Matthew 17:1-9

Year A - Epiphany Last or Mountain Top to Valley

March 2, 2014

Matthew 17:1-9

We are never by ourselves alone. This story starts with a sense of isolation.

Then: in the thin place of thin air a moment of deeper vision arises.

Often we think this is a matter of Jesus changing, when it is a time when Peter, James, and John catch something they were not able to do 6 days earlier. Earlier Peter scolds Jesus for dealing with a reality beyond Peter’s vision.

Now they see in another way. Transpose verses 2 and 3. Peter, James, and John caught a picture of Jesus connected with the past/future and not just in the moment that is so fragile and such a temptation to protect. This appearance of Moses and Elijah transfigures their vision of Jesus.

Such an experience, though, doesn’t remove our desire to maintain a breakthrough moment by institutionalizing it. However, it does make it possible not to get stuck there. Even as buildings are proposed to be raised they are about to be razed with a word that transforms—Beloved.

Imagine for a moment that this inclusive word does not separate Jesus from Moses and Elijah but connects Peter, James, and John with Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Read “my Son” (sic) as “my Creation” that includes you.

Given our usual separation, dissection, and analyzing, this unitive moment is overwhelming and folks fall over.

“Get up. Forward.”

And when we look again we see another, yes, but cannot forget that they contain their past as well as the seed of who they will become. We see them and more than them.

This is not a tale that can be told without privileging oneself, but it can be remembered. Later, at an auspicious time, we can tell of this time and one more layer of connectivity will surface.

Remember your moment(s) of inclusive connection, of transformation. Apply what you remember to the dynamics of this passage. When the time is right—share.