12 June 2010
Psalm 75, 76; Num. 3:1-13; Gal. 6:11-18; Matt. 17:1-13

The Levites are not the priesthood, they are assistants, or in the Anglican tradition, deacons. They were responsible for the service of the temple. The priests did the sacramental work related to the temple and the sacrifices and the Levites were responsible for maintaining the temple and for the other rituals. They were one of the tribes of Israel, one of the sons of Jacob, and they were an offering to the Lord. They represented the sacrifice of the firstborn sons of the other tribes. The other tribes, through their offerings at the temple, provided for the income of the Levites who did not engage in agriculture or commerce in the land, they were devoted entirely to their service.

Peter, James and John see an incredible thing, the earthly glory of Jesus. The glory of Jesus is different from that of Moses in his days of leadership of the people. The glory revealed in and through Moses was the shining face from having been in the presence of God. That glory was like the glory of the moon, a reflected glory, the glory of Jesus was like the sun, a glory of its own. Here, these three disciples see Jesus with the two heroes of old, those who the people are expecting to return to this day, and the three can testify that they have come but in the light of Jesus, they are insignificant. They surely thought that now was the time for the kingdom to break in completely, they were there when it all began, and, in an instant, it was done and the two witnesses were gone, their work complete when the subject of their witness was revealed this day.

What would it mean for these others to boast about the flesh of the Galatians? If they convinced them to be circumcised, it would be as though they were boasting over scalps captured in battle. They had won converts, but to what? Paul says his only boasting is in the cross of Christ, that symbol of defeat and ignominy. The cross is certainly a strange thing in which to boast, that our savior died the death of a criminal. We, however, know that the cross of Christ is symbolic of the love of God for us. It is a symbol of suffering and shame, it is His suffering and our shame. We know that the firstborn, the only begotten, is a sacrifice for us, and in that we say with Paul, “neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!”

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.