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We have all grown accustomed
to seeing those eyewitness accounts on the news. Usually someone we’ve
never heard of narrates their version of the events we just seen via
video cam. We take it for granted that the reporters on the scene are
reliable and have checked out their sources. We believe these are real
people not actors and the events portrayed actually happened even though
we have no way of knowing that for sure.
In today’s readings we have the word of three eyewitnesses, people about
whom we know something. The circumstances surrounding the
Transfiguration highlight the great significance of this event.
Jesus' inner circle of apostles: Peter, James, and John were the only
witnesses. In today's second reading Peter testifies that the story is
true, not some cleverly devised myth. He claims to have seen these
events with his own eyes and heard with his own ears the Father’s
declaration, “This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well
pleased.”
The Transfiguration gives us a glimpse, out of time, of the glory to
come through the cross. In the context of the gospel the Transfiguration
occurred after Jesus' teaching about his passion and death. The
disciples were truly scandalized by this teaching. What was Jesus
talking about? How could the Messiah, the Holy One of God, be rejected
by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, be killed, and rise
after three days? How could that signify anything but failure? And so at
that point Jesus took his innermost circle away by themselves in order
to experience an amazing vision.
Once they were up on the mountain, away from the others and all the
distractions, he was transformed before them. His clothes became
dazzling, unnaturally white. He appeared to be clothed, as it were, with
glory. And two men, whom the apostles immediately recognized as Moses
and Elijah, appeared and seemed to be conversing with Jesus. What did
all this mean? For the apostles, Moses the great Law giver and Elijah
the great prophet represented the fulfillment of Jewish tradition. In
this experience the Rabbi Jesus, whom they have just come to believe is
the Messiah, is embraced by the heroes of Judaism. Is it any wonder that
Peter speaks such nonsense about building three tents?
If that were not enough, out
of the shadow of a nearby cloud came a voice like that of God Himself
proclaiming Jesus to be the beloved Son to whom the disciples should
listen. As quickly as it came the vision disappeared and left the
disciples questioning their own sanity. As they descend down the
mountain Jesus broke the silence of their thoughts, "Tell this vision to
no one until the Son of Man rises from the dead."
What does this story mean for your life? Suffering and the terrors of
life can blind us to the glory of the Lord. The transfiguration reminds
us that what masquerades as power, like the hunger for wealth and
dominance, is really only weakness, while what may appear as weakness,
such as humility and service, may well be God's own strength.
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