Are you listening?
Commentary
It is not surprising that this text should be read on Transfiguration Sunday. Like the transfiguration and ascension of Jesus for New Testament believers, the ascent of Elijah marked a significant moment in the history of Israel. Elijah is called the "angel of the covenant in the Jewish rite of circumcision. There is a persistent belief that he would return in the same way he ascended. At Passover a door was left ajar in case he should return. Even the joyous barking of dogs was considered to be a sign Elijah's presence.
More importantly for us, however, is that the promise of Malachi that "I will send the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes (4:5) is picked up in many places in the gospels. It begins when there is speculation that the works done by Jesus could only be those of Elijah (Matthew 11:14). It continues when Jesus questions the disciples about who people say he is. Some think he is Elijah (Matthew 16:14). It is prominent in the transfiguration account. And as Jesus is dying there are those who think that he is calling for Elijah to come to deliver him from suffering (Matthew 15:35-36).
Having said all that about Elijah, we should not neglect Elisha. It could be argued that he deserves as much attention as his mentor. We notice, in the first place, that he has matured since his first encounter with Elijah. We recall his initial reluctance to take his hand from the plow and follow his master. But now he cannot let go of his beloved teacher. Though Elijah urges him to stay behind, he says, "I will not leave you (2:2). When Elijah urges him a second time to stay behind while he goes on to Jericho, Elisha repeats his commitment, "I will not leave you (2:4). After a third plea from Elijah, his determination is even more apparent, "As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you (2:6). We are reminded of Ruth who would not leave Naomi. Both Elisha and Ruth received unexpected blessings because of their commitment to follow, no matter what the consequences might be.
Elisha's request for a "double share is a simple request that he might be Elijah's successor. The same phrase describes what the eldest son received when a father died. It was a way to insure the continuity of the work of prophecy.
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Once more, context is the key to understanding this text. In chapter 3 Paul has been writing about the veil that must be removed if we are to know God. The crucial words are in 3:14: "Only in Christ is it (the veil) set aside. We can have confidence because God has removed the veil by sending Christ.
Satan, however, is at work trying to keep the veil in place. For those who resist the truth, unbelief remains. We can speculate about the exact nature of evil - a force or a personal entity. In the end, however, the reality of evil remains and must be reckoned with. It is clear that for Paul this evil is an active agent that is determined to keep the believer behind the veil.
But when "truth comes, that power is conquered by an even greater power. For Paul "truth is the opposite of concealment. Truth is both an unveiling and a process of deeper and deeper understanding. In Greek philosophy, truth was always in the realm of theory. It was never a definite sort of thing. But for Paul, truth is a recreating and restoring activity of God, made specific and real in Christ. In this sense, finding the truth is dramatic. The moment one's eyes are opened to know Christ a new life bens. "Once I was blind, but now I see. Or as we sing in a well-known gospel song: "How precious did that grace appear / The hour I first believed.
But Paul also thinks of truth as the gradual unfolding of knowledge of God. We spend a lifetime coming to know and understand what it means to believe, what it means to live in freedom, what it means to serve God. It is a process in which God is involved, working toward a goal which we will not reach even in this life. The same can be said for the entire church, the body of believers. We are on a journey in search of greater truth, an adventure that will not end until the Parousia.
This is the only place in Paul's writing where he speaks of himself as a "slave of the community of believers. He wants to remove any doubt that he sets himself over them. He is careful, however, not to leave the impression that his office is from them, rather than from God. In his first letter to them he established the foundation: "Let no one boast about human leaders. For all are yours and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).
The same can be said of Christ. He was the "Suffering Servant - a servant to the world. But even a cross and a slave's death did not make a slave of him. We are called to be servants in the world, but our orders come not from the world, but from God.
Mark 9:2-9
This Sunday marks the end of the season of Epiphany. It is a transition Sunday, bringing back recollections of an earlier event in Jesus' life and bridging the way into the season of Lent. What strikes us first about this text is the similarity it bears to the account of our Lord's baptism. Again we hear a voice from heaven confirming that he is the one called of God to fulfill the promise of a Messiah. Both incidents happen at critical times in his life. His baptism was the point at which Christ entered his public ministry. His transfiguration was the point at which he entered the final period of suffering that would lead to the cross. Luke's account of the transfiguration suggests that Jesus talked to Moses and Elijah about "his departure, which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Both stories bear out a fundamental Epiphany theme - that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that his mission is approved of by his Heavenly Father.
