Transfiguration Sunday. Can it be that Lent is right on the horizon? The lectionary readings have so quickly, perhaps too quickly, punctuated the wondrous intensities of Advent, Jesus’ birth, early epiphanies and now transfiguration.
Transfiguration is the stunning summit epiphany* before turning toward Calvary. It is a brief, loaded account, without equal. Jesus goes to a new height (not yet Calvary) with his inner circle, Peter, James and John, to pray. Here, their eyes are opened to an unforgettable vision.
These select disciples see Jesus suddenly transformed into light — his face shining like the sun, and his clothes dazzling white. They see the giants of law and prophecy in the Hebrew scriptures, Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. All five of them are enveloped by a bright cloud. Saturating light now saturated by a voice, The Voice, which echoes the revelatory words heard at Jesus’ baptism: “This is my son whom I love, with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.” Terrified, the disciples fall to the ground. Then Jesus touched them and said, “Get up. Don’t be afraid.”
Every moment in this story is climactic. Space and time and ordinary perceptions evaporate into the holy, utter absorbing, mysterious cloud of unknowing. Just days before, Jesus had been talking with them about his suffering and death. They could not accept or even imagine it. Now they are witnessing the unimaginable other extreme: his luminous, illuminating glory. They share an overwhelming and provocative vision of the ultimate reality of the one who conquers death. Mysterium tremendum et fascinans, as one theologian said. Terrifying and alluring.
What does it all mean? Who can take it all in? Moses and Elijah and The Voice all speaking to Jesus in the disciples’ hearing. Jesus transfigured into a vision of divine light. Jesus’ divine identity and mission affirmed, again, by the ever-creating Author, at this point in the middle of Jesus’ ministry. The transfigured one touching the disciples with a new dimension of authority and tenderness. What did each of them make of it? What do I?
Astonishment, questions, joy… these weave through my reflections. I have entered this story in many ways over the years, trying on the perspectives of all the characters. Each one captivates the thinking mind, the prayerful heart, the imagination. Perhaps the account is so brief because it defies description, much less interpretation. Yet what stays with me, and gets clearer and clearer, are the instructions.
Listen to him.
Get up.
Don’t be afraid.
These are simple profound instructions. It seems to me the important thing is to take them in once and for all. To respond, as faithfully as possible, in the ever-changing circumstances of life, day by day. Perhaps I should write these words on post-its and stick them everywhere, from the computer screen to the dashboard of the car. Perhaps every faith community could say these words at every gathering. And when I am alone, as was Jesus at the end, perhaps they will be engraved in my soul. That I can pray for. Listen to him. Get up. Don’t be afraid.
–Ann Dean, Dayspring Church
Reflection Questions
- What epiphany do you remember that altered your view of life?
- What authority figures in your life have had the greatest influence?
- What spiritual practice has helped you be unafraid?
