| Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ , 2001
Luke 9:28-36
The Shekinah Glory Cloud
There are few things more rewarding for a father than reading good books to his children. One of the best books we have read so far is Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows . It tells the adventures of Mole and Rat, Toad and Badger. A chapter toward the middle depicts a worship scene. Rat and Mole row their little boat up-river just before dawn of a summer morning, and I quote. "Dark and deserted as it was, the night was full of small noises, song and chatter and rustling, telling of the busy little population who were up and about, plying their trades and vocations through the night till sunshine should fall on them at last and send them off to their well-earned repose. At last over the rim of the waiting earth the moon lifted with slow majesty A bird piped suddenly and was still; and a light breeze sprang up and set the reeds and bulrushes rustling. Rat, who was in the stern of the boat, while Mole sculled, sat up suddenly and listened with a passionate intentness. (Nothing but silence. Mole didn't hear the sound.)
"It's gone!" sighed the Rat, sinking back in his seat again. "So beautiful and strange and new! Since it was to end so soon, I almost wish I had never heard it. For it has roused a longing in me that is pain, and nothing seems worth while but just to hear that sound once more and go on listening to it for ever." And so Rat urges Mole to row further up river to find the origin of the siren notes.
There it is again!" cried Rat, alert once more. Entranced, he was silent for a long space, spellbound. "Now it passes on and I begin to lose it," he said presently. "O, Mole! The beauty of it! The merry bubble and joy, the thin, clear, happy call of the distant piping! Such music I never dreamed of, and the call in it is stronger even than the music is sweet! Row on, Mole, row! For the music and the call must be for us."
At last Mole heard it too. Breathless and transfixed the Mole stopped rowing as the liquid run of that glad piping broke on him like a wave, caught him up, and possessed him utterly. He saw the tears on his comrade's cheeks, and bowed his head and understood"
The strange attraction of Rat and Mole to the mysterious piping in the river woods may find a parallel in Christ's transfiguration. The location is different, the creatures involved are different, but the divine longing that possesses the senses is similar, the solemnity and wonder are the same.
The transfiguration is described in our Gospel lesson. Jesus leads his three most intimate followers for a hike. The Lord goes ahead of Peter, James, and John to the summit of Mount Hermon. Night descends. The three dose off. Jesus prays. And verse 29 says that, "As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. And behold .. Moses and Elijah appeared in glory and spoke of His decease" The marvel awakened the three disciples. They looked and saw Jesus standing in blinding luminosity; beside Him stood Moses and Elijah, speaking with each other. Matthew 17:5 says, "a bright cloud overshadowed them, and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid." Nevertheless, Peter implores the Lord, "Master, it is good for us to be here." Let's make three tents and stay a while." Clearly Peter was spellbound by something. The vision flattened the three apostles with fear and dread; it captivated them by an irresistible power.
This is a basic account of Christ's transfiguration. What did it mean for the disciples? What does it mean for us today? How does it mesh with redemptive history? Why the fascination? These are some of the issues we will attempt to analyze.
Let us begin with the premise that the transfiguration of Christ did not happen out of the blue. It was no isolated phenomenon. Rather it fits into a larger picture. It is one piece of a whole. In order to locate the transfiguration we go back to creation. Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light; and there was light."
The text leads us to believe that God created the heavens in their totality on this first day. It is the earth that still needs six more days of work. The earth was yet a deep, dark watery sphere; and to that vast liquid darkness the Spirit of God came, and hovered. How should we understand this hovering of the Spirit over the deep? The Hebrew word for hovering is used again in Deuteronomy 32:11. There it says, "As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, So the Lord led them." This hovering refers to the cloud by day and the fire by night that conducted the Israelites out of Egypt, and through the Dead Sea. The hovering cloud supported the people and lightened their way with radiant shafts in the form of outspread wings. It afforded them overshadowing protection. This was probably the same overshadowing fluorescence that was present at creation. The Spirit of God was a fiery, luminous cloud over the deep. Hebrews 1:2 tells us that that glory cloud was the Son of God. So what Genesis identifies as the Spirit, Hebrews identifies as the Son. This should not trouble us, for God is one, and all three persons of the Trinity were actively present at creation. Such a visible appearance of God is called a theophany. Theophany is a combination of the root words theos and epiphany . Theos is God; epiphany is appearance. So theophany is a visible manifestation of deity.
At the Mount of Transfiguration, Scripture tells us that the cloud came and overshadowed everyone present. This overshadowing is the same hovering we see at creation and the Exodus. It is a helpful connection to make. [For more on this topic, see Meredith Kline's Images of the Spirit ; David Chilton, Paradise Restored ; and Jim Jordan, Through New Eyes .]
What more can we say about the resplendent supernatural cloud? Jewish scholars eventually came to call the splendor of God's presence the Shekinah. And although the word shekinah is not found in Scripture it is a good one to express the theophanic glory cloud. The Shekinah Glory is centered in the third heaven around the place of God's enthronement. It is therefore a royal palace. The King of glory sits enthroned in the midst of myriads of heavenly beings. Christ ascended into this realm after His resurrection.
It is furthermore a dimension normally invisible to man, yet sometimes the eyes of believers are supernaturally opened to behold it. Let's not think that the Glory is a static structure. It is mobile. Some biblical writers have witnessed the Shekinah as a chariot-throne, propelled through the heavens by winged beings. (Ps. 104:3) While it hovered in the Holy of Holies of the Temple, it was a sacrament of God's presence and blessing. When, due to sin, the glory-cloud departed, the Temple was left desolate. Against unrepentant sinners it became a vehicle of divine judgment, moving with the swiftness of light to execute the sentence of the King. This is the same glory that caused Christ's robe to whiten and glisten with radiance, a glory that then overshadowed the Mount of Transfiguration. It is a glory Christ the King now possesses in Heaven, a splendor that will be revealed to one and all in the Last Day when He comes again in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:38) It is a glory that indicates deity and majesty, wisdom and royalty, righteousness and power.
