Transfiguration: Jesus Glowing In Glory!

(Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord Yr. A)

     Today we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus. Today’s celebration marks a crucial moment in the earthly ministry of Christ: the manifestation of His radiant glory to his three privileged apostles: Peter, James, and John in the presence of the Old Testament figures: Moses and Elijah. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Christ’s Transfiguration aims at strengthening the apostles’ faith in anticipation of his Passion: the ascent onto the ‘high mountain’ prepares for the ascent to Calvary” (CCC 568). Indeed, the event of the Transfiguration reveals partly the true identity of Jesus, when the veil covering his identity was uncovered for his disciples to have a glimpse of Him and His glory. This was just a vision, but the real drama that will unfold his full identity will come at the Mount of Calvary. Jesus took three of his apostles to Mount Tabor and revealed himself to them in a unique and divine experience, his Mission as New Moses, New Elijah and the Son of God.

     The first reading (Dan. 7:9-10, 13-14) from the prophecy of Daniel introduces us to the event of the Transfiguration. This passage with the visions of Daniel pre-empts the episode of the Gospel. Therein, we see the nocturnal visions of Prophet Daniel. Daniel in the period of tribulation and exile saw through the darkness of tribulation, a history, salvation, he saw the work of God and God Himself, who mounts His throne. He saw open books, which denote a plan, a project of God, he saw something that the Israelites could not see at that time. The prophet saw beyond the reality. And this “seeing beyond” serves as the interpretative key to the Feast we are celebrating today. Besides, at the heart of the vision of Prophet Daniel is the Son of man who comes on the clouds and his sovereignty and kingship. He narrated that people from all walks of life serve him and that his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, such indeed is the kingdom of our God! Daniel’s vision of the son of man coming on the cloud prefigures Jesus whose identity was revealed by the voice of the Father from the cloud.

     The Gospel passage (Mt. 17:1-9) presents the event of Jesus’ transfiguration. Jesus took three of his apostles to Mount Tabor and revealed himself to them in a unique and divine experience, his Mission as New Moses, New Elijah and the Son of God. He is the fulfilment of both the law and the prophets. The transfiguration looks backward and forward; it looks backwards to the origin and real identity of Jesus, and looks forward in anticipation to the Passion and subsequent glorification of Jesus at the Resurrection event. St. Mathew situates the event of the Transfiguration in the part of his Gospel where he speaks about the revelation of the Messiah (13:53-17:27); the solemn proclamation by Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (16:13-20) and lastly after the proclamation of the Passion (16:21-28).

     The word transfiguration simply means change of figure or the change of form. But transfiguration as in the event of Jesus is more than mere change of figure. Symbolically, it is an anticipation of the resurrection. Although, in Greek the word “metamórphosi” which is translated as transfiguration, indicates something more than a change of figure, it means to go beyond the form, it entails the revelation of what was hidden. Thus, his transfiguration meant the revelation of the hidden form, figure and identity of Jesus. It went beyond the perception of Jesus as just Man, instead therein, He was revealed as True God and True Man. In the Transfiguration of Jesus we see rays of Jesus’ divinity, which was somewhat hidden by his humanity, he offered us an anticipation of his future glorification and demonstration that his death on Calvary will not be the end, there is the resurrection, and death will not have the final word!

     As a matter of fact, the overriding question that readily comes to mind after reading this passage of the Gospel is: why were only these three Apostles chosen to be present? Why not all of the Twelve or even a larger group of the disciples? For if it is for strengthening of faith, every disciple of Christ needed that, before witnessing the great trial of the Lord’s Passion and Death. The Fathers of the Church too, reflected over this question, and after his reflections St. John Damascene opined that St. Peter was chosen in order “to show him that the testimony which he had borne was confirmed by the testimony of the Father; and because he was about to become the president of the whole Church.” (Cf. Homily on the Transfiguration). St. John Damascene equally reasoned that the presence of James owes to the fact that he would be the first of the apostles to die as a martyr (cf. Acts 12:2). Therefore, St. James in a sense represented the apostles who were not present for the Transfiguration. And lastly, St. John Damascene maintains that St. John was present because “he was, as it were, the most pure instrument of theology, that beholding the glory of the Son of God, which is not subject to time, he might declare, In the beginning was the Word.” (Cf. Homily on the Transfiguration). Indeed, those words, begin the prologue of St. John’s Gospel. The prologue culminates in the words: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14). Some exegetes interpret this mention of Christ’s glory as a reference to the Transfiguration that the Beloved Apostle John experienced. As a matter of fact, after their experiences of fear and uncertainty, Christ gave to those three privileged apostles the grace of witnessing the Transfiguration not only to strengthen their own faith, but also to prepare them to preach that faith to the world. Little wonder, as they descended the mountain Jesus told them: “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” (Mt 17:9).

