Justice Lessons from the Transfiguration
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Justice Lessons from the Transfiguration
Herb Montgomery | February 13, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew:
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” (Matthew 17:1-9)
In our reading this week, we encounter the gospel of Matthew’s version of Jesus’ Transfiguration. This story is often read as a moment of divine revelation and confirmation of Jesus’ identity. Yet when read through the lens of our justice work today, the scene becomes not only a mystical vision but also a political and ethical declaration about power, authority, and faithful resistance to injustice.
Jesus is transfigured on a mountain, his face shining and his clothes dazzling white. He is joined by Moses and Elijah—figures who embodied God’s liberating justice in Israel’s history. The Torah is not abstract morality; it is shaped by the experience of an oppressed people freed from imperial domination. Moses represents the law born out of liberation from slavery in Egypt, while Elijah represents prophetic resistance to corrupt power, especially in his confrontation with King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, who used state violence and religious manipulation to exploit the poor. Together, Moses and Elijah symbolize God’s enduring commitment to liberation and prophetic justice. Their appearance affirms that Jesus stands firmly in continuity with these traditions, not apart from them.
The context of the Transfiguration is crucial. Just before this scene, Jesus predicts his suffering and execution and calls his followers to take up their cross. In the Roman world, the cross was a tool of state terror, one used to crush resistance and enforce social order. The Transfiguration does not negate this path but confirms it. God’s affirmation, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him,” comes not in spite of Jesus’ commitment to confronting injustice, but because of it. Divine glory is revealed not through domination, but through solidarity with the oppressed and faithful resistance to the violence and injustice of unjust systems.
Peter’s impulse to build three dwellings for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah reflects a familiar temptation: to preserve the spiritual moment and remain on the mountain. When read in the context of our present momeant and the current demand for voices on the side of justice, Peter models the desire to turn faith into private spirituality rather than public responsibility. But God’s vision for justice cannot be contained. The disciples are commanded to listen to Jesus, not enshrine their experience. As Black poet and teacher Carl Wendell Hines, Jr., wrotein his 1965 poem “A Dead Man’s Dream,” “It is easier to build monuments than to build a better world.”
Peter’s impulse to build shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah at the Transfiguration can be read not simply as awe, but as a revealing moment of resistance to the costly demands of justice. On the mountain, Peter encounters a dazzling, validating religious experience: Israel’s law and prophets stand affirmed, Jesus is glorified, and divine approval is unmistakable. In response, Peter wants to institutionalize the moment. He proposes structures or sacred spaces that would preserve the revelation, contain it, and perhaps also control it.
Peter’s desire reflects the human temptation to remain on the “mountaintop” rather than descend into the valley where suffering, oppression, and conflict persist. Mountains are places of clarity, safety, and privilege. Valleys are where demonized migrants are being detained, where unjust systems grind people down, and where standing up and speaking truth carries risk. Building shelters on the mountain would allow Peter and the others to preserve this moment, to protect it from the messy realities of getting one’s hands dirty with the reality of social inequality below. But the Hebrew prophets, whose tradition both John and Jesus stood within), had dirt under their fingernails.
This instinct to control revelation on the mountaintop parallels how religious institutions sometimes prioritize preservation over justice in our time. Faced with injustice, communities of faith often choose to protect tradition, status, and comfort rather than confront systems that harm the vulnerable. For us, then, the Transfiguration is not a call to withdraw but a call to prepare to engage. God interrupts Peter’s plan with a command: “Listen.” Listen to Jesus. And what Jesus has just been saying before and after this scene, is about standing up for life and confronting the powers of death.
Jesus does not stay transfigured on the mountain. He comes down and immediately encounters the Roman oppression and Temple complicity again. In this way, the story challenges faith communities today. Authentic spirituality is not about building monuments to holy moments or defending institutional privilege. It is about allowing those moments to propel us back into the world, where justice, healing, and solidarity are urgently needed. The glory of the mountain exists to empower the courage required in the valley.
