“Do Not Be Afraid”
A little boy who held a sign that read “I MATTER” stood among a throng of protestors who were streaming down the highway, chanting “No Justice! No Peace!” This scene has played again and again in my mind over these past weeks. Scenes of endless streams of people have consumed my thoughts. People suffering from the coronavirus stream into hospitals on stretchers. Masked people stand in lines that wrap around food distribution centers, fearful that there might not be enough food to feed their starving children. People fearing that their lives might be shortened by police brutality stream down crowded streets chanting and carrying signs that read “Black Lives Matter!” People stream to distant shores in crowded boats seeking asylum from oppressive dictators. These streams of desperate, fearful, suffering people yearning for safety, healing, and peace are all God’s beloved children. They all matter. Streams of people pray that justice will “roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”[1]
Through it all, I have been asking myself, “Where is God in all of this? Where is there hope for the lost and broken world that God so deeply loves?”
One night as I meditated on these questions, I was led to a vision of Jesus’ transfiguration.[2] In this mysterious mountaintop experience the divine pierces the veil of human experience and understanding and reveals the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan for the cosmos and for all of the suffering souls in it. The transfiguration synopsizes the whole Gospel tradition. Here we are reminded of Jesus’ baptism, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension, and his fulfillment of the Law and Prophets. Jesus’ divine nature is made apparent; his glory and majesty is encapsulated in this theophany in which we are told that Jesus is God’s Son, God’s Chosen.
I closed my eyes and imagined myself with Jesus and his disciples on top of the mountain. There, Jesus’ face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white and glittering. His countenance was transformed and displayed his divine majesty and glory. At once a bright cloud—a manifestation of the presence of God—came and overshadowed the disciples. They were terrified as they entered the same cloud in which Jehovah is said to have gone before the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness.[3] Then suddenly, the voice of God called out from the cloud, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”[4] Just as the cloud had covered God’s dwelling place, the tabernacle in Exodus[5], the cloud now covered Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, was the living tabernacle, the very presence of God with us. The disciples were assured that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, the Servant who had come to bring salvation to the nation of Israel. Sensing the mounting fear among the disciples, Jesus told them to “Get up, and do not be afraid.”
Christians today understand the meaning of the transfiguration through the lens of Jesus’ death and resurrection. We already have received the promise of new life and the assurance that, despite all of the dreadful things that are happening around us, we need not be afraid. But it was different for the disciples who had not yet witnessed these things. The disciples did not yet fully realize all that God would accomplish in Jesus. While they knew that they were to follow Jesus, they were yet not in a position to fully witness to Jesus’ salvific work. But, as Christians in the 21st century, we are.
The Gospel of Luke, which also contains the transfiguration story, offers a universal outlook for salvation and radically challenges the powers that be. It focuses on God’s justice (mishpat), which in the Hebrew scriptures is God’s intention to make everything right and in good order, to bring the cosmos into alignment with the way God created it to be. Mishpatrestores right human beings and the world into right relationship with themselves and with God. God’s justice brings humans back into to the mutual love and respect that are inherent in God’s plan for the universe. Mishpat restores shalom to the world that God so deeply loves.
The Good News of the Gospel is for all and gives us hope even as we live in this lost and suffering world. Jesus’ ministry of compassion focused on inclusion of the poor, the marginalized, sinners, women, and the Gentiles. We, as Christians, share in this ministry. Through the grace of God; the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ; and, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which ignites a true faith in our hearts, we are transformed and united with Christ. Entering into a partnership with God, we share in the divine life and mission. Our lives are transformed in such a manner that we seek to respond to others with compassion, justice, mercy, and love. It is therefore up to us to bring God’s justice (mishpat) and God’s mercy, benevolence, and righteousness (tsedakah) into this world. We must strive to obliterate poverty, illness, oppression, and violence. In this world everyone matters. We must work to restore the well-being of the whole human community in koinonia with all of creation. We must do all we can to ensure that justice will “roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream[AD1] .”
How then can we best serve as Christ’s disciples, witnesses to the Gospel message, and agents for change? We have important work to do. We are called to be the peacemakers, to aid in conflict resolution between people and groups that harbor resentments and ill-will toward one another. We are called to fight against injustice and oppression, to act to bring positive change to systems that are discriminatory and that prevent people from being all that they can be in life. We are called to love and forgive others, working in ways that raise each other up and bring about the joy that is inherent in our salvation. We are called to be servant leaders, modeling for others a life in Christ and spreading the Good News to the far reaches of the earth. We are called to go out into the world bringing the seed of hope that is promised in Isaiah to a lost and broken world that is crying out to be saved. We are called to go and be the difference in other people’s lives, to be the change in this fear-ridden world that we so desperately long to see. We are called to advocate for the kind of reforms that will bring us into alignment with God’s Kingdom, with God’s mishpat and tsedakah. As such, we are called into a new life of reconciliation with our God, whose agape love for us is totally undeserved and incomprehensible. Embedded in Jesus’ transfiguration is a promise that gives us hope that nothing at all “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”[6] and that we will be loved and saved for all eternity.
Just as Jesus’ words “Do not be afraid” must have given the disciples much comfort and solace that eventful day on the mountain, these are words that have comforted me during these days of trial and uncertainty. Fear is all-pervasive in our world and in our lives. Despite this, my hope and assurance is in “the steadfast love of God that raises the dead and brings a transformed heaven and earth filled with God’s righteousness, freedom, and peace.”[7] I yearn for the continual coming of God’s glory, for the “healing of the nations,”[8] and for God’s reign of justice and peace throughout all creation that is promised in Isaiah. I hope for the end of all suffering and death and for eternal life joined in communion with God in God’s joyful kingdom of love. And, I pray that one day all people will experience the freedom and love of God that is freely given to all of God’s children.
Jürgen Moltmann writes that “through Christ’s resurrection the powers of death – oppression, exploitation, sickness, and alienation – are already being overcome.”[9] The Kingdom of God is not in some faraway place off in the future; the Kingdom of God is right here, right now. Knowing this gives me comfort and hope that the risen Christ is with us and that we will be protected, comforted, and saved, and live with our creator God for all eternity. This is hope that is forward-looking and forward-moving, transforming our present difficult situation with an expectation of a glorious new day. Even in the midst of the darkness and tragedy of our world, in the midst of all that frightens us, I am confident that, with the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, there can be healing, justice, and peace. It is with this assurance that I will take heed to Jesus’ call, “Do not be afraid.”
[1] Am. 5:24
[2] Matt. 17:1-8
[3] Exod. 13:21f, etc.
[4] Matt. 17:5.
[5] Exod. 40:34-35.
[6] Rom. 8:39.
[7] Daniel L. Migliore, Faith Seeking Understanding (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2014), 372.
[8] Rev. 22:2.
[9] Jȕrgen Moltmann, “The Presence of God’s Future: The Risen Christ,” Anglican Theological Review 89:4 (2007), 577.
