Transfiguration of the Lord
TO CONTEMPLATE HIS TRANSFIGURED FACE:
AN EXPERIENCE THAT EVERY DISCIPLE MUST DO
Immediately after the story of the Transfiguration, the three Synoptic Gospels tell the story of the healing of an epileptic boy. Jesus comes down from the mountain with Peter, James, and John. They see a man break away from the crowd, running to him and asking him for help. My son, my only child—he says—"when the evil spirit seizes him, he suddenly screams. The spirit throws him into a fit, and he foams at the mouth, wearing him out. I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not” (Lk 9:38-40).
Jesus had given them “power and authority to drive out all evil spirits and heal diseases” (Lk 9:1). Why were they not able to carry out their mission?
The reason is soon found: because they have not been on the mountain with the Master. Those who have not seen his glorious face cannot effectively fight the forces of evil that afflict humanity.
Tradition places the transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor, a mountain that rises, isolated, in the middle of the fertile plain of Esdraelon. Covered with holm oak, carobs, and pine trees since ancient times, it was called the holy mountain, and on top, cults to the pagan gods were offered. Today the place invites meditation and prayer. There it is natural to raise our gaze to the sky and our thought to God.
No matter how impressive this experience is, it should be noted that the Gospel does not speak of Tabor but a high mountain. In biblical language, the mountain does not indicate a material place but the inner experience of a manifestation of God when the intimacy with the Lord culminates. Resorting to the language of the mystics, we could call it the spiritual condition of the soul that feels dissolved in God, reaching almost to identify with his thoughts and feelings.
Jesus leaves the plain and leads some disciples to the heights; he moves them away from human reasoning and calculations to introduce them into the inscrutable designs of the Father. He makes them go up to bring them back then, transformed, to the land where they are called to work.
The ones who truly love humanity and want to engage in the construction of the kingdom of God in the world must first raise their eyes to heaven, tune their thoughts and projects with those of the Lord. They must above all have ‘seen’ the one who makes life a gift, not in the dark vestment of the loser, but wrapped in dazzling and glorious light.
On the ‘mountain,’ Jesus looks different from how people judged him. There he experiences a metamorphosis: his disfigured face is transfigured, the darkness of failure illuminates, the worn-out suit of the servant turns into a beautiful royal robe, the darkness of death dissolves in the dawn of Easter.
- To internalize the message, we will repeat:
“Lord, grant us to contemplate the face of the transfigured Christ
in the disfigured face of people.”
First reading: Daniel 7:9-10,13-14
As I watched, Thrones were set up and the Ancient One took his throne. His clothing was bright as snow, and the hair on his head as white as wool. His throne was flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire. A surging stream of fire flowed out from where he sat. Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him, and myriads upon myriads attended him.
The court was convened and the books were opened. As the visions during the night continued, I saw: One like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven. When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations and languages serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.—The Word of the Lord.
The chapter from which the reading is taken opens with a dramatic night vision. Daniel sees emerging from the ocean—it was the symbol of the hostile world and chaos in the ancient Middle East—four huge beasts: a lion, a bear, a leopard and a fourth terrible beast, fearful, by the exceptional strength, capable of crushing everything with its iron teeth (Dn 7:2-8).
The language and images are apocalyptic. References and allusions to the history of the peoples who are symbolized are not difficult to decode because it is the same prophet in the sequel of the story, which clarifies their meaning (Dn 7:17-27). The fierce animals are the four great empires that have taken place in the world and oppressed the people of God.
The lion indicates the bloody reign of Babylon, the damned one, the cruel city that destroyed Jerusalem and its temple; the bear is the people of Mede, greedy and always ready to attack; the leopard with four heads is the symbol of Persian peering in every direction on the prey; the fourth beast, the scariest, depicts the reign of Alexander the Great and his successors, the Diadochi or the six Macedonian generals.
