Joplin Community of Christ

Do Not Be Afraid

Today’s Prayer for Peace – Saint Lucia

Direct link to download today’s audio message http://jcoc.no-ip.org/media/JoplinCOC-03-06-2011.mp3
http://jcoc.no-ip.org/media/JoplinCOC-03-06-2011.mp3

Announcements
Wednesday, March 9
Mid-Week Renewal of the Spirit – 6:00 PM

Sunday, March 13
Theme: Led by the Spirit
Presider: Bonnie Kingore
Speaker: Pat Jones
Musician: Leslie Hicks
Morning Devotions: Wade Caswell
Deacon in Charge: Geneva Reed
Dinner Day – Potluck Dinner following the service, all are invited to attend.

Saturday, April 9
Intentional Ministries of Welcome – Greeter Training
Workshop, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
To register or for more information please see the Outreach Steering Team: Shane, Barbara, James, Wade, or Steve. We are
counting on everyone to attend in this next phase of transformational Hospitality. To be held at the church.

Birthdays & Anniversaries, March 6 – 12
10 Jim Turpin
11 Dakota Peterson

Administration Teams, Feb. 27 – March 12
Daytime: Ben and Margo Peterson
Evenings: Lester Lay and Ben Jones

Volunteers Needed!
Anyone interested in helping out with Vacation Bible School this
summer is welcomed and invited to share in this fun event.
Contact Wade Caswell for more information or to offer your help.

Exploring the Scriptures

In today’s scripture, Matthew identifies the Transfiguration. Jesus’ appearance is “transfigured” before the witnesses Peter, James, and John. Moses and Elijah (two men who have been dead for centuries) and a voice from a cloud address all of them—as in a “vision” (v. 9). Clearly, we are to understand that the passage is meant to tell us something very important about Jesus—something that cannot be trusted to simpler storytelling devices. Jesus took his disciples to the mountaintop for a reason.

One of the assumptions behind a “revelatory” passage like this, which interrupts the story of Jesus’ journey from baptism through ministry to sacrifice and new life, is that God’s actions are usually hidden, not overt—spoken in a whisper, not shouted. As witnesses of God’s acts in the world, we are extraordinarily free to misunderstand, to explain away, and to forget. Bumbling, half-asleep disciples in the Gospels are stand-ins for us. But sometimes the curtain is lifted and God speaks clearly.

As an example of clear speaking by God, this passage echoes the encounter of Moses with God on Sinai. It also remembers the story of Jesus’ baptism, where a voice from heaven speaks the very same words of identity and blessing of Jesus as in this text. It foreshadows Jesus’ crucifixion where he is mocked with that identity. It would be good to give a close review to these passages, because this one cannot be understood without taking its place among them. Jesus is not transformed in one instant alone.

To say it a different way, we are at the midpoint in Jesus’ journey—halfway from baptism to crucifixion. What is added to the heavenly pronouncement from his baptism is one phrase: “Listen to him!” Have you not been listening up to now? This would be a good time to start. It is also important to recognize that God’s being well pleased with Jesus has a different meaning now. At his baptism, Jesus had not yet begun his ministry, so the focus in the phrase is on the introduction: “This is my beloved Son.” Now we might hear God saying, “This is still my beloved Son, and I am well pleased with what he has been doing.” The risk in that reading is that Jesus might be seen to be earning his place as beloved son. But both pronouncements—and the context in both cases—point to a God of grace who delights in the son, not an evaluator of works.

The three witnesses—Peter, James, and John—are on their own journey of discipleship development. In this short passage they begin with the wide-eyed surprise and enthusiasm of new believers. Peter wants to stop the events to make a speech, build a building, and dedicate it to the historic occasion. He gets the momentousness of what is happening, but mistakes it for a completion: the Messiah has been announced and all is well. They end with the fear and doubt of hearing their real calling and responsibility. They are called to listen to Jesus and to begin following for real. And, of course, they do get up and come back down the mountain with Jesus, to continue with him on his journey.

Central Ideas

1.This passage needs to be read along with those of Moses on Sinai and the baptism and crucifixion of Jesus. It can’t be taken as a stand-alone passage, and it can’t be made sense of as a historical event. We are meant to receive Matthew’s witness of the identity of Jesus.
2.When God is heard to speak in human language, it is often as affirmation and blessing. God claims Jesus as God’s child, who gives God delight.
3.The three witnesses are in the story for a reason—not as idle bystanders. They will come away with a story of their own to tell, but more importantly they are becoming part of the story.

© 2011, Joplin Community of Christ. All rights reserved.