Lessons of Justice from the Transfiguration

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Lessons of Justice from the Transfiguration 

Herb Montgomery; March 1, 2025

If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:

Our reading this last week of the Epiphany season is the transfiguration passage from Luke’s gospel:

About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure,  which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)

While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen. (Luke 9:28-36)

In this story, Moses and Elijah are symbols of liberation and justice. 

Moses symbolizes the giving of the Torah, its principles of economic justice, and the liberation of the Hebrew people from their slavery to Pharaoh. Hebrew scholars have long recognized that the primary concern of the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures is social justice for the people. From the narratives all the way to the legal codes, justice for a people once enslaved is the theme. Just a few examples of that teaching:

“Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21)

“Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.” (Exodus 22:22-23)

“Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.” (Exodus 23:6-7)

Elijah lived during the time of King Ahab, the latest in a long line of kings to dismantle the Torah’s covenantal precepts of economic justice and transfer common wealth into the hands of a few wealthy elites. Ancestral lands had become the possessions of the king or his dignitaries. The rich got richer through taxes and tributes while the poor got poorer. Ahab’s father Omri had restructured the economics of Elijah’s society away from the Torah’s economic safeguards for the people and transformed it into an apparatus of deep systemic injustice. Elijah emerged in this system to call out this injustice and became a symbol in the Hebrew folklore of speaking truth to power even at great risk of personal harm. 

By connecting Jesus to these two figures in the transfiguration story, Luke’s gospel is telling us what Jesus was all about. Jesus doesn’t emerge only to hand out tickets to heaven and certificates of pardon for past personal sins. He is standing in the rich Hebrew tradition of working to make our present world a safe, compassionate, just home for the oppressed, marginalized, and subjugated. 

Jesus emerges in a time when his society has once again become complicit in economic injustice toward the poor and the powerful, for their own survival and gain, have become tools of Caesar’s exploitation and power. This exploitation later erupts into the poor people’s revolt of the late 60’s C.E,  but first Jesus comes preaching about returning to the way:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

This language resonated with the common people in his audience as they remembered this same language from their ancient prophets and psalms:

This is what the LORD says:

  “Stand at the crossroads and look;

ask for the ancient paths,

ask where the good way is, and walk in it,

and you will find rest for your souls. (Jeremiah 6:16)

I walk in the way of righteousness,

along the paths of justice. (Proverbs 8:20)

In his recent book In God We Do Not Trust, Walter Brueggemann elucidates the Torah connection between Jesus’ narrow “way” and the Torah’s “way” of justice: 

“In the horizon of Jesus, this path/way consisted of discipleship that required leaving all else to ‘follow.’ This characterization of the alternative community around Jesus as “followers of the way” (Acts 9:2, 24:14) indicates the requirements that we know as “love of God” and “love of neighbor.” This narrow, hard way is an alternative to the broad, easy way of the world marked by self-sufficiency and self-securing. Discipleship to Jesus is indeed an articulation of covenantal obedience to the alternative of Torah. The Torah provides guidance and illumination for how to live this alternative life in the world.” (In God We Do Not Trust, p. 59)

Returning to the social justice elements of the Hebrew tradition became so central to early Jesus followers in the 1st Century that they became known as people of this justice “way.”

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. (Acts 9:1-2, emphasis added.)

And what was the concrete outcome of their following this Way? Acts 4 tells us. It wasn’t huge megachurches with record-breaking attendance. It wasn’t political power to enforce their dogma on unbelievers and liberals. The concrete result was “there were no needy persons among them” (Acts 4:34).

This reminds me of the proof Jesus gave to John’s disciples to validate his own ministry: “The good news is proclaimed to the poor” (Luke 7:22).

Lastly, we are living in a time when systemic protections for the vulnerable among us are being dismantled. Collective sustaining aid is being slashed or terminated every day. All of this channels more money away from the common wealth of the people into the pockets of privileged, propertied, and powerful wealthy billionaires.

What does it mean for us as we leave the Christian season of Epiphany, to remember Jesus standing not alongside Herod, Caiaphas, or Pilate but alongside Moses and Elijah, in solidarity with those whose society was being dismantled. Whose side Jesus is characterized as standing on in Luke is not the side of the powerful but of those who had been pushed to the edges. As Jesus followers today, where does this imply our solidarity should be? Considering the words of the Torah, how are we treating our migrant population? How are we treating our “fatherless and widows?” Is gutting such collective care programs (such as Medicare) in harmony with our edict to care for our elderly? How are we taking responsibility for ensuring the poor are not denied justice, the guilty are not acquitted, and innocent and guiltless people are not punished for standing up for what is right?  

I can’t help but feel like I’m reading the current news when I consider these passages from the Torah. Who are the Moseses of our day? Where are our Elijahs? Who are the ones standing alongside the Jesus of the oppressed (whether they would describe it in those terms or not) on our mountain top moment right now? In the liberation and justice wakes of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, who are the ones working alongside those marginalized and made vulnerable in our day, and how can we align our stories, our energy, and our efforts with theirs?

I’ll close this week with the prophetic words of Ezekiel 34:

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.” (Ezekiel 34:2-6)

Discussion Group Questions

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.

2. 2. Who are the present Moseses and Elijahs standing up to unjust power doing harm to our vulnerable? Who is it that needs our solidarity today? Share and discuss with your group.

3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone? 

Thanks for checking in with us, today.

I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate. 

My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.

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You can watch our YouTube show each week called “Just Talking”. Each week, Todd Leonard and I take a moment to talk about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and social justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking. If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it. You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking.

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Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.

I love each of you dearly,

I’ll see you next week.

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New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!

Season 3, Episode 4: Luke 9.28-43a. Lectionary C, Transfiguration

Each week, we’ll be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend in the context of love, inclusion, and social justice. Our hope is that our talking will be “just” talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week we’ll be inspired to do more than just talking.

If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out at:

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New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast

A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice. 

This week:

Season 2 Episode 9: Lessons of Justice from the Transfiguration

Luke 9:28-36

We are living in a time when systemic protections for the vulnerable among us are being dismantled. Collective sustaining aid is being slashed or terminated every day. All of this channels more money away from the common wealth of the people into the pockets of privileged, propertied, and powerful wealthy billionaires. What does it mean for us as we leave the Christian season of Epiphany, to remember Jesus standing not alongside Herod, Caiaphas, or Pilate but alongside Moses and Elijah, in solidarity with those whose society was being dismantled. Who are the Moseses of our day? Where are our Elijahs? Who are the ones standing alongside the Jesus of the oppressed (whether they would describe it in those terms or not) on our mountain top moment right now? In the liberation and justice wakes of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, who are the ones working alongside those marginalized and made vulnerable in our day, and how can we align our stories, our energy, and our efforts with theirs?

Available on all major podcast carriers and at:

https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/lessons-of-justice-from-the-transfiguration

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Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.

 

by Herb Montgomery

Available now on Amazon!

In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.

Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.

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