        In his narrative, Mathew provides a number of fascinating factors: ●Mathew and Luke unlike Mark mentioned about the change of Jesus’ face and countenance respectively, “his face shone like the sun” (v.2). ●Only Mathew compared the whiteness of Jesus’ garments to light (v.2). The splendour of his face and the whiteness of the garments indicate the glory of God manifested in Jesus. ●Moses and Elijah are the two of the most important figures in the Old Testament, Moses represents the law that Jesus has come to bring to fulfilment, while Elijah represents the prophecies that Jesus has come to realize. He is therefore the Promised Messiah. Jesus is the New legislator who will give men a unique commandment and the synthesis of all other commandments: love, and as the new prophet who will proclaim to men the secrets of the heart of his Father. Thus as the new Moses and new Elijah he will realize his vocation and manifest the love of the Father. ●What was the content of his discussion with Moses and Elijah? Only St. Luke opined that Moses and Elijah were speaking “of his exodus, which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem” (Lk. 9:31), that is, his Passion. ●Mathew like the other synoptic reported the voice that came from the cloud saying: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, listen to him.” The content of the message of the voice of the Father is a revelation that in terms of what Jesus does (his works) he can be compared to Moses and Elijah, but at the level of being he is more than them, because he is the Son of God! Secondly, we are all invited to listen to him, listening to him entails following his examples and threading the paths he has charted for us. The voice of the Father from the clouds reveals who Jesus is: “This is my Son.” God the Father reveals that Jesus is not only a man, He is also God. The context of the transfiguration event is a place where God declared the identity of the Son: “This is my beloved Son, listen to him”. After the Father’s voice, Jesus readily climbed down from the mountain of glory to the valley of human predicament and suffering. While he was coming down from the mountain Jesus ordered his disciples not to talk about the transfiguration until after his resurrection. ●In Mathew, there was a command of silence until after the resurrection. Mathew reported this command, Mark said: ‘he charged them”, but Luke omitted it. Why this command? It is because it will lack logicality, if the transfiguration is disclosed before the death and resurrection that would imply glory without the cross. At the heart of this narrative therefore, is the age-long assertion: “No cross, no crown”.

        Indeed, let us imagine the scenario at Tabor, before the apostles: Peter, James and John, and the vision of the transfigured Lord. It was indeed an atmosphere of bliss and indescribable joy that made them to be bewildered and overwhelmed. They saw the resplendent glory that effused from Jesus. Then out of bewilderment and fear, Peter spoke up: “It is wonderful for us to be here.” They wanted to remain there. Peter went as far as coming up with a concrete proposal on how to realize that dream or project: “I will make three booths.” At the heart of that event, Mathew tells us that the disciples were afraid, and Jesus intervened and calmed their fear with his reassuring touch and voice. As a matter fact, the Scriptures portray fear as man’s reaction to a theophany. “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead, but he laid his right hand on me and said, Do not be afraid…” (Rev. 1:17). And this fear was conquered only by the encouraging word of Jesus (cf. Mt. 14:27; 28:5, 10). Jesus came and touched them, saying; “Rise, and have no fear”, and they began to walk down to plain ground. There is a human tendency to remain in a place considered to be a comfort zone, just like the three apostles, even though they were afraid, but the mountain at that point became a comfort zone and they wanted to remain there to enjoy the tranquillity of the mountain and the “divine display”. They wanted to remain in the mere vision of glory, but Jesus led them down to the plain ground where he has to face his destiny on the Cross, where they will see the real glory, not a vision. Many a times, we are also like the apostles who desired to remain on mount Tabor, without realizing the necessity of passing through Calvary.

     What are those places and environments in your life that you have declared: “it is wonderful to be here”, of course, with the desire to remain there? Examine those moments and places very well and see if they lead you to your destiny, to your goal, to your dreams and aspirations in life, or they will only cause a spiritual abortion to the realization of your dreams. It is really true that sometimes the Lord leaves us in such places or environments for sometimes and he comes later very close to us to say: “Rise, do not be afraid.” In fact, in the destiny of every man or woman, especially of every Christian, there is a Tabor, a place, a situation from which he or she has to climb down in order to climb the Calvary, to arrive at a real glory not a mere vision. Therefore, we all make this experience, but what makes the difference is the attitude of each person. Here, the disciple of Jesus has to distinguish himself or herself from a non-believer. How? By and through the response he or she gives to that invitation of Jesus: “Rise”, not just rise, but rise and move down towards the realization of your goal. Drawing the issue further, the transfiguration of Jesus is a sign and a prophecy of what will become of us one day. Our Christian life is tailored in being and becoming, between reality and hope, between the already and the not yet. Our being, our reality or our already is in Christ. Little wonder, the apostle reminds us: “You are in Christ Jesus” (1Cor. 1:30).

     Be that as it may, the most touching aspect of this event is the invitation of Jesus to the three apostles: ‘get up’ and thus to go down: to go down from Tabor entails going courageously towards God’s will, following the Lamb wherever he goes (cf. Rev.14:4). We need to embark on this existential and spiritual movement. The three apostles wouldn’t have arrived at the joy of the Resurrection, if they had remained on Tabor. Likewise us we cannot experience the glory of the Lord if we do not follow Him courageously, even when it means sacrificing our comfort zones, the things and persons that make us feel good. The three apostles had to follow Jesus and go down from Tabor, even though it was a wonderful place for them. Therefore, you too need to make a move. Go! Do not be afraid!

     In our second reading (2Pt. 1:16-19), we listened to the testimony of Peter concerning the event of the Transfiguration. We equally see the effects of that event in his life when toward the end of his apostolic ministry, he recounted how the experience of the Transfiguration helped him to comprehend his own role: “We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable.” (2 Pt 1:18–19a)

   Above all, even though we are not part of the selected few that witnessed the glory and majesty of the Lord, as disciples of His, we are all called to allow ourselves to be transfigured and transformed through his presence, his word and especially through the irresistible symbol of his glory: the Cross. Child of God the glory of God is upon you, it is all over you, you will be constantly transfigured from glory to glory as you fellowship with the Holy Spirit and in deeper prayer. We cannot but remember the testimony of Stephen (Acts 6:15), the word of God said that his face looked to them like the face of an angel, when he was arrested and brought to the council. Only those that hearken to his voice, as instructed by the Father can be transfigured. Dearest in Christ like the three chosen disciples, may we readily follow the invitation of Jesus; so that He will take us to his glory too. Amen! Pray for me too dear friends as i celebrate my 10th anniversary as a Catholic Priest today!

 (Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)