Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss the healing and transforming power of God in Luke 9:28-43. The text is appointed for Transfiguration Sunday, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
A Miracle of Compassion (Transfiguration Sunday)
Voiceover Voice:
Soundbites from Scripture are wonderful, but setting things in context is even more wonderful.
Helena Martin:
Welcome back to Chapter, Verse, and Season: a lectionary podcast from Yale Bible Study. I’m your host, Helena Martin.
This is a podcast where we invite you to listen to two Yale Divinity School professors, often from different disciplines, talk about what strikes them in that week’s Revised Common Lectionary.
This episode, we have Research Associate and Lecturer, Felicity Harley-McGowan, and Bruce Gordon, Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History. They’re discussing Luke 9:28-43, which is appointed for Transfiguration Sunday, February 27. The text is read for you by student Eric Holland.
Eric Holland:
Luke 9:28-43.
Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. Just then a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astounded at the greatness of God.
Felicity Harley-McGowan:
Well, I have to confess: this is one of my favorite passages.
But not necessarily a favorite arising from the text itself, but from this very famous painting by Rafael, who finished this large, what was intended to be an altar piece—almost finished it the year he died—which has two sections. In the upper section: this representation of the Transfiguration. But in the lower section: quite a detailed representation of this healing of the young boy, which very beautifully joins the two scenes to show this healing power of the transfigured Christ, of the body of the epileptic boy. But also these very powerless, gesticulating apostles, who Raphael shows beside them, who can’t do anything to heal him.
And that it’s Christ who is demonstrating— He’s the one in whom the power of God is at work. And so, God’s majesty is manifest through him. This is the source of the power that will heal the child.
So, I have a very difficult time reading the passage without seeing this imagery, which is one of those beautiful cases, for me at least, where the text has so inspired another individual to bring to life dimensions, both of the power of God and representing that visually for us in quite transformative ways. But also, reinserting into our lives individuals who suffer or who are experiencing real situations and challenges in the New Testament and bringing them to life so that this child has an identity that they might otherwise not.
Bruce Gordon:
What an extraordinary image that really, as you were talking about it, I found my whole sense of the story being—although I’m not that familiar with it in my whole sense of the story—being put into a large canvas because it’s in a very large story.
But one of the things that strikes me about it is that, if you go from the opening of this passage through to the end, the healing, which is full of demons, and unclean spirits, and dramatic casting out, and healing, and admonitions about, you know, “you faithless people,” and as you say, the apostles standing there, not being able to anything, and Jesus stepping in, and the transfigured Christ. Healing is really the first act after this extraordinary moment. His first thing that he does is to heal.
But if we go right back to the beginning, it starts very quietly. It’s Jesus praying. Jesus is praying, and clearly Peter and John and the others are sleeping. So it has that image of the Passion story of sleeping in the garden when Jesus prays. “Can you not stay awake with me?” So, here’s another situation where they’re sleeping, and Jesus is praying, and we have no idea what’s going to happen next.
And suddenly he is transformed. And Moses and Elijah appear. But it’s an incredibly effective drama because then it shifts from the sleeping apostles, and Peter wakes up. And at first he’s, drowsy and doesn’t know what’s happening. And then suddenly he sees this, and he’s wide awake, but he still doesn’t know what’s happening.
But we start to get the story through his eyes. It just seems to me that, so often in the New Testament, Peter is the person with whom we have this affinity. You know, he is the very flawed character yet at the end very faithful one. But he’s a person of human weakness, and this story shows his human weakness. He doesn’t know what’s happening, and then he completely misinterprets what’s happening.
And then he has this idea, which even the Bible makes clear is a very bad idea, that he should build three dwellings or tabernacles—as different interpretations, what they are I’m not absolutely certain—but that idea gets dismissed very quickly. But the Bible makes it clear he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. But there’s something very fallible about Peter, which I think could resonate with the reader. Would we have known what to make of this?
Felicity Harley-McGowan:
Exactly. You’re absolutely right. He provides an entry point for us to experience some of this complete stupefaction. How would we interpret or experience this moment?
