Snoopy's Lenten Reflections

[paradox3]

Snoopy has decided on a Lenten study after all. Not committing to a daily Bible reading/ reflection but I am sure the Sermon on the Mount will appear from time to time.

The reading in church on Sunday was the Transfiguration story from Matthew. We are in year A of the lectionary which features Matthew's Gospel.

The Transfiguration story shows up in all three synoptic gospels. My minister offered that this indicates it was an important narrative to the early Christians. They struggled with what it meant, she said.

And today we continue to struggle with it. Is it a metaphor? Is it mythology?

The Transfiguration story bridges the gap between the season of Epiphany and Ash Wednesday.

And here we are.

 

[paradox3]

Just looked up Matthew's version of the Transfiguration. (Matt. 17:1-13). It is bookended by Jesus's first and second prediction of His death and resurrection.

Not hard to see why the creators of the RCL might have placed the story on the final Sunday before Lent.

Hmm.

 

[paradox3]

Another observation. The words of God in this passage are very similar to what God had to say when Jesus was baptized.

 

[unsafe]

My take on this

This is the first sentence in this scripture ----six days is mentioned so it has to mean something here ---

Matthew 17 NIV

The Transfiguration​

17 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves

The number 6 in scripture signifies humanity

https://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/meaning-of-numbers-in-bible/6.htm

Meaning of Numbers: The Number 6​

The number 6 and its meaning are related to man and human weakness, imperfection Man was created on day six of creation week.

So what would be the significance of mentioning this number-----

I say -----my spiritual view here -----well Jesus is about to highlight the the gab between Humanity and God's Glory ----the imperfection to perfection -----

If you read Matthew 16

Jesus Predicts His Death​

I say -----So this Transfiguration takes place after Jesus predicts His Death Jesus is preparing the Disciples to witness His transfiguration so they can better understand His Death and Resurrection -----it also validates Jesus as the Son of God --

Moses and Elijah appear ----Representing the Law and the Prophets and Jesus is speaking with them so this is signifying the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets in my view -----

Notice that Peter --James and John were covered with a cloud -----

This is from Strong's Concordance

Clouds as the Manifest Presence of God

At pivotal revelatory moments a cloud shelters God’s people while disclosing His nearness. During the Transfiguration “a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:34-35). The cloud both conceals and proclaims, veiling unapproachable glory yet audibly affirming Christ’s divine Sonship.


So we read that a voice came from the Cloud and it says this -----verse 5 -----
“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

I say ----So this is important here cause God the Father is telling the Disciple to Lister to Jesus ----Not Elijah or Moses anymore ---the fulfillment has been done and now Jesus is the WAY -----not the Law or the Prophets ------so all are to listen to Jesus -----

 

[GordW]

Another observation. The words of God in this passage are very similar to what God had to say when Jesus was baptized.

WHich is one of the reasons some feel that this is not an account of a historical event. At any rate it appears to me to be an Easter story read back into an earlier point in the narrative. As with many stories whether it actually happenend or not is not really important. HWhat it tells us about how the early church understood Jesus is far more imprtant.

That being said I really dislike Transfiguration Sunday and often choose to do something else on the last Sunday before LEnt (This year I talked about Love LAnguages)

 

[unsafe]

I personally think this Transfiguration scripture is very important for people to take note of and understand as it is a forerunner for showing what the Resurrected body will look like --

It assures Believers that Jesus has defeated death and as He will be Resurrected to life after His Death so we to will be raised to life in a glorified body ------

The Greek word for transfiguration is

Lexical Summary
metamorphoó: To transform, to change form ,transfigure
"changing form in keeping with inner reality"

Summary

Strong’s
charts a movement from sight of divine glory to sharing in that glory. It anchors sanctification in Christ’s own radiant person, guarantees believers’ final glorification, and calls the church to a life of ongoing, Spirit-enabled transformation.

I am adding this --

I think this is important to speak in my view about as it gives people hope that death is not the final end ---eternal life is there for us if we choose it ----

 

[GordW]

I personally think this Transfiguration scripture is very important for people to take note of and understand as it is a forerunner for showing what the Resurrected body will look like --

It assures Believers that Jesus has defeated death and as He will be Resurrected to life after His Death so we to will be raised to life in a glorified body ------

The Greek word for transfiguration is

Lexical Summary
metamorphoó: To transform, to change form ,transfigure
"changing form in keeping with inner reality"

Summary

Strong’s
charts a movement from sight of divine glory to sharing in that glory. It anchors sanctification in Christ’s own radiant person, guarantees believers’ final glorification, and calls the church to a life of ongoing, Spirit-enabled transformation.

