Dazzling White

We have a curious collection of readings this Sunday. One is an elaborate story about how Elijah is taken up in a whirlwind. Another is Mark’s version of the Transfiguration of Jesus. In the middle is a short section from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, which begins, “Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.” After reading those other two passages, I started wondering if I was perishing. They certainly seemed veiled to me! So I decided to look at them more closely.

Elijah and Elisha and the whirlwind is a fine example of Jewish story-telling. We’re told right at the beginning what this story will be about, which keeps our focus through all of its twists and turns. It’s almost amusing the way Elisha follows Elijah from place to place like a young puppy. Several times, groups of prophets come out to meet them, reinforcing the plot line: this is the day that Elijah will depart. Each time Elisha tells the prophets to hush up. Then the two travel somewhere else to repeat the whole process. Finally Elijah realizes that this isn’t working. So he offers to grant a final wish to Elisha, who asks for something that only God can give – a double share of Elijah’s spirit. As they go on talking, a chariot of fire with horses of fire sweeps in and carries Elijah off in a whirlwind.

It’s a marvelous story, especially when the lector can keep Elijah and Elisha straight. Its whole effect is to heighten Elijah’s importance. He was so beloved of God that he did not die, but was bodily taken up into heaven. In later writings, Elijah came to symbolize prophecy like Moses symbolized the Jewish Law or Torah. So it is no wonder that he appeared with Jesus on the mountain of the Transfiguration.

The Transfiguration story seems to be less of a tale and more of an attempt to describe an actual event that was beyond human experience. It, too, is introduced with an expectation of something extraordinary. Six days earlier Jesus had told the crowd, “There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God has come with power.” The writer, Mark, appears to intend the Transfiguration as a foretaste of that power. For Peter, James, and John, the experience was overwhelming. They were terrified. Peter babbled on about building shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, as though they needed some protection from the elements. Instead, they were enveloped in a cloud and heard a voice thunder through: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him!” Then it was all over, and they were alone with Jesus.

From this distance of time we have no way of knowing exactly what happened on that mountain. All we know is that there was something beyond human comprehension, barely describable by words. If it was a demonstration of the power of the kingdom, it makes sense that it could not be encompassed by human thought.

Was it truly veiled, though? Yes, in the way Paul described in his first letter to the Corinthians: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I am fully known.” But this is a different kind of veiling from what Paul described in his second Corinthian letter, which we will hear Sunday. In that letter he wrote about those whose eyes were fixed on the idols of this world, such as money or sex or power. They were so blinded that they could not see the light of Christ. Paul called everyone to look clearly toward Christ, toward understanding. He knew from his own experience that one can get so caught up in what he thinks is true to completely miss the Truth.

“We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord,” Paul wrote. That’s the key. If we proclaim Christ, not ourselves or the gods of this world, then we are not perishing. Then God will shine in our hearts with the light of knowledge of the glory of Jesus Christ. May we always walk toward that light and listen to that voice from the cloud, so that we, too, may dwell with Jesus.

[Last Epiphany: 2 Kings 2:1-12; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9.]