Sunday, February 11, 2018

Dazed and Confused, Part 1

Mark 9:2-9 (NRSV)  

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
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Today is the last Sunday in the season of Epiphany - the season of “Aha!” moments.  Those moments begin right after the birth of the Child, when (depending on which gospel is read) either the Three Magi from the East or the prophets Anna and Simeon recognize the child Jesus as the King, the promised Messiah.  It continues on with the voice from above calling him “My Son, My Beloved” at his baptism, Nathaniel naming him Son of God and King of Israel, Simon Peter and the sons of Zebedee dropping their work to follow him, and unclean spirits recognizing him as Holy One of God.  This is the final week, the last of the revelations that really should get the attention of his disciples, and drive the point home that this is the son of God, the Anointed One, the Messiah promised by all the prophets, God with Us.  

Jesus, Peter, James, and John went apart from the others to pray.  We remember that these three are the ones he called first, the ones who are closest to him, who should know him best.  They are with him on the mountain when suddenly he is changed, transfigured, his clothes became “dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them,” and suddenly, there before them are Moses and Elijah, the greatest of the prophets - the two who went straight to God at the end of their lives, who were not buried, nor were their bodies corrupted as happens to every other living thing when it dies.  In fact, there is no record of them dying, only of them going away - Moses alone to a mountaintop and Elijah taken up into the air in a flaming chariot.  
 
note:  I have no idea how they would have recognized Moses and Elijah.  There weren’t any portraits of them anywhere.  They couldn’t look them up on Google to see if these were really those guys.  But somehow they knew that these two people were Moses and Elijah and they were suddenly standing there having a conversation with Jesus, their rabbi.  

Peter, always practical, offered to build shelters for the three who stood before them.   Not quite sure why, but Peter wasn’t known for standing by quietly to figure things out before jumping in with words or actions.   Maybe in his mind it was equivalent to offering a hot beverage in times of confusion.  At any rate a cloud appeared around them and a voice came from the cloud saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”  And when the cloud was gone, so were Moses and Elijah, and Jesus was himself again, (as were his clothes) and it was time to go back down the mountain.  Jesus then ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man was risen from the dead.

“No problem, Lord.  Our lips are sealed!”  They weren’t going to tell anyone.  They had no idea what they had just experienced, but they for durn sure aren’t going to tell anyone.  (Spoiler alert - they’re going to start questioning Jesus about it next week.)

Seminary students may be among the most arrogant of all graduate level students - with the possible exception of Law and Med Students.  We look at the disciples, and we see all the very broad hints and outright statements Jesus makes to them, and yet they continually seem dazed and confused by everything.  They never seem to really get that Jesus is not the kind of Messiah they have been expecting.  We all shake our heads, and laugh about how dense they seem to be.  I mean, in story after story they are given clues about what is coming.  Jesus tells parables to the masses, and then breaks it down for the disciples so they will understand what he’s talking about.  And they just always kind of look like Captain Jack Sparrow saying “whuh?”  We would have known better.  We would have picked up on what he was saying. It’s so clear!  How could they possibly miss the point over and over again?  

Well, you know, they missed the point because they haven’t been raised with these stories.  They haven’t had the symbolism pounded into them in sermon after sermon.  They had no idea that this is the way the ancient prophecies would play out, because this isn’t the way they were taught to understand them.   We can see clearly because we come from a different place and time, a time when we know who Jesus is.  They had to figure it all out for themselves, and none of it was making sense to them because understood the Messiah in a totally different context than we do.  Frankly, we would have missed the point, too.  We’re not smarter than the disciples.  We just have better information at our disposal.  

This appearance on the mountaintop is filled with symbolism, some of which would be clear to the disciples but most of which is only clear with 20/20 hindsight.  Jesus’ clothes were white beyond any earthly reality, which we will see again when an angel appears to the women in the garden on Resurrection day, but which simply confused the disciples.  Moses went to the cloud covered mountain to speak with God, so God’s voice coming from a cloud is symbolism the disciples would recognize.  Likewise, God spoke from a cloud on the day Jesus was baptized, which we know, but the disciples weren’t part of his life yet, so would be unaware of that event.  And of course, Jesus will ascend bodily to heaven, leaving no earthly body behind, just as Moses and Elijah left none behind, which we understand because we know the rest of the story.   To the disciples, however, Moses and Elijah appearing to speak with their rabbi would prove to them that he was one of the great prophets, for they also had the power to raise the dead, heal the sick and perform other great wonders.  They had no idea what was to come, and that he would ascend into heaven in the same manner they did.

This passage, and the symbolism in it, will help the earliest Christians realize that Jesus stands firmly within the Jewish tradition.  And this was important.  Mark needed to make it clear to his listeners, who would have been primarily Jews, that Jesus was the fulfillment of prophecy.  It was important for them to hear that Jesus was there to honor and reform their tradition, not to bring a totally new thing into the world.  So the Good News was that they were, indeed, the Chosen People, the people to whom God sent, not just prophets, but God’s own Son, so that they would be healed of the sins that separate them from each other and from God.  The Good News for them was that God was still speaking to them, that they had not been abandoned or rejected, that God still loved them.   And the Good News for all the rest of the world is that God’s love encompasses everyone, all the peoples of the world, not just the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  The Good News for us is that in just under two months, we will be celebrating Jesus’ resurrection, proof that sin and death have no hold on him, nor on us who follow him. 

But first we must walk alongside him on his journey to Jerusalem, to that final Passover supper, to his betrayal, his trial, his suffering, and his death.  On Wednesday we will adorn our foreheads with ashes, to remind us of our own mortality, to remind us that, although the resurrection is at the end of the road, first we have to travel the road Jesus traveled.  There is so much left for him to do, so much more for him to teach, so many more people to reach with the Good News of God’s kingdom, in such a short time.  

On this last Sunday in the Season of the Epiphany, on this very last day of Aha! Moments, even though the disciples are still dazed and confused, we recognize Jesus for who he is, Son of God, Messiah, the Prince of Peace, God with us.  Let us all sing praise to him.  Please stand and sing “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed.” 


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