Friends,
today’s Gospel presents the Transfiguration of Christ. What is the
Transfiguration itself? Mark speaks literally of a metamorphosis, a
going beyond the form that he had. If I can use Paul’s language, it is
"the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of Jesus Christ." In and
through his humble humanity, his divinity shines forth. The proximity of
his divinity in no way compromises the integrity of his humanity, but
rather makes it shine in greater beauty. This is the New Testament
version
of the burning bush.
The
Jesus who is both divine and human is the Jesus who is evangelically
compelling. If he is only divine, then he doesn’t touch us; if he is
only human, he can’t save us. His splendor consists in the coming
together of the two natures, without mixing, mingling, or confusion.
This
same Jesus then accompanies his disciples back down the mountain and
walks with them in the ordinary rhythms of their lives. This is the
Christ who wants to reign as Lord of our lives in every detail. If we
forget about this dimension, then Jesus becomes a distant memory, a
figure from the past.
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Lectionary: 614
As I watched:
Thrones were set up
and the Ancient One took his throne.
His clothing was bright as snow,
and the hair on his head as white as wool;
his throne was flames of fire,
with wheels of burning fire.
A surging stream of fire
flowed out from where he sat;
Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,
and myriads upon myriads attended him.
The court was convened and the books were opened.
As the visions during the night continued, I saw:
One like a Son of man coming,
on the clouds of heaven;
When he reached the Ancient One
and was presented before him,
The one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship;
all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not be taken away,
his kingship shall not be destroyed.
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 Peter said to Jesus in reply,
"Rabbi, it is good that we are here!
Let us make three tents:
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;
from the cloud came a voice,
"This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone
but Jesus alone with them.
As they were coming down from the mountain,
he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,
except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves,
questioning what rising from the dead meant.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment