The transfiguration of Jesus Christ

Today’s Sunday Gospel is about the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ in Mount Tabor and it was writing by the Evangelist Mark on Mk 9:2-10. We’ve written about the Transfiguration many times before and I hope to present something different this time.

“Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. 4 Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents; one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.

7 Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; then from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” 8 Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them. 9 As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead means.”

All Christendom celebrate the Transfiguration of Jesus as one of the most dramatic events in his life here on earth because for the very first time since his disciples followed him, he gave them a glimpse of the afterlife or a virtual peek into heaven! Most ancient cultures always believed that death is not the end all… it is merely a passage into the afterlife and the three apostles saw a preview of heaven through the transfiguration of Jesus.

In hindsight, we can say that our Lord Jesus purposely brought with him his closest apostles so they too would have a clearer understanding of where he was ultimately going to God in heaven. This is why Jesus charged them not to talk about what they saw in the Transfiguration not until he had risen from the dead. Although even then, they still could not understand what the Lord mean when he talked about rising from the dead.

The Transfiguration is celebrated by the Catholic Church as part of the Lenten season and has a special purpose as it truly shows us our ultimate goal and that is also to be with God in heaven. But like the steep climb up Mt. Tabor, reaching our goal means going through some kind of self-sacrifice or denial of things we love to do. This is why we fast and refrain from eating meat on Fridays. We may be denying our physical bodies, but strengthening our soul and our spirit because it is also pleasing to God.

One of the best ways to appreciate the Transfiguration is to read more about the life of Moses and Elijah in the Bible and then, imagine that you were also there when that event happened. It is not difficult to imagine the reactions of Peter, James and John who saw Moses and Elijah, Judaism’s greatest personalities. But as we learned, Peter’s reaction to this is to tell Jesus that he would build three tents (or tabernacles) for them. Come now, what was Peter really thinking… that they would stay long enough that they would need tents while they are there?

Unfortunately Peter was too simple minded to realize what the Lord was showing them through the Transfiguration. First that Jews believed that the Messiah would come when Elijah comes back. The Transfiguration was virtually a validation or confirmation of Jesus’ messianic mission. It also gives us a reflection of what Jesus said, “He had some to fulfill the law, not abolish it.” The appearance of Moses and Elijah represents the Law and the Prophets.

In a way, Jesus is teaching Peter that this is where all of us are going. Remember during the confession of Peter in Matthew 16: 13-19 where he correctly said that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God? Well a few verses later, when Jesus told him that he would be handed over to the elders and will be killed and will be raised on the third day, the reaction of Peter was very dramatic when he said, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” The reply of Jesus to Peter was equally dramatic, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me You are thinking no as God does, but as human beings do!”

If you read the Bible stories from Adam down to the Prophets, God always spoke to them in his own way. But in the Transfiguration, it is not Jesus speaking, but the voice of God himself that the Apostles heard “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” This is the last time God speaks out in the Bible. Now he speaks to us from within our hearts because we can be tabernacles where God can reside within us if we confessed our sins and took Holy Communion because our Lord Jesus Christ is truly present, body, blood, soul and divinity in the Holy Eucharist, then you can say we’re transfigured.