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 could 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.
Note
how 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, nothing more than a figure from the
past.
Memorial of Saint Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr
Lectionary: 340
Brothers and sisters:
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for
and evidence of things not seen.
Because of it the ancients were well attested.
By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by the word of God,
so that what is visible came into being through the invisible.
By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice greater than Cain’s.
Through this, he was attested to be righteous,
God bearing witness to his gifts,
and through this, though dead, he still speaks.
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death,
and
he was found no more because God had taken him.Before he was taken up, he was attested to have pleased God.
But without faith it is impossible to please him,
for anyone who approaches God must believe that he exists
and that he rewards those who seek him.
By faith Noah, warned about what was not yet seen,
with reverence built an ark for the salvation of his household.
Through this, he condemned the world
and inherited the righteousness that comes through faith.
Jesus took Peter, James, and 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;
then from the cloud came a voice,
“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
Suddenly, looking around, the disciples 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.
Then they asked him,
“Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
He told them, “Elijah will indeed come first and restore all things,
yet how is it written regarding the Son of Man
that he must suffer greatly and be treated with contempt?
But I tell you that Elijah has come
and they did to him whatever they pleased,
as it is written of him.”
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