The Divine call to listen to Jesus in our reading this week holds deeper meaning for us, too. It means following Jesus back down the mountain, into the valleys where the guilty are justified and violence is committed against the innocent and those who resist. The cloud that overshadows the scene, telling Peter, James and John to listen to Jesus, reminds us of the cloud of divine presence in the Exodus folklore, when God traveled with a displaced people through the wilderness. In Matthew’s transfiguration, the Divine voice once again aligns itself with those on the margins of power, not with empire or the elites, and the command to “listen to him” elevates Jesus’ teachings. Jesus insisted on mercy, welcoming the stranger, economic justice for the poor, enemy love, inclusion of the excluded, and the humanity of those the system had valued as the least. In this way, the Transfiguration in Matthew’s Gospel challenged those complicit with Rome. It challenges Christian complicity with nationalism and injustice today too. Following the Jesus of the Transfiguration means aligning oneself with the liberation and courageous truth-telling found in the stories of both Moses and Elijah.
In Matthew, when the Transfiguration vision ends, only Jesus remains. Moses and Elijah fade, not because the law and prophets are discarded, but because they find a renewed expression in the model of Jesus’ teachings and actions. For Christian communities committed to social justice today, the Transfiguration proclaims that the struggle for liberation even against the impossible odds faced by slaves in Egypt, the courage of prophetic truth telling and speaking out against Ahab and Jezebel, and Jesus’ costly path of standing up to complicity with imperial harm in the face of being threatened with a cross, are all the very places where God is present.
For Matthew’s audience, following Jesus meant stepping into a living tradition of liberation and prophetic courage that stretches back through Moses and Elijah and continues in our social justice work today. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Moses represented God’s decisive intervention on behalf of the oppressed. The exodus is not merely a spiritual metaphor; it is a concrete act of liberation from economic exploitation, state violence, and dehumanization. To follow Jesus today, then, is to inherit his commitment to justice and freedom. It is to stand with those trapped in modern Pharaohs, systems of injustice and harm, and to declare that such systems are neither natural nor ordained.
Elijah embodies another essential dimension of this tradition: speaking truth to power. Elijah confronts kings, exposes the violence hidden behind religious and political respectability, and refuses to bless unjust arrangements. His prophetic voice in the stories insisted that faithfulness to God cannot be separated from justice for the vulnerable. Jesus stands squarely in this lineage. Like Elijah, Jesus names the lies that sustain oppression; like Moses, he announces a way out. When Jesus proclaims good news to the poor and release to the captives, he is not starting something new. He’s bringing this ancient struggle to its fullest clarity and urgency.
To follow Jesus today is therefore not primarily about private piety or institutional preservation. It is about joining a movement of liberation and truth-telling in our own context. I can’t help but think of the courage being demonstrated in Minneapolis at this moment. Following Jesus means challenging laws, economies, and cultural narratives that crush the vulnerable, even when doing so is costly. It means organizing, resisting, and reimagining community in ways that reflect God’s desire for abundant life for all. In this sense, Christian social justice work is not a political add-on to faith; it is the faithful continuation of the work begun with Moses, sharpened by Elijah, and embodied in Jesus. Ours is a path that still leads from bondage toward freedom, from silence toward courageous truth, from death-dealing crosses of state violence to triumphant and overturning resurrections.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How does Matthew’s Transfiguration inspire you to leave the mountain and engate justice work in the valey? 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.
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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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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.
