INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
Year A - Transfiguration Sunday
EXODUS 24:12-18. There is an intentional similarity between our Old Testament and New Testament lessons today. Almost certainly, the Gospel author used this Exodus passage as the basis for his narrative of the Transfiguration.
This is actually the ending of an extensive definition of the covenant God made with Israel (chapters 19-24 inclusive). Moses is bid come up the sacred mountain to receive the stones on which the terms of the covenant (the Ten Commandments) were written. There Moses meets God in a cloud and stays forty days and nights. Forty is a sacred number which appears many other times in the Old and New Testaments.
PSALM 2. Rightly or wrongly, the early Church interpreted this psalm as referring to Jesus as the Messiah. In its original form it was probably a poem encouraging confidence in an unnamed king of Israel at the time of his accession or an anniversary of that event. Verse 7 was quoted in the narrative of Jesus' baptism in Mark, then copied by Matthew and Luke.
2 PETER 1:16-21. This is the one reference to the Transfiguration outside of the first three Gospels. It interprets that mysterious event as a guarantee of Christ's Second Coming in glory. This element of faith was in decline early in the 2nd century AD when this letter was composed.
MATTHEW 17:1-9. Does any other story of Jesus’ ministry greater contain more mystery than this? Was it a vision revealing to the disciples Jesus' true nature and his future glory after death? Or is this an interpretation of what the ministry of Jesus meant to the church founded by the apostles. The cloud and the voice symbolize the close presence of God and the support of the law and the prophets at a crucial moment in Jesus' ministry.
A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS:
EXODUS 24:12-18. An intentional similarity links the Old Testament and New Testament lessons today. Almost certainly the Gospel writers used this Exodus passage as the basis for the narrative of the Transfiguration.
Like so much else in the Bible, the account of this event ratifying the covenant is a composite drawn from different sources which do not entirely agree. For instance, in vs.12 the law and commandments are said to have been written on tablets of stone. This contradicts what had been said in vs.7 where Moses “took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people.” Scholars tell us that vss.3-8 belong to the E source while vss. 1-2 and 9-14 have generally been assigned to the J source. Vss. 15-18 are thought to have been added by the priestly source (P) to serve as an introduction to the narrative of the giving of the cultic ordinances in chapters 25-31.
As it stands now, the passage ends an extensive definition of the terms of the covenant God made with Israel (chapters 19-24 inclusive) as well as introducing the cultic account. Moses went up the mountain to receive the stones on which the terms of the covenant were written. There Moses met God in a cloud and stayed forty days and nights. The symbolic number forty appears many other times in both Old and New Testaments. It meant a strictly limited period of time, e.g. about six weeks. Forty years was approximately the length of one generation.
In vs.16 “the glory of the Lord” settled as a cloud on the mountain for six days, out of which Yahweh called to Moses. Vs. 17 describes this glory as being “ like a devouring fire” which the people below could see. Indeed, in vs. 18 we are told that Moses himself entered the cloud for this epiphany. This is what the rabbis in post-biblical times called the *shekinah,* from the root verb *shakan* meaning *to dwell.* It symbolized the presence of Yahweh. In some OT references, the glory and the deity become synonymous (cf. Ex. 33:22; Lev. 9:6, 23-24; Ps. 113:4; Zech. 2:8). Accordingly, rabbinical literature used *shekinah* as a reverent equivalent for God. Because the word in Hebrew is feminine, modern Jewish feminists frequently speak of it as the feminine aspect of the divine being.
PSALM 2. In its original form this royal psalm was probably a poem encouraging confidence in an unnamed king of Israel at the time of his accession or an anniversary of that event. Other ancient Middle Eastern literature contains similar odes celebrating coronations. The apparent instability of the monarchy described may also point to a time when an incipient rebellion was feared when a child-monarch succeeded to his father’s throne.
In some of the early Hebrew versions as well as Greek and Latin translations, it was included as part of Psalm 1. Scholars speculate that it may have been editorially selected as an introduction to the first book of the Psalter (Pss.1-41) in the same way that Ps. 1 served for the whole. For some, the king of vss. 2 and 6 is reputed to be David, but that is highly unlikely. It is one of only four psalms in the first book of the Psalter which does not bear the Davidic superscription. Almost certainly, it had been written before the Babylonian exile which ended the monarchy.
Rightly or wrongly, the early Christian church interpreted this psalm as a reference to Jesus as the Messiah. Mark quoted vs. 7 in his narrative of Jesus’ baptism, which was then copied by Matthew and Luke. Yet there is very little of its contents which refer to the messianic ideal. Especially the plot of revolt against the king by those lesser rulers already subjected (vss.1-3) has no messianic precedent. Because he holds the anointed monarchy to be inviolable (vss.4-6), the psalmist views this conspiracy as a rebellion against Yahweh. If the monarch in question was also an imagined ideal, the belief expressed in Yahweh’s sovereignty was not. Though Israel was a small, insignificant nation, Israel had a great God.
