Second Sunday of Lent

Jan 29 2025

Seeing in the Dark

Two of today’s readings take us up a mountain. Mountains are sacred places in the scriptures. Moses meets the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob on Mt. Sinai. Elijah has an experience of this same life-giving God on Mt. Horeb. Today Abraham goes up Mt. Moriah in obedience to God’s command to “take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love” (Genesis 22:2) and offer him there as a holocaust.

It is hard to get past this reading today and focus only on the story of the Transfiguration. This story of God testing Abraham to see if Abraham will obey is a story of great anguish. “See” is an important word here: Moriah means “the place of seeing.” Abraham responds to Isaac’s question about a victim, saying God will provide, a word rooted in the Latin word for seeing. God will see to it that there is a victim, just as God will see that Abraham is obedient in all things.

Seeing also takes place on Mt. Tabor. Peter, James, and John see Jesus in glory, his clothes dazzlingly white; they see him speaking with Moses and Elijah, representing the law and the prophets; and they see a cloud overshadowing them, and hear a voice calling for their obedience: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him” (Mark 9:7).

With them, we are invited to see Jesus as the beloved Son whom the Father “did not spare . . . but handed over for us all,” as Paul reminds us (Romans 8:32). The mystery of the Cross and Resurrection is an invitation to see God’s love for all God’s beloved children and trust in it.

Consider/Discuss

How is there continuity between the God described in Genesis and God in today’s Gospel?
Have you had any glimpse of the glory that awaits those faithful to God?

Responding to the Word

God of Abraham and Sarah, of Isaac and Rebekah, of Jacob and Rachel, God and Father of our Lord, give us a glimpse of the glory that you have prepared for all who trust in you and remain faithful to you. Strengthen us to walk through any darkness that may threaten our ability to believe.

Jan 29 2025

Scripture Study for

The story known as “The Sacrifice of Isaac” might be better called “The Testing of Abraham.” The story itself states; “God put Abraham to the test.” Furthermore, Isaac is never really sacrificed. Abraham, the “father of a multitude” (see Genesis 7:15), is being put to the test. From a human point of view, Abraham’s response to God’s demand is terrifying, yet demonstrates his unquestioned obedience. Abraham relinquishes his natural claim on the child of promise, and he is blessed with a promise of more children than he can count. God is not outdone in generosity.

Paul wonders who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones, who will condemn them, and who will justify them. He identifies God as this judge. Paul argues that if the sovereign God is on our side, then regardless of what can be mustered against us, it is nothing in comparison to God’s power. If God is willing to sacrifice a beloved Son for our sake, it is impossible that God would deny us whatever other trivial things we might need. Finally, if Jesus has willingly died for us, he would certainly not turn around and condemn us. Besides, he is now interceding for us.

The transfiguration of Jesus knits together traditions of Israel’s past, insights into Jesus’ own identity, and a glimpse into eschatological fulfillment. Moses and Elijah represent the basis of Israel’s tradition, the law and the prophets respectively. Furthermore, both prefigure the prophetic dimension of the messianic era. The voice from the cloud identifies Jesus as the beloved Son, reminiscent of Isaac, who was also a beloved son. The connection with Isaac and Jesus suggests that the voice is referring to Jesus’ teaching about his death. It may be that the Transfiguration was intended to prepare the inner circle of disciples for Jesus’ unthinkable suffering and death in order to strengthen them in advance.

Jan 24 2025

Transformed by the Brilliance of God

I was shoveling the driveway. It was negative two degrees. The snow was deep. The sky was blue. The late February sun was strong. Sparkles of brilliant white glistened in the snow where the sun shone upon it. It was cold. It was very bright. I felt my eyes flooded with light.

As I tossed that white stuff onto the snowbank, I thought about the Transfiguration: Jesus bathed in light with a face shining like the sun, his clothes dazzlingly white. Maybe it was the brilliance of the snow or the brightness of the sun; maybe it was the contrast with so many drab and dreary months of winter gray; I don’t know which it was, but that image of “dazzling” grabbed hold of me. Dazzling—

God is dazzling!

I wonder, what did it feel like for Peter and James and John to be so dazzled by Jesus at the Transfiguration that Matthew, Mark, and Luke—all of the synoptic Gospels—tell this story?

What does it feel like to be dazzled? Other than snow in the sunshine, what kinds of dazzling brightness do we experience? I think of the shimmer of sunshine dancing on water . . . a mountaintop glowing with the pink and gold of a sunset . . . the twinkle of dew sparkling on spider webs in the morning sun. Moments of beauty flash into my mind. Tastes of God’s radiance shine through the created world.

The light of God enfolds us with the warmth of being beloved. As Isaac was beloved, as Jesus was the Beloved, so we too are beloved. To be beloved is dazzling. Radiant brilliance seeps into us.

