Lent

March 13, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Luke 9:28-36, (37-43a)

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. –Luke 9:28-36

I find it hard to imagine what it must have been like to be a part of Jesus’s disciples as he ministers across Galilee and Judea. He was a man who never met a stranger, took on the establishment when he did not agree with them, told Peter to “Get behind me Satan” (Matthew 16:23) when Jesus tried to explain that he was to be killed. He loved children and cried when his friend died. He, indeed, was fully human, but then he healed the sick, raised the dead, stilled the storm, and reunited with Moses and Elijah on the mountainside. Was this man, really the Messiah, the promised one. If he was what does that mean to the disciples?

I do know the feeling of the need to do something, anything after a remarkable event. On the day of the Oklahoma City bombing, the building where I worked shook. TVs and radios were turned on to see what was going on and we saw the face of the Murrah Building gone. An announcement for blood donors was made, particularly for people with O- type blood, and that included me. I ran to my car and quickly drove to the nearest blood center only to see a line that was already two blocks long. I turned around and went to a nearby bank that had been turned into a collection center and encountered an even longer line. I parked and stepped to the end of the line. In just a few moments a volunteer passed by asking for people with O- blood. I raised my hand and was immediately rushed to the front of the line, still behind 50 or so people.

Jesus was transformed on that mountain but so were Peter, James, and John. Their first knee-jerk reaction sounds rather pathetic but was the beginning of a mission that changed the world. We wear their shoes now and our world could sure use some help.

Prayer: Lord, send your Spirit to guide us as we take your love to the ends of the earth. 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.