For Transfiguration Sunday, the last Sunday before the season of Lent begins, Rev. Cari preached on Matthew 17:1-9. She followed this story of Jesus on the mountaintop with his three disciples, Moses (the Torah) and Elijah (the Nevi’im). She marked the “opaqueness” of Jesus’ identity as “Messiah” to his followers, who certainly wouldn’t be expecting the Messiah to suffer, be rejected by the authorities, killed by the state, and be raised to life three days later.

And yet, our tradition puts these disparate things together. Can it be that Jesus, who experienced all of this, is still the Messiah, still God’s Beloved? Can it be that our times of suffering, anxiety and fear, are actually invitations to growth and transformation?