Of these, one is particularly sinister, Antiochus IV, the persecutor of the saints faithful to the law of God. He holds power in the time in which the book of Daniel was redacted. In history, reigns, which were cruel and merciless with the weak, have always succeeded. They were empires that violated peoples' rights, imposed violence and abuse of power, and behaved like wild beasts.
Will the world always be a victim of arrogant rulers whose god is their force? Will the Lord be indifferent to the oppression of his people? These are the distressing questions that Daniel, in the name of God, wants to answer. The great scene from the first part of our reading is introduced (vv. 9-12).
Thrones are placed in heaven. An old man—representing the Lord himself—is seated for judgment and pronounces the sentence: the beasts are deprived of power, and the last one is killed, torn into pieces, and thrown into the fire (Dn 7:9-12). Then what happens? The seer continues to report his revelation: “I continued watching the nocturnal vision. One like a son of man came on the clouds of heaven. He faced the One of Great Age. Dominion, honor and kingship were given him.”
‘Son of Man’ is a Hebrew expression that simply means man. People driven by animal instincts have always managed the world; now no more, one is coming, one with a human heart. Who is this character? He does not come from the sea as the four monsters, but from heaven, that is from God.
The author of the Book of Daniel was not thinking of an individual; he was referring to Israel that, after the great tribulation endured under Antiochus IV, would have received from God an everlasting kingdom that would never set. All the people would be subjugated to him without being oppressed because their king would have had a man’s heart.
With this prophecy, written during the persecution of the wicked Antiochus IV (167-164 B.C.), the author wanted to infuse courage and hope in his people. Oppression—he assured—was coming to an end; still, a few years and God would hand Israel the domination of the world.
When is this prophecy fulfilled? After two or three years, Israel managed to gain political independence, and many felt that it was finally the reign of the ‘son of man’ promised by Daniel. The facts, unfortunately, belied these expectations. The Maccabees—heroic leaders of the Jewish resistance—conquered the throne, soon forgot the covenant with the Lord, and turned into oppressors. They continued to recite the script of the beasts: family feuds, intrigues for power, cruelty, refined court life, religious and moral corruption.
Now we know it, prophecy is not fulfilled with them, but with the advent of Jesus, the ‘son of man’ who began the reign of the saints of the Most High (Mk 14:62). He has staged new actors to recite the ancient script. He changed the script, has introduced a new policy, opposite to what, in every age, has given rise to realms of wild animals: no more climbing to dominate but going down to receive orders; not the enslavement of the weak, but the service rendered to the weak.
His reign did not start with a victory but in defeat. The political powers, economic and religious of his time have coalesced to eliminate him, and they killed him, sure that they had ended his proposal. Instead, his defeat marked the beginning of the new world. Having a divine power, this kingdom of the Son of man, despite the angry opposition that he will always have to deal with, is intended to expand itself and to take possession of all hearts. It will be “like the dawn that becomes brighter until the fullness of day” (Pro 4:18).
Second reading: 2 Peter 1:16-19
Beloved: We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory, “This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.—The Word of the Lord.
The early Christians—and Paul himself—were convinced that the Lord would soon manifest himself in his glory and introduce his faithful in his kingdom. However, towards the end of the first century A.D., a delusion began to spread among the disciples for the Lord’s failure to come. At the same time, the unbelievers mockingly asked: “What has become of the coming of this promise? Since our fathers in faith died, everything still goes on as it was from the beginning of the world” (2 P 3:4).
To undermine the disciples' faith, some skeptics spread even the suspicion that the prophecy of the coming of the Lord was nothing but a myth developed by clever people to control naive and gullible people.
A disciple of Peter answers to these malevolent insinuations. Writing in the name of the master, he contends, as irrefutable evidence of the truth of the message announced, the personal experience of Peter ‘on the holy mountain’ and the testimony given by the apostles who ‘saw’ the greatness of the Lord Jesus. Wrapped in the glory of a divine epiphany, they have ‘heard’ the voice of Heaven: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
It was not an invented fairy tale. It was a revelation received by those who have lived with Jesus of Nazareth. They, illuminated from above, have contemplated his bright and glorious face.
