Feast of the Transfiguration
“Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother, John, and led them up a high mountain …. And he was transfigured before them.” Mt. 17:1-2
Astonishing things happen on mountain tops.
At least they do in Sacred Scripture.
So much so that every time the Bible tells us someone is going “up a mountain,” it’s time to fasten your seatbelt. Right away you know something completely out of the ordinary, something utterly unique, something extraordinarily sacred is about to take place.
And that’s just what happens in today’s gospel reading.
First, however, it’s important to remember that until this moment in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus is presented as someone who is exceptional, even remarkable. But he is also seen as human – a man who has amazed people with his miracles and his teachings, but who is still in many ways just like you and me.
Then, out of nowhere, we are told that when Jesus reaches the top of a mountain with Peter, James and John, “his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.”
We now know that we have left the humdrum ordinary and entered an experience that can only be described as “transcendent.”
We have entered the realm of the “Holy.”
On the mountain, we are introduced to two of the most eminent of all Old Testament heroes: Moses and Elijah – both of whom had their own mountain top experiences.
Until that moment, Jesus’ disciples had treated him like he was the equal of these great prophets of the ages.
But then a cloud comes over the disciples and a “Voice” from the cloud says:
“This is my beloved Son … listen to him.”
What the disciples – and you and I – are clearly being told is that Jesus is more than a prophet, more than a wonder worker, more than any other holy person who ever existed – more even than Moses and Elijah.
Jesus, we are told by this “Voice,” is unique in all human history, transcending all those who have gone before.
Jesus alone is God’s Son!
Then, out of the cloud, comes the only directive that the “Voice” from heaven gives. Notice that it is not “worship him.” It is not “adore him.” It is not even “praise him.”
Instead, it is a much more intimate, caring command:
“Listen to him.”
Follow him. Do as he does. Love what he loves.
Allow the experience to transform your hearts, to bring about a Spirit transplant.
This “Voice” from the heavens isn’t just informing us that Jesus is God’s Son to give us information. The “Voice” is encouraging us to understand and live out the message that we are all God’s sons and daughters, that despite some terrible sorrows and considerable pain we may have to endure, we can now trust that in the end all will be well.
This whole experience reminds me of a late 1970’s hit movie:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
In it, Richard Dreyfus plays an everyday American man who becomes strangely attracted to an isolated area in the Wyoming wilderness. He is convinced that something spectacular is about to happen there. And in the last 30 minutes of the movie, something truly stunning does:
A giant spaceship begins to hover over this region.
People witnessing it are dumbstruck – and terrified, like the disciples in today’s gospel story.
Who’s in the spaceship? Are they beings who have come to destroy us?
Then the spaceship door opens.
And some unique figures emerge – figures filled with light – figures that emanate benevolence and kindness.
Dreyfus is “transfigured” by this experience. He is so captivated by it, in fact, that he abandons everything he’s certain of for something he knows nothing about.
He runs to the light.
This is the kind of response the heavenly “Voice” in today’s gospel is calling you and me to when we hear these haunting words:
“This is my beloved Son … listen to him.”
Listen.
And then follow – into the Light.
Ted Wolgamot, Psy.D.