Have you ever wondered why gems and precious stones are so valuable? Mainly because they reflect the glory of Christ. Thus, God has designed us with an inherent appreciation for gold and silver and diamonds. Sunrises, rainbows, waterfalls, and snow capped mountains are evocative of God's radiance as well.
The Shekinah Glory Cloud is a motif that recurs throughout Scripture, and yet is often overlooked. Why do so many students of the Bible miss it? Probably because it is such a complex image. Besides the radiance, the Shekinah may include bright clouds and dark ones, angels, movement, thundering voices, lightening, rainbows, earthquakes, trumpet blasts, and other phenomena. It can appear as blessing and protection, or come down as judgment and destruction. Once we accept the multi-faceted, and multi-layered reality of the Shekinah glory cloud, we will begin to see it everywhere in Scripture.
Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments amidst lightening, thick clouds, earthquakes, the blasting of brass choirs, and the thundering voice of God. Moses' forty days on the mountain transfigured him. His own countenance took on a radiance reflective of the brightness of God's face. Shafts of blinding light beamed out from him. When he descended the mountain, the people couldn't take it. He had to put on a veil. (Exodus 19:16-20; 20:18-19; 34:29-35) St. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians that the glory of Moses was but a little flicker compared to Christ's flashing splendor. (2 Corinthians 3:7 ff.)
There was also that later theophany at Horeb witnessed by Elijah. Elijah's experience so remarkably paralleled that of Moses at Sinai. The voice of God was the aspect most prominent this time. In 1 Kings 19:11-12 God tells Elijah, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a voice [like a booming freight train]." (That last phrase was changed for a reason.) According to the traditional understanding of this text, what Elijah heard was "a still small voice." However, a still, small voice would have been a complete aberration from the way God usually presents Himself. In truth, the Hebrew is better rendered "a roaring, crushing voice." The insistence of this passage is that while wind, earthquake, and fire accompany the Shekinah Presence, the Lord is peculiarly identified with a thunderous voice.
The most complete description of the Shekinah was given to the Prophet Ezekiel. We see it in Ezekiel chapter one. When the prophet was 30 years old, he was raptured to Heaven in the Spirit and granted visions. Let us read portions of this chapter. (Reads Ezekiel 1:4-7; 13-14; 22-28.)
We get the impression that Ezekiel is groping for words to describe something inexpressible. How does Ezekiel react to his vision? Chapter three tells us. (Reads Ezekiel 3:12-15.)
Why is Ezekiel astonished and paralyzed? How come we find him undone after such a presentation? A passage out of The Wind in the Willows is perhaps helpful. Rat and Mole continue to search for God's presence. Rat guides the boat to a secret island on the river. They disembark in silence. They make their way up through willow and silver birch, blossom and scented herbage to the level ground in the middle of the island. Orchard-trees are set around -- crabapple, wild cherry, and sloe.
"This is the place of my song-dream, the place the music played to me," whispered the Rat, as if in a trance. "Here, in this holy place, here if anywhere, surely we shall find Him!"
"Then suddenly the Mole felt a great Awe fall upon him, an awe that turned his muscles to water, bowed his head, and rooted his feet to the ground. It was no panic terror - indeed he felt wonderfully at peace and happy - but it was an awe that smote and held him and, without seeing, he knew it could only mean that some august Presence was very, very near. With difficulty he turned to look for his friend, and saw him at his side cowed, stricken, and trembling violently. And still there was utter silence in the populous bird-haunted branches around them; and still the light grew and grew."
This is the natural and normal result when man confronts the majestic presence of the Holy Almighty. It is a combination of dread, wonder, and attraction. We get a sense of God's glorious grace when we survey the Cross. In the sacrament we taste and see that it is good. We come to Christ with our sin and misery, and He comes to us with inexhaustible love and limitless power. What a blessing it is to acknowledge that "salvation is of the Lord." (Jonah 2:9). We contribute nothing to our salvation. In heaven we will see our Blessed Redeemer face to face. Our hearts will burst with a desire to glorify Him. And how can our muscles not turn to water as we join the myriad of cherubim and seraphim, the saints of all ages in the palace of the great King, and with them sing a new song, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, To receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!" (Rev. 5:12)
Ezekiel glimpsed that scene for one moment and he lay astonished for seven days. What a terrifying spectacle; indeed the pinnacle of joy!
The Transfiguration calls us to behold the King in His beauty. We who trust Christ will join Him one day. Our future life will be dominated by the hope of glory. The present life is also effected. The Lord graciously shares a portion of His glory with all His people in the here and now. The presence of Moses and Elijah on the mountain hints at this. They were both permeated with glory during their earthly lives. The Church prefers for her ministers to vest in white as a symbol of glory. Christ is the original light; the Church is a reflective light. On the Mount of Transfiguration, though the dazzling luminosity of Jesus was paramount, Moses and Elijah also partook. Christ's glorification is the first-fruits; the glorification of the saints ensues.
Moreover, the Spirit of God transmits glory to us through the sacrament. In the bread and wine, Christ feeds us with His glorified humanity, sanctifying us, preparing us for the greater glory of Heaven. Come now to Christ your King and Redeemer; give Him the glory; yea, partake of His glory. Return to Sermons |
