LECTIO DIVINA 2 Peter 1:16-19 Transfiguration of the Lord Year A Fr. Michael Brizio, IMC

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1 Page 1 of 9 LECTIO DIVINA 2 Peter 1:16-19 Transfiguration of the Lord Year A Fr. Michael Brizio, IMC 1) OPENING PRAYER: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen. 2) READING OF THE WORD (What the Word says): 2 Peter 1: We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory, This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased. 18 We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation, 21 for no prophecy ever came through human will; but rather human beings moved by the Holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God. 3) EXPLANATION (What the Word means): Introduction: 2 Peter began by ascribing authorship to Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ (1:1) - and the author claiming to be an eyewitness to Christ s majesty, by which he meant Jesus Transfiguration (1:16-19).

2 Page 2 of 9 However, 2 Peter was largely neglected by the early church, and was one of the last Letters admitted into the New Testament canon. Biblical scholars today are divided. Some accept that Peter authored this book. Others believe that this book is pseudonymous. There are several reasons for believing that the book might have been written by someone other than Peter. For one thing, Peter s ministry focused on Jews, but this book was written with Gentiles in mind. Also, the vocabulary, style, and contents of 1 Peter and 2 Peter are different. There are a number of parallels between 2 Peter and the book of Jude, which has led scholars to think that the author of 2 Peter may have used Jude as a starting point. Context: Peter is writing to encourage Christians to live godly lives (1:3) that they may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust (1:4). He encourages them to live according to a list of virtues that begins with faith, proceeds to moral excellence, and ends in brotherly affection and love (1:5-7). He assures them that if they will do these things, they will never stumble, and will be richly supplied with the entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (1:10-11). In this passage, Peter is addressing the problem of false teachers who are denying Christ s Second Coming (3:4-7) and are accusing the apostles of fomenting cunningly devised fables (1:16). This heresy would remove an important incentive for Christians to live moral and ethical lives. If Christ is not coming again - if there is nothing beyond this life - people would be less motivated to live the kind of life that Christ would have them live. So Peter calls these Christians to look forward to the day of the Lord, which will come as a thief in the night;

3 Page 3 of 9 in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up (3:10). He calls them to prepare for that day by holy living and godliness (3:11). Peter accuses his opponents of having eyes full of adultery - not being able to cease from sin enticing unsettled souls having hearts trained in greed - and being children of cursing (2:14-15). Peter characterizes them as mockers walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? (3:3-4). v.16a: We did not follow cleverly devised myths, mythos, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, A mythos, myth, could be a story that, while not historically true, nevertheless conveys an important truth or value. Or, it could be a fable or fairy tale - totally fictitious and having little value. The false teachers are accusing the apostles of fomenting myths of the second kind - totally fictitious and having no value. In particular, they say that the apostles teaching about the Second Coming of Christ is a cunningly devised fable (3:4-7). v.16b: but we had been eyewitnesses, epoptes, of his majesty, Peter is referring to Christ s Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36). The three eyewitnesses to this event were Peter, James, and John Jesus inner circle - the disciples who were also with Jesus at Gethsemane (Matthew 26:37). Peter uses the transfiguration story, not as a foretaste of the Resurrection of Jesus, as it is commonly regarded, but as a foretaste of the triumphant glory of the Second Coming. What does the Transfiguration have to do with Christ s Second Coming?

