Collect for Trinity 9
2 Peter 1: 13-22
Luke 9: 28-36
Peter has had quite a week. After seeing a few loaves and a couple of fish feed a meal to thousands, he and the other disciples are directly challenged by Jesus – ‘And you – who do you say I am?’. As you would expect, Peter is the one who confesses Jesus as Messiah, and is told he is going to be the rock on which the church is built and given the keys of the Kingdom.
He hadn’t even time to take it in, before he is being rebuked after trying to deny the prophecy that Jesus would be put to death – ‘out of my sight, Satan; you are a stumbling block to me!’
As they say in the movies, six day s later…
Six days later, up a high mountain, with Peter probably still smarting at his telling off, Peter, James and John are given a sight that must have been even harder to understand.
While Jesus was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. Again Peter blurts out something about building three sheds, but is interrupted by a voice from a bright cloud: ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’
The ’Transfiguration’ passage marks one of the five significant moments of Jesus’ life on earth; and yet we do tend to concentrate more on the others – His Baptism, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension, and that’s a pity. In His story,
Transfiguration marks the point at which His life in the Kingdom of Heaven and the Earth are seen as a whole rather than two separate realms.
It took Peter some time, (and after a few more hiccups) but he gets the point in the end. Now, when challenged, he simply reminds people what he saw with his own eyes. It isn’t just Jesus who is transformed. Peter, too, is a changed man; from fisherman to unshakeable rock. The prophecy is fulfilled, the light has come, the day will dawn and the morning star will rise in our hearts. Hallelujah.
The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’
Go in peace, to love and praise the Lord and all His creation, giving thanks for the blessings of tomorrow – and the day after, then the day after that, and all your days. In the name of Christ. Amen
Previous Posts
Praying Together 23rd April 2023
He comes to us in so many ways in order that we may see Him.. In creation. In forgiveness. In salvation. In love. In new life. All these free gifts of grace – but it is up to us to choose to see them, with every one of our senses.
Praying Together 16th April 2023
However it may happen, when we see Him, we proclaim Him in the same words as Thomas – ‘My Lord and my God’ and award Him our trust. Forever.
Praying Together Easter Day 9 April 2023
The only way that we know that the victory over death is permanently won is if we accept that the tomb is empty.
Praying Together 2nd April 2023
And just as the donkey is a figure at the beginning of the Gospel story, so a donkey is present at its end.
Praying Together 26th March 2023
We have to ask ourselves if, like Thomas, we are prepared to follow Jesus at whatever cost
Praying Together 19th March 2023
Perhaps, then instead of just giving chocolate and flowers on Mothering Sunday, we might resolve to offer love in return throughout every day of the year
Praying Together 12th March 2023
The story of the woman at the well has been described as one of the most significant to our understanding of the Gospel message.
Praying Together 5th March 2023
This day is all that is good and fair.
It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations to waste a moment on yesterdays.
Praying Together 19th February 2023
If suffering did not exist, we could never know joy. If there was no ‘evil’, we wouldn’t be able to recognise ‘good’.
Praying Together February 12th 2023
Faith means little when God’s plan is the same as our plan. Faith is everything when it isn’t. When we don’t understand, when the things of the world tempt – and often overcome – us. When disaster happens.
Praying Together February 5th 2023
Goddess or Saint? The stories are interwoven, in many cases feeding off each other. But whatever the reality, Brigid’s care for the poor is the common theme – living a life of love and service, for all creation.
Praying Together 29th January 2023
We don’t have to wait for eternity – we can be the body of Christ right here, right now. And then we can begin to take our part in the healing of the Nations.