This Sunday is the Sunday before Ash Wednesday on which we remember the Transfiguration of Jesus. For those unfamiliar with this manifestation of Jesus as the Christ, the scripture tells us that Jesus was “transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.” This is not the first time that the Shekinah glory or the Presence of God is recorded as being seen on a human being.
When Adam and Eve were first placed in Eden, they needed no clothing because they were covered in the Presence of God. The very Light of God’s glory covered the nakedness of their human bodies. Only after they sinned were they seen as naked, because the Presence of God had left them. They were no longer Children of the Light for through their disobedience to God, sin entered into the world.
In the collect or prayer for today, we prayed these words, “Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory….” It is only through the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ on the cross that we are given the opportunity to become Children of the Light like Adam and Eve once were. The light that shines through us as believers is the Shekinah glory of Jesus the Christ as witnessed by his disciples, Peter, James and John.
When we allow sin to enter into our lives and rule us, then we are no longer vessels of the Light of Christ. The story of Moses is a good example for us in understanding this. The Book of Exodus tells us that Moses actually brought the stone tablets with the Lord’s Commandments written upon them two different times to the Israelites.
The first time that Moses brought the commandments to the people he found them worshiping a golden calf and became filled with anger. The scripture reads as follows: “As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made, burned it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.”
As if that were not enough punishment for the people’s sins, Moses commanded the people to choose whom they would serve – the Lord God Almighty or the idols of Egypt. The scriptures state the following: “When Moses saw that the people were running wild (for Aaron had let them run wild, to the derision of their enemies), then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, ‘Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me!’ And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. He said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side, each of you! Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor.’” The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand of the people fell on that day.’”
By today’s standards, Moses’ actions seem rather extreme. Yet, what Moses did to the people was actually merciful compared to what God had wanted to do to them. Before Moses’ came down from Mount Sinai the first time, God wanted to destroy all of the Israelites, because of their idolatry. It was Moses’ pleas on the people’s behalf that stopped the Arm of God from wielding His vengeance against them. It is written, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. 10Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.’”
Even though the Lord promised abundance and prosperity to Moses, Moses turned down God’s offer. As a faithful leader of his people, Moses pleaded for the Lord to show mercy. Only when the people openly refused to repent and to stand with the Lord God Almighty did Moses command the Levites, who were the priests, to destroy the idolatrous sons of Israel. It was a costly cleansing, yet, God did not accept even this act as good enough to atone for the people’s sins. God removed the names of those who sinned against Him from the Book of Life. Then the Lord sent a plague upon all those who remained alive. Exodus 32:35, “Then the Lord sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf - the one that Aaron made.”
How many here today know that God does not tolerate sin? In today’s churches we put so much emphasis on God’s love that we too easily forget that it is the blood of Christ that protects us from the wrath of God. Before Christ’s atonement of our sins, death was the consequence of disobedience to God. Genesis 2:16, 17: “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” It is only through Christ that we can even ask for mercy and forgiveness. We ourselves have no other way to cover our sinful nakedness before the Lord. It is only the covering of Christ known as the Shekinah glory that allows us to enter before God’s throne in prayer.
We are told that this Shekinah glory was also seen on Moses’ face when he came down the second time from the mountain with the commandments of God. The scripture reads as follows, “As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him.”
The Shekinah glory that once covered the nakedness of Adam and Eve was seen on the face of Moses. Its presence struck fear in the hearts of the people, because humans were no longer accustomed to seeing the glory of God. The transfiguration of Moses is just a glimpse of what the transfiguration of Jesus would be. The Shekinah glory only covered Moses’ face, but Jesus was completely covered in the glory of God when He was transfigured.
Moses brought the Law of God to the people, but Jesus brought us redemption from the judgment of the Law. When the disciples saw Jesus transfigured before them, unlike the Israelites before them who had witnessed the transfiguration of Moses, they were not afraid. Instead of fear, they became full of pride that they had been chosen to see such an event. Only when God the Father spoke to them directly did they become afraid.
Since the fall of Adam and Eve, direct contact with God Almighty has usually brought fear to people. Yet, through Jesus the Christ, we can know God as our Father. We can once again be covered in the Shekinah glory of our ancestors, Adam and Eve. We can be Children of the Light by being transfigured in Christ. May we allow Christ’s Shekinah glory to shine through us as a witness to the world of God’s redeeming love for all.
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