The transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ
It’s the 2nd Sunday of Lent and as Catholics, we are supposed to reflect on the stories that we read in the Bible, especially stories that lead to the passion, suffering, and horrible crucifixion and eventual death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. The gospel today tells what happened before the passion of our Lord: the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ in Mt. Tabor. You can read it in Mark 9-2-10.
“Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain. There his appearance was changed before their eyes. Even his clothes shone, becoming as white as no bleach of this world could make them. Elijah and Moses appeared to them; the two were talking with Jesus. Then Peter spoke and 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.”
For they did not know what to say; they were overcome with awe. But a cloud formed, covering them in a shadow, and from the cloud came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” And they looked around, they no longer saw anyone except Jesus with them.
As they came down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept this to themselves, although they discussed with one another what ‘to rise from the dead’ could mean.”
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Two years ago, I was blessed to go to the Holy Land courtesy of Delmar Travel and Tours so I could do a series or episodes on the many holy sites in Jordan and in Israel for my TV show Straight from the Sky. I promised Delmar Travel at least three to four TV shows but in the end, I did eight shows because there were just too many sites to feature in our TV show.
In one of my TV episodes, we did one full show in Mt. Tabor. As our tour bus arrived at the foot of Mt. Tabor, we did not immediately go up the high mountain, but went to a restaurant to eat. Near the corner in that restaurant, there was a sign that said “Nain.”
The story of Nain was written by Luke the Evangelist in Luke 7:11-17 where our Lord Jesus Christ met a large funeral procession and filled with pity for the widow whose only son had died, raised him up and gave him back to his stunned mother. The crowd who joined the procession said, “A great prophet has risen among us. God has visited his people.” I really don’t know whether this story came before or after the Transfiguration.
I’m only mentioning this because Mt. Tabor is a part of Galilee about 17 kilometers from lake Galilee and it is 1,843 ft. high. Going up to Mt. Tabor, the tourist bus took us half way up the mountain. But we had to go down because as the road circles toward the peak, the road narrows and long tourist buses can no longer pass. So we had to move to a small bus and when we got to the top… the view was exhilarating. No doubt, when our Lord Jesus and his disciples went up to the peak of Mt. Tabor, it was a long and arduous climb to the top.
When they got at the peak of Mt. Tabor, our Lord Jesus Christ was transfigured… where his face and his clothes became dazzling white. Then Elijah appeared with Moses and the three of them, including our Lord Jesus Christ were talking to each other.
Then Peter offered the Lord to make three tents for each one of them. But then a dark cloud overshadowed them and the voice of God was heard saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” This was the last time that we would hear about God the Father because clearly, he turned over the kingdom of heaven to his only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ.
So what was the purpose of our Lord Jesus Christ in bringing his disciples to Mt. Tabor? At the end of this gospel, our Lord told his disciples, “As they came down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” At this point we can say that our Lord Jesus Christ brought them to the high mountain to witness the Shekinah glory of God. That cloud that foreshadowed them at the top of the high mountain was the Shekinah Glory cloud of God.
Peter, James and John had a front seat view of the Glory of Heaven… that truly, there is a resurrection of the dead. This is why Elijah and Moses appeared before them and it was some kind of glimpse to their heavenly future. But Biblical scholars say that, our Lord allowed them this peek to the future in preparation for the worse that was yet to come. In short, these Apostles already knew that their master was truly the Son of God. But when the passion Christ came, Peter denied that he knew our Lord Jesus…but only John stayed with him. Yet our Lord Jesus forgave all of them.
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