Second Sunday of Lent A February 17, 2008

Matthew 17:1-9 What was the “high mountain” in this account of the Transfiguration? There are three notable mountains in the region. Mt. Tabor is a cone-shaped mountain rising over 1,800 feet from the plain of Esdraelon, about 10 miles SW of the Sea of Galilee and 8 miles SE of Nazareth. Mt. Carmel is about 30 miles away on the western end of that same plain. Overlooking the Mediterranean, Carmel was the mountain where Elijah lived in a cave and sought God’s guidance. Mt. Hermon, about 60 miles NE of the Sea of Galilee, is the highest mountain in the region. Snow melt from Mt. Hermon constitutes the headwaters of the Jordan River. Jesus and his disciples got away a few times to the region of Caesarea Philippi at the base of the mountain. On which mountain did the transfiguration take place? The exact location was less important than the relationship between that mountain and Moses going up on Mt. Sinai to be one with God. Jesus called two sets of fishermen brothers, all good friends, as his first disciples. Three of them - Peter, James and John – always get the call to accompany Jesus at special moments such as this. What happened to poor Andrew? I’m guessing he was the sort of solid individual whom Jesus could trust to keep the rest of the group on target while Jesus went off with the others…the sort of man who served wherever needed and didn’t get jealous of his brother and friends.

Reading 1, Genesis 12:1-4a  Abraham was son of Terah whose clan came initially from Ur in Mesopotamia. This was the region of modern-day Iraq along the Euphrates River a couple hundred miles south of Baghdad. The family of Terah migrated from this region to that of Haran about 750 miles to the northwest along the trade routes of the “fertile crescent”. When Abraham’s son Isaac and grandson Jacob were looking for wives, they went back to the relatives who stayed behind in Haran.

Reading II, 2 Timothy 1:8b-10 Paul writes, probably from Rome where he is under house arrest, to Timothy in Ephesus. Paul had lived in Ephesus for over two years, developing the church there as a leadership, communications and evangelization center for Christians in Greece and Asia Minor. He had not worked as a “lone ranger” in his ministry but, rather, had formed a team of people who worked along with him and continued after Paul had left the region. Paul had assigned Timothy to lead this mission. The two letters to Timothy focus on his leadership qualities and duties, on how to select the leadership of the various Christian communities and guide them properly. Today we would call Timothy an archbishop although the word had not come into use at that time. Paul wants Timothy to know that he will likely experience many hardships for the gospel, just as Paul has, and be ready to face those that come his way.