I am adding this --

I think this is important to speak in my view about as it gives people hope that death is not the final end ---eternal life is there for us if we choose it ----

So you agree that it is a post-Easter story/understanding being read backwards into the narrative?

 

[unsafe]

So you agree that it is a post-Easter story/understanding being read backwards into the narrative?

GordW ----I am not interested whether it is a post Easter or a pre Easter Scripture -----this piece of Scripture is very important for people to be told about and have the Spiritual understanding of what this piece of Scripture is really communicating ----that is my opinion ---

Easter in this world for most people is about a Big Easter Bunny and a bunch of Chocolate and gifts ---- it is not about Jesus on the cross and what happens after the Cross for most people today -----

Every single person on this earth is going to die at some point in their life and this piece of scripture provides Hope for people who have no hope in what happens after they pass from this world -----so that should be the focus in my opinion ----not whether it is post or pre the Easter Bunny ------Just saying

 

[paradox3]

Peter wants to prolong this mountaintop experience and he offers to make shelters for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. But after God's appearance in the cloud, Jesus is seen to be alone. (V.8)

As Jesus, Peter, James and John descend the mountain, Jesus tells them to tell no one about the "vision" until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.

So this was a shared vision the four of them experienced? How are we to understand this, I wonder?

The face of Jesus shone like the sun and his clothes were brilliant white. The passage doesn't actually say Jesus will look like this when he is raised from the dead. Is this a common expectation among Christians?

I attended an evangelical funeral several years ago and heard a song about Jesus in shining white. It was a beautiful song accompanied by a guitar but I don't remember the name of it.

Interesting to contemplate that Jesus is not immediately recognized in many of the post resurrection stories.

 

[Mendalla]

The transfiguration is one of those Gospel stories that really feeds my view that what we have is a mythologized account of Jesus' life, not a literal biography. It is simply too packed with symbolism to be a simple, literal account.

So this was a shared vision the four of them experienced?

That's actually another possibility. The retreat to the mountain would certainly fit with them having some kind of mystical experience while there. And assuming Peter et al. obeyed Jesus and did not tell anyone until after he was gone, what we have is their account of what they experienced and the told others, with the story eventually reaching the writers of the Gospels. So their interpretation of the experience and then others recounting of what they said.

10 And the disciples asked him, “Why, then, do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 11 He replied, “Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things, 12 but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but they did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man is about to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.

This part is kind of interesting. He forecasts his own demise but also seems, in the eyes of the apostles at least, to equate John the Baptist with Elijah. Which kind of fits with the overall prophetic tone of both John's and Jesus' ministries.

 

[unsafe]

The face of Jesus shone like the sun and his clothes were brilliant white. The passage doesn't actually say Jesus will look like this when he is raised from the dead.

I think the description in the Transfiguration of Jesus is giving us a gimps of His Divine Glory
that is coming from Jesus Himself ---God is light ----

So I agree that the Resurrected body of Jesus did not display the Divine Glory that was seen in the transfiguration -----but like you say he was not recognized at first -----

Moses had that shine on his face and had to veil himself -------

Revelation 1 NIV ----gives us a gimps of His Divine Glory

12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,

13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.

14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.

15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.

16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

i say ----also in the New Earth God's light will be sufficient

Revelation 21:23 NIV​

23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

Peter wants to prolong this mountaintop experience and he offers to make shelters for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.

I think Peter had good intentions but here again we see that the Disciples don't get the fact that what Jesus showed them was for the future and wan't suppose to be made a spectral of ---it was to be kept under raps ---

 

[unsafe]

Interesting read on the similarities of Elijah and John the Baptise and how the Old Testament relates to the New Testament ----without the Old Testament the New Testament would be very confusing --in my view

Read all ---just posting this part

Was John the Baptist really Elijah reincarnated? | GotQuestions.org

Was John the Baptist really Elijah reincarnated? Why did Jesus say that John the Baptist was the Elijah who was to come?

www.gotquestions.org

Second, the Bible is quite clear that John the Baptist is called “Elijah” because he came in the “spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17), not because he was Elijah in a literal sense. John the Baptist is the New Testament forerunner who points the way to the arrival of the Lord, just as Elijah filled that role in the Old Testament (and might again in the future—see Revelation 11).

Third, Elijah himself appears with Moses at Jesus’ transfiguration after John the Baptist’s death. This would not have happened if Elijah had changed his identity into that of John (Matthew 17:1–13).

Fourth, Mark 6:14–16 and 8:28 show that both the people and Herod distinguished between John the Baptist and Elijah.

