Transfiguration Moments

From the Gospel, Jesus took Peter, James and John and went up to the mountain to pray.  While he was praying, his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white…Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son;  listen to him.”  Peter said to Jesus, “Master it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”  The sight of Jesus transfigured in his risen glory, flanked by two of the most significant leaders of their nation’s history, was unmistakably impressive to the disciples.  It is no surprise that Peter wanted to hold onto the moment, pitch some tents, and stay awhile.  Wasn’t this hour the summation of a career, as good as it was likely to get?  Why leave, when it was literally downhill from here?  From Peter’s perspective, it would be easier to stay on the mountaintop, but that wasn’t the mission of Jesus.

What Peter didn’t understand was something Paul would later explain, that Jesus did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at.”  Jesus did not hold onto golden moments, or hang out in towns where the healings and teaching made him something of a superstar.  Rather, Jesus emptied something to take on our humanity.  That was the plan.  And he kept to the plan all the way to the cross.

What is the meaning and purpose of the Transfiguration of Jesus?  Jesus knew very well that His journey to Jerusalem, his passion and death, were going to be overwhelming for His followers.  They would need a faith perspective to make sense out of His suffering and death.  To sustain them in their moments of questioning and doubts and disbelief and desperation, Jesus wanted to provide His disciples with a glimpse of Him in his risen glory.  Being filled with the Transfiguration faith perspective, they could better trust that even His passion and death were part of the mystery of God’s saving love for us.

For ourselves as well, as we wrestle with the cross in the events of our lives, when we begin to question whether God is with us in our moments of crisis, may we in faith be able to experience the Transfiguration moments in our life story.  May we identify the moments when we are very much aware of the mystery God’s love in our lives.  What are they?  They are different moments for each of us.  Perhaps, as with Jesus, we are touched with our own mother’s love for us, the relationships of our lives when we are gifted with the love of another, the mystery and awe we experience in the presence of children, the beauty of a sunrise, and a moment of solitude when we experience the mystery of Christ within us.  These Transfiguration moments will serve as flashbacks to remind us of God’s unconditional love for us.  This is the grace of the Transfiguration event.