The event of the transfiguration is puzzling. We cannot know exactly what it means to be "transfigured. The gospel writers use different terms to describe the change in his appearance. We are tempted, therefore, to explain away the significance of the event. The core of the text is the idea of divine approval. It forces us to ask who Christ is for us. Do we claim him as Son of God? And if so, will we "listen to him ?
But there is still another element that bears attention. Not only does the transfiguration point back to his baptism and forward to the cross and the resurrection; it also links these happenings with the larger story of salvation history. The appearance of Moses and Elijah tells us that the life of Jesus is not isolated from the rest of God's work in the world. The mountain, cloud, and voice from heaven recall stories from the period of the exodus. Because of his role in those events, Moses was regarded devout Jews of that day as a prototype of the Messiah. "When the Messiah comes we will know him because he will be like Moses, the friend of God. Elijah, they believed, would be the forerunner of the Messiah. "When the Messiah comes we will know him because Elijah will prepare the way.
With so much attention to what happened to Jesus, we would do well not to forget that Peter, James, and John are also central to the story. They are the three who were present for the healing of Jairus' daughter and will be singled out later in Gethsemane to be closer to Jesus in his final agony. Yet, we cannot help but remember that these are also the three who are the object of particular criticism. Peter was chastised by Jesus for rejecting the idea that suffering would be necessary. James and John will soon be arguing about who is greatest in the Kingdom. And though chosen to be near him in Gethsemane, all three will fail to watch with him. The fact that they are here urged to "listen to him makes these failures all the more apparent.
Suggestions For Preaching
Last year my wife and I were in Lucerne on the Monday before Ash Wednesday. It was like Shrove Tuesday in New Orleans - marching bands, clowns, tons of confetti, streets lined with most everyone in a costume, children with painted faces, food stands on every corner. The city was filled with a mood of festivity. They were letting out all the stops before the Lenten season arrived.
There is surely a time to make merry. But this may not be the time. Transfiguration Sunday brings us to the end of a season when we have contemplated the questions: "Who is this Jesus? Why did he come? What was his mission? Our attention must be on him. This is a Sunday to do more than mine the riches of a particular text. This is a day to present the larger picture, connecting the transfiguration with biblical events that will be familiar to even the least-informed among our listeners and challenging everyone who hears our words to "listen to him.
As for the event itself, the advice of Vincent Taylor seems wise: A modern way of explaining the experience would be to say that on the mountain there came to the three disciples an overwhelming conviction that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. What form the experience took is less easy to describe. The testimony of Joan of Arc, George Fox, and the mystics generally is that such experiences can be auditory and sometimes visual; and there can be no objection in principle to the view that the disciples heard a voice which was believed to be the voice of God.
The important thing is the revelation; the details remain matters of speculation. (Vincent Taylor, The Gospel According to St. Mark, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981, p. 392.)
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By James A. Nestingen
2 Kings 2:1-12
The good Lord likes to turn the tables. Elijah, the prototypical prophet of Israel, got taken up; Jesus, one greater than Elijah, was sent down. The difference is decisive.
One of the greatest stories in all of Scripture, the account of Elijah's translation into heaven has Elisha training him like a bird dog on scent. In fact, nothing deters him - Elisha meets all of Elijah's evasions with a determination that won't be put off.
Of course, dealing with so many prophets complicates matters. Elijah, Elisha, and the prophetic chorus - first of all, unnumbered sons of the prophets in Bethel and Jericho, later fifty of them out by the Jordan - all have the uncanny sense, a type of clairvoyance or extrasensory perception, that seems to have accompanied the office. It's like trying to hide something from a dog with a good nose - the eyes follow every false move while the nose locks on.
So Elijah, Elisha, and the whole company know that Elijah is not long for this earth; they also know it will be a whirlwind, suitably after his experience with the still, small voice, in which he will disappear.
And so the dance begins, Elijah trying to give Elisha the slip by announcing he has business to attend to in a couple of neighboring towns and finally in the desert, out by the river. By the time they reach the banks, they have quite an audience; apparently not wanting to be bothered with either observers or the river itself, Elijah simply stops the flow.
Once across, still unable to shake Elisha, Elijah agrees to pass along the power that has made him effective. Losing the one who has defined him, Elisha is not about to be reduced to the ordinary: he demands it and as Elijah was taken up, the good Lord apparently relents.
Peter, James, and John have some of the same intention as Elisha. Seeing the magnificent meeting underway on top of the mountain, they also hope to stay up there, safely removed from the ambiguity and hostilities below. "Let us make three booths, Peter offers, overcome with it all. He apparently wants to start work on a campus.
