And he was transfigured before them;
his face shone like the sun
and his clothes became white as light.
Jesus provided Peter, James, and John with a glimpse that revealed more truly who he was even before he "emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men" (see Philippians 2). This was the glory that Jesus had together with the Father before the world began (see John 17:5). This was indeed the light shining in the darkness that the darkness could not overcome (see John 1:5). It is why we confess Jesus to not only be God from God but also light from light in the Creed.
his face shone like the sun
When Moses encountered the word of God in Sinai his face became radiant like (see Exodus 34:29). An implication of the Transfiguration was that this radiance was encounter was with the radiance of Jesus himself, the true eternal word of the Father. This explained why Jesus himself took it for granted that Moses knew and wrote about him.
"For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me" (see John 5:46).
The people of Israel were expecting another prophet like Moses to come and fulfill their hopes, and Elijah to return to usher in the Messianic age.
"The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen" (see Deuteronomy 18:15).
"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes" (see Malachi 4:5).
Together Moses and Elijah were now present to certify that Jesus was himself the fulfillment of these hopes. But it was not to be a matter of the three of them merely existing side by side in their own tents on equal footing. It was rather that everything that went before in the Law and the prophets would now be properly understood only in reference to Jesus himself, hence "when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone". This fulfillment of the Old Testament found in Christ explains what happened when Jesus himself opened the Scriptures to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself" (see Luke 24:27).
But this revelation of the identity of Jesus, this testimony of the Father to his beloved Son, and this assurance of the fulfillment of the hope of Israel could not be understood apart from the cross, could not be shared "until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead". The reason this was so was because the purpose of the granting this experience to Peter, James, and John was not merely to hint at an invisible reality present in Jesus himself but also to reveal the new life Jesus made possibly for humanity by his resurrection when he "destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel". Specifically, the reason Peter, James, and John were given this assurance was to strengthen them for the experience of seeing the horrific death of Jesus, to plant a seed of faith in their hearts that was strong enough to give hope even in spite of every external appearance being to the contrary. For this reason we see that Jesus did not yet dwell in this momentary manifestation of glory as though nothing remained to be done but to enjoy it. And after his Father told the disciples to listen to him his first words, encapsulating the whole experience into something they could bring and hold with them, were "Rise, and do not be afraid".
Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk
and from your father's house to a land that I will show you.
We too are called to go forth on a way we do not know to a destination we cannot see, the way of the cross. But God has given us the light of faith in Jesus himself to strengthen us for this journey, and to assure us that, even in spite of every appearance to the contrary, if we follow the path he has for us we will find the blessings God intends for the world.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
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