This week’s Readings and Sermon for the last Sunday before Lent
The Collect for This Week
Almighty Father, whose Son was revealed in majesty before he suffered death upon the cross: give us grace to perceive his glory, that we may be strengthened to suffer with him and be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
The Post Communion Prayer for this week
Holy God, we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ: may we who are partakers at his table reflect his life in word and deed, that all the world may know his power to change and save. This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Psalm 2
1 Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and his anointed, saying, 3 ‘Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.’ 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 ‘I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.’ 7 I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, ‘You are my son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling 12 kiss his feet,
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled. Happy are all who take refuge in him.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and shall be forever. Amen
The Old Testament Reading for this Sunday is taken from the Book of Exodus, Chapter 24, verses 12 to 18
12 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.’ 13 So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 To the elders he had said, ‘Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.’
15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The New Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the Second Letter of St Peter, Chapter 1, verses 16 to 21
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honour and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ 18 We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.
19 So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 17, verses 1 to 9
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to John Glory to You, o Lord
1 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 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.’ 5 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!’ 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’ 8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
9 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.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, o Christ
Note :All readings are shared from the Church of England Lectionary App and are subject to copyright . © The Archbishop’s Council
This week’s sermon is delivered by Rev. Chich Hewitt
The theme of our lessons today is the Transfiguration - that moment when Jesus had gone up a high mountain with three of his close disciples - Peter, James and John. He was transfigured before them, so that his face shone brightly like the sun-and his clothes were a dazzling white, too bright to look upon. This event appears in all three synoptic gospels - Matthew, Mark and Luke - and was obviously signifiant to the Gospel writers. The closest we might get in John’s Gospel is when Jesus said, ‘I, when I be lifted up, will draw all people unto me’. In Luke’s Gospel, they came down from the mountain the following day, suggesting that it was a night-time event.
This event is commemorated twice a year in our lectionary. The feast of the Transfiguration falls on 6 August. There is a grim irony about this date; on 6 August, 1945, there was an equally dazzling event in the Japanese city of Hiroshima, when the first nuclear weapon to be used in war, destroyed huge swathes of the city and claimed many thousands of lives. The other occasion is the Sunday immediately before Lent - today - on a Sunday which Mike reminded us was previously called Quinquagessima in the Book of Common Prayer. This from the Latin word for 5, this day being approximately 50 days before Easter.
Why is this event remembered before Lent? This is because it is closely linked with Jesus’ impending death. It might seem to be an event of majesty and glory, but has a different relevance. Matthew’s Gospel, which we have before us today, tells us that as they came down from the mountain, Jesus told his disciples not to talk about this event until after he had been raised from the dead. This event relates not to glory but to suffering.
It is first and foremost about encouragement. Jesus must have known that a painful death lay ahead of him and that that day was drawing closer. It would be easer to withdraw into the quiet life, and live peacefully for as long as his natural life would be. He needed to remember who he was and what his calling within the will of God was to be. As for the disciples, we know that they resisted any thought of him dying. When Jesus told them who he was, and what was to happen, Peter had pulled him aside and said this mustn’t happen. Jesus had reprimanded him, saying, ‘get behind me Satan.’ The last thing Jesus needed was for well-meaning followers to make him deviate from God’s purpose. The disciples had a difficult journey ahead of them, and Peter, James and John had something encouraging they could hold on to, as well as being reminded of who Jesus was; ‘this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased’, said the voice they heard in this out-of-this-world moment.
But it was not just Jesus whom they saw. Two other figures were there on either side of him. We are not sure if they recognised whom they were, but the Gospel writers tell us that they were Moses and Elijah. These were two very significant figures in the scriptures of that time, but there were others. These two represented different contexts.
Moses was closely linked with the Law. Much of what he said and did related to the Law of God, and it was he who had received the commandments of God, also on a mountain, Mount Sinai. If Moses represented the Law, Elijah represented the prophets, of whom there were many, and whose words we hear often in our readings. Jesus had come to fulfil the law and prophecy, and he has been referred to as prophet, priest and king. There is also a great sense of a continued life with God, defying the Sadducees who did not believe in resurrection. Here were people from the past in conversation with God’s beloved son in the present.
There is another important aspect of this remarkable vision granted to those three disciples. Those sorts of moments can be remembered, but cannot be preserved. They were for a brief moment of time. It is likely the disciples were too terrified to be coherent, and Mark’s Gospel tells us that. But in all of this, Peter did not want the experience to go away. He said, ‘let us build three shelters, one for each of you’. But such divine glimpses are transitory, and they cannot be preserved, nor should we try to preserve such moments when they arise, but rather. be grateful for the privilege granted to us. Such moments of glory are often followed by stark reality where we are brought to earth with a bump as it were.
The descent from the mountain, graphically described by Mark, brought Jesus and his three disciples into one of Jesus’ most difficult and dramatic moments of ministry. There was a demon-possessed boy. His father had brought him to the remaining disciples who were below the mountain. They were not able to deal with the situation. The resulting healing took place in a very tense environment. There are many instances where high moments are followed by a tough reality.
Matthew, Mark and Luke all describe the Transfiguration within the same sequence of events. At Caesarea Philippi Jesus asks his disciples whom people say he is, and then asks them,” but who do YOU say I am?” Peter answers that he is the Messiah. This preceded the transfiguration and then the difficult healing of the demon possessed boy. Recognition of Jesus in some cases can be followed by divine revelation, and a challenge to ministry often follows. Luke is less specific about the time between Peter’s acknowledgment of who Jesus is, saying the transfiguration followed about 8 days later. Mark and Matthew are more specific, saying it was 6 days later. Some see this as symbolic, representing 6 days of working, followed by the holy 7th day of revelation when Jesus and those three disciples came to rest.
What do we make of this divine moment? In our readings today there is reference to Moses, whose face shone after his encounter with God, and in the 2nd letter of Peter, there is direct reference to this event. Peter says “he was with them on the holy mountain”. Peter repeats those words he heard - ‘this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased’. Maybe this could be a word on our own lips whenever we have had that kind of divine revelation .
First of all this is an excellent passage on which to meditate, for it is full of wonder and always has more to yield. It was a favourite passage of Desmond Tutu; When two theological colleges were combined in South Africa, there was need for a new name. Suggestions were made, but Desmond had already decided on a name representing a passage of scripture which for him was source of wonder. The new name was the College of the Transfiguration.
We cannot replicate this in our own lives, but when we are seized by a moment of great wonder - for instance a wonderful view of our surrounding countryside, at a particular moment of beauty, relish it and give praise to God. But we then have to move on to a work and ministry which may be more difficult. However, we are sustained by a vision granted us by God. And we cannot confine Jesus to a booth or shelter as Peter wanted to do. Jesus won’t be confined, but instead wants to journey with us, granting us the power of his presence suitable for the occasion.