"This is my beloved Son, the voice replies, "listen to him. With these words, the good Lord underscores Jesus' recent announcement concerning his trip to Jerusalem, his consequent suffering and death. Elijah went up; Elisha plateaued, managing to hold onto the power of his prophetic mentor; Jesus goes down the mountain, his still uncomprehending disciples behind him, determined to take on the powers to free.
More importantly for us, however, is that the promise of Malachi that "I will send the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes (4:5) is picked up in many places in the gospels. It begins when there is speculation that the works done by Jesus could only be those of Elijah (Matthew 11:14). It continues when Jesus questions the disciples about who people say he is. Some think he is Elijah (Matthew 16:14). It is prominent in the transfiguration account. And as Jesus is dying there are those who think that he is calling for Elijah to come to deliver him from suffering (Matthew 15:35-36).
Having said all that about Elijah, we should not neglect Elisha. It could be argued that he deserves as much attention as his mentor. We notice, in the first place, that he has matured since his first encounter with Elijah. We recall his initial reluctance to take his hand from the plow and follow his master. But now he cannot let go of his beloved teacher. Though Elijah urges him to stay behind, he says, "I will not leave you (2:2). When Elijah urges him a second time to stay behind while he goes on to Jericho, Elisha repeats his commitment, "I will not leave you (2:4). After a third plea from Elijah, his determination is even more apparent, "As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you (2:6). We are reminded of Ruth who would not leave Naomi. Both Elisha and Ruth received unexpected blessings because of their commitment to follow, no matter what the consequences might be.
Elisha's request for a "double share is a simple request that he might be Elijah's successor. The same phrase describes what the eldest son received when a father died. It was a way to insure the continuity of the work of prophecy.
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Once more, context is the key to understanding this text. In chapter 3 Paul has been writing about the veil that must be removed if we are to know God. The crucial words are in 3:14: "Only in Christ is it (the veil) set aside. We can have confidence because God has removed the veil by sending Christ.
Satan, however, is at work trying to keep the veil in place. For those who resist the truth, unbelief remains. We can speculate about the exact nature of evil - a force or a personal entity. In the end, however, the reality of evil remains and must be reckoned with. It is clear that for Paul this evil is an active agent that is determined to keep the believer behind the veil.
But when "truth comes, that power is conquered by an even greater power. For Paul "truth is the opposite of concealment. Truth is both an unveiling and a process of deeper and deeper understanding. In Greek philosophy, truth was always in the realm of theory. It was never a definite sort of thing. But for Paul, truth is a recreating and restoring activity of God, made specific and real in Christ. In this sense, finding the truth is dramatic. The moment one's eyes are opened to know Christ a new life bens. "Once I was blind, but now I see. Or as we sing in a well-known gospel song: "How precious did that grace appear / The hour I first believed.
But Paul also thinks of truth as the gradual unfolding of knowledge of God. We spend a lifetime coming to know and understand what it means to believe, what it means to live in freedom, what it means to serve God. It is a process in which God is involved, working toward a goal which we will not reach even in this life. The same can be said for the entire church, the body of believers. We are on a journey in search of greater truth, an adventure that will not end until the Parousia.
This is the only place in Paul's writing where he speaks of himself as a "slave of the community of believers. He wants to remove any doubt that he sets himself over them. He is careful, however, not to leave the impression that his office is from them, rather than from God. In his first letter to them he established the foundation: "Let no one boast about human leaders. For all are yours and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).
The same can be said of Christ. He was the "Suffering Servant - a servant to the world. But even a cross and a slave's death did not make a slave of him. We are called to be servants in the world, but our orders come not from the world, but from God.
Mark 9:2-9
This Sunday marks the end of the season of Epiphany. It is a transition Sunday, bringing back recollections of an earlier event in Jesus' life and bridging the way into the season of Lent. What strikes us first about this text is the similarity it bears to the account of our Lord's baptism. Again we hear a voice from heaven confirming that he is the one called of God to fulfill the promise of a Messiah. Both incidents happen at critical times in his life. His baptism was the point at which Christ entered his public ministry. His transfiguration was the point at which he entered the final period of suffering that would lead to the cross. Luke's account of the transfiguration suggests that Jesus talked to Moses and Elijah about "his departure, which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Both stories bear out a fundamental Epiphany theme - that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that his mission is approved of by his Heavenly Father.
The event of the transfiguration is puzzling. We cannot know exactly what it means to be "transfigured. The gospel writers use different terms to describe the change in his appearance. We are tempted, therefore, to explain away the significance of the event. The core of the text is the idea of divine approval. It forces us to ask who Christ is for us. Do we claim him as Son of God? And if so, will we "listen to him ?
But there is still another element that bears attention. Not only does the transfiguration point back to his baptism and forward to the cross and the resurrection; it also links these happenings with the larger story of salvation history. The appearance of Moses and Elijah tells us that the life of Jesus is not isolated from the rest of God's work in the world. The mountain, cloud, and voice from heaven recall stories from the period of the exodus. Because of his role in those events, Moses was regarded devout Jews of that day as a prototype of the Messiah. "When the Messiah comes we will know him because he will be like Moses, the friend of God. Elijah, they believed, would be the forerunner of the Messiah. "When the Messiah comes we will know him because Elijah will prepare the way.
With so much attention to what happened to Jesus, we would do well not to forget that Peter, James, and John are also central to the story. They are the three who were present for the healing of Jairus' daughter and will be singled out later in Gethsemane to be closer to Jesus in his final agony. Yet, we cannot help but remember that these are also the three who are the object of particular criticism. Peter was chastised by Jesus for rejecting the idea that suffering would be necessary. James and John will soon be arguing about who is greatest in the Kingdom. And though chosen to be near him in Gethsemane, all three will fail to watch with him. The fact that they are here urged to "listen to him makes these failures all the more apparent.
Suggestions For Preaching
Last year my wife and I were in Lucerne on the Monday before Ash Wednesday. It was like Shrove Tuesday in New Orleans - marching bands, clowns, tons of confetti, streets lined with most everyone in a costume, children with painted faces, food stands on every corner. The city was filled with a mood of festivity. They were letting out all the stops before the Lenten season arrived.
There is surely a time to make merry. But this may not be the time. Transfiguration Sunday brings us to the end of a season when we have contemplated the questions: "Who is this Jesus? Why did he come? What was his mission? Our attention must be on him. This is a Sunday to do more than mine the riches of a particular text. This is a day to present the larger picture, connecting the transfiguration with biblical events that will be familiar to even the least-informed among our listeners and challenging everyone who hears our words to "listen to him.
As for the event itself, the advice of Vincent Taylor seems wise: A modern way of explaining the experience would be to say that on the mountain there came to the three disciples an overwhelming conviction that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. What form the experience took is less easy to describe. The testimony of Joan of Arc, George Fox, and the mystics generally is that such experiences can be auditory and sometimes visual; and there can be no objection in principle to the view that the disciples heard a voice which was believed to be the voice of God.
The important thing is the revelation; the details remain matters of speculation. (Vincent Taylor, The Gospel According to St. Mark, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981, p. 392.)
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By James A. Nestingen
2 Kings 2:1-12
The good Lord likes to turn the tables. Elijah, the prototypical prophet of Israel, got taken up; Jesus, one greater than Elijah, was sent down. The difference is decisive.
One of the greatest stories in all of Scripture, the account of Elijah's translation into heaven has Elisha training him like a bird dog on scent. In fact, nothing deters him - Elisha meets all of Elijah's evasions with a determination that won't be put off.
Of course, dealing with so many prophets complicates matters. Elijah, Elisha, and the prophetic chorus - first of all, unnumbered sons of the prophets in Bethel and Jericho, later fifty of them out by the Jordan - all have the uncanny sense, a type of clairvoyance or extrasensory perception, that seems to have accompanied the office. It's like trying to hide something from a dog with a good nose - the eyes follow every false move while the nose locks on.
So Elijah, Elisha, and the whole company know that Elijah is not long for this earth; they also know it will be a whirlwind, suitably after his experience with the still, small voice, in which he will disappear.
And so the dance begins, Elijah trying to give Elisha the slip by announcing he has business to attend to in a couple of neighboring towns and finally in the desert, out by the river. By the time they reach the banks, they have quite an audience; apparently not wanting to be bothered with either observers or the river itself, Elijah simply stops the flow.
Once across, still unable to shake Elisha, Elijah agrees to pass along the power that has made him effective. Losing the one who has defined him, Elisha is not about to be reduced to the ordinary: he demands it and as Elijah was taken up, the good Lord apparently relents.
Peter, James, and John have some of the same intention as Elisha. Seeing the magnificent meeting underway on top of the mountain, they also hope to stay up there, safely removed from the ambiguity and hostilities below. "Let us make three booths, Peter offers, overcome with it all. He apparently wants to start work on a campus.
"This is my beloved Son, the voice replies, "listen to him. With these words, the good Lord underscores Jesus' recent announcement concerning his trip to Jerusalem, his consequent suffering and death. Elijah went up; Elisha plateaued, managing to hold onto the power of his prophetic mentor; Jesus goes down the mountain, his still uncomprehending disciples behind him, determined to take on the powers to free.
