Exodus 24:12 – 18 / Psalm 2 / II Peter 1:16 – 21 / Matthew 27:1 – 9
This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, February 19, 2023 by Fr. Gene Tucker.
“GOD’S SELF-REVELATION PLAN”
(Homily texts: II Peter 1:16 – 21 &
Matthew 17:1 – 9)
Usually, God reveals Himself to us in
small increments of truth. This one-step-at-a-time approach allows us to come
to know God more fully, more deeply, and more securely. Such a revelation on an
installment plan (if you will), also allows us to link together God’s will for
our lives and our daily walk with Him, seeing God being present in the depths
of human experience, and rejoicing in His presence in times of celebration. (I
suspect that, if God chose to reveal a great deal of who He is, all at once,
most of us probably couldn’t digest the enormity of that revelation.)
Peter and the other disciples, as they follow
Jesus, are on the step-by-step, one lesson at a time, revelation plan.
It might serve us well to back up from
today’s Gospel reading, which takes us to the holy mountain where Jesus’
appearance was transfigured (changed) before Peter, James and John’s eyes, to
the previous chapter in Matthew’s Gospel account, to see the trajectory of the
Lord’s revelation to the disciples, and especially, to these three chosen
witnesses of Jesus’ true identity and glory as His appearance is altered.
We need to begin in the middle of
chapter sixteen in Matthew’s account[1].
There, we read that Jesus asks His disciples about His identity. The question
is posed, initially, in general terms. The Lord asks, “Who do people say
that the Son of Man is?” ((Italics mine) The disciples answer
that perhaps the Son of Man is John the Baptist, or Elijah, of Jeremiah, or one
of the prophets. Then, Jesus narrows the question, asking, “But who do you
say that I am?” Notice how “people’ in the first question now becomes
“you”, and the “Son of Man” now becomes “I” in the second question. It is
Peter, impetuous Peter, who answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God.” Jesus says that Peter hasn’t come to this knowledge by his own personal
means, but that the Father has revealed this truth to him.
With this interchange, lesson one in
God’s plan of self-revelation is complete.
Now, it’s possible that Jesus concludes
that the disciples are ready for lesson two in God’s revelatory plan, for He
begins to tell the disciples what will happen to Him as He makes His way to
Jerusalem for the great feast of Passover. He says that He will “suffer many
things from the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, and that He will be
killed, and on the third day, He will be raised.”[2] It is Peter, again, who speaks up, rebuking
the Lord and saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to
you.” The Lord’s response is a sharp one, as He tells Peter, “Get behind me,
Satan! You are a hindrance to me….”[3] Then
the Lord begins to talk about the need that His disciples will have, each one
of them, to take up their cross in order to follow Him.
Lesson two is now complete.
Perhaps it is because God, in His infinite care and love for us human beings, doesn’t leave those initial disciples in a deep, hopeless place, facing the prospect that the One who called them into ministry, and who has been forming and shaping them for that ministry, will soon suffer an awful death. For now, Jesus takes three of them, Peter, James and John, up a mountain[4] with Him. There, they are given a glimpse of the other side of Jesus’ nature, His divine side, as He appears in glory with the Old Testament prophets Moses and Elijah.[5] His appearance reflects the glory of God, and His identity is confirmed by the Father’s voice, which says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”[6]
As we trace the unfolding of these
events, the Lord’s asking His disciples what they think about His identity, the
Lord’s disclosure of His coming death, Peter’s inability to accept that truth,
and the Lord’s transfiguring appearance before Peter, James and John, we see
two things at work:
·
God
is revealing Himself, and something about His nature, to His followers, bit by
bit.
·
God
is present and is at work in the depths of human experience, but He is also
present and is at work in the heights of knowing the majesty, identity and
power of God. We can see the lasting effects of Peter’s experience on that
mountain, as he recalled, many years later, God’s revelation of Jesus’ nature
in his second letter, heard this morning.
We are about to embark on our Lenten
journey this week, as Ash Wednesday rolls around.
Liturgically, throughout this holy
season of Lent, we are walking with the Lord from the mount of Transfiguration
down into the valley, making our way to Jerusalem, to the Lord’s betrayal,
arrest, suffering, death and resurrection.
This holy season allows us the
opportunity to ask for the Lord’s help to see ourselves as God sees us. What we
might discover with the assistance of the Holy Spirit might be pretty
depressing. It might lead us to a deep sense of despair over our spiritual
condition. But, perhaps, such an honest look and a willingness to face the
truth about ourselves might also allow us to ask God to put away from us those
things that are less than honorable in God’s sight.
We can be sure that, as God is present
with us in whatever deep places we may find ourselves, there is no depth of
human experience that can escape God’s presence and God’s ability to heal us
and to save us. For even in the lowest places we may find ourselves, there God
will be, also, providing us a glimpse of His identity, power and love.
AMEN.
[1] Matthew 16:13 - 20
[2] This is the first of three revelations of
the Lord’s impending death.
[3] Matthew 16:21 - 28
[4] The traditional place where the
Transfiguration took place is Mount Tabor, which is located a little southwest
of the Sea of Galilee. But some biblical scholars believe that the
Transfiguration may have taken place further north, on Mount Herman, because
Jesus asked His disciples about His identity, Matthew tells us, in the region
of Caesarea Philippi, which is nearby to Mount Herman.
[5] The Transfiguration is remembered, each
year, on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany. But it is such an important event
in the lives of the disciples, and in the life of the Church, that it is also
celebrated, each year, on August 6th.
[6] Matthew 17:5b
