Moses is a very special character in the Bible. His unique birth story came during a period when all Hebrew boys were to be killed. As a young adult, he went into a fit of rage, killing an Egyptian, and causing him to flee from his comfortable life in the palace family. He encountered God for the first time in a burning bush, and from then on had a unique, personal relationship with the LORD, unlike anyone who would follow him. Moses is the arch-typical prophet, and it was thought that each generation would have a Moses-type character to lead it.
In many ways, the story of Jesus sets out to lift him up as a prophet in the line of Moses. His also a unique birth narrative, complete with the slaughter of innocents. He and his family had their own Exodus experience from Egypt. Jesus has a special, personal relationship with God the Father, and is the bringer of a new sort of Law. Even the Transfiguration of Jesus seems to be following in the pattern of Moses.
In Sunday’s Old Testament lesson, we hear the story of Moses bringing the Ten Commandments down from his encounter with God on Mount Sinai. Moses saw the holiness of God, and was not destroyed by it, but he was most certainly changed. The author of Exodus tells us that as Moses came down the mountain, his face shone bright, but he didn’t know it. The translation is a bit murky as to what really happened to Moses face. The Hebrew word translated as “shone” seems to be something even more vibrant than that. The same word for “to grow horns,” it seems that Moses’ face was transfigured such that beams of light were bursting forth from it. Like headlights on a dirty wind shied, the light was refracted with resplendent glory.
I’m not sure why it looks like a profile shadow of Jesus’ crucifixion is on his robe.
If this is anything like how Moses’ face looked, it is no wonder that the people were afraid to come near him. If this is the same sort of Transfiguration that Jesus underwent, the babbling nonsense of Peter seems perfectly normal. The Transfiguration experience of these two are not the norm, but they aren’t the only people to be changed by an encounter with the living God. Every disciple of Jesus will have moments of transfiguration in their lives. Some might be cataclysmic moments of healing or restoration, but more often than not, these are moments of what seem like subtle changes, but are really mountains being moved. By the grace of God, through Jesus Christ, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we are constantly being transfigured more and more into the image of God. We are being made more and more loving, more and more compassionate, and more and more kingdom oriented. We are, as the collect says, being changed from glory to glory, until one day, we will find the light of Christ radiating forth like Moses coming down the Mountain.
Draughting Theology 