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 3 Episode 8: Justice Lessons from the Transfiguration
Matthew 17:1-9
For Matthew’s audience, following Jesus meant stepping into a living tradition of liberation and prophetic courage that stretches back through Moses and Elijah and continues in our social justice work today. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Moses represented God’s decisive intervention on behalf of the oppressed. The exodus is not merely a spiritual metaphor; it is a concrete act of liberation from economic exploitation, state violence, and dehumanization. To follow Jesus today, then, is to inherit his commitment to justice and freedom. It is to stand with those trapped in modern Pharaohs, systems of injustice and harm, and to declare that such systems are neither natural nor ordained. Elijah embodies another essential dimension of this tradition: speaking truth to power. Elijah confronts kings, exposes the violence hidden behind religious and political respectability, and refuses to bless unjust arrangements. His prophetic voice in the stories insisted that faithfulness to God cannot be separated from justice for the vulnerable. Jesus stands squarely in this lineage. He’s bringing this ancient struggle to its fullest clarity and urgency. In this sense, Christian social justice work is not a political add-on to faith; it is the faithful continuation of the work begun with Moses, sharpened by Elijah, and embodied in Jesus. Ours is a path that still leads from bondage toward freedom, from silence toward courageous truth, from death-dealing crosses of state violence to triumphant and overturning resurrections.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
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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Jesus as Liberation from Systemic Injustice
Herb Montgomery | February 17, 2023
To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.
“He was not creating a new religion, but rather seeking to spark a Jewish renewal movement. It makes much more historical sense to see Jesus working alongside Moses and Elijah, as a then-contemporary example of the works that Moses and Elijah had done . . . What difference does it make to see Jesus working in the spirit of Moses and Elijah rather than interpreting him as a replacement for Moses and Elijah?”
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew:
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” (Matthew 17:1-9)
Allow me to geek out for just a moment. This week’s passage is packed with interesting liberation themes.
First though, the story of the transfiguration in the gospels is another example where Christian supersessionism, or replacement theology, has harmed Jewish people. Christian history and traditions are full of interpretations of this story in ways that turn away from Moses and Elijah and toward Jesus. They emphasize a Divine endorsement that points the disciples who followed the teachings of Moses and Elijah (the Law and prophets in these interpretations) to now follow Jesus instead!
I couldn’t disagree more with this way of interpreting this week’s story.
Remember that Jesus was a Jew. His was a Jewish voice in a discussion with other Jewish voices from his society. He was not creating a new religion, but rather seeking to spark a Jewish renewal movement. It makes much more historical sense to see Jesus working alongside Moses and Elijah, as a then-contemporary example of the works that Moses and Elijah had done according to the Jewish legends about them.
What difference does it make to see Jesus working in the spirit of Moses and Elijah rather than interpreting him as a replacement for Moses and Elijah?
First, let’s talk about how the various transfiguration stories in the gospels emphasize Moses and Elijah differently. Mark’s gospel states, “There appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus” (Mark 9:4). Mathew reverses the order, placing Moses first: “Then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.”
For Mark’s intended audience, it was important to emphasis Elijah. Shortly afterward, he characterized John the Baptist’s renewal movement as a fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy: “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents” (Malachi 4:5-6).
The prophet Elijah called out the apostasy of elites who he felt were leading the people away into harm. Elijah paralleled how Mark’s audience interpreted John the Baptist. In the spirit of Elijah, John called out the elite of his era, their complicity with the Roman Empire, and the destructive effects of that complicity on the small rural farming communities of Judea, Galilee, and surrounding regions, as well as the poor in more urban areas.
So I understand why Mark places Elijah first.
But our passage this week is from Matthew, and Matthew switches the order to emphasize Moses. There are so many parallels between the story of Moses on the mountain and Matthew’s story of Jesus on this mountain. Again, it is much more intrinsically life-giving to see Jesus’ and Moses’ liberation work as the primary parallel. The often repeated replacement theory is that, as Moses once gave commandments, so too Jesus gave commandments that we are to follow instead.
But Matthew’s intended audience would have interpreted Jesus’ teachings in harmony with the laws of Moses (see Matthew 5:17). Moses as lawgiver is not the primary parallel we should emphasize here. Rather we should recognize Moses as the one who stood for the Israelites’ liberation from Egyptian slavery. Moses the liberator from foreign oppression was the parallel to Jesus that Matthew’s gospel tried bring to mind for its audience of Jewish poor and rural farmers who desperately longed to be liberated from Roman oppression.
So Jesus doesn’t replace Moses. Jesus is another Moses. Jesus stood in relation to Roman oppression the way Moses stood in relation to Egyptian oppression in the Hebrew folklore.
