2014-03-16 ─ Second Sunday of Lent
Shared Homily Starter
First Reading: |
Genesis 12.1-4 |
Second Reading: |
2 Timothy 1.8-10 |
Gospel Reading: |
Matthew 17.1-9 |
Whether
we think this story is a religious fantasy or accept that it all
actually happened, the important point is that this story presents us
with a mystery beyond what science or history can prove. This story
attempts to draw us into the mystery of Jesus’ as that mystery was
experienced by his followers─ the Jesus community.
This
story is not one of proof that Jesus was God; a Jewish community
would have rejected this out of hand. Rather, it is a manifestation
of Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus is presented as a transformed human
being, the new Moses, who will lead us on the way to wholeness as
members of the family of God.
In
the Hebrew Bible, Elijah was carried to heaven before he died and
Jewish tradition says the same of Moses. Peter’s offer to build
three dwellings, while not putting Moses and Elijah on the same level
as Jesus, suggests that Peter perceived all three as “heavenly”
human beings. In any case, Peter’s statement shows the scene
can’t be fully understood without divine help.
Peter’s
voice is interrupted by the voice from the cloud: ‘This is my Son,
the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’ The
heavenly voice declared this when Jesus was baptized just at the
beginning of his public ministry. Now, following the first
prediction of the passion, announced in the previous chapter, the
voice from the cloud confirms that Jesus is what he said he is, a
suffering Messiah. However, ‘with whom I am well pleased’ has
the added meaning this time that God is pleased with Jesus’
acceptance of the suffering to come. “Listen to him” confirms
Jesus’ role as Teacher, sent by God. Biblical scholars point out
the priority given to word
over
vision
in Jewish tradition. For example, Douglas Hare, writes
Mystical experience of
heavenly reality in the form of visual images has its place, but a
very healthy emphasis is placed upon God’s will communicated
through word. Seeing Jesus transfigured has value as only if it
leads the disciples to listen obediently to his divinely authorized
teachingi.
We,
like the disciples, fear. We fear because we know that to listen to
Jesus and do what is asked of us may not be easy. We too may be
called to suffer because we chose to follow Christ by obedience to
God’s call for love, mercy and justice. Again, like with Peter,
James and John, Jesus is with us. The Jesus in us is the Jesus with
us. We are to be the comforting touch of Jesus to each other so that
we too can get up and not be afraid. But our imitation of Christ
does not stop there to stagnate in some super in-group. We are to be
each other’s support and encouragement in co-creating a just and
peaceful world for everyone and a healthy, life-filled and verdant
Earth.
Therefore,
Lent should be viewed, not as a time of penitence, but rather as a
time of replenishment as we reflect on the life, passion and death of
Jesus. Some of our religious upbringing may have led us to think
that we are a people stuck in the crucifixion; but we are a
resurrection people and are to be secure in the knowledge that the
crucifixion was not the last word. The resurrection of Jesus is a
reminder that, ultimately, all of creation will be transformed into
the Beloved Community that God intended.
What
are your thoughts?
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