on the third day, but the disciples seemed unaware of what they would face in those last days of his ministry. They were not prepared for the betrayal, the beating, the brutality, and the cruel death their Master would experience.
Jesus' transfiguration on the mountain was a foretaste, a glimpse, an over-powering pre-experience of his resurrection glory to come. Like brilliant light shining through a beautiful stained-glass window, Christ's glory radiated from his Person like the morning sun. The apostle Peter remembered this event (of course he would!), and he wrote about it...
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts..." (2 Peter 1:16-19)
Peter tells us that this pre-resurrection vision of Christ's glory should point us to the reliability of God's prophetic word. God tells us what he is going to do, and then he does exactly as he says. He is in control of history and of the plans he will accomplish. All other stories -- ancient or postmodern, religious or secular -- which contradict this truth will one day be seen as merely "cleverly devised myths". Contemporary poet (and Cambridge chaplain) Malcolm Guite reflects on this in his sonnet, "Transfiguration"...
For that one moment, ‘in and out of time’,
On that one mountain where all moments meet,
The daily veil that covers the sublime
In darkling glass fell dazzled at his feet.
There were no angels full of eyes and wings
Just living glory full of truth and grace.
The Love that dances at the heart of things
Shone out upon us from a human face
And to that light the light in us leaped up,
We felt it quicken somewhere deep within,
A sudden blaze of long-extinguished hope
Trembled and tingled through the tender skin.
Nor can this blackened sky, this darkened scar
Eclipse that glimpse of how things really are.
-- Malcolm Guite, from Sounding the Seasons (Canterbury Press, 2012)
The lesson from the transfiguration of Jesus, as the poet writes, is that no blackened sky, no darkened scar can eclipse that glimpse of how things really are.
May we remember this as we follow in our Savior's footsteps!
READING, WATCHING, LISTENING.
-- I'm enjoying the poetry of The Soul In Paraphrase (Crossway, 2018), edited by Leland Ryken. It's only been in recent years that I've begun appreciating poetry! I'm currently reading sonnets from John Milton, Shakespeare, and Robert Frost. Btw, you can hear the poem above ("Transfiguration") read by the author here.
-- We finished watching The Masters of the Air, the Apple TV+ series (2024) by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Though not recommended for children, the series does a powerful job chronicling the wartime service of the 100th Bomber Group, based in England during WW2. It was close to home: my wife had a relative who flew with that very group, and my father, though stateside, was training in B-17s at war's end. My friend Neil sent me this YouTube link to a fascinating documentary, narrated by Clark Gable in 1943, who was then a commissioned officer in the Army Air Force.
-- Here's an excellent and timely sermon by Dewayne Moore on submission to authority.
-- Dan Fischer writes about the books he read growing up -- including the good, the bad, and the trashy.
-- A quote: "Jesus' unique twofold self-consciousness, confirmed by his Father's voice from heaven at his baptism and transfiguration came out constantly. One has only to think here of the breathtaking naturalness with which he assumed absolute authority in everything he said and did..." (J. I. Packer, Knowing God)
IN OTHER NEWS.
-- This week we welcomed our grand-daughter Lydia (8 lbs. 10 oz.) into our family. She is our eighth grandchild. Thanks be to God!
-- "The people of Ireland have voted resoundingly not to remove the word 'mother' from the Irish Constitution." (John Duggan, in First Things)
FINAL QUOTE.
"Stephen Hawking said, 'Religion is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.' I said, 'Atheism is a fairy story for people afraid of the light.'" (John Lennox, professor, Oxford University)
That's it for this week!
Sandy
Photo above of stained-glass windows in the Washington National Cathedral was taken with my Pixel 5a in 2022. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.