1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:05,700 Grace mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord 2 00:00:05,700 --> 00:00:06,900 Jesus Christ. Amen. 3 00:00:09,100 --> 00:00:13,400 There seems to be a little bit of a disagreement between Saint Mark 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:14,700 the Evangelist 5 00:00:15,500 --> 00:00:17,100 and the lectionary committee. 6 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:23,800 The Old Testament reading that's assigned for today shows us Moses face 7 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,700 shining as he comes back from meeting with God on the mountain. 8 00:00:29,900 --> 00:00:35,300 And that is presumably paired with the Transfiguration so that 9 00:00:35,300 --> 00:00:39,000 when we see when we see Jesus face shining as he is on the Mountain of 10 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:43,200 God that we will understand that he's the fulfillment of Moses. 11 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:49,500 The only problem is Mark doesn't actually mention Jesus face. 12 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:55,600 And what's more Mark doesn't seem particularly interested in Moses at 13 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:55,900 all. 14 00:00:57,500 --> 00:01:01,900 And there appeared to them Elijah, Mark says 15 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:04,300 along with Moses. 16 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:10,400 So what do we make of that? 17 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:16,800 Well, the combination of all of the details in the Transfiguration 18 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:20,200 account in Mark the one that he really kind of rivets 19 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:22,700 your attention on is Jesus clothes. 20 00:01:23,500 --> 00:01:28,600 He says that his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on 21 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:29,600 earth could bleach them. 22 00:01:31,100 --> 00:01:35,200 And it's this combination of Elijah plus the radiant white clothing 23 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:39,100 that I believe calls to mind after the prophecy of Malachi. 24 00:01:40,300 --> 00:01:45,200 Where God says see I am sending my Messenger to prepare the way before 25 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:48,800 me and the Lord you seek will suddenly come to his Temple. 26 00:01:50,500 --> 00:01:54,000 But who can endure the day of his coming and who can stand when he 27 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,300 appears. For he is like a refiner's fire 28 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:00,900 and like fuller's soap. 29 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:07,200 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver and he will purify the 30 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:08,000 descendants of Levi. 31 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:12,200 So Mark wants you to think of Jesus not so much as the new Moses. 32 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:14,900 But he's not the lawgiver. 33 00:02:14,900 --> 00:02:15,900 He's the purifier. 34 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:22,300 Now John the Baptist was the Elijah who had come to prepare the way of 35 00:02:22,300 --> 00:02:26,800 the Lord and now the Lord is here to purify his people. 36 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:35,300 But if you look at the purity that Mark shows us in the 37 00:02:35,300 --> 00:02:38,500 Transfiguration, it is far more intense than the one envisioned by 38 00:02:38,500 --> 00:02:43,600 Malachi because Malachi thinks that he is able to come up with an apt 39 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:44,600 analogy. 40 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,200 The Lord is like a refiner's fire. 41 00:02:49,900 --> 00:02:52,900 The Lord is like fuller's soap, 42 00:02:52,900 --> 00:02:55,300 the guy that cleans your laundry. 43 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:03,000 But Mark seems a lot more uneasy about his ability to capture what's 44 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:04,000 going on in the Transfiguration. 45 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:08,500 His robes are white they are gleaming they are exceedingly wipe their beyond 46 00:03:08,500 --> 00:03:12,300 anything that we experienced on Earth are they're beyond white. 47 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:16,200 Analogies fail. 48 00:03:21,900 --> 00:03:24,500 I think that probably is a hint 49 00:03:25,700 --> 00:03:30,900 that Jesus is not merely pure as you might expect as he's wearing 50 00:03:30,900 --> 00:03:32,100 white, that sort of thing. 