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SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
Link to the Sunday Readings
Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother, John,
and led them up a high mountain. There,
he was transfigured before them;
his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared, conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them; then from the cloud came a voice that said,
"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."
When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying,
"Get up, and do not be afraid."
And when the disciples raised their eyes,
they saw no one except Jesus.
Mt 17:1-9
In recent SBT commentaries on the Transfiguration, I have offered the same suggestion: namely, that it is not that Jesus was actually transformed but that Peter, James and John were finally able to behold his divinity. In other words, it was on that holy mountain that, for a few extraordinary moments, these disciples were able to SEE without any human limitations. What they experienced was not just an epiphany but a theophany -- a blinding, terrifying event that unveiled the presence of the Holy One in their midst. In each of the synoptic gospels, the Transfiguration occurs after Jesus' first prediction of his Passion and his teachings on the cost of discipleship. Interestingly enough, the disciples see after Jesus has rebuked Peter for not seeing. Again, both Matthew and Mark record Peter's objection to Jesus' prophecy and Jesus' response: "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does but as human beings do" (Mt 16:23).
It is natural to think as humans think and, naturally, this is how most of us think most of the time. We see things from a logical or practical perspective while assuming that God does as well; or we interpret reality according to our own assumptions and vested interests. However, as scripture reminds us, God's ways are not necessarily our ways; nor are God's thoughts our thoughts (Is 55:8-9). The Transfiguration, then, is Jesus' answer to Peter's viewpoint; it also reveals that the events to come are divinely endorsed. Structurally speaking, the narrative is crucial to an understanding of the Passion for it dispels any idea that Jesus was a helpless victim who was clueless about where his actions would lead him.
But as with any biblical text, there are multiple layers of meaning and so much more we can take away than a single message. In Luke's gospel, Jesus led Peter, James and John up the mountain to pray and it is while he was praying that "his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white" (Lk 9:29).The text does not suggest that Jesus and his disciples were praying together but, rather, that Jesus was praying while his disciples observed him -- or were praying on their own. It is possible that Jesus was so deep in prayer, so at one with God, that his disciples could perceive his true nature. What they also beheld, however, is what they themselves could become if they learned to pray as Jesus prayed.
When we are "at one" with God, when we let go of our personas and agendas and instead bring our authentic ourselves into our encounter with the Holy One, we, too, are transfigured. Leaving behind all our wants, desires, fears and complaints, we enter a state of union so profound that we can lose all sense of time and place. The light within each of us becomes one with the Light that is the source of our being. Different faiths have different ways of naming this Light but for Christians it is the Light of Christ that transforms us; and when we surrender to this Light, we manifest the divinity within.
"And I entered, and with the eye of my soul—such as it was—saw above the same eye of my soul and above my mind the Immutable Light. It was not the common light, which all flesh can see; nor was it simply a greater one of the same sort, as if the light of day were to grow brighter and brighter, and flood all space. It was not like that light, but different, yea, very different from all earthly light whatever."
St. Augustine, Confessions
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