Matthew 17:1-9:
Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Blog:
All too often we play the part of Martha and not that of Mary. Remember them? They were Friends of Jesus and Sisters to Lazarus – who Jesus raised from the dead. Martha was being a “good Martha Stewart” and hosting Jesus and Friends for dinner, but she was so consumed with serving everyone that she missed a “once in a lifetime”, intimate dinner with Jesus. Per Luke 10:38-42 (NIV), “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Sometimes, the dishes can wait until the morning. Just like Martha, Peter goes into “hurry-mode” at the Transfiguration and, instead of marinating in the Miracle, he starts interrupting the Moment to talk about making tents. While making tents (just like making dinner) is not a bad thing, at the moment, it wasn’t the most important thing. As Carl Jung wrote, “Hurry is not of the devil; hurry is the devil.” That brings us to “us”. Last night, I watched my Daughter at volleyball practice from the bleachers. Of the eleven Parents in the stands, there were only two of us watching while the rest had their focus on the digital world (through an assortment of phones, tablets, and laptops). While they all might have had something really important to attend to right then and there, it would be unrealistic to think so. We are here for but a short time and we need to do our best through God’s Grace and Mercy not to “miss it”. Like Martha, Peter, and countless others in the Bible, we need to re-focus more on Jesus and others and less on ourselves and the world. My basketball coach used to coach us to “dribble the ball with our heads-up” to see where we were going. That’s good advice in most aspects of life – and, advice that Jesus continues to give us today, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)
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