51 00:03:32,100 --> 00:03:38,700 But that he is the source of purity and I say that just because 52 00:03:38,700 --> 00:03:41,300 working with early church fathers 53 00:03:41,300 --> 00:03:45,900 I've noticed a pattern when they talk about the Transcendence of 54 00:03:45,900 --> 00:03:46,600 Christ, 55 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:47,600 the full Divinity of Christ. 56 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:52,100 One of the reasons that so important is that in order for him to give 57 00:03:52,100 --> 00:03:53,500 blessings to the world 58 00:03:53,500 --> 00:03:55,300 he has to stand apart from creation. 59 00:03:57,100 --> 00:04:01,200 So to give you an example, human beings are alive 60 00:04:02,700 --> 00:04:04,700 we receive life from Christ. 61 00:04:04,700 --> 00:04:07,000 So he is not just another person who's alive. 62 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,300 He doesn't have life as a gift from the outside. 63 00:04:10,300 --> 00:04:11,700 He is life. 64 00:04:11,700 --> 00:04:15,700 This is Cyril of Alexandria if you were wondering. He is life 65 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:23,100 and so he that enables him to be the source of life for the rest of 66 00:04:23,100 --> 00:04:23,300 creation. 67 00:04:23,300 --> 00:04:28,100 So if we look at Mark's comment about Jesus clothing with his same 68 00:04:28,100 --> 00:04:34,500 kind of mindset, it's sort of produces the suggestion that Jesus is 69 00:04:34,500 --> 00:04:35,200 purity. 70 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,500 He is the source of all purity. 71 00:04:38,500 --> 00:04:44,100 He is a kind of purity that that is beyond anything that we experience 72 00:04:44,100 --> 00:04:44,500 on Earth. 73 00:04:47,100 --> 00:04:54,000 That is the hidden reality that Mark wants to disclose to us in his 74 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:55,600 account of the Transfiguration. 75 00:04:55,600 --> 00:05:00,300 And I think that if you look at the history of Jesus clothing in the 76 00:05:00,300 --> 00:05:02,400 gospel of Mark, you'll find this to be the case. 77 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:07,800 Now when I talk about his clothing, I should just clarify. 78 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,200 I'm referring to his outer garments. 79 00:05:11,500 --> 00:05:15,900 You may recall that Jesus has a tunic that's woven in one piece from 80 00:05:15,900 --> 00:05:16,400 top to bottom. 81 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:18,300 That's not and do that's an undergarment. 82 00:05:18,300 --> 00:05:22,300 I mean in Mark we're talkin about the outer garments of people can 83 00:05:22,300 --> 00:05:22,500 touch. 84 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:30,200 Because the first time that Mark draws attention to Jesus clothing 85 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:37,000 is when we have a woman who has continual hemorrhaging she just can't 86 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:37,700 stop bleeding. 87 00:05:39,300 --> 00:05:42,500 Which of course is a medical condition, but it's also going to render 88 00:05:42,500 --> 00:05:43,400 her unclean. 89 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:49,100 And so what does she do? She reaches out and touches Jesus clothing. 90 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:54,700 And there is power that comes from that clothing into her body and it 91 00:05:54,700 --> 00:05:56,800 heals her and it purifies her from her uncleanness. 92 00:05:59,500 --> 00:06:04,600 And as you might expect in the next chapter a lot of sick people get 93 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:08,700 the same idea then they try to touch even if just the Hem of Jesus 94 00:06:08,700 --> 00:06:10,900 garment so that they can be healed as well. 95 00:06:10,900 --> 00:06:15,400 So by the time we get to the Transfiguration account, we already know 96 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:21,900 that Jesus clothes can heal people and his clothes can purify people 97 00:06:21,900 --> 00:06:23,000 from uncleanness. 98 00:06:25,500 --> 00:06:28,700 So in that sense, maybe it's not such a surprise that their gleaming 99 00:06:28,700 --> 00:06:30,600 white with his kind of heavenly purity. 100 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:37,600 No wonder they can purify they've tapped into this source of purity. 101 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:45,500 And with that recognition Mark sets us up for the final act 102 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:50,200 in this little mini drama about what happened to Jesus clothing. 103 00:06:52,100 --> 00:06:55,500 And that happens with the Roman guards. 