The Life of Jesus Advent Calendar - Day 14: The Transfiguration

Introduction

I sometimes find myself thinking that I wish I could see Jesus face to face, that my faith would be so much stronger if I could just see him in person.

But then I read in Scripture that, even though the disciples spent so much time with Jesus, they were still slow to believe in the true salvation that he was offering. And then I read passages like Matthew 17:1-13, where some of the disciples get to witness something as profound as the Transfiguration, where they see Jesus transformed before them, his face shining like the sun, his clothes a dazzling white. As if that wasn't enough, then Moses and Elijah appear to talk to him! Two figures from the Old Testament, representing the Law and the Prophets, appearing from nowhere to talk to Jesus. And THEN a bright cloud appears, and the Father's voice speaks to them - echoing Jesus' baptism and commanding them to listen to him. Peter witnesses all of this, yet still goes on to deny Jesus eventually.

So while I think it would be amazing to see Jesus with my own eyes, I don't think I am any better than the disciples, and it is not believing by sight that will help me to firm up my faith. I need to trust in God's promises and keep my eyes fixed on the glorious Jesus Christ that the Bible reveals to us, the Father's beloved Son.

Assembling your stocking

Here, your mountain template works quite similar to the River Jordan/Sea of Galilee template, except you'll want this in a nice mountain shade, not blue! It fits along the hell of the stocking, providing the backdrop for the scene that will unfold. I stitch it on with a few random horizontal lines, making it look like there's bit of a plateau at the top, but do whatever your artistic side inspires you to do. When it comes to blanket stitching your stocking together at the end, you might like to switch to a thread that matches the mountain, but it doesn't matter if you just carry on with the red.

For Peter, James and John, I just stitch them onto the side of the mountain somewhere, and I don't give them faces as I picture them to be looking up at what takes place before them.

To make Jesus's face look like it's shining like the sun, I use a small scrap of gold material. I cut out the face template from the Jesus shape, and then cut a slightly bigger version of the face template to sit behind, so it looks like Jesus's face is shining. Use whatever you have to hand, or use some gold thread to embroider the detail on.

I then used white thread to show his clothes shining, but I'm not one hundred percent happy with how it turned out. You might have a better idea of how to convey this, but if in doubt I think if you left him as is (if you've been using white for him) then it will be just fine.

I then stitch on Moses and Elijah, much like the disciples, facing towards Jesus, so I don't give them faces. Then I add the cloud, and like in stocking no. 6, Jesus's baptism, I use gold thread to represent God's voice coming from the cloud.

You can watch a brief video of this stocking being assembled on my Facebook or Instagram.

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