Mark 9:2-9 (Mark 8:38-9:1)
If look at me, you may not know that I have a problem with reading. It’s not that I can’t read, I can and I love to read, but it has been a challenge for as long as I can remember. I can remember trying to read novels like the Heart of Darkness or Huckleberry Finn and just have a hard time getting through them. Somehow I got through college and seminary, but the problem still remained. I could see the words and knew what they meant, but I ask me about the meaning of what I just read and you would get a blank stare. I’ve learned over time that I have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. I’ve believed I had it for a while, but it was confirmed recently and I’ve come to learn that ADHD can affect reading comprehension. I’m always so distracted that it can be hard to keep my attention on reading.
A few months ago I decided to purchase audio versions of books I wanted to read. Suddenly, things seemed clear. The ability to listen to the book has allowed me to understand in a way that I haven’t always been able to do when I’m reading a book. Instead of slogging through reading a book, I can now listen to the written word and understand it differently.
This story on the Transfiguration of Jesus has always been interesting to me. But I have a hard time understanding this event and maybe you do too. What was its purpose, its meaning?
When Jesus along with Peter, James and John are on that mountain, they hear that voice that tells them to listen to Jesus. Why does the voice say that?
It helps to look at the end of chapter 8. Jesus asks his disciples who people say he is. Peter answers but Jesus isn’t satisfied. “Who do you say that I am?” he asks Peter pointedly. Peter responds by saying that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Then Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to through a period of suffering that will result in his death. He will be raised again, but he is going to die.
Peter didn’t understand the whole resurrection, but he understood the whole dying part. When he tells Jesus this won’t happen, Jesus silences Peter. Now on top of this mountain, Peter, James, and John see Jesus in a way they haven’t seen before.. Peter doesn’t get this. He says something just to say something because he doesn’t know what to say. This is where a voice, probably the voice of God comes in the form of a cloud and says to the three disciples to listen to Jesus.
When God is telling the disciples to listen to Jesus, God isn’t saying for Peter to just use his ears. Instead, God calls Peter to pay attention. Pay attention to Jesus. Watch what he does, who he cares about, and what he says. If you want to understand Jesus, pay attention.
This is what Lent is all about; paying attention to Jesus. Peter’s problem (and ours as well) is that they weren’t paying attention at all. Sure, they have their ideas about Jesus but they don’t yet comprehend Jesus. God calls them on this. God tells the disciples and by extension, us to pay attention to the clues we are given that reveal who Jesus is. Through Lent, we will see those clues that lead all the way to Jesus hanging on a cross on Good Friday.
Lent can be a time to get rid of some distractions to focus on this Jesus and pay attention. Because if we pay attention we will see Christ revealed as we draw closer and closer to the cross.
When I was able to hear the words instead of always trying to read, things started to become clear. Transfiguration calls us to open our hearts, eyes, ears, and minds to the Son of God.