The Feast of the Transfiguration (Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99; 2 Peter 1:13-21; Luke 9:28-36)6/27/2018 It is a fact that no one has ever seen God visibly, especially the face of God. God in the Hebrew Scripture has been clear on this policy that God doesn’t show God’s face to anyone. There’s this story from the Book of Exodus. Moses who already shows up twice in our lessons asks God, “Show me your glory, I pray.” God responds, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live. See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:18-23)
So if you meet some people who claim that they’ve seen God’s face, make sure to pinch them so that you know they are living people. Otherwise, you might have been granted a special gift to communicate with dead people! There’s a strange and mysterious thing about God revealing God’s very own self to the world and God hiding God’s face from the world. Whenever God shows up, things become bright. The burning bush blazing is one thing. And in today’s lesson from the Old Testament, Moses’s face shines because of God’s uncreated light. His face radiates from the light of God’s glory. On the other hand, God also hides his face. Whenever Moses encounters God, he enters into the dark cloud where God is. It is as if God is hiding his face behind the dark cloud. And Moses is afraid to see God’s face. It’s like we humans can never handle the mystery, holiness, or otherness of God. We can never face the face of God with our own eyes. So God shows himself in the dark cloud where God hides. We celebrate today as the feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus. We celebrate the manifestation of Christ’s glory, not only revealed to Peter, James, and John but also to the entire world. What kind of glory would it be? Is it just about how Jesus’ face changed and his clothes became dazzling white like that of Moses? Is it simply about talking with Moses and Elijah in glory? Why does Christ’s transfiguration matter to us? It matters to us because God showed God’s very own face to us and the world. We celebrate and give thanks to God today because God showed God’s face to the world. In Jesus, God showed God’s very human face to the world. Jesus is the human face of God. Peter, James, and John, however, had no idea of what was going on. Quite comically, they were very drowsy. They somehow managed to resist the urge to sleep. They saw Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus about the foreseeing of Jesus’ death in Jerusalem. Still, Peter, James, and John had no clue. Especially, Peter didn’t know what he was saying. He 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.” I’m actually thinking he might have known what he was saying. If I may summarize Peter’s saying, he didn’t want to go back to where he was. He would prefer to stay in this glorious state, forgetting what Jesus had told him about death and resurrection. And he simply thought Jesus was one of the great teachers or prophets like Moses and Elijah. He didn’t see the face of God in Jesus until the resurrection. Peter, James, and John entered the cloud where God was. They were in terror. The Greek icon of the Transfiguration depicts their reactions quite realistically that they are either looking disordered or shocked or hiding their faces and rolling on the ground. Completely disrupted and terrified, they heard the voice of God, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” St. Luke dramatically narrates that after the voice of God was spoken, it was Jesus alone who was in the midst of the cloud. In the dark cloud centered the human face of God, Jesus radiating the uncreated light to the world. This transfigured Jesus is also the crucified one. This glorious face of Jesus is the face of the one who prayed so earnestly to the point where his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. On the Mountain of Olives, he prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” This glorious face of God in Jesus is the face beaten and wounded. God’s face never turns away from us even when we mess up. God’s face never avoids facing the suffering of the world. God’s face never hides from injustice, evil, and oppression. God’s face with his long loving look watches our coming in and going out, desiring the world to ever desire God. At the Eucharist, we are invited to enter the cloud where God is. God is hidden, yet present in the consecrated bread and wine, in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. In this dark cloud of the Eucharist, we look at the human face of God. God shows God’s Eucharistic face, broken and shared for the life of the world, to us and to the world as we partake Christ’s Body and Blood. And this business of looking at Jesus the human face of God is a serious matter. It prompts us to see what that face sees. As we become embodied in the face of Jesus Christ through our partaking of his Body and Blood, our face will change. Yes, like Moses, our face might be shining and radiating from the light of Jesus Christ. And also like the sweated face of Jesus, we will sweat blood in our prayer for those who are suffering and for the world that is in agony, always asking for God’s will be done in the life of the church. Our face will never turn away from errors, mistakes, pains, and injustice, but will always look forward to seeing reconciliation, peace, healing, and justice in the hope of the resurrection. Whatever skin color we have, how old or young we are aged, what cultural or economic background we come from, we as Christians, baptized in the death and resurrection of Jesus, we carry this transfigured face of Jesus Christ, the human face of God in our uniquely created faces. May we always remember who we are and whose face we bear. May we also be able to see the face of Jesus in every human being. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. |
Paul"...life up your love to that cloud [of unknowing]...let God draw your love up to that cloud...through the help of his grace, to forget every other thing." Archives
January 2025
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