Exodus 34.29-end
Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. Afterwards all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Luke 9.28-36
Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
I think one of the greatest achievements of my life was when I walked up mount Snowden in North Wales. I was quite young, about ten years old at the time; initially I wanted to stay at the bottom of the mountain with my mum whilst my dad and my brother (who has four years on me) went up the mountain. It was only when I saw them leaving and going up the first bit of the ascent, that I wanted to go up as well and join them.
To be honest the mountain top experience wasn’t that great; by the time we got there it was foggy so you could barely see a thing. And I think I find it difficult to connect with that kind of ‘mountain top’ experiences anyway, they don’t seem to ‘connect’ with me for whatever reason. Words on a page do it better for me. But anyway, the disciples in the gospel passage today have the ‘mountain top’ experience par excellence.
What the disciples have in this story is something that we don’t usually associate with Christianity in this day and age, a profound mystical experience. They see Jesus revealed in all his glory and his splendour. They see a foretaste of the heavenly Jesus whom at this very moment is ascended in heaven with his Father. They see what it will be like when we see Jesus in eternity. But not only this, Peter, James, and John saw sum total of the promise of God, and their fulfilment. Their fulfilment in Jesus.
But Jesus isn’t on his own with the disciples, there are two others with him. And these two people Jesus sees are, archetypes if you like of the two ways in which we view of the world. One is a world of order, governed by laws and rules and regulations, (what’s right’s right and what’s wrong if you like). The other is mystical, more chaotic and, much less predictable (‘the Spirit goes where it wills’, goes the saying).
The first person we see with Jesus is Moses. Moses, the man who was charged by God with leading his people out of the slavery of Egypt out of the clutches of Pharaoh. And when the Israelites made it out, they were given the law symbolising God’s everlasting covenant with his people. He represents the Law in our passage today. And in our reading from Exodus when he comes down the mountain with the ten commandments, which represents the totality of the law, his face is shining like the sun because he has come into the presence of the divine. And to remain in the divine presence, you must obey the law, all 613 of them!
Now, The Law was given to the tribe of Israel, as a sign of the covenant that God made with the Israelite people. It’s not as many have caricatured the Jewish faith ‘believe these rules exactly and you will go to heaven.’ That may be how the Pharisees saw it in the end. But that was not the principle behind the law. It wasn’t that at all, its far more nuanced and far more interesting.
It’s more like this; ‘I Am the LORD, I love you and I have brought you out of the land of Egypt. I have saved you from Pharaoh and from slavery and death. Now you are my people, and you are to live as my people, we have a covenant together. Do what I will have you do, and you remain in my covenant.’ That’s what it’s about. Being the people of God, following his ways, following his laws.
So that’s Moses, what about the other person. Elijah? Who does he represent?
Elijah was one of the prophets. The prophets as I have spoken about before are not so much people who predicted the future, rather they are people on whom the Spirit of the living God dwelt, and spoke into their own times and their own situations about how the people of Israel failed to be who God would have them be.
In them was the pure inspiration of God if you like. The prophets spoke against Gods enemies, and indeed their own people with passion in their bellies and fire in their hearts; calling out their failure to do justice. Calling them out when they held their religious festivals and looked all high and mighty and obeyed the letter of the law, all the while forgetting the poor, the orphan and the widow, (in other words, the lowest people in society). He called them out on their hypocrisy, there attentiveness too much to the letter of the law rather than the Spirit. But they also saw a future, in which God’s justice and peace and mercy would reign on earth, and not evil and darkness and death. How ominous does that sound with our current situation in eastern Europe!
So we have Moses, and we Have Elijah, two outworking’s of God’s revelation if you like. One the Law, and the other those who called God’s people back to righteousness. But in the middle, ah but right there in that middle, there stands Jesus, speaking to both Elijah, and Moses, the fulfilment of them both.
Jesus shining, his clothes a perfect white, his face that of the divine.
This sounds quite mystical, and indeed it is, because our faith is not just about believing a certain set of principles (or laws perhaps, as Moses represents) nor it is about relying totally on inspiration and the, inner voice that speaks out the light of truth into a world of darkness, (like who Elijah the prophet represents). No, the answer is to look at the person in the middle. The one who shines like the sun, who’s clothing is as white as snow, pure and unblemished. To look upon Jesus, is to look upon the divine presence, as it says in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, ‘in him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.’
I began to really think about this a year or so ago, thinking about what It means to be a Christian. What does a Christian do? A Christian worships Jesus, she looks upon him, she bows down before him, she gazes at him ‘lost in wonder, love and praise’ in that incredible hymn ‘Love divine, all loves excelling.’
This is my invitation this week. Gaze upon Jesus, look upon your lord in all his majesty and splendour and his divinity. Now, saying this may sound rather strange. But we are profoundly interested in the mystical these days, we just look everywhere but Christianity for it. The rise of meditation in the past few decades, reading eastern mystic writers, chakra healing, crystal healing, statues of the buddha in so many homes; spirituality and mysticism is everywhere.
But there are plenty of Christian mystics too, Ignatius of Loyola, Meister Eckhart, Thomas Merton, Richard Rohr, the Desert Fathers in ancient times. All knew that to know Jesus was to know the purest expression of the mystical. We are always in the presence of God, but we are rarely conscious of that. The transfiguration of Jesus reminds us what we are missing, we are missing God’s presence in our lives! Jesus is always here, watching over us, looking after us, caring for us; if only we were aware of it, and how much we would change for the better if we did.
For he is worthy, he is worth of our love, our lives and our worship. There is a vision in the book of Revelation chapter 4 of the Throne of Heaven. This vision is talking about Jesus, the man who is God, the one who shines like the sun. I will end with this.
‘After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.
Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,
“Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.”
And whenever the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”’
Gaze upon Jesus today in his majesty, and you will be changed.
Amen.
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