‘… it is good for us to be here’(Mark 9:5)
Parallel gospels readings on the Transfiguration are found in Matthew 17:1-8 and in Luke 9:28-36
(Year B: Last Sunday before Lent, 14th February
2021)
It is good to remember and celebrate an important event in
the life of Jesus this very wintery Irish Sunday in the middle of what seems
like an endless Lockdown (at least for some). A little bit of light, a little
sound of something different and the feel that spring is coming is welcome. In
the liturgy the celebration of what is known as the Transfiguration occurs at
different times of the year depending on which liturgical cycle is followed. In
the Revised Common Lectionary used, typically, by many of the churches of the
Reformation the Transfiguration is celebrated on the last Sunday before Lent.
The transfiguration is a story of how Jesus, accompanied by
three of his disciples, were ‘transfigured’ on the top of a mountain. It was
very definitely a ‘high’ moment. There, on the mountain top, the disciples
along with Jesus were lifted up in light and covered in a divine presence of
the Cloud. Yet, the story continues with
a descent into warning, fear and an expectation of something very ominous is in
store for Jesus and his companions.
The Cross is getting near.
We are told by Mark that Jesus ascended the mountain ‘six
days’ after the proclamation of the Messiah in Caesarea Philippi (Mark
8:27). This echoes the six days found in Exodus
24:15-16 when:
For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.
The presence of God and the transformation over Moses to be
found in Exodus
33:7-23 has a strong resemblance with the Transfiguration (or metamorphosis in Greek). Further on, in
Exodus 34:30, we are told that Moses’ face shone in the presence of God.
The episode of the Transfiguration comes in the middle of an
intense period of healing, preaching as well as opposition and contestation.
Jesus had warned his disciples, six days before the Transfiguration, that ‘Whoever
wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow
me’ (Mark
8:34). The stakes were high and expectations were bounding forward. The
disciples needed a reality check. But, they also needed an uplift during a
period of intense stress and uncertainty. (and God knows how we, each, need an
uplift right now – just something to cling to). They did not know what was
next. They had a sense that all was not well and that they were in great
danger.
There on the top of the mountain they came face to face (in
so far as anyone can in this world) with the Almighty. It was moment of great
fear and great wonder and joy – all in one. Note that Jesus chose not to go to
the top of the mountain on his own. He brought others with him. Each person, on
this mountain, experienced something wonderful and extraordinary. Yet, it was
not an experience of single individuals on their own. It was a shared
experience. The ‘high’ was experienced with Jesus in the midst of the chosen
disciples. More than that, the story tells us that Elijah and Moses were in
their midst. That was an impressive company of persons. Their topic of
conversation (according to Luke
9:30) was about his departure (exodos
in the Greek).
Although the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) tell
us that the disciple John was present at the transfiguration there is no direct
and explicit reference to this event in the Gospel associated with John.
However, it could be said with accuracy that the entire Gospel of John is a
meditation on the inner meaning of the Transfiguration. And the essence of this event is captured in John
1:14:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The huge significance of the presence of Moses and Elijah
would not be missed on the Jewish listeners to the evangelist’s story. Moses
was the dispenser of the law and leader of God’s people. Through his hands came
the ten commandments, the Law and the promises. Elijah was the great prophet
who foretold God’s salvation. Yet, in their midst stood another Prophet in whom
God was well pleased and ready to acknowledge as his only Son.
After this ‘when they looked around, they no longer saw
anyone with them except Jesus.’ (v. 36).
And this is the point. The stage has been vacated, so to speak, by Moses
and Elijah while Jesus is the messiah, prophet and leader now. His time has
come and so has ours. Elijah had come already (Mark 9:13) according to Jesus
(in the person of John the Baptist).
This was one of those moments like the baptism in the
Jordan and later on the cross when Jesus’ Sonship is proclaimed to those ready
to listen. Listening is what we are invited to do in the story of the
transfiguration. The one consistent message from the Father to us is ‘Listen to
him’. Listen to him in ourselves, in others and in the events and environment
of our lives. The famous German
philosopher, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) once wrote:
Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the oftener and the more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above and the moral law within.
We must listen to the voice of honest reason and of concealed
emotion within us as to discern that ‘moral law’ deep within. (And we may need
the help of another.) As the prophet
Jeremiah writes:
I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts (Jer 31:33)
We have had the occasional Transfiguration moment in our own
lives. It was good for us to be there on this mountain. But we could not stay
there for too long. We had to make the descent back and face what we had to
face before we started the climb. However, our hearts were refreshed and,
perhaps, some baggage was lost or thrown off on the way.
It is important to remember these times especially now that
many of us sense isolation, uncertainty and the pain of not knowing when or how we can
reach a new normal of living.
With Jesus, Peter, James and John we can sing out from
within this cruel situation in which we find ourselves along with the whole
world. In this moment of transfiguration we can declare in all honesty what
Habakkuk wrote (3:19)
The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
Postscript
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