READINGS

Matthew 17:1-9
Exodus 34:29-35 (Moses on Horeb)
1 Kings 19 (Elijah on way to Horeb)

HOMILY

We continue our journey with Jesus in the way that Matthew describes it.

Remember that last time we saw that after, Jesus's baptism, in which the voice had said 'this is my son one whom my favor rests', Jesus was then taken into the Wilderness, where he saw off the beguiler, was established as Son of God and then the angels l to him.

In other words the high Priestly ordination which he received and that he now was in the Holy place.

In the 2nd Sunday of Lent, we see a very similar incident, but much later in Jesus's ministry.

This is just before Jesus starts the journey up to Jerusalem.

So here the appearance, the voice and later the journey, which is going to give content to the voice.

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.

Note that always numbers are important in Matthew and Mark.

In Luke, it's eight days and each case has its reference.

Here the importance of the six days is because the Sabbath is about to begin, which is why later Saint Peter will think building Tabernacles is appropriate, because this looks as though this is the people who've been called out before the Lord for the Feast of Tabernacles, a very joyous feast.

[!tip] Feast of Tabernacles

The Feast of Tabernacles is called Sukkot (Hebrew: סוכות or סֻכּוֹת).

It is a major seven-day Jewish holiday (eight days in the Diaspora) beginning on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, typically in September or October, celebrating the fall harvest and commemorating the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the desert.

Jews build and dwell in temporary, booth-like structures called a sukkah (plural: sukkot), which feature a roof covering of organic material, often under the sky.

We'll see why Peter, as always, is almost right and in fact wrong, but at least in terms of the dates, the Feast of Tabernacle begins and ends on the Sabbath, so the seventh day would have been the day when it was beginning.

Of course, high mountains are always places of theophanus.

And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.

Remember that, for the great Feast of the Atonement, the High Priest, before coming out to perform the sacrifice of the Lamb that stood in for the Lord and the sending off of the Lamb that stood in for Azazel, the escape goat, before that, the high priest would spend time in the Holy place, where he would be interpenetrated with the most high.

He was going to become, as it were, a quasi-sacrament of the Holy One for the day: semi-incarnation of the most high.

He would be interpenetrated, spending time with the angels in the Holy place.

Then, vested in entirely brilliant pure white robes, he would appear through the veil of the temple, which was made of multi-colors indicating materiality - all the richness of creative material.

The notion of this pure white breaking through the multi-colors was that this was the most high breaking into creation, coming into creation.

The other priests would immediately dash up to this white figure and put on him a robe made of exactly the same material - the tunic might do exactly the same material as the temple veil.

That which was in principle invisible and too glorious to behold might be held, robed in flesh.

This was the notion of the high priest, who was then Lord come into creation, who was unable to perform the sacrifice.

So here his face is shining like the Sun.

Curiously it's the first day, suggesting that this week, in this particular Sabbath, invokes the whole of creation.

It's the whole of the creator coming into the being.

His clothes became dazzling white.

They are witnessing this extraordinary appearance of of the Lord who is about to come into creation to perform the sacrifice.

Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.

Well his face shining like the sun is hugely important, because he is the principle of lighting them up.

Remember that when Moses came down from the mountain his face was so bright that he had to cover it with a veil, because when he spoke the people couldn't dare to look at him - his face was dedoxastai (reflective light).

It was because his face had been shown upon that it was too bright, whereas here it's actually the active shining agent.

In this dialogue, Moses and Elijah are talking to the Lord.

The whole of creation, all of the seven days and now the figures of:

Moses, figure of the law and death;
Elijah, figure of the prophet and life.

Moses is in some sense the symbol of death, because when he died no one knows where he went, no one knows where he was buried.

Elijah didn't die, he ascended into heaven on a chariot of Israel.

They are with the Lord who is talking with them.

Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’

Peter thinks that this is a feast within the selection of Feasts that he knows about, which is not stupid - any one of us is like to do the same.

But the problem is that this isn't a feast within the feasts, but the beginning of all Feasts.

This is the Lord finally coming in to fulfill all Feasts in the atonement, which is going to happen.

How this is going to fulfill all the law and the prophets?

It's going to be inconceivably greater than either of those feasts.

Here's the problem: it still requires Jesus to go through with something.

The shining with the white is the coming into the Lord, coming into the courts of the Temple, indicating the place of creation.

Now he has to go up to the altar of sacrifice, which is what he's going to do.

While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’

Once again, the whole of the Father's voice is to be heard only through the words of the Son.

There's no further paternal voice.

The whole concentration of everything that Moses and Elijah said is to be heard from the Son.

The son is my equal inhuman form among you.

This extraordinary notion of God having become horizontally present to us, rather than being a vertical figure above us.

It's the same point as was made at the baptism.

The Beloved is the one upon whom my love rests.

It's also the Beloved Son who's come to fulfill the promise of the prophecy concerning Abraham and Isaac.

The Lord will provide and so the indication - this is he, this is the fulfillment of all those prophecies.

When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.

But - and this is something very special and this is a particular touch in Matthew's gospel, which we don't get in either Mark or Luke:

But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’

Now the only reference I can find to this and it's the one that makes most sense to me is to what happened with the Prophet Elijah when he was on his way to receiving his definitive instruction.

On the way, he got fed up and it was all too much for him and he despaired of the Lord and he fell asleep.

Once the Angel of the Lord came and touched him and said get up and the second time the Lord touched him and said get up and told him to go on in that case to Mount Horeb.

Here, he's saying get up and do not be afraid: the indication is that Jesus is making them Elijah.

That they are going to now be the Prophets in the same way that Elijah was, but they have a way to go and they're going to have to follow him to see what that way is.

And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

So Jesus has touched them and now they're going to have to learn what it means.

The full content of what they have seen and they are going to become - it's profits, its representatives - it's no wonder that hereafter they're going to discuss what the role of Elijah is.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, ‘Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’

In other words, you are not going to understand what this is being about, what this has been about and be able to talk about it properly until I have been killed.

It's when I've been raised from the dead that you will know that this is what I have been doing all along.

I have been performing the Great Act of Atonement.

I am the Son, I am the great High Priest and this involves not merely a cultic function, but a human function.

I've revealed to you what it's about here on this mountain and now we're going to go up to Jerusalem, which will be there effectively: the altar of sacrifice.

And this will be carried out.

I will give myself into the hands of violent men and then you will understand what all this has been about, but indeed you will then be able to become Elijah's, the prophets before the end who are going to be able to tell this story.