The Transfiguration

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, one of the more important (if sometimes overlooked) feasts of the liturgical year.

This event definitively revealed the divinity of Christ. It appears in the three synoptic Gospels (Matthew 17:1–9, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36). Two of the witnesses refer to it in their writings, but they do not tell the story (2 Peter 1:16–18, John 1:14).

Let’s walk through Saint Luke’s telling, which is the Gospel for the feast this year.

Jesus took Peter, John, and James 
and went up a 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 standing with 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.

The Law and the Prophets in the persons of Moses and Elijah are seen to be fulfilled in Jesus. Exhausted from their climb up the mountain, the Apostles are jolted awake. Peter gibbers, but he makes an effort to find some way to honour them all. James and John, those “sons of thunder”, are merely thunderstruck it appears.

Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;
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.

As at His baptism by John, Jesus’ identity is confirmed by God the Father. If the apostles were terrified before, I can only imagine their state of mind now.

And then… silence. The flash and bang were gone. The ghostly figures were gone. The Apostles stood at the mountain top, alone with the Lord. In silence.

After the Resurrection, Saint Peter (at least) preached on the subject, particularly if one accepts the ancient tradition of the Fathers that Saint Mark compiled his Gospel from a series of lectures that Peter gave on the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

In any case, in his second letter, which is another of today’s readings, Peter testifies in his own powerful words:

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.

(2 Peter 1:16-19)

No recorded words have survived from the second witness, Saint James.

We conclude, as does sacred scripture itself, with Saint John, the third witness. Near the end of the magnificent prologue to his Gospel, we have his testimony in passing:

And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.

(John 1:14)

And amen to that!