#Transfiguration #Sunday thoughts (this is not fully fleshed out yet):

Read all the passages for this week.
https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Epiphany/AEpiLast_RCL.html

The Exodus and the two New Testament readings are all connected.

I am struck by the specific way 2 Peter affirms the Prophets in the context of the Transfiguration. The Prophets' message was "like a lamp shining in a dark place." But that message was also "until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts." (NLT rendering)

On the one hand, the Prophets are affirmed. On the other hand, there's quite a gap between "a lamp shining in a dark place" and the dawning of a new day. A lamp in the dark is necessary - and think a small flame, not a brilliant LED. The Prophets had a message inspired by God, but they did not know God as Jesus knows his Father. In Jesus the day is dawning. The light of the new day is continuous with a lamp in a dark place, but it is infinitely greater than that lamp. Both illuminate, but one allows one to safely navigate a room; the other transforms the entire waking world.

“For many, Lent is a time to recognize our sin, to recognize that we do evil and deal corruptly. But there is another message of Lent. It is the message of Isaiah, the message of Jesus. ‘[Though our] sins be like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.’ God's nature is always to have mercy.”

#Mercy #Forgiveness #Lent #Transfiguration #Jesus #Episcopal #Monastics #SSJE

https://www.ssje.org/2022/03/15/bathed-in-glory-br-james-koester/

Hear YDS Profs. Joel Baden and John Collins as they discuss the call of Abraham in this week’s Lectionary on Genesis 12:1-4a at https://yalebiblestudy.org/courses/genesis/lessons/the-call-of-abraham-video/

#YBS #YDSCCE #YDS #BibleStudy #BibleStudies #Lectionary #Church #Sermon #SermonPrep #Genesis #YaleDivinitySchool