Notice these parallels that Matthew creates to call to mind images of Moses:
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu . . .” (Exodus 24:1)
“Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.” (Matthew 17:1)
“When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud.” (Exodus 24:15-16)
“After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.” (Matthew 17:1)
“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD . . . his face was radiant . . . he put a veil over his face . . . his face was radiant . . .” (Exodus 34:29-35)
“After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun . . . ” (Matthew 17:1-2)
On the mount of transfiguration Jesus speaks with God face to face. This had only happened for two others in Hebrew folklore: Moses and Elijah.
“Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face” (Deuteronomy 34:10)
“There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9-13)
Unlike Mark, Matthew repeats the words that were spoken earlier to Jesus at his baptism. This would have reminded Mathew’s audience of a verse in Isaiah:
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.” (Isaiah 42:1)
And lastly, Moses and Elijah were both Hebrew heroes for whom, according to tradition, death did not have the last word.
“As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.” (2 Kings 2:11)
“He buried [Moses] in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.” (Deuteronomy 34:6 cf. Jude 9)
Remember, the good news for early Jesus community members was not that Jesus had died, but that this Jesus, whom Rome crucified, God had brought back to life (see Acts 4:22; Acts 2:22-24; Acts 2:32-33; Acts 3:12-16; Acts 4:10-11; Acts 5:30-32; Acts 10:36-43; and Acts 13:35-38):
“We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus.” (Acts 13:32-33)
These early Jesus followers viewed his death as a Roman act of state violence to silence Jesus. But what was intended to stop Jesus only proved to be an interruption. The resurrection reversed, undid, and overcame everything accomplished through the death of Jesus, and this was the good news. The liberation of Jesus lived on in the lives of his followers who sought to spread his teachings of love, liberation, justice, inclusion, and peace.
Matthew’s version of the transfiguration was intended to inspire the gospel’s original audience with a vision of Jesus as a liberator.
A lot has changed in the world since then. Today, Rome is no more.
But now there are other systems of injustice in each of our societies that we need liberation from. How might the teachings of the Jewish prophet of the poor from Galilee inspire and liberate us today, as we, in our own way and context, work to shape our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for all?
Does Jesus liberate us from the concreted systems of injustice we suffer from in our daily lives here and now? Do Jesus’ teachings still have world-changing power and relevance for us today?
I believe they do.
HeartGroup Application
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.
2. What difference does it make for you to interpret Jesus as working in the spirit of Moses and Elijah rather than interpreting him as a replacement for Moses and Elijah? Share 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.
You can find Renewed Heart Ministries on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts. Also, if you enjoy listening to the Jesus for Everyone podcast, please like and subscribe to the JFE podcast through the podcast platform you use and consider taking some time to give us a review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
Also I want to share that we are partnering in a new weekly YouTube show called “Just Talking.” Each week, Todd Leonard and I will be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal 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. Todd is brilliant in his discernment of how the Jesus story can speak into our lives today as we work together toward shaping our world into a just, safe and compassionate home for everyone. He’s worth listening to.
You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking. Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment.
And if you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
My new book, Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels is now also available at renewedheartministries.com
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.
Now Available at Renewed Heart Ministries!
It’s here! Herb’s new book Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels, is available at renewedheartministries.com, just in time for the holidays!
Here is just a taste of what people are saying:
“Herb has spent the last decade reading scripture closely. He also reads the world around us, thinks carefully with theologians and sociologists, and wonders how the most meaningful stories of his faith can inspire us to live with more heart, attention, and care for others in our time. For those who’ve ever felt alone in the process of applying the wisdom of Jesus to the world in which we live, Herb offers signposts for the journey and the reminder that this is not a journey we take alone. Read Finding Jesus with others, and be transformed together.” Dr. Keisha Mckenzie, Auburn Theological Seminary
“In Finding Jesus, Herb Montgomery unleashes the revolutionary Jesus and his kin-dom manifesto from the shackles of the domesticated religion of empire. Within these pages we discover that rather than being a fire insurance policy to keep good boys and girls out of hell, Jesus often becomes the fiery enemy of good boys and girls who refuse to bring economic justice to the poor, quality healthcare to the underserved, and equal employment to people of color or same-sex orientation. Because what the biblical narratives of Jesus reveal is that any future human society—heavenly or otherwise—will only be as good as the one that we’re making right here and now. There is no future tranquil city with streets of gold when there is suffering on the asphalt right outside our front door today. Finding Jesus invites us to pray ‘thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ on our feet as we follow our this liberator into the magnificent struggle of bringing the love and justice of God to all—right here, right now.”—Todd Leonard, pastor of Glendale City Church, Glendale CA.
“Herb Montgomery’s teachings have been deeply influential to me. This book shares the story of how he came to view the teachings of Jesus through the lens of nonviolence, liberation for all, and a call to a shared table. It’s an important read, especially for those of us who come from backgrounds where the myth of redemptive violence and individual (rather than collective) salvation was the focus.” – Daneen Akers, author of Holy Troublemakers & Unconventional Saints and co-director/producer of Seventh-Gay Adventists: A Film about Faith, Identity & Belonging
“So often Christians think about Jesus through the lens of Paul’s theology and don’t focus on the actual person and teachings of Jesus. This book is different. Here you find a challenging present-day application of Jesus’ teachings about the Kingdom of God and the Gospel. Rediscover why this Rabbi incited fear in the hearts of religious and political leaders two millennia ago. Herb’s book calls forth a moral vision based on the principles of Jesus’ vision of liberation. Finding Jesus helps us see that these teachings are just as disruptive today as they were when Jesus first articulated them.” Alicia Johnston, author of The Bible & LGBTQ Adventists.
“Herb Montgomery is a pastor for pastors, a teacher for teachers and a scholar for scholars. Part memoir and part theological reflection, Finding Jesus is a helpful and hope-filled guide to a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and who he can be. Herb’s tone is accessible and welcoming, while also challenging and fresh. This book is helpful for anyone who wants a new and fresh perspective on following Jesus.”— Traci Smith, author of Faithful Families
Get your copy today at renewedheartministries.com
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Encouragement When the Work is Lonely and Hard
Herb Montgomery | February 25, 2022
To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.
“In this story, the early Jesus followers are trying earnestly to make sense of Jesus’ execution at the hands of the Roman empire. Their association of both Elijah and Moses with Jesus pointed Jesus followers to the claim that although Jesus ministry and work of salvation had been interrupted by a Roman cross, God had overturned, reversed, and undone that act of unjust state violence and raised Jesus from the dead, which meant his salvific work lived on. In the Hebrew tradition, Elijah and Moses are figures for whom death did not have the final say.”
Our reading this week is from the book of Luke:
“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)
The first version of this story is found in the gospel of Mark (Mark 9:1-8). Matthew’s gospel elaborates on the story, adding parallels for Jesus that Matthew’s audience would have associated with Moses (cf. Matthew 17:1-8; and Exodus 24:1,15-18; 34:29-35). Matthew also added another association between his version of Jesus’ baptism and the words found in Isaiah 42:1. Luke later adds versus 31-34 and 36, and changes the six days Mark describes at the beginning of the story to eight.
Unfortunately, Christianity has become filled with antisemitic interpretations of the transfiguration, usually contrasting Moses and Elijah with Jesus. With a kind of Christian supremacy, or supercessionism (replacing Judaism with Christianity), some Christians compare Moses and Elijah with “the law and the prophets” and claim Jesus is superior to both.
I want to offer an interpretation of this story that honors Judaism instead of contrasting with it. Jesus was a Jewish man after all. His was a 1st Century Jewish voice among many other Jewish voices, rooted in interpretations of the Torah and other Hebrew wisdom. Jesus, even in these stories, did not envision himself as beginning a new religion: he and his teachings were deeply influenced by the Judaism he was raised within. So when we read the gospels, I find it much more helpful to read the synoptic gospels as a debate within Judaism among Jewish voices on what it means to be faithful to the God of the Torah rather than as an anachronistic debate between Christianity and Judaism as world religions. (I feel the gospel of John breaks from this pattern.) As I’ve said recently, we don’t have to disparage Judaism to value the ethical teachings of Jesus.
