As I read this familiar passage I was struck by the disciple’s response to God’s voice, ‘When they heard this, they fell face down to the ground, terrified.’ Terrified. At this, Jesus ‘touched them’ and told them to get up, and to not be afraid.
The word “touched” means ‘to ignite, to kindle, to set ablaze, to start a fire, to light a lamp.’ Here at the tail end of this amazing theophany, where heaven had indeed come to earth, Jesus lights a fire of assurance in his friend’s hearts – a fire that promised that one day being in the presence of God would no longer terrify them.
Jesus knew that his saving work would free humanity from their fear of God and cause within them, as it was in The Garden, a more appropriate disposition – that of being naked and unashamed (unafraid) once again.
If you go back and look at this account in Genesis (Gen 2:19-25) you’ll find that this is a description of how Adam’s perfect counterpart was created, and why. There you find God fashioning and forming animals from the stuff of the earth (as he had with Adam), as well as Adam’s perfectly distinct, and yet complimentary, partner. One of the things that will set these two a part from the rest of God’s creation is the unique relationship they were to experience with one another (and, God). Here the pinnacle of God’s creation stood, naked and unashamed. I don’t think I’m stretching the text too far to say that not only were they standing before one another in this way, but they also stood this way before God as well. A few verses later (Gen 3:8) we’re given the impression that these two regularly met and walked, talked, and enjoyed God’s presence and company. Therefore, it seems, part of God’s original design for humanity was that they experience a close, intimate, shameless, and fearless relationship with one another and himself.
If we can just move past the ‘naked’ thing just long enough to consider such a pure and wonderful state, where no-thing at all might stand between us or another person, let alone God, we just might begin to imagine one of the dynamics that God, in Jesus, was rectifying through his saving work. I believe the bible bears out that kingdom Jesus so frequently spoke about – the kingdom he was ushering in – would be one of not only a transformed people, but a transformed world. Certainly one where men and women might once again enjoy his presence and be able to stand before him ‘naked and unashamed (unafraid).’
What Jesus accomplished on the cross was far more than appeasement for sin (the standard answer most Christians give for Jesus’ sacrifice). Instead, God was setting all things right and putting all things, once again, in order. Through his saving work, Jesus makes possible that we might be refashioned in his image that we might stand before him, and one another, fearlessly.
Perhaps you might lift up a few prayers of thanks for God having begun that work in you. Thank him for the intimate relationship that he desires, and the fact that you have nothing to fear in a relationship with him. What an amazing reality that is…never again to fear the creator of the cosmos.
Lent 2014 