Epiphany

February 22, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 17:1-9
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John 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 dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’ When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’ And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, ‘Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’

If you had been a first century citizen of what was once know as Israel then split in two, how do you think you would have responded to Jesus? Would you have identified him as a good man, best friend, great teacher, positive example, person with special powers, healer, wonderful storyteller, excellent leader, inspired prophet? At some point would you have wondered could this be the One, the Promised One, the Messiah? At what point might you have considered him God incarnate or Son of God? I wonder if Peter, James, and John confronted that question at what is now called the Transfiguration described in the above scripture.

I remember a movie about the beginning of the civil rights movement in the USA during the late fifties that told the story of a white middle-class woman who hired a black woman as her housekeeper. At first, she respected the housekeeper’s work and became close to her while remaining totally blind to the discrimination that was going on in her town. Finally, there was a bus boycott that resulted in her housekeeper walking a long distance every day to come to work. The white woman drove by her housekeeper walking home one evening and stopped to see why she was walking. The white woman offered the housekeeper a ride and as she drove her to her home the white woman’s eyes began to become opened to the realities of the housekeeper’s lives.  The story builds to a scene some time later when the white woman is arrives at a confrontation between white people on one side and black people on the other that was angry and getting out of hand. She had never taken a public stand on the issue before but after watching the hatred and fear she crossed the imaginary line and separated the two groups and stood with her housekeeper.

As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to cross the line out of hate and fear and start creating a world ruled by love as children of God.

Prayer: Lord, strengthen us for our journey of loving people to life. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.