Finally, proof that this John the Baptist was not Elijah reincarnated comes from John himself. In the first chapter of John the Apostle’s gospel, John the Baptist identifies himself as the messenger of Isaiah 40:3, not as the Elijah of Malachi 3:1. John the Baptist even goes so far as to specifically deny that he was Elijah (John 1:19–23).

John did for Jesus what Elijah was to have done for the coming of the Lord, but he was not Elijah reincarnated. Jesus identified John the Baptist as Elijah, while John the Baptist rejected that identification. How do we reconcile these two teachings? There is a key phrase in Jesus’ identification of John the Baptist that must not be overlooked. He says, “If you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah.” In other words, John the Baptist’s identification as Elijah was not predicated upon his being the actual Elijah, but upon people’s response to his role. To those who were willing to believe in Jesus, John the Baptist functioned as Elijah, for they believed in Jesus as Lord. To the religious leaders who rejected Jesus, John the Baptist did not perform this function.

 

[paradox3]

Backing up to a recent mention of Elijah:

Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 16:13-16 - New English Translation

Peter’s Confession - When Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon...

www.biblegateway.com

"But who do you say that I am?" is such a great question posed by Jesus.

The people are associating him with both John the Baptist and the historical prophets. And the groundwork is being laid for the mountaintop encounter with Moses and Elijah.

 

[paradox3]

So it's day 2 of Snoopy's Lenten study. I have no clear plan yet how it will unfold.

But I will reflect daily on something from the Bible and see where the conversation goes. Tomorrow I might look at the parallel Transfiguration stories in Mark and Luke.

 

[unsafe]

This scripture Quoted above has an important Spiritual take away from it -------

Jesus asks
13 he asked his disciples,“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
14 They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

So He is asking who the worldly unbelieving people say I am --unbelievers only have intellectual Faith and therefore cannot discern Spiritual things ------

So now=== He asks the Disciples

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?

The Disciples have been with Jesus and witnessed some of His Miracles and listened to His teachings who should have some Spiritual knowledge about who Jesus really is -----

So Jesus is testing His Disciples here to see what level of Spiritual Faith they have gained about who He is from witnessing what He has done and said ------

So only one Disciple speaks -----and it is Simon Peter ---reveals who Jesus is -----through divine revelation -----


So it is the same today -------many people do not believe Jesus is the Son God even though they read the Scriptures and hear about the Miracles and read His words ---many believe He was just a Prophet ---they cannot grasp the Spiritual understanding of the Scripture as they have not the right Faith do do so ---their hearts and mind are not open to the truth of the scripture ---they have rejected God's drawing which changes the hardened heart to a flesh heart to accept the Word ---who is Jesus -----

So in my view this shows even today the division between how unbelievers see and read and hear the Scripture differently then believers who have the divine revelation through the Holy Spirit indwelling in them ------

2 Lens -----unbelieving and believing -----

 

[paradox3]

Jesus wants to know who the people say He is. He receives four different answers from his disciples. Some say this. Some say that.

I think he is asking a very poignant question. His life is drawing to a close and He seems to be reflecting on the impact of His ministry.

To this day, the question has a variety of good answers..

 

[Waterfall]

Jesus wants to know who the people say He is. He receives four different answers from his disciples. Some say this. Some say that.

I think he is asking a very poignant question. His life is drawing to a close and He seems to be reflecting on the impact of His ministry.

To this day, the question has a variety of good answers..

What are some of those answers and can they all be right?

 

[Mendalla]

Putting on my agnostic hat for a minute (yeah right, like I ever take it off).

If we accept that we actually have no idea of the "real" Jesus, that everything we know about him comes through the lenses of his followers and, eventually, the organized church (and its myriad branches), then there is no "right" answer in an objective, empirical sense. But each of those answers represents a view of Jesus as represented in the Gospels as seen through some kind of lens. So they can all be "right" to a degree if they are backed up with an understanding of scripture and its context. And they can be "right" to the degree that they incorporate and reflect on the Jesus we find in the texts. But if you mean "right" in the sense of "objectively correct" then no, they cannot all be right. There should only be one Jesus. But they can all be "wrong" and arguably are, given our lack of an objective, verifiable representation of the objectively real, true Jesus.

 

[paradox3]

What are some of those answers and can they all be right?

Son of God
Jewish Mystic
Social reformer
Son of Man
Messiah
Christ
Suffering Servant
Healer
Storyteller
Apocalyptic preacher
Teacher
Charismatic leader
Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world
Shepherd
Peacemaker
Sword bringer

Yes, I think everything on this list can be right. And more.

 

[paradox3]

Some have speculated that Jesus might have been a Pharisee. Or an Essene. I think both are unlikely but it would have to be one or the other. Not both.