2nd Sunday of Lent, Feb.

28, 2010
(Gen.15:5-12,17-18; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Lk. 9:28-36)

If Abram had lived in Ohio and the Lord told him to look up into the sky, he
would have seen only clouds and lots of snow. Fortunately he lived in the Middle
East and saw stars.
Here Abram hears Gods voice as he looks at the night sky. The cutting up
animal carcasses and passing through them suggests some kind of covenant ritual.
That Abram stayed with them when the birds of prey swooped down (a bad
omen) is improved in other translations as Abram drove them away (as in the
New Revised Standard Version). Alas, we have the senseless stayed with them.
The meaning of the event is connected with some kind of covenant ritual.
Usually both parties in such a ritual would pass through, thereby promising that
such would happen to them if they failed to carry out what they had agreed to. Here
God takes sole responsibility symbolized by the smoking fire pot and torch passing
through. This is to say, I will keep my promise to you or may this happen to me. Of
course, it would be odd of God to suggest such a thing!
The Gospels Transfiguration is the same literary type as the Genesis
reading, i.e. an epiphany. But it is much busier. The face changes, clothes dazzle,
strangers appear, a cloud descends and a heavenly voice speaks. Understanding the
Transfiguration in this literary sense offers a richer and more accurate
understanding than reading it literally.
John does not mention the Transfiguration. But Matthew, Mark and Luke all
do, in substantially the same way. Only Luke lists them in the order Peter, John and
James. Lukes reason for going up the mountain was to pray. And while Jesus was
praying it all happens.
Moses and Elijah appear with him to speak of his exodus which he was
about to fulfill in Jerusalem. Luke is the only evangelist who mentions what they
discussed. But it is not very helpful. His exodus is a strange expression. Usually
an exodus is a journey from one place into another, like Israels exodus from Egypt
into the Promised Land.
Its harder to say what Luke meant. Was it an exodus from Galilee into Judea
and Jerusalem? Or was it an exodus from this life into a life of glory which would
happen in the death and resurrection? Or was it an exodus from the Old Testament
(symbolized by Moses and Elijah as the leading figures of the Law and the
Prophets) to the New Testament sealed by his self-sacrifice in Jerusalem?
All of these possible meanings have been suggested at one time or another by
interpreters. We should probably be thinking along the lines of an exodus from all
that was revealed and proclaimed in the Old Testament to all that is revealed and
proclaimed in Christ.
Symbolism is rich in the episode. The mountain is like the Sinai experience of
Moses and Elijah who both encountered God on a mountain. The cloud also appears
in all of the mountain experiences. So here the Law and the Prophets (Moses and
Elijah) meet with their fulfillment (in the person of Jesus).
The voice from the cloud repeats what was heard at his baptism with slight
variations (see Lk.3:22). All three gospels agree in substance: This is my
(beloved, chosen) son (in whom I am well pleased); listen to him. Here the bold
print indicates where all three use the same words. Italics indicates variations from
gospel to gospel. The voice gives divine approval and authority for what Jesus is
about to do, in Jerusalem, where he will be crucified and thereby enter into glory.

Fr. Lawrence Hummer