Read Mark 9:2-9:
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore, but only Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
This Sunday we celebrate Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountaintop. For the next two days, Pastor Margo offers devotions on this extraordinary moment in Jesus’ life recorded in the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Today’s devotion is from another poet Christine Hemp https://www.christiancentury.org/article/poetry/sweet-jesus. Parts of the Bible are written in poetry, because some things cannot be said or understood in a straightforward and logical way.
Sweet Jesus
(Peter, on the mountain)
Not the light but how it spoke, his transfigured
flesh an instrument of consonance and discord.
As if that were not enough, Elijah? Moses, too?
James grabbed his knife. John stood mute, dis-
figured by fear. And I? Well, some people act. Some
wait, and then there are those who think out loud.
Let’s build three sheds! I shouted, instantly
regretting it. What I meant was hold still, but my words
never come out right. When light stopped throbbing,
tympani broke the sky. It shook us hard. That voice.
Nothing I want to hear again, believe me. Later,
stumbling downhill, following his easy stride,
we knew our former selves were done. Sweet Jesus
my body bucked with the secret we were sworn
to keep. When I couldn’t sleep under insufficient
stars, I rose and tore my tunic off, ripped it in two.
Pray: Sweet Jesus, help us hold still when we encounter your mysterious mightiness. Amen.