Scripture Scribbles: August 6, 2023 - Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
the Gospel
Matthew 17:1-9
Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother, John,
and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them;
his face shone like the sun
and his clothes became white as light.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
conversing with him.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
"Lord, it is good that we are here.
If you wish, I will make three tents here,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
While he was still speaking, behold,
a bright cloud cast a shadow over them,
then from the cloud came a voice that said,
"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him."
When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate
and were very much afraid.
But Jesus came and touched them, saying,
"Rise, and do not be afraid."
And when the disciples raised their eyes,
they saw no one else but Jesus alone.
As they were coming down from the mountain,
Jesus charged them,
"Do not tell the vision to anyone
until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
the devotion
Who is Jesus?
The answer to this question orders everything else.
Did the man called Jesus, who is described in the Gospels and letters of the New Testament actually exist?
Do the documents that describe his life and death (and resurrection) meet established standards for historical validity?
When I realized after an intense period of research following my first daughter’s birth that the answer to these two foundational questions was objectively, “Yes.,” everything began to change.
By this point in my life, I had slipped rather deeply into the easy skepticism I let define me in my 20s. I call it easy because it allowed me to claim intellectual superiority while also flowing with what felt good in the moment. It released me from the high moral standards of a fully-lived Christianity. I still sought “the divine” but had largely allowed these two common ideas about Jesus to quietly invade and dull my spiritual life:
Jesus did not historically exist as described in the Gospels and was a largely fictional, albeit spiritually useful, character. OR
He did exist, but was just one of many teachers, writers, poets, and artists who articulates something true and beautiful about our human experience and the divine.
When I realized that the rationally defensible position is actually that Jesus did live and that the sources we have are as valid as the historical documents we use to learn about any other person or event of Jesus’ era, the only thing I could think was, “Okay, now I am paying attention.”
Based on the historically valid documents that make up the New Testament, Jesus had to be either a liar, a lunatic or who he (and the many witnesses of his life, death and resurrection) claims that he is - the Lord, the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God. His words and actions do not allow any other option.
This is the “trilemma” that C.S. Lewis proposes. And it is the one we each must consider. Friends, the answer is so, so good. And it’s the same revelation that Peter, James and John received on the mountain when Jesus was transfigured before them.
"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him."
When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate
and were very much afraid.
But Jesus came and touched them, saying,
"Rise, and do not be afraid."
Realizing that Jesus is God changes everything. He is not a liar, he is Truth itself. He is not a lunatic, he orders all things for good. He is the Lord.
“Beloved: We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.” (Second Reading 2 Peter 1:16)
God became a man at a finite point in history for you and for me so that we might know him and receive his love and joy and peace and healing now. Let us fall prostrate before him in the Eucharist today and pour out our whole hearts and lives before him in gratitude. He is trustworthy. He is present. He is active today. We are eyewitnesses of his majesty.
Today’s devotion is written by Lucia Parker DeMarco