4 Page 4 of 9 Was Peter right in seeing in it a foretaste of the Second Coming rather than a prefiguring of the Resurrection? There is one particularly significant thing about the transfiguration story. In all three gospels, it immediately follows the prophecy of Jesus which said that there were some standing there who would not pass from the world until they had seen the Son of Man coming in his kingdom (Matthew 16:29; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27). That would certainly seem to indicate that the transfiguration and the Second Coming were in some way linked together. We must remember that Peter s great aim in this letter is to recall his people to a living belief in tile Second Coming of Christ, and he bases his right to do so on what he saw on the Mount of Transfiguration. The word epoptes, eye-witness, in the Greek usage of Peter s day was a technical word. Prevalent at this time were the Mystery Religions. They were all of the nature of passion plays, in which the story of a god who lived, suffered, died, and rose again was played out. It was only after a long course of instruction and preparation that the worshipper was finally allowed to be present at the passion play, and to be offered the experience of becoming one with the dying and rising God. When he reached this stage, he was an initiate, and the technical word to describe him was epoptes; he was a privileged eye-witness of the experiences of God. So Peter says that the Christian is an eye-witness of the sufferings of Christ. With the eye of faith he sees the Cross; in the experience of faith he dies with Christ to sin and rises to righteousness. His faith has made him one with Jesus Christ in his death and in his risen life and power. Jewish law valued the testimony of witnesses. At least two witnesses were required to convict a person of any crime (Deuteronomy 19:15). For a death sentence to be executed required the corroboration of two or three witnesses - and the witnesses were required to take the lead in performing the execution (Deuteronomy 17:6-7). If a person were found to be a false witness, he would become subject to the penalty that he was trying to impose on the accused (Deuteronomy 19:16-19). When the apostles needed to fill the apostolic office vacated by the death of Judas, their requirement was that the person chosen have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us... and must be a witness with us of his resurrection (John 19:35; 21:24; Acts 1:21-22; 4:20; 10:39; 1 Corinthians 15:6; 1 John 1:1-3; 1 Peter 5:1). v.17a: For he received honor, time, and glory, doxa, from God the Father when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory, God the Father conferred honor and glory on the Son. The Greek word time means honor or respect or reverence.

5 Page 5 of 9 Doxa means glory. Honor and glory are often found together in the New Testament (Romans 2:7, 10; Hebrews 2:7, 9; 1 Peter 1:7; Revelation 4:9, 11; 5:12-13). Because the Father conferred honor and glory on his Son, his Son is worthy of our highest praise. v.17b: This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased. These words most nearly correspond to the words in Matthew s account of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35). All of the Synoptic accounts add the words, Listen to him, but Peter does not include those words in this account. We heard similar words at Jesus baptism (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22). These words bring to mind Psalm 2:6-7, a royal psalm honoring God s anointed one, the king of Israel. God said to the enemies of the anointed one, I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion (Psalm 2:6). Then God said to the anointed one, You are my son. Today I have become your father (Psalm 2:7). In other words, God was announcing the establishment of his kingdom to his anointed king - to Israel - and to the world. God s kingdom at that point was Israel God s chosen people. But with the coming of Jesus, we entered a new era. The anointed one of Psalm 2 was the king of Israel; but as the Messiah or Christ, Jesus became the anointed one - the new king - and the new kingdom became those who followed him, accepting him as king over their lives. served to confirm his kingship. Christ s coronation came with his death and resurrection. His ascension So when the Father announces, This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased, he is announcing one of two things: Either Jesus is already the king because he is God s Son - or because Jesus is God s beloved Son, God is now appointing Jesus as king. Either way, he intends to convey a connection between son-ship and kingship.

6 Page 6 of 9 v.18a: We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him Peter once again affirms that he was one of the three (Peter, James, and John) who heard the voice on the holy mountain. v.18b: on the holy mountain. The phrase is typically used for Mount Zion - Jerusalem (Psalm 48:1; 99:9; Isaiah 11:9; 27:13; 56:7). This is the only time that phrase is used in the New Testament. However, we need not assume that the Transfiguration took place on Mount Zion. The identity of that mountain remains uncertain. Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon seem like the most likely candidates - but some scholars think that it might have been the Mount of Olives, which was on the outskirts of Jerusalem. But the Mount of Transfiguration was holy, not because of a connection with the Holy City, but because the Transfiguration took place there. v.19a: Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable, bebaioteron. We in this verse refers to the apostles, as it also did in vv This is a key point. The apostles have been given the reliable prophecy - and the prophecy that they received pointed to the Second Coming of Christ. The word bebaioteron refers to something that is certain or reliable - something that won t fail under examination - something that won t crumble underfoot. Peter could be referring to scripture in general - or more specifically to the words of the prophets -or even more particularly to the prophetic writings that anticipate the Day of the Lord (Isaiah 13:6, 9; 58:13; Jeremiah 46:10; Ezekiel 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14; Amos 5:18, 20; Obadiah 1:15; Zephaniah 1:7-8, 14, 18; 2:2-3; Malachi 4:5). The Day of the Lord will be an eschatological (end of time) event that will bring judgment to the guilty and deliverance to the faithful. Jesus Second Coming clearly fits that model. v.19b: You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, Peter tells these Christians that they will do well to heed scripture - prophetic scripture - scriptures that speak of the Day of the Lord.

