Sunday Worship
Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the 9th Sunday after Trinity. Our Church Services are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11 am at St Thomas'. If you are unable to be with us in person, you can find today's Gospel Reading, a reflection and prayers below.
Our first hymn this morning is "Be Thou My Vision"
Today's Gospel
Luke 9:28-36 The Transfiguration
Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” — not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” 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.
Reflection
We hear today about the magnificence of the Transfiguration. The heavenly transformation where Jesus’ true divine form is revealed to Peter, James and John.
Like many aspects of the bible, this is a hard thing for us to comprehend and truly grasp. We can but begin to imagine how awesome the experience must have been for the three disciples. In addition to the sheer wonderment about what was happening, I have no doubt that this would have also been a terrifying experience for them.
I suspect, that with the wonders of modern cinematography and computer generated imaging, film directors could make a fairly convincing interpretation of this scene, but I’m fairly sure that even with movie technology nothing could come anywhere near the wonder of the reality of what happened on that mountain. What would your reaction be if you were looking at a friend and they suddenly started glowing incandescently, including their clothes? Next we are told about the appearance of Moses who received the 10 commandments from God and also the great prophet Elijah. The also appeared, “in all their Glory” and were chatting with Jesus about the terrible events that were soon to happen in Jerusalem. We are not sure how they knew it was Moses and Elijah, as they had died 1400 years and 800 years beforehand, but I think we can take it as a given that as a result of the encounter they were in no doubt.
As a result of the encounter, they could witness the truth of Jesus, fully human and also fully divine. They could later testify to the ‘Glory of God’ manifest as Jesus, the Messiah. Through the appearance of Moses and Elijah, they could believe in the hope of eternal life after our mortal death. Finally, to eliminate any doubt, God himself makes an appearance and confirms the divinity of Christ, His Son.
Like, Peter, John and James, we too are called to witness the Glory of God. Perhaps not on such a grand scale but through the wonders of creation, the many examples of good in the world and the message of the Gospel. We just need to wipe the sleep from our eyes, focus on what is positive rather than bad in the world, and show love to one another. Paul
