Sunday Matinee #57 Jerry Maguire

Mountaintop Moments of Metamorphosis!

Mark 9:2-9 | Revised Common Lectionary | EnterTheBible.org
Sixth Sunday of Epiphany | 02.11.2024
Context: After several weeks laser-focused on the Gospel of Mark chapter 1, we laser-leap to chapter 9. I don’t know if “laser-leap” is an actual term, but it should be. At this point, Jesus and his disciples have traveled and preached and healed as they engaged the people. Here, we experience the “transfiguration,” a moment when Jesus appears like a vision to his disciples. We don’t all have the same sense of the Biblical timeline, so when you read of visions of Elijah and Moses both appearing by Jesus, they are figures from the Old Testament, from hundreds of years before or more, which adds to the excitement of the vision. Let’s hear this story…

2b And [Jesus] was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling bright, such as no one on earth could brighten them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us set up three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

Jerry Maguire | 1996
IMDb | Letterboxd | RRMC
Context: Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is a sports agent down to one client: Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding, Jr.). They have a love-hate relationship, sometimes at odds and sometimes grudgingly learning from one another. During a huge football game, Rod is hit again and again while Jerry watches helplessly from the sidelines. Finally, Rod makes an epic touchdown, but he also takes an epic hit. He’s on the ground and no one know what to think about it…

Coach: Rod! Rod can you hear me?! Can you hear me? Do you know where you are, Rod? 
Announcers: You can see the trainers still trying to revive Rod Tidwell. You'd love to see some movement. 
Coach: Rod.
Someone claps their hands. Rod’s eyes pop open. He looks around, regaining his bearings.
Trainer: Let's get him off the field. Get the gurney.
Rod: N-no. No.
Trainer: Get the gurney. Let's get him off the field now.
Rod Tidwell: No, wait, wait. Just, just let me enjoy this for a minute. 
Announcers: Well, you're looking for any type of movement out of Rod Tidwell, and... is that his head coming up I see? 
Rod slowly but surely gets to his feet.
Announcers: He's going to try to get up. And he is getting up. 
The crowd cheers.
Marcee (watching on TV at home with the family): Oh, my God, look at him! Oh, mommy, he's okay!
Rod soaks in the love.
Announcers: Everybody's standing at Sun Devil Stadium. And he's up on his feet and the crowd loves it!
Rod takes his helmet off, holds it high for the people, does some grandstanding! Jerry laughs, head in his hands. He can’t believe it.
Announcers: Here's a guy who for most of the season has been truculent with the media, has been stand-offish...
Rod blows kisses toward the camera and Marcee blows kisses right back at the TV.
Announcer: He's going to draw a flag on this. But who cares?
The big board reads, "IN ROD WE TRUST!"
Rod leaps into the stands and dangles next to a John 3:16 banner.

Commentary:

“Transfigured” isn’t an everyday vocabulary word. I’m not sure if I’ve even heard it used outside of the Bible. Where does this word come from? The Old Testament as written in Hebrew, and the New Testament in Greek. The English language has many Greek derivatives: kartia is heart (cardiovascular system, cardio workout to get your heartrate up). Chronos is time (ex: chronological order). Dyna is power (dynamite). Mort is death (mortician). Mater is tomater. You say toma-toh, I say toma-ter! Actually, mater is mom (maternity). 

The Greek word here for transfigured is metemorphōthē. Can you hear it? Jesus undergoes metamorphosis, changes or transforms right before their eyes. Not just his robes or the light or Moses and Elijah or God’s voice, but all of it comes together to change Jesus in that moment. This moment is known as the Transfiguration because Jesus appears metamorphosed to his disciples, with bright light and robes more dazzling white than you could ever make them on your own! Even if you used Tide, Cheer, Bold, Biz, Fab, All, Gain, Wisk. None will do the trick. 

This is one of those milestone moments in Mark where the writer is making it clear: the world will never be the same again. Aspects of it echo Jesus’s baptism from before and his crucifixion to come. Along the way, I’ve heard of the Transfiguration as a “hinge story,” Like the hinge of a traditional door, it swings open so you can step through to what is next. That’s what this story is doing. A lot hangs upon it and it moves things forward: Jesus’s ministry, his connection with the faith tradition, and the disciples’ understanding of who he is. 

As readers, we can feel the disciples’ adrenaline and their desire to share about their experience. If Jerry Maguire were one of the disciples, maybe he would’ve turned to Simon Peter and said, “Our little project, our company, had a big night. A very, very big night.”

I can’t help but smile when Rod Tidwell celebrates with the crowd in Jerry Maguire. There is a cynical perspective that says he was faking just to get attention and crowd adulation and the big, fat paycheck. But I have to say, I never went that route. I think he took a tough hit and it knocked him out. While Jerry had coached him to warm up to the crowd, I always took this as a genuine moment of gratitude. Rod wakes up on that field a changed man. Not a better player, not a more accomplished running back. He is a changed man. When he and Jerry hug on the sidelines, this gets exactly to what Jerry tried to say in his manifesto. Sports management needed to change (metamorphose!) and be more personal. In that moment, it all comes together. We can feel their adrenaline and the joy of sharing the moment, especially with someone who wasn’t there…

We’re nearly 20 years past Jerry Maguire being at the height of its zeitgeist. That means all the overplayed cliches that came with it (“Show me the money!” “You had me at ‘hello.’” “Help me help you!”) have faded quite a bit as everyday catchphrases. While those moments had a lot of replay value that dwindled as time moved on and other movies came along, the Transfiguration appears in all three years of the Revised Common Lectionary cycle. It’s such a major hinge story that it’s supposed to be revisited at least once annually. That’s not the worst idea in the world. After all, exactly how many times should you reflect on the biggest nights of your life?

What are the biggest moments of your life? What has been a “hinge” that opened the door for you? How have you metamorphosed over the years?

While Rod certainly had his moment, at least he didn’t get as bad as these football players in BASEketball: