MESSAGE – 14th February 2021 last Sunday Epiphany/Transfiguration Sunday
TRANSFIGURATION – Transfiguration is an occasion of wonder and awe over the revelation of the person of God in Jesus Christ.
THEMES: Transition and Transformation
The Church Calendar is soon to change again.
From our current season after the Epiphany, we will soon be embarking on the journey of penitence and preparation that we know as Lent.
Beginning on Wednesday, Lent was traditionally a time of preparation for baptismal candidates who would be baptised on Easter Sunday.
While we may not be looking forward to baptism, we are preparing for the important spiritual exercise of Holy Week, and the Easter season that follows it.
But, before we get there, this Sunday invites us to witness what must have been one of the most beautiful and important experiences for the three disciples that Jesus called to accompany him.
Peter, James, and John got a glimpse of the glorified Jesus, and witnessed both the appearance of Moses and Elijah, and the affirming voice of God.
But what they didn’t realise was that this was a turning point for Jesus.
His conversation with the two great Old Testament leaders revealed that he was to fulfil, in himself, everything that the law and the prophets had promised.
It was a call back to Jesus being revealed as God’s beloved Son through his Baptism.
It was a pivotal moment for Jesus!
The pivot between Epiphany and Lent – this is the transition of moving forward from Galilee and setting his face to Jerusalem – the cross.
The transformation is the transfiguration of Jesus to which another element of his Glory is revealed.
This transformation is to which the disciples and we are invited to participate in the transformation – through the Holy Spirit.
The voice of God gave Jesus the strength, courage and assurance that the road he was to walk was the right one, no matter what lay ahead. And when everything had returned to normal, Jesus reminded the disciples of what he had already told them—he would die and rise again.
The vision of God’s glory was a gift to Jesus and the disciples to sustain them through the tough trials ahead.
Now for us, this last vision of God’s glory, at the end of the season after the Epiphany, is a gift to sustain us through the difficult, but life-giving, work of Lent.
In these last few days before Ash Wednesday, why not take some extra time to prepare your heart for what is to come?
2 KINGS 2:1-12:
The prophet Elijah had stood against an overwhelming majority in Israel who had followed the royal example by worshipping Baal.
His exit as a prophet of God was equally phenomenal with his service during his life.
Yet Elisha was able to see past the chariot that his master was taken by the whirlwind and thus be assured that God granted him his request for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.
The ‘company’ or ‘sons’ of the prophets were probably trainee or apprentice prophets.
At any rate, Elisha’s inheritance of a double portion of Elijah’s prophetic spirit ensured his ascendancy and authority in Israel above all those other prophets.
2 CORINTHIANS 4: 3-6:
This is the end of a larger section 3:1-4:6
Paul is defending or justifying his ministry over and against others.
He is comparing the ministries of other (false) apostles as being justified by their credentials and proposing a ministry of death as opposed to his ministry of grace and the Spirit which is life giving and written on our hearts (as opposed to credentials and letters of introduction)
READ CHAPTER 3!!
Glory of God
A new covenant not written on stone (10 Commandments) but written on the heart (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
If a covenant of stone made Moses’ face shine with glory- then a covenant of spirit will make everyone shine w God’s glory (3:8)
We are being transformed into a living covenant and witness to the spirit working within us
Those who cannot see our glory are on the road to destruction already and are “blinded” to it
Don’t forget it is not our glory, but God’s glory in Jesus Christ
How is it that if the Spirit makes God’s word of truth clear, it is not plain to some people’s understanding?
The answer is that it is not the gospel itself which is obscure, but rather that some people’s blindness makes it obscure.
It is Satan (v 4), even though he has only usurped and temporary power, who prevents people from seeing that Christ has the perfect image of God which was lost by Adam.
Paul therefore doesn’t proclaim himself (v 5), but as a slave (imitating Christ by putting himself aside) proclaims Christ as ‘Lord’, that is, God!
Verse 6 links the same power of God’s word at the creation, which brought light into being from nothing, with the miracle of the dawning light of our faith.
We see and know Christ’s face as reflecting nothing less than the full glory of God. Think of all that means!
The vision of God’s glory was a gift to Jesus and the disciples to sustain them through the tough trials ahead.
Now for us, this last vision of God’s glory, at the end of the season after the Epiphany, is a gift to sustain us through the difficult, but life-giving, work of Lent.
In these last few days before Ash Wednesday, why not take some extra time to prepare your heart for what is to come?