Two Things in a Row – Luke 9:28-33

A text – Luke 9:28-43

²⁸ Now about eight days after these sayings Jesustook with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹ And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. ³⁰ Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. ³¹ They appeared in glory and were speaking about his exodus, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. ³² Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep, but as they awoke they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³ Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us set up three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” not realizing what he was saying. ³⁴ While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. ³⁵ Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” ³⁶ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

³⁷ On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. ³⁸ Just then a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. ³⁹ Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. ⁴⁰ I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” ⁴¹ Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴² While he was being brought forward, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. ⁴³ And all were astounded at the greatness of God.

A reflection:

Earlier in Luke 9 Jesus sends out his disciples two by two to heal the sick and proclaim the Kingdom of God coming near. He feeds the 5,000. He tells his disciples he is headed toward his final journey to death and says that people who would still follow him will have to take up their cross. Then, as verse 28 tells us, about 8 days later this story takes place: the Transfiguration of our Lord. Jesus is praying in the company of Peter, James, and John when suddenly the glory and power of God come upon him, Moses and Elijah join him, and God even speaks.

Why Moses and Elijah? My friend and former colleague Dr. Sarah Henrich wrote about this in a commentary on this passage. Let me share her words:

“Only Luke’s gospel gives the content of Jesus’ conversation with Moses and Elijah, exodus …. Like Moses before him, Jesus is given an experience of God and God’s majesty. Like Moses, in spite of being chosen, Jesus is not granted easy passage. The word exodus is a reminder of plagues, blood, the death of first-born sons, and the unremitting recalcitrance of the oppressive power of the Egyptians… God will deliver God’s people from slavery as often as God must do it… Jesus’ exodus will deliver us even from the power of death, not just death-dealing powers-that-be, but death itself.”

Jesus invites his three closest disciples, the ones on whom he is depending to share with the whole world his story of God’s love and redemption, Jesus invites these three to see and hear, first hand, both who he really is (if they had any doubts) and what he was about to do for human beings – an exodus journey that would break the tyranny of death itself. Peter, James, and John would experience this moment but couldn’t speak about it yet.

And the very next day Jesus heals a boy, rebuking the unclean spirit within him, and the spirit leaves him upon Jesus’s command. I can imagine that healing, taken with the transfiguration the day before, grounded the faith of Peter, James, and John like nothing before. Two things in a row are powerful.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for your revelation to Peter, James, and John in the transfiguration. Thank you for Jesus’s exodus journey through death to pave the way for our easier journeys there. Thank you for being kind to us though you are mighty. Amen.