Second Sunday of Lent (C): Luke 9:28-36
Maybe I’m amazed at the way you’re with me all the time,
Maybe I’m afraid of the way I love you.
Maybe I’m amazed at the way you help me sing my song,
Right me when I’m wrong-
Maybe I’m amazed at the way I really need you.
– from Maybe I’m Amazed, by Paul McCartney
It’s amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word you can light up the dark
Try as I may I could never explain
What I hear when you don’t say a thing
– from When You Say Nothing At All, by Don Schlitz and Paul Overstreet
Peter, James and John are on a mountaintop with Jesus. Jesus is praying. Suddenly, they see Jesus’ glory, and then see Moses and Elijah with Him. They are amazed and awestruck. They are left without words in the end, and tell nothing of this to anyone.
How can we, in our time, get a sense not only of what this was about for those who witnessed it, but of what it can say to us in our own time?
Let’s begin this way.
When we think of Jesus and His disciples, we always do so from the advantage of hindsight. We know how the story turns out. Our faith tells us who Jesus really is, true man and true God. We know that Jesus gave His life for us on the Cross our of love for us and for the Father, and that the Spirit has been poured out upon all who believe as a result.
Now, let’s look at it from the point of view of Peter, James and John – or any of the apostles.
They could not have known, at first, the full truth about Jesus. No Israelite of the time would have even suspected that God might become human, or that a human being could also be God. Even the greatest figures in Israelite history – Moses and Elijah – were still human beings. No one confused them with God. Not only that, but even though many in Israel awaited a Messiah – someone God would send to come to the aid of His people in a great way – few, if any, had any notion that suffering and a humiliating death would be part of God’s will for His Messiah.
Peter, James, John, and the others are drawn to Jesus from the start. They become His disciples and learn from Him. They soon see Him doing extraordinary things – healing people of various diseases, casting out demons, feeding thousands with a few loaves and fishes, walking on water, and even raising the dead. They hear him say extraordinary things – claiming the power to forgive sins and the ability to interpret the Law of Moses on His own authority. The Scriptures of Israel were clear – only God could say and do such things. Yet, Jesus was saying and doing them. The disciples kept asking, “Who can this be?” Jesus’ opponents were asking the same question, and coming up with uncomplimentary answers.
Moreover, just a few days before the Transfiguration – and right after Peter had proclaimed his faith that Jesus was the Messiah – Jesus began to tell His disciples that they were going to Jerusalem, where He would be condemned, would suffer, and would die, and then be raised on the third day. Peter objected to this, and none of the others understood it.
Jesus, of course, knew that He was asking of His disciples an extraordinary degree of faith. They were still following Him, but they were struggling. Jesus took Peter, James and John with Him up a mountain, where He began to pray. Peter, James and John were granted a moment of grace, in response to their questions and their needs. They saw Jesus in glory, appearing as the mysterious Son of Man in the book of Daniel. Then Moses and Elijah, the greatest figures from the Hebrew Scriptures, appear, and speak with Jesus about His going to Jerusalem, and all He would accomplish there. The disciples are overwhelmed.
Peter tries to put this experience into a box he can understand – quite literally. He offers to build “booths” for the three in this vision, including Jesus. He does not know what he is saying. Then, a cloud comes, a symbol of God’s presence. The disciples are terrified. They hear a voice assuring them, “This is my Chosen Son; listen to Him”. Then, they see only Jesus. They are so amazed and afraid that they say nothing to anyone about this, at least for the time being. It blew them away. It would take time for them to fully realize what had been shown them on the mountain.
They knew that this Jesus they had been following was no ordinary man. He was definitely blessed by God, like the great ones of their past. But now, they are shown Jesus in a glory that surpassed that of anyone they knew of. They are told to listen to Jesus, as He is the Chosen Son – placing Him well above even Moses and Elijah. They are assured to keep their faith in Jesus, even when He speaks of His coming suffering and death. It is all according to the Father’s will. They are to believe that Jesus can say and do all that He says and does, and that this, too, is fully in accord with the Father’s will. They are being led closer to the point where they will see that the Son is indeed God, along with the Father and the Spirit.
How does the story of the Transfiguration shed light on our own faith journeys?
The disciples were given a vision of Jesus – who He really was – that was meant to sustain them when the going became tough, and the days became dark. How do we receive such a vision in our lives?
Some writers speak of the Transfiguration as a mystical experience given to Peter, James and John. This is true, but we need to be clear as to what we mean by a mystical experience.
We tend to see mystical experiences as unusual, extraordinary things, reserved for a select few: visions, voices, revelations. People who are called “mystics” are seemingly rare, and seem strange to us. As long as we understand mystical experiences only in this way, we have a very hard time seeing how they speak to us.
But what is the mystical life? It is nothing other than life in Christ. It is the knowledge that Christ has entered my life, Christ who is greater than any box or file that I have, Christ who then reorganizes all my boxes and files to His liking. In the presence of Christ, I am challenged to let my self-preoccupation melt away, so that I now life a life of faith in Him who loved me and gave Himself for me, as St. Paul said. Sooner or later, every one of us is offered some kind of Transfiguration, some moment or time when Christ becomes very real to us, when we see Him more has He really is, and then are invited to respond in faith and love.
This happens to us in two ways. Some people are given visions and revelations of various kinds. In these revelations, they see, at least in a symbolic way, Christ, or saints, or angels. They may hear Christ or a saint speaking to them. They may be shown certain things in symbolic form. They will still need to read the Scriptures, the lives of the saints, and to consult wise spiritual guides to explore the meaning of their visions, and to discern the true ones from those that are not. Ruth Burrows calls these “lights-on mystics”.
Others will not have visions, voices, or revelations. Nevertheless, they are given a strong sense, one they cannot really explain, that Christ is indeed with them in a deep and powerful way. They experience themselves as chosen by Him, guided by Him, and invited by Him to trust Him, love Him, and follow Him. What they experience may seem unclear to them at first. However, when they read the Scriptures, good spiritual books, and the lives of saints, and seek the counsel of wise spiritual guides, they see themselves in what they read and can more clearly discern God’s will for them. Ruth Burrows calls these “lights-off mystics”.
You and I and everyone else is called to be one or the other. We are all mystics. We are all invited to live in Christ. Some people will be given visions; some not. That does not imply anything about one being holier than the other. No, it’s how the Lord distributes His gifts in His Church. Both kinds of mystics meet the same Lord and have the same call. The Lord gives the “lights-on” mystics those visions in order to show what He is doing in everyone’s life, “lights-on” and “lights-off” alike. The Lord does not give those visions to the “lights-off” mystics to remind everyone that the point is NOT the visions themselves, but the Lord who is greater than any vision of Him could be. Some great saints were given visions; others never were. All shared the same call to follow Christ. Each one helped the others by their witness and prayer.
Like Peter, James, and John, we have been drawn to God’s holy mountain. Jesus, our High Priest, intercedes for us, that we might know Him more fully, be receptive to His love, and ready to have Him mold us into the people He means us to be. Every now and then, we are given a Transfiguration moment. We get a glimpse of who Jesus really is, what He offers us, and what He calls us to be. We hear the Father assuring us that this is His Chosen Son, in whom we can have complete trust.
Let us trust Him, then, and continue our Lenten journey with hope and joy. We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.