104 00:06:57,500 --> 00:07:01,500 The guards take his clothing from him and they put a purple robe on 105 00:07:01,500 --> 00:07:03,100 him instead of this one 106 00:07:03,100 --> 00:07:06,600 that was gleaming white before. And they mock him and then when they're 107 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:09,100 done with that they put his old clothes on him and they lead him out 108 00:07:09,100 --> 00:07:13,800 to be crucified and finally they seize his clothes and they cast lots 109 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:17,000 to decide who gets what and they take his clothes home with them. 110 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:23,500 Now what kind of ending is that? 111 00:07:27,100 --> 00:07:30,300 It does that and I think a question it really confronts us with this 112 00:07:30,300 --> 00:07:35,700 doesn't actually force us to re-evaluate what we thought we knew about 113 00:07:35,700 --> 00:07:39,800 Jesus clothing earlier in the gospel. His clothing could heal people, 114 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:40,800 could purify people. 115 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:45,500 Well, it doesn't look so pure now. It's ripped in pieces and stuffed in a 116 00:07:45,500 --> 00:07:48,100 stale nap sack of some Roman guard. 117 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:54,500 Well as interesting as that question maybe. 118 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:00,300 The story is not really about Jesus clothing. 119 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:04,700 Does God care about clothing? 120 00:08:08,100 --> 00:08:11,400 The reason I'm telling you this little mini drama of Jesus clothing is 121 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:14,600 because it actually confronts us with a very same question that the 122 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:16,800 cross itself does and that is this. 123 00:08:18,300 --> 00:08:23,600 Does the cross mean that Jesus failed? 124 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,900 Does it force us to re-evaluate everything we thought we knew about 125 00:08:30,900 --> 00:08:33,799 Jesus from the gospels that he's a Son of God that he's the Messiah 126 00:08:33,799 --> 00:08:35,600 that he came to redeem Israel. 127 00:08:38,700 --> 00:08:42,400 Well now I know as pius Lutherans to understand that that's not the 128 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:43,200 meaning of the cross. 129 00:08:44,700 --> 00:08:48,200 But that was not obvious to the first Christians. 130 00:08:49,900 --> 00:08:52,000 We think about the two men on the road to Emmaus. 131 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:53,800 Why were they going to Emmaus? 132 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:55,100 Well they were going home. 133 00:08:56,500 --> 00:08:57,900 Why were they going home? 134 00:08:59,900 --> 00:09:02,100 Well, we have thought we had hoped 135 00:09:03,700 --> 00:09:05,500 that he was the one to redeem Israel. 136 00:09:09,300 --> 00:09:10,300 I guess we were wrong. 137 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:16,600 It's a pressing question for the first question Christians and there's 138 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:19,900 a similar question for the next few generations of Christians who are 139 00:09:19,900 --> 00:09:21,400 undergoing persecution. 140 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:25,600 Does my suffering mean that Jesus failed? 141 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:28,600 Or at least that he failed me. 142 00:09:32,100 --> 00:09:36,500 And this is what Mark is trying to address by giving us a glimpse of 143 00:09:36,500 --> 00:09:42,800 the hidden reality and helping us to see underneath the appearances and 144 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:44,600 the experiences that we have. 145 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:49,700 Jesus clothes are pure even if their stuffed there a Roman knapsack. The 146 00:09:49,700 --> 00:09:53,800 cross is the purifying event, even though it looks like the event that 147 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:55,800 finally put an end to the Jesus movement. 148 00:09:58,500 --> 00:10:00,800 By disclosing this hidden reality 149 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:06,100 Mark is giving us hope and he's doing so in a really bold kind of way 150 00:10:06,100 --> 00:10:12,200 and I just want to stop and reflect a little bit about how unusual 151 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:13,800 this is for us. 152 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:20,300 I think this is actually not how we normally describe the saving 153 00:10:20,300 --> 00:10:21,300 work of Christ. 154 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:25,800 Mark is not saying 155 00:10:27,500 --> 00:10:31,200 that you should take courage because you know how the story ends that Jesus 156 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:32,100 wins in the end. 157 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:36,800 Mark is not saying 158 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:43,000 that Jesus brings with him proleptic in breaking of eschatological 159 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:43,800 blessings. 160 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:48,800 Mark is not even saying. 