Exodus 24:12-18

The Exodus passage records the ascent of Moses into God through God’s own invitation. The imagery has been very important in the history of Christianity. What is the purpose of Moses’ ascent in the Lord’s invitation? What does he do before hand? Into what does Moses ascend when he ascends to the “Lord”? Is it a fire or a cloud (warning: trick question – but is fascinatingly precise in how the text makes distinctions between what Moses enters and what the people see)? Does Moses ascent to God allow him to “grasp” God? What “is” God that Moses “experiences” here?

Matthew 17:1-9

Notice the numbers of days comparison between the Matthew story, the Exodus passage, and, of course, creation. What happens to Jesus? Why is the cloud a “bright cloud” – kind of like a sunny fog!

What does the Voice say? Notice the response of the disciples to the Voice and Jesus’ response to the disciples? What is the significance of these two movements? What is it that Jesus’ says after the Voice tells them to listen to him? By the end, what has happened? Why do you think Jesus gives the instruction that he does? What “is” the God manifested here?

Philippians 3:7-14

vv. 7-11
Given the above passages, what has grasped Paul’s live here in the Philippians passage? What has changed “because of Christ” for Paul? Notice that Paul seeks to be found “in Christ,” not to have Christ found in him? What is the difference? While the translationsspeak of the “one that comes through the faith in Christ”, it is better translated, one that comes through the faithfulness of Christ. What difference does this make? Why is faith (allegiance, trust and obedience) in Christ necessary to “gain” and “be found” in Christ? Why would Paul want to share Christ’s sufferings?

vv. 12-14

What is the goal? What has Paul made “his own”? Why is it necessary to forget the behind, and press ahead? What is the justification for living for the future? In Christ, why would one want to live for the future rather than from the past?

Steve Fowl in his commentary on Philippians writs that “as 3:12-14 will confirm, being transformed is not a one-time achievement. Rather, it is a life-long process of having our desires and affections and attention continually redirected and refocused by our knowledge of the crucified and resurrected Christ. Moreover, failure to engage in this process of transformation will not leave Christians in some neutral, unformed state. Rather, our affections and attention will be drawn to and shaped by other factors. If, as some research indicates, we are confronted with up to 16,000 advertisements and media messages each day, it will not take long before our attention and ultimately our desires are drawn away from God and toward any number of enticements. We will no longer be friends of the cross. At best we will become strangers to it. At worst we will become enemies of the cross of Christ.” (Stephen Fowl, Philippians, p. 158) How do you think the Fowl captures the center of Paul’s testimony?

How does the Mystery of God seen in the Exodus story and the Matthew passage provide a “basis” for Paul’s witness? Nicholas Lash in Theology on the Way to Emmaus writes, “If . . . the God whom we seek, the God whose truth sustains and infinitely transcends all projects and all imaginings is, in fact, the incomprehensible ground and goal of all reality and all significance, the creator and redeemer of nature and history, then each and every aspect of the human quest – in all its bewildering, uncontrollable and often conflictual diversity – is an aspect of the quest for God, even when it is not so named or characterize” (p. 14). How do you think that Lash’ statement relates to the passages for this weeks Scriptures?