Scripture Reflections for Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Year A, Lectionary 614
In the transfiguration Jesus shows how humanity can be divine. If we follow Christ upwards then we will come in contact with God and we ourselves will shine forth our godly selves. Jesus shows us that this is possible amidst our daily lives. While we may be paralyzed by fear Jesus lifts us up and leads us forward in our journey down the mountain. Let us not forget to continue to listen to Christ as he instructs us what we need to do.
Hate feeling lost on Sundays at church? Searching for a better explanation of the Bible than what you hear from your pastor's sermon? Check out the following collection of audio, video, and text commentaries from various Christian experts for a better understanding of today's scripture that deal with: Accompany • Body • Cross • Disciple • Divine • Doubt • Holy • Hope • Kingdom • Light • Listen • Peter • Remember • Revelation • Transfiguration •
“go climb that lonely mountain and ask for God the Father to come and visit you and see if you don't experience it that same way as a luminous cloud, a cloud that clouds your physical senses but that brightens and opens up your heart and your soul so that you can once again listen to the word of the Lord”
“on this beautiful Feast day, the Transfiguration of Jesus of Nazareth to show us who he is as the Christ. He says 'let me show you too all things can be transfigured into the glory of God right now' if we but listen to him.”
“The Transfiguration happened to teach the Apostles that life is a full package and God is in all the parts”
“The Transfiguration served as a kind of gut check for the early Church where they could tap into their inmost being and remember their experience with Jesus the Christ. They could feel it in their guts, that unmistakable knowing that something has happened within us and this something is sacred.”
“How many times in our lives has God given us a chance to see him glorified right before our eyes?”
“The heavenly visitors have departed but Jesus remains. Jesus alone. Jesus is the tabernacle, he is the abiding presence of God now among us, to lead us on a new and greater exodus.”
“up to this point he's only shown them, in a sense, the veil of his humanity, right. They see him eat, they see him drink, they see him get tired but now he's showing them, not only is he fully man but he's also a divine person. He's the glorious son of the Father.”
“God desires nothing that comes from ignorance but is constantly educating us so that we might grow in that love that builds a true family”
“Sometimes just when we think that things are going well or turning around...we encounter a crevice or a canyon that comes between us and our goals and our dreams. And sometimes it even comes between us and what we think God wants us to do. Sometimes it makes no sense and it's really hard and yet we can't avoid the mountains.”
“Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration...looks backwards to the encounter between God and Moses on Mount Sinai, reinforcing the image of Jesus as a new and greater Moses. Matthew’s account also looks forward by paralleling and contrasting the story of the Transfiguration with his account of the crucifixion.”
“Rather than building a monument in response to holiness, we are called to become the 'living stones.' Our lives, our hearts, our communities are called to become a testament to the Transfiguration we have seen. The Church is not real estate. We don't need to pitch a tent. We just have to go out and share the memory.”
“The Feast of the Transfiguration is a feast of visionary hope, a glimpse of what is not yet showing itself as already present”
"we're not immune to tragic events or to illness or to anything. We just have a different, I guess, we just have a different way of approaching it and that's through the lens of faith."
In the latest episode of the 1 Christian 1 Topic Podcast "Faith Amidst Tragedy," we have a conversation with Liz on faith, suffering, and prayer. More