Items for the week of Sunday, February 15th

This past Sunday, February 15^th, was Transfiguration of Our Lord or the Last Sunday after Epiphany we heard the following scripture readings, introduction, and prayer of the day during the worship service:

Scripture Readings

Exodus 24:12-18 Moses enters the cloud of God’s glory on Mount Sinai

Psalm 2 You are my son; this day have I begotten you. (Ps. 2:7)

2 Peter 1:16-21 The apostle’s message confirmed on the mount of transfiguration

Matthew 17:1-9 Revelation of Christ as God’s beloved Son

Introduction for the Day

Sunday’s festival is a bridge between the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany cycle that comes to a close today and the Lent-Easter cycle that begins in several days. On a high mountain Jesus is revealed as God’s beloved Son, echoing the words at his baptism. This vision of glory sustains us as Jesus faces his impending death in Jerusalem. We turn this week to Ash Wednesday and our yearly baptismal journey from Lent to Easter. Some churches put aside the alleluia at the conclusion of today’s liturgy. This word of joy will be omitted during the penitential season of Lent and will be sung again at Easter.

Prayer of the Day

O God, in the transfiguration of your Son you confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the witness of Moses and Elijah, and in the voice from the bright cloud declaring Jesus your beloved Son, you foreshadowed our adoption as your children. Make us heirs with Christ of your glory, and bring us to enjoy its fullness, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Devotion for the week

What Goes up

The law of gravity dictates that whatever goes up must come down. Even with its dazzling mountaintop revelation, the transfiguration story quickly reminds us that if Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us, then not even God’s beloved can escape death’s inevitable pull. Jesus leads Peter, James, and John up the mountain, but very soon they will be on their way down again. Suddenly, Jesus is gloriously transformed before the three disciples; then, just as suddenly, Jesus speaks of his impending death.

The transfiguration is a story of both fulfillment and foretaste. The appearance of Moses and Elijah reminds us of Jesus’ promise to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, during his sermon on another mountain (Matthew 5:17). The startling turn toward talk of his suffering and death gives us a foretaste of the “mountain” at Golgotha he has yet to climb.

For the church, coming down the Mount of Transfiguration leads directly into the season of Lent and a journey that draws out more fully for us the implications of baptism. For Jesus, his baptism by John at the Jordan was just the start of a journey to be fulfilled in all the ups and downs to come. This is how transformation tends to happen—not when we insist on playing it safe, but when we dare to enter more fully into life as it is. So, too, our baptism can be fulfilled only in the light of our mortality. God’s voice on the mountaintop calls us not simply to behold God’s beloved Son but also to follow where Jesus leads.

All this, however, is not meant to bring us down. Jesus’ transfiguration offers a glimpse of an even bigger picture that includes both gravity and grace. It foreshadows what is to come: death—and resurrection. This promise of new life is a bright cloud that leads the church now, as it did the ancient Israelites, through the wilderness ahead.