What purpose might the gospel authors, who wrote for both Jewish and Gentile Jesus followers, have had in associating Moses and Elijah with Jesus in this story?
First, Jewish tradition held that Moses and Elijah had both talked directly with God (Deuteronomy 34:10; 2 Kings 19:9-13). When they are introduced in the gospels, Jesus has begun his final trek to Jerusalem where he will confront the economic injustices of the Temple state (flipping the tables), and that confrontation will most likely result in state violence against him. Before the week is over, Jesus will be crucified on a Roman cross.
But in this story, the early Jesus followers are trying earnestly to make sense of Jesus’ execution at the hands of the Roman empire. Their association of both Elijah and Moses with Jesus pointed Jesus followers to the claim that although Jesus ministry and work of salvation had been interrupted by a Roman cross, God had overturned, reversed, and undone that act of unjust state violence and raised Jesus from the dead, which meant his salvific work lived on.
In the Hebrew tradition, Elijah and Moses are figures for whom death did not have the final say. Elijah was taken directly to heaven not seeing death (2 Kings 2:11), and Moses’ death was also surrounded with mystery, his burial place of being unknown and several traditions believing that he was taken into the presence of the Divine after death (Deuteronomy 34:6; Jude 9).
Again, early Jesus followers are trying to find a life-giving framing for Jesus’ murder by the system because of his call for change. They are trying to strengthen the claim that he’s been resurrected.
There are other associations, as well. Moses was the law giver and deeply associated with themes of liberation from oppression. Jesus’ early followers, Jewish and Gentile, understood him as another great teacher whose message was of liberation from oppression (see Luke 4:18-19).
The last association is the most meaningful to me: the association of Jesus with Elijah. In the Jewish stories, Elijah’s mountaintop experience in 1 Kings 19 was one of epiphany as his life was threatened for speaking truth to power and while he was deeply discouraged about his mission. I can identify with moments of discouragement while considering one’s life work. I can also imagine Jesus, too, wrestling similarly to Elijah during the last days of his life before the cross.
“He [Elijah] traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the Sovereign One came to him: ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the Sovereign One God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.’ The Sovereign One said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Sovereign One, for the Sovereign One is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Sovereign One, but the Sovereign One was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Sovereign One was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Sovereign One was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the Sovereign One God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.’ The Sovereign One said to him, ‘Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.’”
In our story this week, both Elijah and Moses appear, possibly to encourage Jesus during his own time of discouragement as his own life is in jeopardy. Even the Divine shows up in the story, with words of encouragement, of filial approval repeated from Jesus’ baptism, and the admonishment for Peter, James and John to listen to Jesus.
I can see why the early Jewish Jesus followers would have found solace and encouragement through these associations.
I, too, think of those who I’ve journeyed with along the way who have been an encouragement to me when I’ve had difficult decisions to make. I’m thankful for each of them.
Have you had moments when you, also, have had to make some pretty difficult decisions? Moments where doing the right thing was not the easy choice? Who in your life were your Moses and Elijah? Who was there to encourage you? And lastly, who do you know who is engaging the work necessary for a better iteration of our present world, working to shape our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for us all, who right now could use your encouragement?
Take a moment this week and reach out. You never know what difference your just showing up could make. It doesn’t have to be a blinding light with radiant clouds and big voices from the sky. It could just be a text, or a phone call. However you choose to show up, take some time this week to let someone know that, in this work, they are not alone.
Here’s to a better world.
And here’s to all who right now are working toward it.
HeartGroup Application
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.
2. Share a story with your group from your own experience when someone was your Elijah or Moses and encouraged you when you had a difficult decision to make in a context of justice, liberation, or compassion.
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.
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
Begin each day being inspired toward love, compassion, action, and justice.
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