lenten blog | March 2, 2024

Throughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches.  These are the suggested readings for March 2nd:  Exodus 19:16-25; Psalm 19; and Mark 9:2-8.  I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.

Today’s Gospel is of the Transfiguration and it begins with a time reference:  “Six days later.”  What does this refer to?  If we look back in the text, it is the events of Caesarea Philippi that we talked about last Sunday in church.  Peter had declared Jesus to be the Messiah, and then Jesus declared the corrective that He would be the suffering Messiah.  The Caesarea Philippi pericope ends with Jesus saying, “‘There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.’” (9:1)  It would not be wrong to think that this is a foreshadowing of the resurrection. 

However, this statement is followed immediately by “Six days later.”  They may seem further apart in your biblical text because of how the editors have laid out the page.  In my Bible, for example, the New Revised Standard Version, a new paragraph heading of “The Transfiguration” stands between 9:1 and 9:2, between seeing the kingdom of God come with power and “Six days later.”  This seems to break up the connection that Mark intends with his time reference.  The Transfiguration is chronologically and I would say thematically linked with seeing the coming of the kingdom of God with power.

We know that Peter for sure and probably all the other disciples were present at Caesarea Philippi.  We then see listed that the disciples Peter, James and John were present at the Transfiguration.  It is not implausible to assume, therefore, that these three are the ones represented as “There are some standing here …”  They were privileged to witness the glorified Jesus.  For these moments of the Transfiguration, the hidden nature of Jesus became the visible nature of Jesus.  If this is the case, then they see what may be described as:  “[T]he kingdom of God has come with power.”

Whatever actually transpired is a separate matter.  What is important for Mark is that the Transfiguration reveals that the post-resurrection Jesus is identical with the historical Jesus.  Jesus did not assume a divine nature after His suffering and death.  Jesus’ divine nature was always linked with His human nature and it was carried to the cross.  What is wonderfully radical about all of this is that Mark reveals that the power of the kingdom of God breaking into the world is not inaugurated when Jesus resurrects out of the world.  It breaks into the world in Jesus of Nazareth, His life, His ministry, His gospel, and since the Transfiguration is linked intentionally through “Six days later” with Caesarea Philippi, with His suffering and death. 

What does this mean when the coming of the kingdom of God’s power is not limited to the obvious and glorious triumph of the empty tomb, but to the glory of God inherent in the ministry of Jesus that culminates when He does not retreat before the terrible reality of the cross?  Isn’t there a challenge here for us to see the power of God’s kingdom in the life of Jesus and in its sacrifice for the sake of the gospel?  The coming of the kingdom of God with power is realized in the life of Jesus, the life that includes Golgotha.  What an astonishing revelation. 

Tomorrow is a Communion Sunday.  There are no creedal requirements at our sharing of Jesus’ table.  If you feel called, you will be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you are on your spiritual journey.  If you can see the hidden glory in the simple gifts of bread and wine, not all that unlike seeing the coming power of God in the humanity of Jesus of Nazareth and especially in the brutality of His suffering and death, then the mystery of Communion should be approached.  I invite you to join us in person and if that is not possible, to join us via Zoom.  Send an email to [email protected] for the login.    
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If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule:  www.sneucc.org/lectionary.