Metamorphosis Mark 9:2-9

Mark 9:2-9 Gospel reading for Sunday February 19th

The reading for this Sunday in Christian churches, signals our entry into the season of Lent - yes its Ash Wednesday next week!

As always at this time of year we hear the story known as the Transfiguration. The what? Yes - strange word that. Not an every day word for us these days. Maybe translators should have stuck with the original Greek which would have been more like - He underwent metamorphosis in front of them. Now anyone who was even half paying attention in primary school science, knows something about metamorphosis. The ugly caterpillar (grub) miraculously transforms from within to become a stunningly beautiful butterfly. Key point here - the change comes from within.

What if today we actually paid more attention to the thinking that God is already within each of us - in fact within every single human being ever created? We don't have to "inject" a dose of God into the people around us. He is already present within. Our challenge is to help people discover the God that is mysteriously hidden within.

(By the way, there are many historical and cultural dimensions buried within the transfiguration story which would have been of great significance to the Jews. For example, the key link to the Old Testament Mt Sinai event and the connection to the Jewish feast of booths (tabernacles or tents) - hence shelters. We have often ridiculed Peter for his bumbling - "let's build three shelters" comment. Culturally though, that would have been a completely reasonable and acceptable suggestion. Every year male Jewish people would build make-shift shelters at the time of this festival to commemorate their time of wandering in the desert and ultimately celebrating their deliverance out of Egypt. The association with Elijah and Moses was highly symbolic of last times and consistent with the hint given in the book of Zechariah that God would usher in his kingdom during the Festival of Booths. All of that was vital context for the 1st Century audience.)

Final thought ...

The challenge before us as key people in Lutheran Schools, who at some point have had the mountain-top privilege of Jesus being revealed to us, is to do something with that! We are already down off the mountain and in the valleys of the young people and families in our school communities. How will we help these people (and even some of our staff) to see that mountain-top vision of who Jesus really is? We are being called out of our shelters, called into action. How will we show Jesus to someone this week?

Nev