MATTHEW 17:1-9

Kimberly Beyer-Nelson

Matthew 17:1-9 (New International Version)

The Transfiguration

1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

4 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.”

5 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!”

6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

9 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.”

He leaned close to the microphone,
A blazing god of the stage,
All around him chanting his name:
We captured him in full digital splendor.

She walked up with applause,
Taking the Oscar in her hands
And we built her shrine for her on
Websites and HDTV.

He spoke with authority
Writing the high philosophy
And so we named a building after him
And bound his words in books.

Get Up.
Don’t be afraid.
Don’t cringe before the mystery,
Setting it outside yourself and
Putting it to words and form and stone.
You, too, are called upon to shine,
To converse with prophets on mountain tops,
Oh,
But then,
Come back to the marketplace,
Embrace the fearful with fingers of light,
And point the way back up the path with a whisper:
Complete the circle that He started.