And it would be too easy to read— because we’re accustomed to reading about, you know, the greatness of God, and the signs of glory, signs of wonder, and so forth. And this is a beautiful—even if Peter has to carry the bag of being the flawed one—this is a beautiful opportunity for us as the reader or listener to stop and just let that moment sink in and think, “This is incredible.” How would we have responded?
Bruce Gordon:
And the drama sort of reaches a crescendo. And it made me think of medieval mystery plays, or passion plays, that were performed in towns so the local people could see them. They were very popular. They were open to everyone because they would be in the town square, and they would tell biblical stories.
And God was rarely represented, but would be—God, the Father that is, is rarely represented—but would be a voice, a sort of disembodied voice. And here, we have the drama of suddenly a voice comes, which is the kind of interpretive moment. Just as Jesus is in the Jordan being baptized, and the heavens open up, the descent of the dove and the voice is heard. We hear the same words: “This is my son.”
And, you know, it’s one of those few moments where you feel like you’re really being told who Jesus is at this, at this moment. And “in whom I am well-pleased” and various famous formulations of that phrase. But it’s one that suddenly makes clear to us what this is: Jesus is the Son of God.
Felicity Harley-McGowan:
Yes. And I think this is why I love the two-parter, if you like. Having this miracle is a fundamental component of this.
This is another one of those cases where, you know, soundbites from Scripture are wonderful, but setting things in context is even more wonderful. In that we have this miracle that takes place, which is really—unlike some of the miracles which hinge on faith—this is a miracle of compassion. So it’s immediately setting this power, this greatness of God has a very tangible and real and immediate and human face.
And I think that is one of the things that I find extraordinary: this transition, if you like, as you pointed out, from this very quiet beginning, this extraordinary light show, if you like, and then then this immediate transition into a kind of practical dimension or a very human dimension. That’s “human,” not just in terms of an individual who receives healing from Christ, but this miracle of compassion that shows, both on the one hand, the power of God at work through him, but on the other hand, a human compassion that we can connect with.
Bruce Gordon:
You can really, as you say, connect with this begging to heal— Any one of us who is a parent, a sibling, a child knows what it’s like to be desperate for help.
Felicity Harley-McGowan:
And this is an only child, I think.
Bruce Gordon:
Yes. Yes. And that, just the range of emotions that you’re taken through.
And one of the things that this reminds me, that the point that you made there, is that whenever we read passage from the Bible, we should always be thinking, “What comes before, and what comes after? Where is this in the story?” It doesn’t exist very much anymore, but in the Reform tradition at the beginning with Zwingli and Calvin, the tradition was that you began at the beginning of a book, and you preached the whole way through—genealogies and all. You just simply went, and you continued until you finished.
Now, I could see various problems with that. And obviously, it took months usually to do. But on the other hand, what a wonderful way of kind of living through the whole of the text. And I think, as you were saying here, if we just stopped at the end of the transfiguration, we would have no idea that the first act of the transfigured Christ is to heal. When, you know, a parent is begging, and the disciples can’t do anything. But his first act is a healing one.
Helena Martin:
Thanks for listening! For a transcript of this week’s episode, and the catalogue of our past episodes, check out YaleBibleStudy.org. And remember to follow us on Twitter @BibleYale.
Chapter, Verse, and Season is produced by Joel Baden, Kelly Morrissey, and me, Helena Martin. Production help by Crichelle Brice, and our theme music is by Calvin Linderman. Thanks to the Center for Continuing Education at Yale Divinity School. And thank you to Professors Harley-McGowan and Gordon for their insights this week.
We’ll be back with another conversation from Chapter, Verse, and Season.
Book of the Bible:
Luke
Subjects:
Luke
Guests
Text
New Revised Standard Version Bible
Copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Credits
Host and Executive Producer: Helena Martin
Production Manager: Kelly Morrissey
Creator and Managing Editor: Joel Baden
Assistant Producer: Aidan Stoddart
Music: Calvin Linderman
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Chapter, Verse, and Season gives listeners the opportunity to overhear the kinds of conversations that take place in the halls of Yale Divinity School. Each week, professors from different theological disciplines chat about biblical texts from the Revised Common Lectionary. They bring their own interests to the table and hopefully spark new insights into the scripture appointed for each Sunday.