EXODUS 34:29-35

THE BACKGROUND

Way back in Exodus 19, the wandering People of God arrive at Mt. Sinai.  They set up camp at the foot of this holy mountain.  Moses goes up the mountain, and receives the Ten Commandments. The two stone tablets were written “by the finger of God” on the front and back.  Meanwhile, down in the camp, the “people of God” have other ideas. They pool their gold, and cast a golden calf idol.  When Moses returns to camp, he is so angry that he throws down and breaks the stone tablets.  Bad things happen.  People died.

In Exodus 34, God tells Moses to cut two more tablets, and he’ll write it down for him again.  Our reading begins with Moses descending the mountain from this meeting.

THE DETAIL

• Moses is coming down the mountain with the stone tablets.  What he doesn’t realize is that his face is shining because he has been in conversation with God.  (v. 29)
• What we do know is that for those back at camp, Moses’ shining face was too much to take.  They were afraid to come near him.  (v. 30)
• But they got over it, to a degree.  Once Moses read the law written on the tablets, he covered his face with a veil. When talking with God, he’d remove the veil.  But when talking with the people, he’d wear that veil.  (vv. 31-35)

THE TAKEAWAY

What was this face-shining thing???  Was it shiny, or emitting light?  We don’t get any details.  Sometimes, heavenly apparitions are just too hard to describe in human terms.  But it was weird enough that it made the people “afraid to come near Moses”.  Keep in mind that 1) the people had recently made a golden calf idol to worship.  And 2) Moses had just come back looking all holy and shiny and all.  So, maybe their fear was because of their feelings of guilt.  The consequences of the golden calf incident were dire. Maybe they feared another round of reprisals. 

 But the grace in this story comes with the veil.  Rather than Moses saying something like “just deal with it”, he puts a veil on his face to calm them down.  
 

2 CORINTHIANS 3:7-4:2

THE BACKGROUND

Paul had established the Christian church in Corinth.  After things were going well, he moved on to share the good news with others.  During his absence, a group of evangelists come to Corinth.  They are more eloquent in their preaching than Paul.  They are clever.  They think nothing of putting Paul down just to raise themselves up.  They seem to lack true Christian values.  Much of this letter is Paul’s answer to these accusations. We won’t talk too much about his defense in this study, but you may sense the tension.  At one point, which I will note, he takes a little “dig” at these evangelists.  But Paul defend himself by attacking his opponents.  Instead, he teaches us the simplistic beauty of the Gospel. 

Two things to note

1. The passage to be read in church begins with verse 12.  To help with our full understanding, I’ve begun this study with verse 7. 
2. I found the New Revised Standard made it difficult to understand what Paul was saying.  I’ve attached the passage from The Message at the bottom of this entry, below Gospel lesson.

THE DETAIL

• In verses 7 & 8, Paul is contrasting the old way (law/sin/death) with the new way (sin/faith/forgiveness/life).  He uses an odd expression.  In the NRSV and the King James, the word “ministry” or “ministration” of Death is used. The Message uses “government”.  Using the word “government” helps explain Paul’s intent, but it is still seems a little odd.  If I were to try to boil this paragraph down, it would be something like this:  “Do you think the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai was a dazzling experience?  The forgiving way of the Holy Spirit is far more dazzling!”  Also, the comment about it “fading soon” was Paul’s way of saying that the Law was temporary, and would fade away once the way of the Spirit takes over.  He mentions this again in verse 13.
• Verses 9-11 express the same thoughts in different words.  The “Government of Affirmation (or Spirit)” is way better than that old law that only condemns.
• The little word to circle in this next paragraph occurs just a few words in—hope.  This hope of forgiveness and life is exciting!  We don’t need a silly veil—we have nothing to hide!  Then, referring to those Jews who have not accepted Jesus as their Messiah, he says that their understanding of God is “veiled”.  It takes Jesus and only Jesus to lift that veil! (vv. 12-15)
• Verses 16-18 are just dripping-rich with Good News!  No longer is God present in chiseled stone laws.  No!  He’s a living Spirit!  Those old laws are obsolete!  Yes, that’s what it says.  They are obsolete, and we are free of them.  We now live in the Spirit.  No wonder our faces should be shining.  The ending phrase is so sweet that I need to repeat it here:  “And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.” 
• Verses 1 & 2 are the words of encouragement to us who now have seen God’s salvation plan which Jesus has brought us.  It is not a time for wearing masks and playing games.  We don’t twist God’s words to suit ourselves.  (This is a little slam on those other evangelists.) What we are to do is put the whole gospel truth on display for the whole world to see.

THE TAKEAWAY

Now that I understand this passage (thank you for requiring me to do the work), I see the difficulties in living under the strain of the Law of Moses, and the hopelessness & death that results.  I also more fully appreciate the blessed freedom we have, living our lives in the Spirit.  I am thankful and praise God that he has seen fit to send his only son to live, teach, die, and be resurrected for our salvation.

LUKE 9:28-36

THE BACKGROUND

On the last Sunday of the season of Epiphany, we look at the story of the transfiguration of Jesus. Since we’re working our way through Luke this year, we’ll look at Luke’s description of the event.  To fully understand what was going on, I looked up the word “transfigure” in the dictionary.  It means “to give a new appearance to something, usually for the better”.

THE DETAIL

• Jesus has been teaching and healing.  After eight days, he takes three of the apostles up a mountain to pray.  (v. 28)
• While Jesus was praying, his face and clothes change.  (v. 29)
• Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appear.  These are God’s all-star prophets, by the way.  They talk to Jesus.  (v. 30)
• They are talking with Jesus about his “departure”.  The other word that can be used here is “exodus”.  They are talking about what is about to happen, once he gets to Jerusalem.  (v. 31)
• If that wasn’t weird enough, Peter says something strange.  The three apostles were tired, maybe even sleeping.  But in his sleepy stupor, he offers to make some tents, so they could all spend a little more time together!  (vv. 32-33) 
• The prophets disappear into a cloud.  Then, in another cloud, “a voice” declares Jesus to be His Son, his Chosen.  They are told to listen to Jesus.  (vv. 34-35)
• Once God has spoken, it was all over.  Jesus is alone.  Presumably, his appearance reverted to its original condition.  The interesting thing is that they kept all this to themselves, at least until after the resurrection.  (v. 36)

THE TAKEAWAY

It is interesting that Moses and Elijah are discussing Jesus’ “exodus” or “departure” with him. Are they filling him in on the details? Or are they offering words of encouragement to him for what lies ahead is God’s plan?  We don’t know.  In fact, Luke’s gospel is the only one that tells us what they were talking about. 

But the main point is that here on this mountain, not only is Jesus’ appearance glorified by transfiguration, but he receives an encounter with these two prophets.  And if that isn’t enough, God himself speaks, telling us who Jesus truly is, and that we need to heed his words.