The idea of the king as the son of the national deity had common currency in the ancient Middle East where polytheism and henotheism (each nation having its own god) flourished. Here it explains the theocractic significance of Israel’s monarchy. The actual declaration, “You are my son,” served as a formula for adoption as early as the time of Hammurabi, king of Babylon in the 18th century BCE. In Roman times and probably much earlier, it was not uncommon for the emperor to adopt someone other than his own offspring to be the heir to the throne or for prominent citizens to arrange for property of to be similarly inherited.
The psalm ends with an ultimatum to the conspirators urging them to submit to their rightful sovereign by performing an act of obeisance and seeking refuge under his rule (vs.11-12). To do so was to submit the Yahweh as the ultimate sovereign of the universe.
2 PETER 1:16-21. The Second Letter of Peter remains one of the enigmas of the NT. Although it bears the name of Peter, most scholars consider that as a pseudonym used by an unknown author early in the 2nd century to give his letter apostolic authority. The author sincerely believed, however, that he expressed Peter’s views if confronted by a similar situation. It had the style typical of a literary genre known as a “testament” of a biblical figure aware of approaching death. Such testaments, found extensively in the Apocrypha, were generally pseudonymous, but included exhortations and prophetic revelations of the future.
Several references indicate that the author was familiar with at least some of the gospels as well as the letter of Paul and the general epistle of Jude. The threat facing the church at this time has usually been considered to have been the Gnostic heresy. Current scholarly opinion discounts this due to the evidence of eschatological apocalypticism, never favoured by Hellenistic culture. A more likely background was a libertinism opposed to Christian ethical standards common to any declining society. In the face of this opposition, the author presents a strong defense of the apostolic expectation of judgment and salvation at the Parousia as the true motivation for rigorous moral behavior.
In this light, the author has interpreted this sole reference to the Transfiguration outside the first three Gospels (vss.16-18) as a guarantee of Christ’s coming in glory as eternal judge and ruler. That element of the faith had played a significant part in early Christian teaching, but had fallen into decline by the early 2nd century. The claim to be an eyewitness of this event (vs.16b-17) serves the author as proof of authenticity. He may well have had one or other of the synoptic gospels at hand, possibly Mark’s Gospel, if as some speculate, he was the leader of the church in Rome which already regarded Peter as its prestigious founder. The further reference to divinely inspired prophecies (vss.19-21) would also confirm his familiarity with other scriptures of the Jewish tradition in which similar testaments and apocalypses were common.
MATTHEW 17:1-9. Has any other story greater mystery than this? Was it a vision revealing to the disciples Jesus’ true identity and his future glory after death? The cloud and the voice symbolized the presence of God and support for the law and the prophets at a crucial moment in Jesus’ ministry. As such it stressed the continuation of God’s self-revelation and represents a disclosure of the future glory of the risen Christ. Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, John does not limit the future manifestation of glory of God’s only Son to this single event.
The passage contains obvious reminiscences of the epiphany of Moses on Mount Sinai in Exodus 24. In fact, Luke refers specifically to Jesus’ death as ‘his exodus’ (Lk.9:31). As Moses had led the chosen people out of Egypt to the promised land, so this greater Moses will by his passion lead the new Israel to the kingdom of God. Presenting Jesus and the new Moses shaped much of Matthew’s thinking in composing his gospel
While the three synoptic accounts of the event do not entirely agree on certain details, all do regard it as the transforming event in the life of Jesus. The tradition repeated the narrative as an event which occurred during a vacation journey Jesus took with his disciples, probably near Caesarea Philippi, in the foothills of Mount Hermon. Since the 4th century CE, following St. Helena’s naming of holy sites, some Christians have claimed that the site was on Mount Tabor where commemorative churches have been erected since the 6th century CE. That site has many characteristics to commend it, offering as it does a magnificent view over the fertile Plain of Jezreel. In the OT, the mountain served Barak as the base from which he launched his successful attack against Sisera (Josh. 4:6-14). Later, it was named the meeting place of the territories belong to three of the belonging to the twelve tribes (Josh. 19:12, 22, 34).
The cloud is the *shekinah,* the term by which rabbinical literature interpreted the many OT references to divine glory. Matthew seems to be saying that as he made his way toward Jerusalem to undergo the passion, this glory was shed upon the human person of Jesus. As at his baptism, the divine voice declares him to be the *only* Son of God. Moses and Elijah represent the continuing revelation which he represents. Although Peter would have made tabernacles for the three, the two fade away and only Jesus remains. This was no gauche remark, but a recognition that the dwelling place of God would be not only with but with all humanity. (Cf. 2 Peter 1:19; Rev.21:3)
We must view this passage from the perspective of Matthew writing some 50 years after the resurrection. The story is filled with theological symbolism as to the nature and mission of Jesus as the Messiah of God. If they were only vaguely aware of it at the time, after the resurrection the three apostolic witnesses would have understood it in those terms. By placing this story at the centre of his gospel Matthew provided the post-apostolic church with assurance of the fulfillment of those things for which all Christians hope.
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