BIBLE STUDY #123


SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

February 24, 2013



READING 1

GENESIS 15:5-12, 17-18



The Lord God took Abram outside and said,

“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.

Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”

Abram put his faith in the LORD,

who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.



He then said to him,

“I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans

to give you this land as a possession.”

“O Lord GOD,” he asked,

“how am I to know that I shall possess it?”

He answered him,

“Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat,

a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

Abram brought him all these, split them in two,

and placed each half opposite the other;

but the birds he did not cut up.

Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses,

but Abram stayed with them.

As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram,

and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.



When the sun had set and it was dark,

there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,

which passed between those pieces.

It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram,

saying: “To your descendants I give this land,

from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River, the Euphrates.”



The Word of the Lord



READING 2

PHILIPPIANS 3:17—4:1



Join with others in being imitators of me, brothers and sisters,

and observe those who thus conduct themselves

according to the model you have in us.

For many, as I have often told you

and now tell you even in tears,

conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ.

Their end is destruction.

Their God is their stomach;

their glory is in their “shame.”

Their minds are occupied with earthly things.

But our citizenship is in heaven,

and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

He will change our lowly body

to conform with his glorified body

by the power that enables him also

to bring all things into subjection to himself.



Therefore, my brothers and sisters,

whom I love and long for, my joy and crown,

in this way stand firm in the Lord.



The Word of the Lord



GOSPEL

LUKE 9:28B-36



Jesus took Peter, John, and James

and went up the mountain to pray.

While he was praying his face changed in appearance

and his clothing became dazzling white.

And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,

who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus

that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.

Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep,

but becoming fully awake,

they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.

As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus,

“Master, it is good that we are here;

let us make three tents,

one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

But he did not know what he was saying.

While he was still speaking,

a cloud came and cast a shadow over them,

and they became frightened when they entered the cloud.

Then from the cloud came a voice that said,

“This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”

After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.

They fell silent and did not at that time

tell anyone what they had seen.



The Gospel of the Lord



Reflection



We read this Gospel on the second Sunday of Lent in cycle C because there is an ancient tradition that says that this event took place 40 days before Good Friday. This passage comes shortly after the first prediction of Jesus passion, death, and resurrection and provides heavenly confirmation to Jesus’ declaration that his suffering will end in glory.



Jesus takes his 3 favorite disciples, Peter, James, and John, up to the mountain to pray. Jesus prays before every significant event in his life in Luke’s Gospel.



While on the mountain, Jesus is transfigured to share in God’s glory. This is the glory he will have after his death, resurrection, and ascension. Dazzlingly white clothes are symbols of joy and celebration.



Moses and Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets, are present when Jesus is transfigured into the glory he will have after the resurrection, and are in fact sharing in resurrection glory. I often refer this passage when someone tries to limit eligibility for eternal life to a select group of people (usually only people like themselves). Jesus is God’s final and definitive revelation of God’s will and desire for us. Jesus “transfigures” the Law and the Prophets to make them complete. This is why we emphasize the Old Testament (or Hebrew Scriptures) because we need to understand the Old Testament before we can understand the New Testament. I had a scripture professor in seminary that went to graduate school to become a New Testament Scholar, but spent the first year and a half studying the Old Testament before they even ventured into the New Testament.

Jesus is speaking with Moses and Elijah about ‘the exodus’ he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. What does this mean?



In the Book of Exodus, God uses Moses to lead His people from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. Moses was able to finally convince Pharaoh to release the Israelites from bondage through the use of 10 plagues. The final plague was the death of the first born in all of Egypt. The Israelites first born were spared because they used the blood of a slaughtered lamb to put on their doorpost, so the angel of death ‘passed over” their households, which became the feast of Passover. So, it was the blood an innocent lamb spread on the wood of the door that led the people from the slavery of sin to the freedom of the Promised Land.



Jesus is called the ‘Lamb of God” because it was his blood shed on the wood of the Cross that freed us from the slavery of sin and death to the freedom of new and eternal life. That was Jesus’ exodus. Moses frees the people for a worldly Promised Land. Jesus frees his people to live in the Kingdom now, and to live in eternal life in the future, which is our “Promised Land”.



Peter wants to erect three tents; they want to stay and capture the experience. They are setting up camp because they never want to leave. They don’t yet understand that glory is not the way of faith: obedience and suffering are. Hey don’t follow Jesus by staying on the mountain, but by going down the mountain and sharing faith over all the land.



Erecting 3 tents means that Peter is setting up Jesus as an equal to Moses and Elijah. The Father corrects that: Jesus is His Son, and we are to listen to Him.



This story tells us that Jesus is a prophet, that he will suffer and die, and that he will return in glory.



They keep silent about this event because they don’t understand its full meaning until after Pentecost.



I imagine that this powerful scene must have stuck in the memories of the three apostles, a memory that would have been there for them in difficult times, to strengthen and encourage them as they are spreading the Good News. They know the end result: if they are committed, hold the course, they will suffer, but eventually will share in Jesus’ glory. These ‘mountain top’ experiences come occasionally and are good to have, but are not necessary; faith comes through obedience to God’s Word and doing God’s will.



In the first reading from Genesis, we have the covenant God made with Abram (soon to be Abraham.). Abram put his faith in the Lord, and was considered righteous. God promises Abram land and many descendants. The cutting up of animals was a way covenants were sealed in those days.



In the second reading, Paul encourages others to imitate him, not out of arrogance, but humble simplicity, since all the converts know he is dedicated to imitating Christ. By living in the Kingdom, we have one foot in heaven, and are citizens of heaven; when we finally reach heaven, we will share in Jesus’ glory.





Fr. Phil