With Unveiled Faces—Lectionary Reflection for Transfiguration Sunday—Year C (Exodus 34:29-35)

Exodus 34:29-35 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

²⁹ Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. ³⁰ When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹ But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. ³² Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. ³³ When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face, ³⁴ but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off until he came out, and when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, ³⁵ the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining, and Moses would put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with him.

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                Transfiguration Sunday brings to a close our journey through Epiphany. Depending on when Easter falls, that journey can be shorter or longer. In 2025 Epiphany has extended to two months, but the time to go up the mountain with Jesus has arrived. For the first reading from the lectionary (Revised Common Lectionary), Year C, we turn to Exodus 34. This reading is part of a larger narrative that extends from Exodus 19 to Exodus 34, if not beyond. As we arrive at this part of the Exodus narrative, Moses has been spending time on Mount Sinai with God, receiving the various laws, including the Ten Commandments, that are to define the covenant relationship between God and Israel. This reading appears on this particular Sunday because it provides a parallel to Jesus’ mountaintop experience (Luke 9:28-36).  

                Earlier in Chapter 34, God asks Moses to cut two new tablets so that God could write the laws on them, graciously replacing the ones formerly given to Moses, tablets Moses dropped when he saw Aaron’s golden calf. So, God provides a new set and renews the covenant with Israel. According to the Exodus narrative Moses spent forty days and nights in the presence of God, fasting during the entire time, much as Jesus is said to do in the Gospels.  Our reading begins as Moses descended from the Mountain, ending his extended mountaintop visit with God while bringing with him two new tablets on which were written the covenant requirements.

                The key parallel between what happens in Exodus 34 and the Transfiguration story is the change in countenance. In the Gospel narrative, Jesus went to the mountaintop to pray, and while there praying, the appearance of his face changed (along with his clothing). The picture we are given by interpretations of the Transfiguration event is of the face of Jesus glowing. The question with Jesus concerns how his appearance changes. Is it from the inside out or is it a reflection of something external? With Moses, according to the narrative, unknown to him, when he returned to the desert floor his face was shining because he had been in the presence of God. With Moses, it is clear that the change in countenance was a reflection of God’s glory. The shine on his face was, according to the narrative, quite bright. It was so bright that Aaron and the rest of the community were afraid to come near Moses. You get the sense that the shine was so bright it blinded people.

           While the people stepped back from Moses, he asked them to come near, and they did. When he had gathered the people to himself, he shared with them what had transpired during his sojourn on the mountain with God, including offering to them God’s commandment. Then, after he finished speaking, Moses put on a veil. However, whenever he went into the tent of meeting to talk with God, he took the veil off. When he came out from his meetings with God,  he would speak with the people with an unveiled face, so that the people could see his face shining. After that, he put the veil back on his face until he went back in to speak with God. What this story does is confirm Moses’ leadership with the people. He is the one who speaks with God and brings that word to the people.

           It is worth noting Paul’s interpretation of this story in his second letter to the Corinthian Church. He suggests that Moses kept the veil on his face to hide the fading of the glow, a veil he suggests was now keeping the people of Israel from reading the “old covenant,” such that it can only be removed in Christ (2 Cor. 3:12-18). Paul’s reading of the Exodus experience lends itself to supersessionism, so we need to be careful with how we read it so that we do not see this as a source of divine rejection of Israel. Instead, let us read this as an invitation to us to see the glory of God present in Jesus, a glory that Moses also encountered as he served as a mediator between God and God’s people.    

          As we ponder this story, we might ask the question of how we reflect God’s glory. It’s unlikely that we will have an encounter with God that is an exact parallel to that of Moses, and certainly not an exact parallel to that of Jesus. Nevertheless, we can ask the question, especially, at this moment as to how we might reflect God’s presence in our lives. People are asking the question as to whether Christians are who they say they are. The upsurge of forms of Christian nationalism that seek power over others, rather than reflecting the life and teaching of Jesus, counters that message. Has American culture defined Christianity in such a way that God’s glory has been hidden behind a veil, such that our eyes are clouded (as Paul spoke of)? Of course, we are not Moses. We are not given the kind of leadership responsibilities or even authority given to Moses.  However, we can receive from this passage a reminder that in Christ, through the presence of the Holy Spirit, we do bear within us the glory of God, which needs to shine.

                How do we reveal God’s glory to the world with unveiled faces? We do it, I believe, by living in ways that reflect Jesus’ presence in our lives. That means living according to the way of Jesus, which is not easy. In the Gospel readings for the previous two weeks, we spent time with the Sermon on the Plain. In these two passages (Luke 6:17-26; Luke 6:27-38), we hear about blessings and woes, the latter falling on the rich and satisfied, as well as a call to love our enemies, even turning the other cheek (apparently Donald Trump does not like this passage). This is not an easy task, and yet this is the message of Jesus. Fortunately, we live in the grace of God, which allows us to get back up if we fall short. Nevertheless, the world is watching. They can tell when the shine is fading or has disappeared! That is especially true when wearing veils that hide the fact that the shine is gone!