Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, May 9, 2013 Read – Luke 9:28-36 Today, we are invited to revisit Luke’s story of the Transfiguration of Jesus. I think Luke wants us to remember this story as he tells the story of the ascension of Jesus. Both stories come at crucial points in the larger story Luke is telling. At the Transfiguration Moses and Elijah tell Jesus about what he will accomplish in Jerusalem. In Luke’s telling of the story of Jesus it is the Transfiguration that motivates Jesus to “set his face toward Jerusalem” and to fulfill his ministry there (Luke 9:51). In the story of the ascension of Jesus his followers are also told what they are to do – they are to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The ascension of Jesus along with the promise of the coming Holy Spirit is what motivates the followers of Jesus toward their mission.