He continues: we are like sentinels who keep watch at night and stare at the horizon, anxiously waiting for the bright “morning star” (Rev 2:28; 22:16), the bearer of a new day, to appear.
In anticipation of this joyous sunrise, the faces of believers are enlightened, and their steps guided by a lamp shining in a world still shrouded in dense darkness. The lamp is the word of God transmitted by the sacred Scriptures (v. 19).
Gospel: Luke 9:28b-36
Jesus took Peter, John and James and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standingwith him. As they were about to part from 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.” But he did not know what he was saying. While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” After the voice had spoken,Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen. —The Gospel of the Lord.
This passage is sometimes interpreted as a brief preview of the experience of paradise, granted by Jesus to a group of friends to prepare them to endure the ordeal of his passion and death. One should always be very cautious when approaching a text of the Gospel because, at first glance, it seems to be a chronicle of facts. A closer look often reveals a text of theology drawn up according to the canons of biblical language. The account of the Transfiguration of Jesus reported almost identically by Mark and Matthew is an example.
We will focus on some significant aspects that are found only in Luke’s version. This evangelist alone specifies the reason why Jesus goes up the mountain: he goes to pray (v. 28). Jesus usually spends much time in prayer. He did not know how his life would be; he did not know what destiny was waiting for him; he gradually discovered it through the enlightenment he received during prayer.
It is in one of these intense spiritual moments that Jesus becomes aware that he is called to save people, not through triumph but defeat. Halfway through his Gospel, Luke starts to reveal the first signs of failure: the crowd, at first enthusiastic, abandon Jesus, some take him for a celebrity and some others for a subversive, and his enemies plot to kill him. It is understandable that he now asks himself the way that the Father wants him to tread. For this,‘he goes up the mountain to pray.’
During prayer, the aspect of his face changes (v. 29), not as the other evangelists narrate. Luke does not speak of the transfiguration but a change of the aspect of his face. This splendor is the sign of the glory that wraps one who is united to God. Even the face of Moses became brilliant when he entered dialogue with the Lord (Ex 34:29-35).
Every authentic encounter with God leaves some visible traces on the face of the person. After the celebration of the Word lived intensely, we return to our houses more joyful, more serene, smiling, and willing to be tolerant, understanding, and generous. Even our faces are relaxed and seem to emit light.
The light on Jesus’ face indicates that, during prayer, he understood and owned the Father’s plan. He understood that his sacrifice would not be complete with defeat but in the glory of the resurrection. During this spiritual experience of Jesus, two characters, Moses and Elijah (vv. 30-31), appear. They are symbols of the Law and the Prophets; they represent all the Old Testament. All holy books of Israel have the purpose of leading to a dialog with Jesus; they are oriented toward him. Without Jesus, the Old Testament is incomprehensible, and Jesus, without the Old Testament, remains a mystery. On Easter day, to make his disciples understand the meaning of his death and resurrection, he will refer to the Old Testament: “Then starting with Moses, and going through the prophets, he explained to them everything in the Scriptures concerning himself” (Lk 24:27).
Mark and Matthew also introduce Moses and Elijah, but only Luke records the theme of their dialog with Jesus: they spoke of his exodus, his passage from this world to the Father. The light that revealed to him his mission came from the Word of God in the Old Testament. There, he discovered that the Messiah was not destined to triumph but to defeat; that he must suffer much, be humiliated and rejected by people, as is said of the servant of the Lord (Is 53).
The three disciples: Peter, James, and John, understand nothing of what was happening (vv. 32-33). They were sleepy. Having climbed up the mountain, they were tired, and the scene occurs in the night (v. 37). Let us take note of a significant aspect: in moments that recall the passion and death of Jesus, these three disciples are found sleepy. In the garden of Olives, they sleep (Mk 14:32-42; Lk 22:45). It is strange that in crucial moments, their eyes are heavy.
