Today's Scripture Reading (November 24, 2020): Matthew 17
What scares you? Not what startles you because
it is unexpected or what causes your heart to race momentarily before your
pulse returns to its normal speed. What really scares you? What drives your
nightmares that keep returning night after night? What is the thought that you
keep pushing out of your mind because it continually keeps emerging from your
psyche, and you can't bear to let it? What is the thought, hovering at the back
of your mind, that is too horrible to be allowed to spend time in the center of
your consciousness?
Do you have an answer? I have a couple, but
what makes us really afraid are seldom the things that we would ever be
comfortable enough to discuss or even write down. They are often threats to our
very existence or threats to those whom we love. They are not threats that we
have a solution to; these are not the monsters that jump out of the night that can
be put down with a gun or some other weapon. They are threats for which we have
no answer.
Peter, James, and John followed Jesus up the
side of the mountain. They had been in similar situations before, on a trip alone
with Jesus, but there was something different this time. Jesus and his inner
core of disciples went up on the mountain. And there Jesus was transfigured, a term
that is used to describe something that is transformed into something different;
something more beautiful or elevated. At this moment, Jesus's face shone like
the sun; his clothes became whiter than white as if light was pouring out of
the fibers of the cloth. And Peter, James, and John were amazed. Something extraordinary
was happening here.
Then Moses and Elijah appeared. These revered
figures of the Jewish faith were welcomed with enthusiasm by the disciples, who
wanted to build three shelters, one for each of the three participants in the
conversation.
But when God spoke to them; when God said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen
to him" (Matthew 17:5), Peter, James, and John were not impressed or
excited; they were terrified. They fell to the ground and trembled in fear.
This was what scared them because they had no answer to the voice emanating from
the sky. Jesus might be the Messiah, but he was also flesh and blood. They had
sat around a fire with Jesus, had conversations with him, and they knew the
warmth of their rabbi. But God was someone to whom they had no response. He was
not someone with whom they could have a discussion; God held the reigns of
control for everything necessary in their lives, and the only response that Peter,
James, and John had was to tremble in fear. The disciples were overpowered, and
all that they felt that they could do was to lie on the ground and wait for the
moment to pass.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Mark 9
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