Today we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration. You can read the account of this in three of the Gospels, Matthew chapter 17 verses 1-11. Mark 9:2-9 and Luke 9:28-36. This takes place Shortly after Peter claims that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah and Jesus predicts his(Jesus') death.
He takes Peter, James and John out for a mountain hike. Now when they get to the top much to their amazement Jesus is literally transfigured before them. They suddenly see him as he truly is.. radiant! What an amazing moment this must have been, here they were with their friend, who they were beginning to get to know, seeing him do the most incredible things and saying the most outlandish things and suddenly they "know" deep in their hearts that he is who he says he is. No wonder they threw themselves face down on the floor. They were being given a glimpse of a heavenly reality, the veil was lifted and they became overwhelmed. When Peter finally has the courage to look up he sees Jesus talking with Moses and Elijha. This always causes me to ponder, how did they know who they were? Was it a divine revelation, instinct or was this added later when Jesus told them? Possibly it was because they knew their Scriptures. There stood before them was the "law giver" and the " great prophet."
Whatever it was Peter in his absolute joy offers to build three booths for each of them. Why? Did he assume this event was going to continue, or was he thinking plans had changed, and now Jesus was going to sound the battle cry and free them from their oppressors. He knew from Scripture that Elijha had to return to pave the way for the Messiah, in his mind was this it? He would also be aware that God was going to raise up a prophet like Moses so that God's people would "hear" the announcement, "the Messiah is truly here amongst us"! This was all happening right before their eyes, the long expected fulfillment of the law, what a moment!
The cloud then appears! If you have ever been up a mountain when the cloud comes down you will have a vague understanding what this must have been like. Suddenly they are enveloped by God's presence and hear him speaking, revealing once again that Jesus is his beloved son. In this moment there is the revelation of the Trinity, Jesus, the son, the Father in the spoken word and the Holy Spirit in the cloud. For these three apostles it must have been a most spine tingling event. One wonders why it was only these three. Possibly, it was to strengthen their faith and would stand as a great reminder to them of what awaited them when they reached the end of their earthly journey. Both Peter and James would die a martyrs death.
Like all Mount Tabor experiences the Apostles had to come down from the mountain. They were going forward to face one of the hardest trials ever, the crucifixion of Jesus .The memory of this event must have kept them going through the trial of the agony in the garden and the following dark days.
The feast of the Transfiguration should fill us with great hope, we need the light of Christ to rise up in our hearts so that one day, we to, like Jesus will be transfigured into our glorious heavenly bodies!
No comments
Post a Comment