March 2 | Last Epiphany, Year C
Exodus 34:29-35
Psalm 99
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
Luke 9:28-36 (37-43a)
Moses was the mediator between God and the Israelites. Through Moses, God convinced Pharaoh to release Israel from bondage. Through Moses, God parted the sea and washed away the oppressors. Through Moses, God led the people through the wilderness. Through Moses, God offered a covenant to Israel. Through Moses, God revealed himself to Israel by giving the Law. Through Moses, God instructed the Israelites to build the tabernacle for his presence among them. In short, Moses is the great redemptive figure of the Old Testament, and Moses is called into the presence of God as the chosen redeemer of God’s chosen people.
In Scripture, God’s appearance and his redemptive action go hand-in-glove. God appeared to Moses in a cloud during the Exodus — the central redemptive event for the Hebrew people. God also appeared to the prophet Isaiah at the beginning of his ministry, which also included the redemption of Israel, this time from Babylon (Isa. 6:4-5). Gideon had a vision of God before he led 300 men in the rout of Midian (Jdg. 6:11-7:25), thus freeing Israel from oppression. Even the liberating defeat of the Philistines by Samson was preceded by the appearance of God to his parents (Jdg. 12). From these and other passages, it becomes clear that God’s appearances in the Old Testament are integrally connected to his redemptive plan.
God calls his chosen redeemer of Israel up the mountain and into his presence. As a result, Moses encounters God’s glory and reflects it as the moon reflects the light of the sun. But like the moon when it is hidden from the light of the sun, when Moses leaves God’s presence the shekinah glory fades away. God speaks to and through Moses, but Moses does not have the glory of God. Moses is not divine. In the same manner, God appears to humans as a cloud rather than in his glory. His perfect holiness is veiled that we might get a glimpse of his nature without being destroyed.
On another mountain, 1,200 years after Moses, God descended as a cloud heralding the next and final step in his redemptive plan for his people. Jesus climbed the mountain with three disciples — Peter, James, and John. There Jesus appeared in his post-resurrection body, shining forth with the divine glory and discussing God’s final salvific step with the redeemer of Israel, Moses, and with Elijah, the herald of the Messiah, the final and eternal redeemer of all faithful people. As one would expect from studying the Old Testament, the cloud descended upon the mountain and on the chosen Redeemer, and a voice pronounced the awesome truth: “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” God’s glory resides in him. His glory may be hidden for a season, but it is his glory and not reflected from another source. Jesus’ nature is revealed on the mountain as God. In the Incarnation, the glory of Jesus as God is veiled in human flesh so that we can experience God in the vernacular of human existence.
The message is that God is our salvation, and that God and our salvation are found only in Jesus. This is the essence of the Christian faith. This is the central message of the entire Bible. This is the old, old story that we are called to pass down through the church. This is the truth. Jesus is our salvation. Obey him and live.
As it is written: “I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25). He is Emmanuel, God with us (Matt. 1:23). How can we know for sure? In the Bible, God has repeatedly told us so. Like the disciples on the mount, in the final analysis we are left with Jesus alone, and he is all we need.
Look It Up: Luke 9:37-43a
Think About It: Even in the valleys where we live, Jesus is divine in practical ways.
The Rev. Dr. Chuck Alley, former rector of St. Matthew’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, teaches anatomy at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical School.
