The Transfiguration
Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him. And as these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not realizing what he was saying. While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.
There are many things we can ask about the readings today. This reading describes what is called the transfiguration of Jesus. I suspect this is a misnomer - us calling this a transfiguration suggests Jesus has been completely changed into a more beautiful or spiritual state. This of course is not possible. Jesus is completely beautiful. To call this "transfiguration" reveals our addiction to our perception of what is real. This moment (regardless of what we call it) is real and it is significant for many reasons.
One significance is this; Jesus shows us, with Peter, James and John that there is more going on than we can normally perceive. Life here and now as we live it, see it, hear it, smell it, touch it and taste it is not the whole story. Reality is beyond us and what we think it is; reality is awesomely glorious beyond anything we can imagine. We are given this glimpse both for our Lenten journey and our life journey. Knowing there is something more gives us an eternal perspective in which Jesus' weird and crazy ideas make sense. In Jesus' reality (to which He calls us) selling all and giving to the poor and suffering to speak the Gospel and laying down our life for others makes complete sense. In this reading God pulls back a small corner of the veil and He gives us a glimpse of glory. This moment is so important! We need this glimpse! We need glory fixed in our minds and etched on our hearts. Why? Because, sadly, we too easily forget that our here and now are but a vapour and our time but a moment. We need this glimpse of glory because there are precious few visible indications of it in our world. Today how do we, in our here and now access this reality that is beyond us? Hear the Word of God: “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” Jesus' words pull back the veil. Following Jesus brings us glimpses of His glory; the reality He promises us - for this we are so grateful to Him!
No comments:
Post a Comment