Transfiguration as a Preview

            The story of the transfiguration of Jesus is a very special story.  Some scholars believe that it is a misplaced resurrection story; but it is placed in Luke’s Gospel as a prefiguring of the glorious time in Jerusalem when Jesus rises again.  He has told his disciples several times that this would take place, but like you and me, they had a very hard time believing it.

           Jesus took Peter, James and John up on the mountain to pray.  While he was praying, a cloud came over them, Jesus face shone brightly and all of a sudden Moses and Elijah were standing with him.  Peter babbled something about building houses, but Jesus ignored this.  Then a voice of God from the cloud spoke and said: This is my beloved Son, listen to him! Nothing more was said.  The disciples and Jesus came down from the mountain to find a crowd of people at the bottom with a man who wanted his son to be healed.  The other disciples had been trying to effect the healing, without any results.  Jesus rebuked the demon that was possessing the son and the young man was healed.  He then was given back to his father. The passage ends with the statement that  All were astounded at the greatness of God.

            The mountain of the Transfiguration is supposedly Mount Tabor in Galilee.  Rosie and I went to that mountain back in 1983 on a tour of the Holy Land.  We were taken up the mountain by a team of wild Palestinian taxi drivers who drove like madmen up a narrow road where we thought we would probably never survive.  Several times, other taxis passed us on the way down while we were on our way up.

            When we arrived at the top, we discovered a peaceful place with a lovely temple that existed.  A German tour group was inside the temple singing hymns.  Strangely, there was a mist covering the top of the mountain that certainly reminded us of the story of the Transfiguration.  It was a holy moment at the top of that mountain.

            What I believe about the Transfiguration is that it was a holy time for those three special apostles to see the Risen Christ in all of his Glory before the time that was coming in Jerusalem that would include the crucifixion of their Lord.  It was a moment for those three to see the Glory of their Lord on full display before the time of his death.  It makes real for me the remarkable truth of the mysterious resurrection of Jesus, something that you and I have never seen, and along with it the promise of eternal life.

            I think that we need to know this because our lives all end in death and we need some certainty about eternal life.  When I have stood in church aisles at a funeral I have always wished that I could preside at a resurrection for the sake of the families involved.  The pain is often almost overwhelming and we need a glimmer of hope in that moment. I think that is what the Transfiguration was supposed to be for those prominent apostles.  Peter never really got the message.  His fear drove him to deny his Lord after the crucifixion; but Peter came around and became one of the great bearers of the truth of Jesus and his love after the resurrection was made real to him.  It was Peter who was specifically forgiven by Jesus for his denials on the shore of the Sea of Galilee when Jesus asked him three times if he loved him and Peter replied each of those times that he loved him.  That is when Jesus told him to feed my sheep. 

            That is the role of the church today.  To acknowledge the truth of the resurrection of Jesus and the certainty of eternal life, our job is to take care of the multitudes among us who have little or nothing.  To take care of the people whom we encounter in our daily lives.  Like Jesus at the bottom of the mountain, when he found the young man who needed to be healed when his disciples were unable to do it, he responded with love and compassion.  He didn’t ask if the young man deserved to be healed, he simply did what needed to be done.  Jesus had a heart full of love for those whom he met. 

            Being sure that our love is on display when we walk through our daily lives is what our Lord asks of us.  We simply need to care. When we do that, we prove to the world the truth of God’s love even in the face of disaster.  God is present in this world in the profound love that we show to each other and to all of those whom the world seems not to love and are excluded.  They are not excluded by God and we need to help them to understand that.