Consider/Discuss

How about you? Have you seen the snow sparkle, the sun shine on the water, or the gold of the sunset? If not while shoveling snow, when and where have you been dazzled by light . . . astounded . . . awed . . . ?
If we want to experience God, how do we do that? This Lent, center yourself in the Holy Spirit and take little sips of belovedness. Ponder the dazzling brightness of God. For ten seconds, let your ribcage swell with the joy of Jesus; for twenty seconds, savor a child-like wonder; for thirty seconds, glory in the created world that you see in front of you. You are wanted, cherished, cared for: that is belovedness. That is prayer. In small sips, dwell, abide, and remain in the dazzling light of God.

Living and Praying with the Word

Jesus, there is much that we don’t know about your transfiguration. Maybe you were always dazzling when you walked on this earth and the Transfiguration was the only time the apostles saw it. As children of light, we are surrounded by an ocean of your divine light. Wherever we are, wherever we go, the Holy Spirit seeks to reveal beauty and goodness and dazzling Presence to us. You know our blindness. Show us your reality, Lord, and let us not shy away from being dazzled by you.

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

The relationship between Abraham and God begins with the promise of descendants. The son born of the barren Sarah is apparent proof of God’s trustworthiness. Now the order to sacrifice that son puts Abraham in a seemingly impossible position. If he disobeys God, the relationship is over. If he obeys, he puts to death the sign of God’s trustworthiness, which would also effectively kill the relationship. Abraham is famously stoic in this scene, and we have no idea what he is thinking, but his actions imply an incomprehensible trust in God in the face of this dilemma. Concentrating on the ethically problematic aspects of the story might lead one to miss what most ancient readers were able to appreciate, which is the profound trust, not just obedience, that Abraham manifests by his willingness to sacrifice Isaac.

The second reading also treats of the sacrifice of a son. Paul has been assuring his Roman audience that they are destined for glory as God’s adopted children in Christ (8:14–22). In fact, God’s benevolent providence is such that everything can be used to bring about this divine end; God’s purpose will not be thwarted (8:28). Because of this, there is nothing to fear. Paul drives this point home with the example of Jesus. The God who went to such great lengths for us as to allow the only-begotten Son to be sacrificed will surely not abandon us; the death of Christ is a sure sign of God’s good intentions for those who love. Only those who refuse to accept their inheritance can fail to receive it.

The transfiguration of Jesus takes place six days after he announced to his disciples that “the Son of Man must suffer greatly . . . and be killed and rise after three days” (8:31). The experience on the mountain thus points to the future by displaying the glory that Jesus already possesses as God’s Son. Although Jesus must suffer and die, his glorification is assured. Moses and Elijah, both of whom received a revelation of divine glory on a “high mountain” (Exodus 34:5–9; 1 Kings 19:11–13), represent the law and the prophets, both of which have prepared the way for the Messiah. The identity and mission of Christ are confirmed by both God and the Scriptures.

Jan 14 2025

Destination 2—The Mountain

Lent is an invitation to journey more deeply into the heart of God. What God asks of Abram is a willingness to trust that God will lead him. Abram is called from the very beginning to place his trust in the Lord and in the Lord’s promises. We are told that Abram is seventy years old at the time he goes forth. I remember someone remarking, “Imagine coming in the house and saying to your wife, ‘Honey, we have to pack up and go I know not where.’ ” We are told simply: “Abram went as the Lord directed him” (Genesis 12:4a). Abram’s faith translates into trust that God is leading him.

Jesus brought the three apostles up a high mountain. Mountains often served as the meeting place of God and the prophets—Moses and Elijah come to mind. When Jesus and the three reach their destination, Jesus is transformed before them, face and clothes shining. Suddenly Moses and Elijah are talking with him. You can understand Peter wanting to stay there. But this is not journey’s end. That will happen on a hill outside Jerusalem. For now, they hear words meant also for us this day: “This is my beloved Son . . . listen to him” (Matthew 17:5).

We are asked to journey with Jesus for forty days—sometimes it may be into the desert of testing, sometimes up a mountain for a moment of blinding clarity. In both places we know Jesus as the beloved Son who trusts in the Father’s will. Lent invites us to make that same journey into trusting the Father.

Consider/Discuss

Have you had a “mountain experience” when you came to know Jesus as God’s beloved Son? Was your reaction similar to that of Peter, who did not want it to end?
How is God calling you to trust? How is God calling you to listen to Jesus?

Responding to the Word

God has called us to a holy life (1 Timothy 1:9). This week, as we journey with Jesus into the presence of the Father, listen for how the Father may be speaking to you now. Ask God to open your ears and eyes to recognize the beloved Son’s presence.