Jesus took Peter, James, and John
and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them,
and his clothes became dazzling white,
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
For a few precious moments the disciples were allowed to see Jesus more truly as he was, radiant with glorious light. They witnessed the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah) bear witness to him (see Romans 3:21). It was so powerful of a scene as to overwhelm them and leave them at a loss for words.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
"Rabbi, it is good that we are here!
Let us make three tents:
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
With a consolation so great it was only natural that Peter would want to try to capture it and prolong it indefinitely. But that is not the way of consolations. The Transfiguration was given to them to help them come to a deeper faith in Jesus himself, faith to which they could hold even when he didn't radiate glory, which could strengthen them even during the dark hour of his Passion. It planted and seed of hope in their hearts so that even after all was apparently lost they might dare to hope again.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;
This was the cloud which had accompanied Israel through the dessert on their Exodus journey, which came to rest on the tent of meeting in the dessert, and finally on the temple built by Solomon. It was this same cloud of glory that overshadowed Mary to bring about the birth of Jesus within her. It implied that Jesus himself was now the place of God's permanent and abiding presence among his people.
"This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone
but Jesus alone with them.
Everything that the Father had to say was spoken to us through the person of his Son. There was nothing left unsaid that the Father would need to add or clarify, everything had been made known through Jesus who revealed the Father, since "[w]hoever has seen me has seen the Father" (see John 14:9). We see in the Letter to Hebrews this same sense that Jesus is the fullness and final form of divine revelation.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world (see Hebrews 1:1-2).
The full meaning of the Transfiguration would not be evident until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. What they were seeing was a preview of the glory of the risen Lord. But apart from the full context of his suffering and death it only revealed part of the story. We too have been given the light of faith but the full path of our own story is not yet clear. We will ourselves likely face times of darkness in our own lives as we take up our crosses to follow after Jesus. It probably won't be as extreme as the darkness which Abraham must have experienced when he was called to not spare his own son but hand him over. But Abraham, without understanding, was able to trust. Although he probably didn't reason it this explicitly, "[h]e considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back" (see Hebrews 11:9). We, who have been given a greater light of certainty about the resurrection can therefore remain firm in faith even in the darkest of times. This is the certainty of Paul when he says, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?" This confidence is meant to be God's gift to us. Let us open our hearts to receive it.
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