Transfiguration of The Lord
August 6, 2017
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
2 Peter 1:16-19
Matthew 17:1-9
Our Old Testament Scripture this week is from the Book of Daniel. Daniel is a three-part book that contains short stories about Daniel, stories of his companions and visions that he has. All of these are written by unknown authors, even the dreams and visions he has, even though it is told in the first person.
There are nine stories in the book that are tales of biblical heroes who cope with the difficulties that they experience, who survive the oppression they are under and how they triumph in glory after it is all over. Like most Old Testament writings, they tell of good and evil and how in the end the good prevails and they are rewarded for their faithfulness to the Lord. The individuals who are the models for these stories are Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Susanna.
This kind of literature is referred to as apocalyptic and was frequently used from 200 BCE to 100 BCE. It can be found in Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel and even in the Book of Revelation. Apocalyptic is a Greek word that can be interrupted as unveiling, uncovering or commonly known as revelation. These works contain information that humans do not normally see or understand the meaning behind them. Through angels, dreams, and strange or bizarre events the knowledge to understand these events is revealed to the reader. Often times they can take on a tone of resistance literature that encourages those under persecution to prevail and to wait with expectation of the end times. These predictions about when God will intervene to establish the kingdom they are seeking are unique to Old Testament writings.
Our reading today come from Chapter 7 where the theme changes from stories of Daniel and his companions, to the apocalyptic visions that are attributed to Daniel. He is not the interpreter of the visions, but he is the recipient of the secret revelations. Through these visions Daniel learns that divine action is going to take place. He sees the Ancient One, also known as the Ancient of Days, portrayed as an old, white haired man dressed in white, symbolism for God. He presides over a court of thousands of servants, often referred to as the court of judgement.
His vision continues when he sees One like the son of man, coming on the clouds of heaven. This human like figure comes to the Ancient One who presents him with dominion, glory and kingship over all of the nations. Jews took great comfort in this vision knowing that God was going to take care of them, He was going to dispatch the evil forces that surrounded them, the rulers who captured them and sent them into exile. Later Christians also saw this as justice at the hand of the Romans who persecuted them and also saw this as God sending His Son Jesus to the world for all to follow.
Most modern scholars say that 2 Peter is not written by him, but it is attributed to him because of his leadership, because of his theology and because of his administrative capabilities of the early church. He is an important spokesperson for the early traditions of the church. Those who oppose the early church are attacking the Parousia, the return of Jesus to judge the world and attacking the authority of God to reward those who follow him or to punish those who turn away from God. Written about the year 100, long after Peter and Paul have died, it looks back on the early days of the church and the theology that is needed to lead the church and to correct the errors that others are making.
In the church, there was a mixture of Jewish- Christian’s and pagan converts, not unlike the church in the Old Testament times when there was a mixture of many cultures. The concern then, and now as a global church, is how do you integrate so many different cultures and still have one church following the one set of rules and one theology. This letter understands the dilemma the early leaders faced and attempts to explain why they are fighting against the heresies they faced.
This is the first time we explicitly hear about the problems in the church concerning the Parousia and what the heretics are saying. They are claiming that these teachings are not heavenly revelations, but are manmade to control the people. 2 Peter refutes these charges by saying that they are eyewitnesses to the transfiguration of the Lord. When someone says they are an eyewitness to an event, it becomes harder to refute that the event really happened. This event that was witnessed is looked at a foreshadowing of the Parousia. Not only is Peter one of the members of the apostles to witness this, but James and John as well. When one has several eyewitnesses, it strengthens the claim that the event actually happened. Not only do they witness what takes place, but the event is grounded by the fact that they actually hear the voice of the Lord.
Our Gospel reading this week is the Transfiguration of the Lord when Peter, James and John go up the mountain with Jesus. Some scholars see this as a resurrection experience, most agree that this is so different from the other resurrection stories that it has to be a different event.
In verse 2 when it says Jesus is transfigured, it seems to indicate that Jesus took on a different appearance than what the apostles were used to seeing. This view of Jesus, that he appeared different to them, suggest that at the coming of the kingdom, as His lordship of the kingdom is manifested, this could be how he will be viewed by all who will see Him.
When Moses and Elijah appear they are a reminder to the Jewish people that all things are seen through the eyes of the Law and the Prophets from the Old Testament.
What is interesting is that, like many other events where people have encountered God, it is a mountain top that once again is the setting for the transfiguration. This is a reference to God's appearance to Moses on Mt Sinai in Exodus 24:16. We too can experience these mountain top events in our lives, only to return to the valley once again and have to try to climb upwards again. As our hopes and dreams seem to be fulfilled on that mountain top, the apostles experience the same hope and wish to remain in the glory they are experiencing.
They even have their hopes raised even higher as they hear the voice from the cloud say to them, "This is my beloved Son on whom my favor rests." This is the same elevation of Jesus to this special status as had been described at His baptism. This voice from the cloud is the Jewish interpretation of God's presence before the people just as it was in the Exodus.
As they all come down the mountain, Jesus once again invokes the familiar theme of not telling people what they have seen until after His resurrection. It is not that he is telling them to hide the event, it just that people would not be able to connect all of the events that transpired in His life until his resurrection. Even the disciples themselves will not fully comprehend what they were taught until that time.