Today is the second Sunday in our Lenten journey. How has this journey been for you thus far? Take a few moments to reflect on this. What is going well? What tweaks do you want to make going forward? How has the discipline of fasting been going? How have you seen God at work in your life lately? Spend a few minutes talking to God about these things.
Today’s Scripture reading is Luke 9:28-36, Jesus’ transfiguration. Spend a few minutes reading this passage. What stands out to you or grabs your attention in this story? What is going on here? How do you envision this scene?
Many artists through the ages have imagined this scene and put brush to canvas. Below is one such artist’s rendering from Christopher Powers as well as his devotional thoughts on the passage. Powers is an artist and pastor who creates exegetical artwork at Full of Eyes Ministry. The artwork and excerpt below is from his book, House of Mourning, House of Mirth, “2nd Sunday of Lent” –Full of Eyes ministry. https://lenten.carrd.co/.
“Notice that it is as Jesus speaks with Moses and Elijah
that His death (which in Lk. 9:22 is presented as
something that happens to Him) is spoken of as the
Exodus that He will achieve. There are a number of
significant typological layers to the presence of Moses
and Elijah on the mountain with Jesus, but one
of the most significant comes as we note that these
men represent the Law (Moses) and the Prophets
(Elijah); in other words, they represent the totality
of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament (OT).
So, it is when Moses and Elijah—that is, the OT—speak
with Jesus that Jesus’ death is revealed to actually be
the divine redemption that He accomplishes for His
people. Though I believe the transfiguration really did
take place in space and time, it is also a potent image
for what we read in Luke 24:27, namely, that the OT is
fundamentally an exposition of the previously-veiled
glory of the crucified and risen Jesus. The Law and the
Prophets (Moses and Elijah) speak of Him.When we realize that the entire OT is about Christ, then,
when we hear the Law and Prophets speaking about
the works of YHWH, we realize that they are ultimately
speaking of Jesus. The anastasiform (i.e., “resurrection-
shaped”) Son is the sole theme of Scripture (as
suggested when Moses and Elijah are no longer seen
and only Christ remains, see Lk. 9:35-36). As we listen
to the OT in this way, Jesus is quite literally transfigured
before our eyes.We realize that YHWH blazing in the midst of the thorny
bush is the one suspended on the tree of our curse, that
the one who divides the red sea is the one who passes
through the sea of our troubles and abyss of our condemnation
on Calvary, that the one who stands upon
the stricken stone and gives water to the people is He
who—as the Rock of Ages—is pierced on the cross so that
the river of living water might flow into the wilderness
of His people’s spiritual death. Indeed, as St. Irenaeus
said long ago, the whole of Scripture thus becomes a
single mosaic of the King (Against Heresies, 1.7.1).It is as Moses and Elijah speak with Christ—that is to
say, as the slain and risen one is aprehended in “conversation”
with the Law and Prophets—it is only and precisely
then that His disciples (you and I) come to behold
the crucified Jesus as radiant with the full spectrum of
YHWH’s Scripture-revealed majesty, as transfigured
into the very glory of God.”– Christopher Powers