161 00:10:51,100 --> 00:10:52,600 He's not even saying 162 00:10:54,300 --> 00:10:57,800 that Jesus resurrection is the answer to all this because that 163 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,600 vindicates Jesus and gives us victory over sin death and the devil. 164 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:08,100 What he's saying is that you don't have to wait for the resurrection. 165 00:11:08,100 --> 00:11:09,200 You have the fullness 166 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:12,100 of God's reign right here, right now. 167 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:14,900 But it's hidden. 168 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:22,000 Now I don't mean to criticize these other ways of describing the works 169 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:22,400 of Christ. 170 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:25,400 Those are perfectly biblical and their perfectly, correct 171 00:11:26,700 --> 00:11:30,100 but it just doesn't happen to be what Mark is doing with the 172 00:11:30,100 --> 00:11:34,700 Transfiguration. And I think it helps to remember that Mark is writing 173 00:11:34,700 --> 00:11:37,100 to people who are undergoing persecution. 174 00:11:37,100 --> 00:11:42,400 These are people who may well wonder whether God has abandoned them 175 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:45,600 or failed them. 176 00:11:47,300 --> 00:11:50,400 And I think that helps to explain the grimness of Mark's gospel. 177 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:54,700 I mean in Mark the disciples never seem to get who Jesus is you 178 00:11:54,700 --> 00:11:59,000 don't even have a resurrection appearance at the end 179 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:03,200 if you at least you have the women who were afraid and they don't tell 180 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:04,000 anyone anything. 181 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,900 I mean, it's it's this isn't John 182 00:12:06,900 --> 00:12:08,000 I mean, this is kind of grim. 183 00:12:09,300 --> 00:12:10,800 Well, it makes sense 184 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:14,400 if he's trying to acknowledge the reality of the suffering that his 185 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:15,300 readers are undergoing. 186 00:12:15,300 --> 00:12:18,600 He's showing them but look this isn't all that different than what 187 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:20,300 Jesus disciples underwent. 188 00:12:20,300 --> 00:12:22,400 But what I want to do is I want to give you 189 00:12:23,500 --> 00:12:28,100 hope by showing you that there's an hidden reality underneath all 190 00:12:28,100 --> 00:12:28,200 this. 191 00:12:29,700 --> 00:12:36,400 It's as if he were saying I grant you that the powers of evil seem to 192 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:41,600 have the upper hand that the Roman Empire is persecuting the church 193 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:47,300 and the world is heaping disgrace upon you but I want you to know 194 00:12:47,300 --> 00:12:49,300 that there's a hidden reality beneath all that. 195 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:54,900 And I want you to have the courage to believe that you are honorable. 196 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:58,700 Even as the world heaps disgrace upon you. 197 00:13:00,700 --> 00:13:04,800 And to have the courage to believe that you are God's children, even 198 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:06,300 if it seems like he's abandoned you. 199 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:14,200 Or it's as if Mark were saying I grant you that you sit in shame 200 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:15,700 because of your sin. 201 00:13:17,500 --> 00:13:21,200 But I want you to know that there is a hidden reality beneath your 202 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:27,000 shame so that you can have the courage to believe that you are pure. 203 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:33,200 Because you have been purified by the one who's beyond all purity. 204 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,800 Or it's as if he were saying I grant you. 205 00:13:39,900 --> 00:13:44,600 That the world is in the grip of disease and dissension. 206 00:13:47,700 --> 00:13:51,100 But I want you to know that there's a hidden reality beneath all that 207 00:13:51,100 --> 00:13:56,300 so that you can have the courage to believe that God's peace and God's 208 00:13:56,300 --> 00:14:00,400 purity and God's wholeness are still what is holding this world 209 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:01,900 together even now. 210 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:07,100 Appearances can be deceiving 211 00:14:09,300 --> 00:14:11,600 but it's the reality that counts. 212 00:14:13,500 --> 00:14:17,800 May the Lord give us eyes to see. Amen.