“Transformation”

Doug Lambert - 02/03/2025

Readings - Exodus 34: 29 - 35, Luke 9: 28 - 36

Transformation is an interesting word, it conjures up all kinds of images, prompting memories, encouraging speculation about the future.  The Macquarie dictionary defines it as “change in form, appearance, nature, or character”.  Transfiguration, on the other hand is defined as “to change in outward form or appearance” or “to change so as to glorify, exalt or idealise”.  The definitions are very similar but transfiguration introduces a devotional perspective.

Alternatively, when you pass a familiar house which has undergone some major renovations your perception of the property is transformed.  You don’t have to like what has been done, but you become strikingly aware of something visually different, which can  even change how you view the whole streetscape.

Then there is that expression of someone’s good health in saying they are “positively glowing”. Our physical appearance and demeanor can and often does reflect our mood, our state of wellbeing.

When you saw that gawky teenager come out of the bedroom dressed for the year 12 ball, definitions didn’t really matter, you were astonished by the vision materialising before your very eyes.

I thought those two paintings illustrating the bible readings were interesting.  You are viewing the artists interpretation of an event to which they were not a witness, but then neither were the authors of either story.  These are an interpretation of what they have read.

This picture of Moses comes from some Jewish writings and the name of the painter is not recorded.  The artist has placed his major focus on the tablets of the law; the arid nature of the surrounding geography is emphasised in that there is no real contrasting colouration just dull brown;  the top of Moses’ head and his inside arm glow white.  The two tablets of the law are prominent.

If you reflect back on the reading you realise that as Moses communes with God on the mountain top he is contemplating the future of this nomadic herd he is trying to lead.  He would have been thinking his way through issues which were fundamental to the creation of a nation.  Matters of law, justice, health, sustenance, even the direction of travel.  In that regard he must have questioned God as to their ultimate destination, the place they would be able to call home.

Moses was the man who had purportedly seen God “face to face” and lived to tell the story.  Earlier in Exodus we learn that on returning from one of his regular visits up the mountain Moses is confronted with a golden calf.  It seems that the people had made a substantial image, one of their own choosing, an idol they could and for a time did worship.  In a furious response to this act of idolatry Moses smashed the covenantal stones - those “ten commandments”.

In today’s reading Moses has again been up on the mountain fasting and communing with God, on this occasion for a period of forty days.  He returns with another set of the “ten commandments” about which Howard Wallace observes -

“If we take today’s reading as the restoration of the law, a gift of another set of tablets to guide the people, then there is a note of grace inherent in the story. God is yet again reaching out to the people, offering them a covenant relationship despite their initial lack of faith and their attempts to form a ‘god’ that was less dangerous, more controllable.”

We are also told that Moses would use a veil to cover his face whilst talking to the people on his return from the mountain top because they were frightened by his shining countenance.  That countenance is not the only reason the people were afraid, there is also an element of shame as to their past collective behavior.  Nonetheless, the shining face underscores the divine inspiration of the messages which Moses needed to convey to the fledging nation.

We shouldn’t wander too far off down the road of auras and halos etc.  If you pause for a moment you will recall having personally experienced situations in which someone is described as glowing in health, or shining with happiness.  There are circumstances in which our physical persona reflects our current demeanor and wellbeing.  The focus of the story is the restoration of the covenant between God and the people.

Giordano’s transfiguration scene is a full baroque blast with the darkened shapes in the foreground lightened by the light flowing from the background.  The painting effectively highlights the transcendental and metaphysical nature of that tableau on Mt Tabor. 

I am amazed at the intensity of the colour in a picture first unveiled a few months short of 340 years ago.  Your photo prints from Officeworks, or Cameracraft are unlikely to match this duration. There is an interesting digression within the picture where you can see that Moses (on the left) has horns but not a glowing face.  The key to this lies in another observation by Howard Wallace -

“A possible misunderstanding of the Hebrew has occurred in many translations of this passage. The word used in Hebrew for rays of light ‘shining forth’ is also the word for ‘horn’. The (Latin) Vulgate translation of this passage, for example, translated the passage so that Moses was seen to ‘have horns.’ Some scholars would suggest even today that maybe the writer’s intention was to say that Moses’ face had been so badly burned in his encounter with God that he was thought to be bearing crusty scars from the encounter. In any case the translation of the Vulgate and similar versions was in turn responsible for many depictions of Moses in art as having horns, …”

The whole scene is lit by the transfigured Jesus.  The disciples are clearly confused or afraid.  It’s interesting that the three primary figures are all shown as suspended above the ground with the artist thus emphasising the otherworldliness of the scene.  All told it’s a good representation of the written word even if it does combine the different elements of the story as told in Mark and in Luke.  People have always combined elements and or versions of various bible stories, sometimes deliberately, but more often out of faulty recollection.

For the original readers Luke’s connection back to Moses on Mt Sinai and to Elijah would have been readily recognised.  Both these characters were believed not to have died but ascended into heaven.  This would support the contention that both Elijah and Moses  might appear when heaven chose to reveal itself.  We do not see the world in the same way as they did, nor do we generally describe events in such mystical terms.  Our knowledge of the world and its underlying science is lightyears beyond that of Luke and his community, something we should never forget when reading the scriptures.

A parallel can be drawn between the transfiguration story and that of Jesus’ baptism by John.   Both stories are told in a manner which suggests some form of meeting point between heaven and earth, that is to say a symbolic depiction of an event thereby conveying an important truth.  The basic elements of the story are the same, Jesus is the focal point, there is a voice from heaven, the message  “this is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” is basically the same.  In both stories Luke is pointing us to a fundamental truth about Jesus, a celebration of who Jesus really is.  Throughout his gospel Luke is at pains to convey Jesus as what the visionaries  of the past had longed for, that their dream is realised in him.  The substance of this claim about him is spelled out in his life and ministry.

Then there is that final little vignette featuring Peter.  Peter was an enthusiastic character with an unfortunate habit of leaping into action before he had become properly aware of what was going on, in reality the various incidents might make you think he looked a bit dumb, but they do portray a very human personality.  Bill Loader comments -  

“Peter's proposal finds its echoes in many committees today: let's build more buildings.   Luke may mean the hearer to catch the allusion to the wilderness booths. Nor are the disciples afraid at this point, as in Mark. They become afraid when they entered the cloud. Of their own accord they keep the event to themselves - no instruction to do so, as in Mark.

Awe and silence - appropriate responses. What is seen at one level is the same Jesus who at another lives out the meaning of all those shining threads which merge in the tapestry of the transfiguration. God in Christ is the one who sets the people free from the demons, who by the Spirit which anointed him fulfils his mission announced at Nazareth (4:16-20). Luke does not give the impression that Jesus came to lift people to that higher level, but rather that the elevated insight simply enables us to understand the God of the dust.  Down here is where it happens. But in the time and space down here Luke would be reminding us - as he does constantly through his story of Jesus - making time and space for prayer and reflection is crucial if we are to know who he is and where we are going with him.”

Our participation in the implementation of God’s kingdom here on earth is reflected in our lives, in all those myriad gestures of support and empathy, in the impact we have on others both directly and indirectly, the word of compassion or encouragement, the casserole, the lift to the shops, the donation to Tranby or wherever.  These acts are more succinctly described as love in action.  Where there is darkness let me see light.  The theme running through the bible, the essence of the gospel itself is Love, Joy, Hope.  When we practice and encourage these things in others we are living out our faith.

Amen