Glory revealed and grace released.

• Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

• Romans 5:12-19

• Matthew 4:1-11

• Psalm 32

I don’t know about you, but I often find Paul’s writings really hard to understand, and that I need to take a long time to consider texts, to work out what he is saying, who he is talking about, what he is talking about, and what his end conclusion is.

And this reading from Romans is, for me, one of those texts that needs time, that needs to be read over again to decipher who the “one man” that is being referred to actually is referring to! Is it Adam, is it Jesus, is it “every man”?

So today I’m going to try to unpick this reading a little, and to tease out what it means for us as we are at the start of Lent. Last week Bishop Catherine talked about the Transfiguration, that moment when it was revealed to the disciples who Jesus was. She referred to the fact that “transfiguration” is of the moment, as it were; it is a sudden change, or a revelation of what has always been there, but that perhaps we have never seen. Last week on the mountain we saw Jesus transfigured — his glory was revealed: he wasn’t changed in any way, but the disciples saw him differently.

This week in Romans, Paul shows us why that matters; Paul shows us that, as someone once said, the one shining in glory is the one who changes our story.

On that mountain top that moment of Transfiguration showed the disciples, and us, that Jesus was not just a teacher, he was not just an itinerant preacher and healer. He was – and is – so much more. He is divine, he is radiant; he is the true Son to whom we must listen. On that mountain top the question “Who is Jesus?” was answered. 

This week the question that is answered is: What difference does Jesus make?

In this complicated reading we are told that Jesus doesn’t just inspire us, as a great teacher might inspire us, but that in taking on human form and dying to overcome death, Jesus replaces Adam as our representative in the story of humankind. The story of sin and death that is entwined in the stories of Adam, and Moses and David and our forefathers is rewritten by Jesus; the trajectory of humanity’s story has been reworked with a different ending. From death to life.

The transfiguration gave the disciples, those who witnessed it, a glimpse of hidden glory which led to a moment of clarity. They saw the truth of who Jesus was. Jesus didn’t change; Jesus’ true self was revealed.

On the mountain, the disciples saw Jesus differently. However, In Romans, Paul promises that we can live differently. We are offered a transformation, a lifetime of change, a new identity, a different ending to our story. A change that will continue throughout our lives.

And this is the key point: we are called to move from vision to belonging. We are not asked to stand on the outside, looking in and just seeing who Jesus is. We are being called into belonging, into owning what we have seen and allowing it to transform us. The transfiguration shows Jesus as the glorious Son of God. In Romans 5 Paul is showing us that this glorious Son of God has become our new beginning.

The mountaintop reveals the King; the cross and resurrection make us citizens of his Kingdom.

If you like, you can think of it this way: It’s one thing to see a king crowned. It’s quite another thing to discover you’ve been invited into his family. The Transfiguration is that coronation moment. But Romans 5 tells us that we are entitled to the adoption papers

 These two weeks give us a sort of story arc of our Christian life, showing us where we started and where we are now: in the revelation of who Jesus is, in that moment of transfiguration when we see him as our Lord we are called to worship him. We must accept our weakness and frailty before him, and to praise him for who he is. But that is only the beginning, because from that moment Jesus begins to transform us, as we learn to trust him for what he has done, and for what he wants us to become.

The light the disciples saw on the mountain, and that you saw when you said your “Yes” to God’s call, is the grace that now reshapes and transforms your life. The one who shone with glory then is the one who carries your future now and leads you on.

Last week we saw glory revealed. This week we see grace released.

And that is why this reading sits so beautifully at the threshold of Lent. Lent is not simply about giving things up or trying a bit harder to be good. It is a season where the Church gently leads us into this truth to which Paul is pointing : that we are not left to improve the old story of our lives, but invited to receive a new one. Lent reminds us that we belong not to Adam’s pattern of fear and failure, but to Christ’s pattern of grace and life.

Over these forty days we are invited to let that reality sink deeper. We slow down. We repent. We pray. Not because God is far away, but because we are learning to live as people who have already been brought near. Lent is the space where we allow the truth of Romans to move from our heads into our habits. It is the season where belonging begins to reshape becoming.

Because transformation, unlike transfiguration, is rarely sudden. It is usually quiet, gradual, sometimes almost invisible. It looks like small acts of trust. It looks like returning to prayer when it feels dry. It looks like choosing mercy over resentment, hope over cynicism, faith over fear. This is how the new story takes root in us — not in a single shining moment, but in a lifetime of turning toward the light.

So as we begin Lent, perhaps the invitation is simply this: to stop trying to write a better ending to the old story, and instead to live as people who have been given a new one. To trust that the grace released in Christ really is at work in us. To believe that the one who was revealed in glory is even now remaking us in love.

Last week we saw glory revealed. This week we see grace released. And in the weeks ahead, may we discover what it means to be people truly being transformed — slowly, faithfully, and joyfully — into the likeness of the one who has changed our story forever.

Lord Jesus,you who were revealed in glory and given for us in love,draw us deeper into your grace.

As we begin this Lenten journey,teach us to live the new story you have written for us.Where we cling to the old, gently lead us on.Where we are weary, renew us.Where we are afraid, remind us that we belong to you.

Transform us, step by step,until your life is seen in ours,and your hope shines through us,now and always.

Amen.