The Transfiguration appears in the synoptic Gospels (Matthew 17:1–9, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36) Peter, James and John climb the mountain with Jesus, whose appearance becomes radiant, blinding as the sun.
So, the question is WHY?
It stumped me for a long time.
OK, first we have the obvious significance of going to the mountaintop, which scripturally indicates an encounter with God is coming soon. (Think- MLK Jr.'s "I Have Been to the Mountaintop" speech- when he said that he had seen the Promised Land. He gave the speech the day before he died!!!!!)
So, we know an encounter with God is coming.
When Jesus is transfigured, Luke tells us that they "saw him in his glory." (LK 9:32) There is an inkling that this was indeed, divine glory. Some believe this was an anticipation of Jesus' body glorified in the resurrection.
But why Moses and Elijah? Various theologians have said they were there to show Jesus is Lord of the living and the dead. Others believe that ( in light of the words God speaks in the account) it is to show that we should listen to Jesus instead of Moses and/or Elijah.
That didn't quite do it for me. Then it dawned on me: Moses and Elijah came as close as anyone ever did to meeting God face-to-face. The close encounter was enough to turn Moses hair white. But neither actually beheld the face of God, because no one could see the face of God- and live. (Ex 33:20) *
But Jesus IS God!
And there, on Mount Tabor, Moses and Elijah could finally do what they had not done: stand in the presence of God, look him in the eye... and live.
God had always been present to his people, but they could never see him. In Jesus, God makes himself visible and physically present to us...and the Transfiguration was a foretaste of the ultimate physical presence of Jesus Christ...which we'll discuss tomorrow!
The Transfiguration teaches us to long for holiness and being in the presence of God. Twice now in the Luminous Mysteries, we have heard God the Father proclaim Jesus Christ as his Son, telling us to listen to him. There is only one way to God. While all religions have some elements of truth ( or they could not continue), there is only one truth, Jesus Christ. He started one Church. Only one. It is not easy to be a member of that Church, because you will suffer for telling people the truth out of love for them. There is no glory with first suffering, there is no Easter Sunday without Good Friday. Do you have the courage to be a disciple?
*Two great stories from the Hebrew Scriptures are Ex 33:18-23, when God describes holding Moses so he is face- first into the mountain as God passes him...so all Moses gets to see is God's backside. Another is Elijah's encounter with God on the mountain top in 1Kings 19. Moses was given the covenant; Elijah's job was to restore it. They both received their commission on the mountaintop- in the presence of the Lord, but not seeing him.
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