Biblical authors often symbolically used sleep. Paul, for example, writes to the Romans: “This is the time to awake … the night is almost over and the day is at hand” (Rom 13:11-12). With this pressing reminder, he likes to shake the Christians from spiritual lethargy; he invites them to open their mind to understand and assimilate the moral proposal of the Gospel. In the passage, sleep indicates the inability of the disciples to understand and accept that the Messiah of God must pass through death to enter his glory. When Jesus performed miracles, when the crowd acclaimed him, the three apostles were all awake. But when he starts talking about the gift of life, the necessity to occupy the last place and become servants, they do not like to understand; slowly, they close their eyes and start to sleep.
The three tents are the most difficult detail to explain (the evangelist notes that not even Peter understood precisely what he was talking about). The one who builds a tent wants to fix his abode in a place and not move around, at least for a time. Jesus, instead, is always on the go. He must fulfill an ‘exodus’—today’s Gospel says—and the disciples are invited to follow him. The three tents perhaps indicate the desire of Peter to stay put into perpetuating the joy he experienced in a moment of intense prayer with the Master.
To better understand it, we can relate to our experience: after a long dialog with the Lord, we do not like to return to our daily lives. The concrete problems and uncertainties that we must confront cause us fear. We know that listening to the Word of God is not all. We cannot spend our whole life in church or retreat houses. It is necessary to get out to encounter and serve our brothers and sisters, help those who suffer and be close to anyone who needs love. After having discovered the way to go in prayer, we need to put ourselves on the way with Jesus, who goes up to Jerusalem to offer his life.
According to the biblical language, the cloud (v. 34), going down from the top of the mountain indicates the invisible presence of God. Above all, in Exodus, the call to the cloud is very frequent. Moses enters the cloud that covers the mountain (Ex 24:15-18), the cloud goes down on the tent of meeting, and Moses cannot enter because the Lord is present (Ex 40:34-35).
Peter, James, and John were therefore introduced to the glory of God, and there they had an illumination that made them understand the way of the Teacher: the conflict with the religious powers, the persecution, passion, and death. They become aware that their destiny will be the same, and they are afraid. From the cloud, a voice comes out (v. 35). It is God’s interpretation of all that will happen to Jesus. For people, it will be a defeat; however, for the Father, Jesus is “the elect,” the faithful servant whom he favors.
God is pleased in the one who follows his word. Listen to him—the voice from heaven says—even when he seems to propose complicated paths, narrow roads, paradoxical and humanly absurd choices. At the end of the episode (v. 36), Jesus is there alone. Moses and Elijah disappear. This shows the function of the Old Testament: to bring it all to Jesus and to make people understand Jesus. In the end, the eyes must remain focused on him.
It is not easy to believe in the revelation of Jesus and to accept his proposal of life. It is not easy to follow him in his ‘exodus.’ To trust him is very risky. He indeed promises a glorious future, but our experience here and now is rejection and suffering. The seed thrown on the ground is destined to produce much fruit, but today, the seed must die to itself. When and how will we assimilate this ‘wisdom of God’ so contrary to human logic?
The answer comes from the annotation, apparently superfluous, at the beginning oftoday’s Gospel. According to Luke, eight days after the episode of the “transfiguration,” Jesus dramatically announced his passion, death, and resurrection, then eight days after that, he proclaimed the conditions for his discipleship: “renounce yourself and take up your cross every day” (Lk 9:22-27).
The eighth day for Christians has an exact meaning. It is the day after the Sabbath, the day of the Lord, in which the community meets to listen to the Word and break the bread (Lk 24:13). Here is what Luke means with the call to the eighth day: that every Sunday, the disciples who gather to celebrate the Eucharist go up the mountain; they encounter the face of the transfigured Lord, the Risen One; they verify in faith that his “exodus” is not over with death, and they hear again the voice from heaven that invites them: Listen to him!
Peter, James, and John coming down from the mountain, “kept this to themselves at the time, telling no one of anything they had seen” (v. 36). They could not speak about what they did not understand; the exodus of Jesus was not yet fulfilled. We, today, coming out of our churches instead, can announce to all what our faith made us discover: the one who gives life for love enters in the glory of God.
