Join us today as we celebrate Holy Communion for the second Sunday of Lent, 3/13/22. To follow along at home, click here and print the Holy Communion Program. Text of today’s homily below.
CLICK HERE TO GET AN EMAIL OF EACH SUNDAY’S SERVICE IN YOUR EMAIL BOX and to receive email updates about the mission of St. Barachiel Chapel.
If you would like to have prayers offered for you, a loved one, a friend, for someone who is suffering, ill or who has departed, please email Archdeacon Mitch at mitch@heritageartsinc.com and we will pray for you. Please click here to schedule a chat with archdeacon Mitch if you are in need of pastoral counseling. And if you’d like to assist in the beautification, improvement and maintenance of St. Barachiel Chapel, or support our educational mission, please click here to make a donation.
Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent -- Sunday 3/13/22
Readings: Gn 15:5-12, 17-18, Ps 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14, Phil 3:17—4:1, Lk 9:28b-36
Luke 9:28-36 American Standard Version
28 And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, that he took with him Peter and John and James, and went up into the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became white and dazzling. 30 And behold, there talked with him two men, who were Moses and Elijah; 31 who appeared in glory, and spake of his [a]decease which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: but [b]when they were fully awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. 33 And it came to pass, as they were parting from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three [c]tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah: not knowing what he said. 34 And while he said these things, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is [d]my Son, my chosen: hear ye him. 36 And when the voice [e]came, Jesus was found alone. And they held their peace, and told no man in those days any of the things which they had seen.
Brothers and sisters, it’s important for us to realize that the episode we read about in the Gospel of Luke today, which we call the Transfiguration, is a miracle, sign and wonder unlike anything else we see in the Bible. It is completely unique in its content and character.
What sets it apart is that it is not a performance or a demonstration that was orchestrated solely for the benefit of the apostles or for us. The apostles present were sleeping. They awoke to find the event already in progress. They, and by extension we, are only intended to see the end of the interaction between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. The question is, “What did they miss? What did we miss?”
We are told that Jesus has been praying. To pray is to ask, and it appears that the answer to Jesus’ prayers was the appearance of Moses and Elijah, and that the three of them were discussing Jesus’ coming exodus. We can only assume that Jesus, who was preparing himself to make his miraculous exodus out of death into life through the Resurrection, is drawing on the knowledge and experience of his predecessors. If you want to know how to lead foolish and ignorant people through a desert into a land of promise, who better to ask than Moses? If you want to know how to turn the hearts and minds of sinful idolators back toward God, who better to ask then Elijah? If you want to know how performing signs and wonders will affect you personally as well as those who witness them, who’s better to ask than Moses and Elijah?
In the Transfiguration we see our great teacher being taught by the greatest teachers and prophets of the Old Testament. We see him reconciling, elevating, and indeed perfecting all that came before. All great teachers stand on the shoulders of the great teachers from whom they learned. What we see in the Transfiguration is not a self-contained incident but the culmination of the life’s work of the world’s greatest teacher.
Jesus has achieved his perfection as a teacher, leader, and prophet. This intellectual accomplishment is so incredible, so earth-shattering, and so profound that it brings with it a transfiguration of his countenance. The light of Glory is made to pervade and surround him. God himself appears and from a cloud proclaims the identity of his son.
But even this miracle pales in comparison to the Easter miracle. For then, through the power of the Resurrection, Jesus becomes wholly perfect – not just perfect in his teaching and intellect, but in his physical body as well – and becomes the risen Christ.