Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.
Sheesh! There’s so many themes in this week’s text: transfiguration and transformation, saying the wrong thing, seeing the dazzling glory of God with one’s own eyes, coming down the mountain, listening for the voice of God, keeping secrets. Where to even begin?
Although I’ve heard and read this text many, many times, this year something else popped out. Something I have not noticed much before… and that’s fear, more specifically, Peter’s fear.
The text tells us, “He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.”
I get it. I get fear. Catching a glimpse of the vision of God and the power of God and the reign of God = utterly terrifying. Had I seen the vision that Peter had seen, I, too, would have been babbling nonsense (if anything came out of my mouth at all).
But I also get fear on a more basic level – fear of the wrong major, fear of putting yourself out there, fear of being one’s self, fear of speaking aloud, fear of being counter-cultural, fear of fully being the glorious self that God created you to be. If I had to guess, I would say that a major part of Peter’s fear is that he is catching a glimpse of something so much bigger than himself. It’s not simply that the dead were talking with Jesus in the whitest clothes he had ever seen (which, let’s be honest, would be terrifying on its own), it’s that Peter is realizing that he doesn’t have it all figured it. And that is terrifying.
But the text does not leave us in fear. In fact, Jesus never leaves us in fear, and Jesus never leaves you in fear.
For there, in Peter’s fear, comes not simply the voice of God, but also the presence of God. He’s not only told to listen to Jesus, but also gets the very presence of Christ, walking beside him down the mountain. He’s been stunned by a vision, but then The Vision journeys beside him.
I can’t imagine better news.
Which leaves us with a couple questions: One, what is your fear? You know, the thing you find paralyzing, even if you can’t articulate it?
And two, how does this text speak to your fear? How is this text Good News for you?
This week’s Bible Blog is written by Pastor Mindy Roll, the ELCA Lutheran Campus Pastor at Texas A&M and Blinn. For more information on the ELCA ministry here, see www.treehouseministries.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment