Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of the 3rd Week of Advent: Year 1
Morning, Psalm 45; Evening, Psalms 47 and 48:
Isaiah 9:1 to 7; 2nd Peter 1:12 to 21; Luke 22:54 to 69
“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.” (2nd Peter 1:16 to 18)
Peter must have had a heavy heart as he framed his letters. He had to be burning with shame being fully aware of his denial of Jesus as told in our Luke Gospel reading for today. But he presses on.
Simon Peter’s testimony of God recognizing our Lord Jesus as the Messiah is one of the most compelling witnesses we have in the Bible. We hear of the Transfiguration in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. But then this repeat of the event outside the Gospel is the icing on the cake. The voice from heaven declaring that our Lord Jesus “is the Son of God in whom God was well pleased to dwell,” was first proclaimed at the Baptism of Jesus in the Same Gospel accounts. However, at the Transfiguration, the words, “Listen to Him,” were added. What more do we need?
Peter, and the others, did indeed not follow cleverly devised myths about who God was, and is, and is doing, and neither should we today. It was no myth. Our faith heritage is the most precious gift we could ever receive. Since reading “Sabbath” by Abraham Heschel, I am convinced that the Transfiguration itself, is more important than being on a holy mountain. Heschel says it is not places that make events significant, but rather, events that make places significant. Our Lord Jesus could have shown his true Self anywhere; and when that happens, it is the Sabbath. Our Lord Jesus will still do this today and wherever it happens, it will be Holy Ground and a Sabbath time.
Our Lord Jesus can invite you to follow him into a certain place in your own home and reveal who he really is to you and how you are to go forward from that point on. Are you ready for that? Our Lord Jesus is no made up story. And, it is not so much that he “was” real, It is that He “IS” Real! Funny how the English words “Is Real,” sounds like the Hebrew word, “Israel,” don’t you think? He is Risen, and working through us, for the benefit of us, and will still reveal himself to us in our prayers and through the saints of God.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.
As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 