Word to the Wise
Tuesday, August 6, 2024 - Aug. 6 - The Transfiguration of the Lord
[Dan 7:9-10, 13-14; 2 Pet 1:16-19; A: Matt 17:1-9 B: Mark 9:2-10 C: Luke 9:28b-36,685]Jesus took Peter, James and his brother 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. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus....Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." [Mark]
The three disciples closest to Jesus are granted a privileged experience! The incident occurs not long after Jesus' first prediction of his suffering and death, which Peter reacted to negatively, even though he had professed his belief that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus shows Peter and the sons of Zebedee what it truly meant to be the Messiah. Not only will he suffer, die and rise again, but all of this would be in fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, as shown by the vision of Moses and Elijah. The voice from the cloud (recalling Moses on the mountain) tells the three frightened disciples that when Jesus speaks, they had better listen! If he says he will suffer, die and rise again, they better believe it will happen, even if they didn't understand it at the time. In the Gospel According to Mark, they don't really "get it" until it happens!!!
The whole incident is packed with symbols, and although long tradition identifies the mountain as Mt. Tabor, the text does not give us a name. I've been up to the location and the view is magnificent and the chapel beautiful. One feels like something very special occurred there. But what is most important is what that voice, which spoke at Jesus' baptism in the Jordan, said: This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!" AMEN