7 Page 7 of 9 They will do well to heed them, because scriptures are as like a lamp shining in a dark place. They illuminate - reveal hazards - make it possible to walk without stumbling. Both Old and New Testaments speak of scripture as a light or a lamp. The Psalmist says, Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path (Psalm 119:105; Proverbs 6:23; 13:9). When Peter speaks of the prophetic writings as a lamp shining in a dark place, he is using a familiar scriptural metaphor. v.19c: until day dawns Once the day dawns, a lamp is no longer necessary. Once Christ comes again, scripture will no longer be required. v.19d: and the morning star rises in your hearts. Most scholars see this as an allusion to Numbers 24:17: A star will come out of Jacob. Jewish people understood that verse to be a messianic prophecy. Now Peter says that Jesus is that star. The morning star is Venus, the brightest light (other than the moon) in the night sky. In the book of Revelation, Jesus says, I am the root and the offspring of David; the Bright and Morning Star (Revelation 22:16). Peter uses the morning star as another metaphor similar to the lamp and the dawning of the new day. Once Christ has fully illuminated these Christians hearts, they will no longer be dependent on the prophetic word - the words of scripture. v.20: Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation, Peter s opponents have interpreted the scriptures to fit their own understanding. They deny the reality of Christ s Second Coming. Scripture is not to be interpreted by private cleverness or private prejudice; it is to be interpreted by the help of the Holy Spirit by whom it was first given. Throughout all the ages the Spirit has been working in devoted scholars who under the guidance of God have opened the Scriptures to us. If, then, we wish to interpret Scripture, we must never arrogantly insist that our own interpretation must be correct; we must humbly go to the works of the scholars to learn what they have to teach us because of what the Spirit taught them.

8 Page 8 of 9 There is more than that. The one place in which the Spirit especially resides and is especially operative is the Church; and, therefore, Scripture must be interpreted in the light of the teaching, the belief and the tradition of the Church. God is our Father in the faith, but the Church is our mother in the faith. If one finds that his interpretation of Scripture is at variance with the teaching of the Church, he must humbly examine himself and ask whether his guide has not been his own private wishes rather than the Holy Spirit. It is Peter s insistence that Scripture does not consist of any person s private opinions, but is the revelation of God to us through his Spirit; and that, therefore, its interpretation must not depend on any one s private opinions, but must ever be guided by that same Spirit who is still especially operative within the Church. Furthermore, these false prophets are denying the reality of Christ s Second Coming, so they are in conflict with the authoritative apostolic teaching that Christ will come again. Peter warns that the result of their false prophecies will be the destruction of the false prophets (3:16). The danger of this kind of false interpretation is still with us. We are always tempted to determine what we believe and then to twist scripture to fit our beliefs. v.21a: for no prophecy ever came through human will; Just as no interpretation of prophecy is reliable unless given by the Holy Spirit, so also the promulgation of prophecy is unreliable when it comes through human will. Only God-given, Holy Spirit-inspired prophecy is dependable. v.21b: but rather human beings moved by the Holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God. The prophets received their message from the Spirit. It was sometimes even said that the Spirit of God used the prophets as a writer uses a pen or as a musician uses a musical instrument. In any event the Spirit gave the prophet his message. The obvious conclusion is that it is only through the help of that same Spirit that the prophetic message can be understood. 4) MEDITATION (What the Word suggests to me): a) We read the Word again. b) Select the word or a brief phrase which touched you or impressed you. Repeat this word/phrase aloud and slowly 3 times. Between each repetition allow a moment of silence for the Word to penetrate into our hearts. c) We will remain silent for 3 minutes, and let the Lord speak to us.

9 Page 9 of 9 d) We now share what the Lord has given us in this word. We avoid discussions or sermons or comments on what others have said. We share what the Lord has told us personally by using such expressions as, To me this word has said 5) QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION (What the Word asks me): a) Does Christ have a central position in my life? b) How does Jesus Transfiguration change my way to look at adversity? c) How would my life change if I were more aware that my body is destined to share in the glory of God? d) Do I live in joyful expectation of the Lord s Second Coming? 6) WORD OF LIFE (What the Word reminds me): Eyewitnesses of his majesty. 7) ACTION (What the Word invites me to do): Often during the day I will repeat Marana-tha, Our Lord, come! 8) PRAYER (What the Word makes me pray): PSALM 97 The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth. The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad. Clouds and darkness are round about him; justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne. The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the LORD of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his justice, and all peoples see his glory. Because you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth, exalted far above all gods. And may the blessing of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit descend upon us and with us remain forever and ever.