Word to the Wise
Sunday, February 28, 2010 - Second Sunday of Lent
[Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18; Philippians 3:17 - 4:1; Luke 9:28b-36]This is my chosen Son; listen to him.
There are times when we see a "side" of a person that we never knew existed in that person. It may be revealed to us personally or we may observe it in the special circumstances that "bring it out." It is difficult ever to know another person completely. It can be difficult to know ourselves completely and we can be surprised by our reaction to something. The "transfiguration" represents one of those revelatory moments, but I think it should be placed in the context of other things that Jesus says about himself, especially his predictions of his passion, some of which are placed near the time of the transfiguration. If the disciples had a tough time understanding Jesus' predictions of his violent death, the transfiguration is even more mysterious. To us who read the gospels and try to understand why they include incidents like this, we have the benefit of the whole story. The Messiah would be both a suffering and a glorious figure. Indeed the "voice in the cloud" identifies the transfigured Jesus in the same way as at the baptism in the Jordan! If we accept Jesus as messiah, we accept his self-revelation. We cannot put aside his suffering as too gruesome and his glory as too imaginative and "unscientifcally verifiable," and then simply take his words as a kind of humanistic ethic to live by when possible. His transfiguration is one piece in a larger reality to which we listen with faith and open hearts and minds. We are told that Peter, James and John kept quiet about the matter at that time. Obviously the story got out and made its way into the tradition enshrined in the three "synoptic" gospels. Jesus is presented "in glory" as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, represented by Moses and Elijah. This is not the only piece of the puzzle, but we cannot refuse it a place without leaving a hole in the picture. AMEN
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